Tag: Pac-12

LeBron James says Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks helped Miami reach new heights

LeBron James. Chip Kelly. Erik Spoelstra. How the three combined to create an NBA Championship offense.

Chip Kelly and the NBA is like a puzzle piece that doesn’t quite fit.

But Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was able to put a round peg in a square hole as LeBron James said.

According to the NBA legend and future Hall of Famer, Spoelstra, a Portland native and Jesuit High School graduate, took a page out of Chip Kelly’s book when he was with the Oregon Ducks, and used philosophies in Kelly’s spread offense to help unlock a new level with the Heat at the start of their title run.

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James said in a recent interview that Spoelstra came back to his home state and studied Kelly’s spread offense that changed the landscape of college football back in 2011.

“Spo is the reason why we were a better team, and our team was assembled more properly,” James told J.J. Reddick on a recent episode of Uninterrupted. “That summer, he went to Oregon and hung out with Chip Kelly, and learned the spread offense.”

Miami lost to Dallas in the previous season and James said Spoelstra’s goal was to study the Ducks’ spread offense and translate that to the professional basketball game. At this point in time Oregon was having great success on the field, having just made it to the national championship game against Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers, and Kelly’s offense was changing the landscape of college football.

Spoelstra hoped to glean some of the tricks from that, and translate them to the basketball court.

“I don’t know the super conversations that he and Chip had,” LeBron said. “But when he came back to us, he knew that in order for us to reach our potential, for one, I had to be *expletive* ten times better than I was in that previous June Finals. But Chris Bosh had to go to the 5, and had to start working on his corner three.”

Moving Bosh out of the paint allowed James to drive more to the hoop for easy buckets, get fouled, or both. This spread the floor in a way that allowed playmakers space to move and cut without the ball, much like Kelly’s offense opened up running lanes for the likes of LaMichael James, Kenjon Barner, and De’Andthony Thomas.

The strategy also worked for Miami, as they went on to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder for the championship the following season, and repeated the next year against the San Antonio Spurs.

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Oregon prevails over Portland for fifth straight victory

The Ducks got off to an early good start and avenged an earlier loss with a 7-4 win over the Pilots.

In a matchup that likely could occur in an NCAA regional, the Oregon Ducks baseball team went on the road and managed to avenge an earlier loss to Portland with a 7-4 victory.

The win was the Ducks’ fifth straight and 20th on the season to improve to 20-7 overall. The Pilots, 3-0 in the West Coast Conference, fell to 17-9 overall.

These two teams met three weeks ago at PK Park with the Pilots stomping Oregon 15-5. It was a different story in the rematch as the Ducks were up 3-0 after two innings of play. Portland was able to cut the lead to 3-2 after three, but Jeffrey Heard’s RBI single extended the Ducks’ advantage.

The Ducks made it 6-3 in the sixth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly, a hit batsman and a walk. That would be more than enough for Oregon starter Michael Freund who went six innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on six hits while striking out seven.

A trio of relievers, Logan Mercado, Ryan Featherston and Bradley Mullan, held the Pilots to just one run. Mullan earned his third save of the year.

Oregon goes back to Pac-12 action on Friday with a three-game weekend series at UCLA and Jackie Robinson Field. The Bruins are having their difficulties as they are just 10-15 overall and 4-8 in league play.

Oregon baseball appears in Top 25 for the first time this season

For the first time this year, the Ducks are being ranked inside the top-25, according to Baseball America.

The Oregon Ducks baseball team is meeting expectations and now it is finally being recognized for its efforts.

Oregon is 19-7 overall and 6-3 in Pac-12 play as the season is almost half over and now the Ducks have appeared in the Baseball America Top 25 for the first time this year.

The Ducks, who are in first place in the Pac-12, come into this week’s ranking as the No. 20 team in the country. Baseball America says the recent schedule has and will play in Oregon’s favor to rack up the wins.

Oregon swept Seattle and moves into the Top 25 for the first time this season. While the Ducks were on their conference bye, they moved into first place in the Pac-12 and have won eight of their last nine games. They’ll look to stay hot as they hit the road this week, first at Portland, which stands atop the West Coast Conference standings, and then UCLA, which sits in the Pac-12 cellar. — Baseball America

Traditionally a strong baseball conference, the Pac-12 has just one other team ranked and that is Oregon State, who dropped several spots due to its series loss to USC over the last weekend.

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Report: Oregon guard Priscilla Williams enters transfer portal

Oregon guard Priscilla Williams will reportedly enter the transfer portal and leave the Ducks.

It’s the first of what could be many.

Oregon women’s basketball had a very down year and a roster turnover is expected as the first of many dominoes fell as 247Sports reporter Erik Skopil says Duck point guard Priscilla Williams will enter the transfer portal and leave Eugene.

Williams was a Duck for just one season after transferring to Oregon from South Florida. The redshirt sophomore averaged just 2.6 points a game and just over 13 minutes a game.

She started her career at Syracuse where she averaged almost 10 points a game as a freshman, but then moved on to South Florida where she battled injuries and only appeared in a handful of games.

Oregon State loses to South Carolina, leaving USC as only Pac-12 team left in NCAA Tournament

Oregon State put up a great fight, but it ran into the wrong foe. Only USC can give the Pac-12 a Final Four now.

The Oregon State Beavers represented themselves and the Pac-12 quite well on Sunday in the Albany Regional of the Women’s NCAA Tournament. They pushed the unbeaten and No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks for 38 minutes in an Elite Eight game. USC women’s basketball players and coaches were probably watching on television.

Few teams have been able to challenge coach Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks that well for that long. The Beavers trailed by 13 at one point but were down only four, 62-58, with 3:30 left. They were right there with a chance to win. That’s all they could ask for as they pursued the Final Four.

However, South Carolina is unbeaten — and No. 1 — for a reason. The Gamecocks continued to crash the offensive glass. The Gamecocks collected 22 offensive rebounds, not always scoring but crucially denying OSU added possessions, which reduced the Beavers’ chances of making a comeback. South Carolina didn’t shoot especially well — 4 of 20 on 3-pointers — but rebounding and defense carried the Gamecocks to a fourth consecutive Final Four.

USC is now the only Pac-12 team left in the Women’s NCAA Tournament. The Trojans face UConn Monday night in Portland at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 Pacific, on ESPN.

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Oregon looks to get the brooms out with big win over Seattle

Oregon wins its third straight game over Seattle and will look to sweep the Redhawks Saturday afternoon at PK Park.

PK Park is becoming a House of Horrors for Seattle University.

Oregon is planning to get its broom out Saturday afternoon after defeating the Redhawks 9-2. It’s the third straight win for the Ducks over the opponent up north and Oregon will be going for a rare four-game sweep.

The Ducks improved to 18-7 overall while Seattle fell to 7-19.

Again, it was an even game 1-1 heading into the fifth inning, but Oregon exploded for four runs to take a 5-1 lead. Maddox Molony gave the Ducks the lead for good with a solo homer, his first of his career. Anson Aroz extended the lead with a double that scored Bennett Thompson and later Drew Smith knocked in two more to increase the advantage.

That was more than enough for starter Grayson Grinsell. He threw six innings, allowing just one run and three hits while striking out nine, but walked five. His lack of control got Grinsell in trouble in the fifth as the Redhawks managed to have runners on second and third with one out.

Fortunately, Grinsell was able to whiff both Sam Kane and Derek Gellos to end the threat.

After seven innings of play, the contest sat at 5-2 and it was still a game Seattle was still in. But the Ducks scored four more in the eighth to put it away. The big hit in the inning came from Thompson with a two-run triple to right-center.

The Ducks go for the sweep over the Redhawks as the game is scheduled for a 12:05 first pitch.

RJ Gordon and the Ducks easily take down Seattle 10-2

Oregon takes care of business with a 10-2 win over Seattle in Game 2 of the four-game set.

That was much more like it.

A night after the Ducks had to score four runs in the bottom of the 10th inning to take down Seattle, Oregon got down to business early and often en route to a 10-2 victory over the Redhawks.

The Ducks improved to 17-7 overall, while Seattle’s struggles continue as the Redhawks fell to just 7-18.

Oregon scored three runs in the first inning and as it turned out, that was enough for starter RJ Gordon on the mound. In a rare Thursday start, Gordon went five innings, giving up one run on five hits and struck out five to earn his third win of the season.

Jeffrey Heard got the offense going with a two-run single that scored Bryce Boettcher and Chase Meggers. Later on in the frame, Mason Neville drove in his first run of the night to make it 3-0.

Heard drove in his second run as in many innings with an infield single to score Maddox Molony. The Oregon right fielder went 4-for-4 on the night with three singles and a double.

Down 4-0, Seattle finally cracked the scoreboard in the fourth when Sam Kane nailed a solo home run over the left field wall. In the next inning, the Redhawks threatened to rally by loading the bases, but Gordon managed to strike out Mateo Zeppieri and the Ducks held on to the three-run advantage.

The Ducks answered with a run in the sixth, two in the seventh and three more in the eighth on Neville’s three-run blast to right-center field that ended up in the PK Park parking lot.

While the Ducks’ offense was humming, the bullpen was doing their job. The combination of Ian Umlandt, Cole Stokes, Brock Moore and Collin Clarke held Seattle to just one run on two hits. Moore only pitched to two batters, however, as he had to come out of the game due to an apparent arm injury.

Moore wasn’t the only Duck to go down with an injury as left fielder Justin Cassella went down with a leg injury after beating out an infield single. Hopefully both injuries are minor and both players will be back on the field soon for the Ducks.

Oregon and Seattle will get back at it Friday night at PK Park for Game 3 of the four-game set. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 pm PST.

Oregon rallies for four runs and stuns Seattle in 10 innings

Drew Smith’s two-run single completed the four-run rally in the 10th inning as the Ducks stunned Seattle U 5-4.

It was just how Mark Wasikowski and the Ducks drew it up.

That plan, obviously, was to wait out a 70-minute weather delay, give up three runs in the top of the 10th, and then use two infield hits, a deflection into center field, two hit batsmen, and a single from Drew Smith to score two more and stun Seattle University 5-4.

All right, this scenario wouldn’t be No. 1 on the list in ways to win a game, but that’s exactly how Oregon captured the opening contest of a four-game non-conference series with the Redhawks.

It was 1-1 after nine innings that was a rare midweek pitching duel. But that ended quickly in extra when Seattle’s third baseman Derek Gellos deposited a pitch over the left-center wall for the three-run home run and give the Redhawks a 4-1 lead.

Things were looking quite bleak for the Ducks, who were trying to avoid a two-game losing streak. The rally began harmlessly when Bryce Boettcher hit a high chopper to third that he was able to beat out at first. Chase Meggers hit his own tapper off the end of the bat for another infield single and the Ducks were in business.

Anson Aroz didn’t waste any time by smacking a liner off of pitcher Brady Liddle’s foot that got past the shortstop into center to score Boettcher.

After a sacrifice fly from Mason Neville Liddle didn’t help his cause by hitting Justin Cassella and Jacob Walsh to reload the bases. Only needing a fly ball to tie the game, Smith did much more with a liner down the left field line to score both Aroz and Cassella.

It was Oregon’s second walk-off win in five days. The Ducks defeated Arizona 3-2 on Saturday.

These two teams will meet up again for Game 2 of the series, set for a 5:05 pm PST first pitch streamed on Pac-12 Insider.

Oregon grabs 2 of 3 from Arizona in Pac-12 weekend series

Oregon took 2 of 3 from Arizona to win the weekend series, but fell 15-4 in the finale.

For the third straight Pac-12 weekend series, the Oregon Ducks baseball team took 2-of-3 from the opponent. This time, it was Arizona, although the Wildcats managed to avoid a sweep with a 15-4 victory at PK Park.

It was actually a close affair through six innings with Arizona up just 3-2. But the Duck bullpen couldn’t keep the Wildcats at three as the visitors from the desert scored runs in the final three innings to blow the game wide open.

Reliever Logan Mercado, who is usually reliable, just didn’t have it on this rainy Sunday afternoon as he gave up six runs in just 2/3 of an inning. The game was almost over with the Cats leading 9-4 in the eighth, but a grand slam from Brendan Summerhill sealed Oregon’s fate.

Things turned out much better for the Ducks in the first two games of the series, however.

In Game 1, the Ducks won a rare pitchers duel 2-1. Bennett Thompson’s two-run single in the sixth was just enough for the win. Starter RJ Gordon pitched a gem with 6 1/3 solid innings of work. Mercado threw a scoreless ninth for his fourth save of the year.

Game 2 was even more exciting as the Ducks won the game in the bottom of the ninth 3-2. The game was tied when Bryce Boettcher laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt that scored Mason Neville to win it.

Despite the series finale loss, Oregon is still 6-3 in league play and 15-7 overall. Next the Ducks will stay home and host Seattle for a four-game series Wednesday through Saturday.

Oregon loses as Pac-12 finally takes a few hits in NCAA Tournament

N’Faly Dante and Jermaine Couisnard were spectacular, but no one else from Oregon showed up against Creighton.

The Oregon Ducks were this close to making the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament: They led the Creighton Bluejays by four points in the final minute of regulation. Yet, they couldn’t close the deal and lost to the Jays in double overtime on Saturday night in Pittsburgh.

Ducks Wire had more on the story:

“Oregon’s magical run got unceremoniously cut short on Saturday night after what was quite possibly their most impressive game of the year. If you didn’t stay up until 1 a.m. on the East Coast, you’ll see a box score that reads 86-73, Creighton, in double-overtime. If you did stay up, though, then you witnessed two of the best performances from Oregon players in program history.

“N’Faly Dante and Jermaine Couisnard were special, combining for 60 of the team’s 73 points, and all but two of the Ducks’ points from halftime to the final whistle.

“The rest of the team? Different story.”

Injuries played a huge part in limiting Oregon this season. Coach Dana Altman did well to get this team as far as he did, but attrition ultimately limited what this talented team was capable of. It’s a bitter loss for the Pac-12, which just missed putting a second team in the Sweet 16. Colorado gives the Pac one more chance to make the second weekend of March Madness on Sunday. The Buffs face Marquette.

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