***Official Pac-10 Basketball Thread***

[BobJoeJim]

I'm pretty happy with the K-State game, it was nice to see Catron step up and play a really good game, and all things considered I think we contained Beaseley as well as we could have hoped to. Shooting was a little off, but Taylor came through big when it counted. Most importantly, we showed the grit it takes to win a close game on the road.

I'm still a little worried about who we have to step up in future close games, though. I had thought it might be Hairston in those situations but he was basically nonexistant on the offensive side all game long. Taylor was clutch today, but I'm not sure he'll be the guy to rely on all year. Porter at 5/15 (ten of those shots from inside the arc which is not where he should be trying to score from) is also a problem, especially when Hairston is only 3/8. Give five of Porters two-point shots to Hairston and the offense is a lot closer to what I want to see.

All in all though I'm happy with the showing. Go Ducks!

[JaredL]

Porter was very good handling the ball.

I'm with you on the disappearance of Malik. I don't think we can rely on Porter to create his own shot, even working off the screen, at important points like down 1 with a minute to go. He's no Aaron Brooks. I think Hairston needs to get the ball and make [censored] happen in those spots.

BTW I got the O-Zone. It's pretty good. One thing I love about it so far is that with the dvr I can watch the game on ESPN or FSN or whatever and have Jerry Allen doing the play-by-play. I have to pause the tv for a minute or so because there is some lag. I can get tempted to speed ahead to see the last shot, but it's nice.

[CardSharpCook]

What do you guys think about OSU tomorrow? I know this isn't the forum for it, but I look at a -3.5 spread vs. a crappy Iowa St team AT Corvalis and I think that that's wrong. But then, we all know that OSU sucks, right? Just how bad are they? I want to say that they'll embarrass ISU, but then, I really thought that Oregon would embarrass KSU tonight.

[BobJoeJim]

Well, since their pathetic start with losses to Colorado State and Alaska-Fairbanks, the Beavers seem to have bounced back with three straight wins, and they've covered in all three. Iowa State meanwhile is coming off back to back double digit home losses to Minnesota and Northern Iowa. I'm not sure there's any reason to think either of those teams are much better than OSU, so the Beavs at home and only laying 3.5 could well be +EV and worth a unit or two. I wouldn't get too carried away with it though, because OSU is still OSU, and they do really suck as you point out.

[/overly rational discussion for SE]

[Semtex]

USC is looking solid. After losing to Mercer they have been rolling. They were missing Hackett in that Mercer game, and he might be one of best guards in the country (and he's only a sophomore). He doesn't put up astronomical numbers but he really helps facilitate the offense. This kid Devon Jefferson who came out of nowhere had another monster game against Oklahoma, which really helped when Taj got into early foul trouble yet again. I can't wait for Kansas on Sunday I smell upset. The way USC has been playing they can roll with anybody in the country IMO.