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The Ducks made sure everyone got in on the fun.
Back in Portland for the day before heading back up the I-5 tomorrow for Oregon’s Round of 32 game against Arizona. Here’s five thoughts from my day in the Emerald City.
SEATTLE — Dana Altman didn’t start with a smile.
The Oregon Ducks were already up 5-2 and coming downcourt in transition when Jackson Shelstad pulled up for a three-pointer by the logo. As the ball swished through the hoop, the Oregon coach angrily barked a few things at his sophomore point guard.
Maybe he thought it was a bad look. Maybe he wanted the Ducks to settle into their offense.
Whatever. The ball went in.
“I thought I had space,” Shelstad said. “Just tried to get my feet set. I work on those shots a lot, so I just trust it.”
Thanks to Shelstad’s hot hand and an Oregon team that continued to shoot the lights out of Climate Pledge Arena, Altman didn’t have much else to object to in Oregon’s 81-52 win over Liberty. And with the game in hand in its final minutes, Altman was able to empty his bench.
In came Mookie Cook, Jamari Phillips, Drew Carter and Jayson Williams-Johnson. And by the time Cook hit a pair of threes and Williams-Johnson got a tough bucket driving to the hoop, that initial scowl of the longtime coach was pinned the other way.
“One of the hardest things is, Mookie is really talented. Jamari is talented. Our walk-ons, Drew and Coop, have been tremendous,” Altman said. “I can’t play 12, 13 guys and it’s hard when you’re talented not to get the opportunity.
“(Mookie and Jamari) are the two least experienced guys we got. Never questioned their talent, it’s just that we don’t have injuries this year. We sure could have used Mookie last year when he was out all year. It’s amazing how different seasons are. But those guys, to hang with it, to be great team members, it says a lot about their character. It’s difficult when you’re talented and you feel like you can play. It’s really hard to show that character.”
A good call
Liberty, too, tried to empty its bench.
A tip of the hat to referee Roger Ayers for finishing the job.
I can’t tell you if Ayers officiated a particularly great game, but when Liberty had the ball, down by 32 with 56 seconds left, he made one perfect call. With the game well in hand, Ayers noticed that Liberty was trying to get one last player in the game. JC Shirer Jr. was lying by the scorer’s table — an uncommon occurrence this season for the Flames. He had only appeared in seven games on the season, never played more than 12 minutes, and was likely too late out to the table to make his first NCAA Tournament appearance.
But then Ayers “found” a wet spot on the court. He blew his whistle, gave a quick kick at it with his sneakers, and extended his right arm out to Shirer to pull him into the game. Shirer smiled with appreciation as Ayers walked back the other direction to say a few words to Altman by the Oregon bench.
Liberty lost, but that was one small win.
A reporter’s review of Climate Pledge Arena as an NCAA Tournament host
A-
Climate Pledge is nearly three years old, but it’s a stadium that still produces gasps from people. Heard a lot of “I can’t believe this used to be Key Arena,” on Friday as we descended to the floor level of a building that had its top popped off and its innards scooped out like a pumpkin before a breathtaking remodel.
I’ve been to the new* building twice for Kraken games and once for a concert. This was the first time for hoops. Sight lines seemed good, the arena didn’t feel too cavernous and there were lively showings from the numerous traveling fanbases.
The media workroom is a little tight. Instead of providing a traditional media meal, the cool thing to do these days is to instead provide press with vouchers for meals at concessions. I ordered a $19 smashed burger. It wasn’t a smash burger, it was just a burger that showed up smashed.
Beggars can’t be choosers. I still ate the whole thing. Extra points for curly fries.
Hotels all around Seattle were surprisingly affordable within walking distance of the arena and it was pretty cool strolling toward the Space Needle — and arena — with hordes of fans who were staying nearby.
What Seattle has done with that Seattle Center area really makes me wish there was anything worth doing around the Moda Center.
Hello again, Arizona
I’ve seen the Arizona Wildcats throttle the Oregon Ducks, such as the first time I ever went to McKale Center in Tucson and felt that bunker of an arena shake throughout the entirety of an 80-56 Arizona win in 2015.
I’ve seen the Oregon Ducks bite the Wildcats in the ankles. The next year, Oregon ended the longest home winning streak in the country on that same floor, then went on to knock the Wildcats out of the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.
I’ve seen the Ducks land some haymakers, too, such as that 85-58 win at Matthew Knight over No. 5 Arizona in 2017 that really made one start to think that that Oregon team could do something special.
I’ve heard Altman talk about how much Arizona and the bar the Wildcats set pushed the Ducks over the last 15 years. I truly think Altman thinks of them when he talks about how much he was disappointed in the end of the Pac-12. If the Ducks didn’t have Arizona to chase, maybe they’re not the program they are today.
Sean Miller is long gone now. And yes, Arizona and coach Tommy Lloyd aren’t even conference rivals with the Ducks anymore. But something memorable always seems to happen when these two programs meet, and I expect nothing less tomorrow in Seattle when they’ll play each other for the first time in the NCAA Tournament.
“We know what we were going to have to do to beat them,” Oregon center Nate Bittle said. “It starts with defense and rebounding.”
The Camera Roll
The seat America wanted me in.
The seat they put me in.
Thank goodness Liberty put up a better fight in 1776.
One of the few moments Liberty was still in this game.
There are worse ways to be greeted upon leaving a stadium.
See y’all again on Sunday.
— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor
