Utah @ Oregon (W 73-64)

[Wayne Pesek]

Today's stats for Jonathan "The Pariah" Loyd:

32 minutes
2/4 3-pointers (rest of team 2/12)
3 assists
0 turnovers!!!
1 blocked shot for a 5'7" guy (that's more than Woods, Carter and Austin, combined)
and oh, yes 1/4 free throws (OMG!!! He's horrible! Pull his scholarship!)

Other than the turnovers, not impressive. I'm not sure exactly what you're seeing.

What I'm seeing is a kid playing his guts out with a severely injured hand, in a role (replacing Artis) he isn't supposed to be playing. Yet, he is being crushed by the "fans" on message boards. Far as I know, Loyd didn't break Artis' foot. He is being forced to replace one of the best point guards in the conference. Has he struggled? Yes. But to blame this team's problems all on him is just unfair and lazy. This team has had issues with turnovers all season, long before Artis was hurt! They were able to shoot their way out of them. Lately, they can't shoot a lick. It's not Loyd's fault that so many wide open shots are being missed. Only 25% for 3-pointers today, and only 39% overall. That won't win many games, and lately, it hasn't.

After the Colorado game, some claimed Emory was the best player on the team, and said he should play all 40 minutes. Today, Carlos made 5 turnovers, shot 3 for 10 (missing both 3-point attempts) and had 3 fouls. If he hadn't of missed 2 dunks against Colorado, the Ducks would have had 4 more points (enough to win the game). I don't do this to call out Emory. Today, Woods had 3 turnovers in only 12 minutes! And no rebounds. There are just so many other factors involved in the slump the Ducks have been experiencing lately. Time to stop blaming Loyd for everything that goes wrong.

That said, I sure hope Artis is back soon, and Loyd can return to the role he is better suited for. Wednesday is going to be a big challenge.

[duckgrad99]

I agree, Loyd is playing hard and isn't the only reason for the team struggling. With that being said, he wasn't a good player before the injury, so it's not like that has made a difference. Just glad guys like Dotson and Singler stepped up today.

[Kyle's Brother]

Today's stats for Jonathan "The Pariah" Loyd:

32 minutes
2/4 3-pointers (rest of team 2/12)
3 assists
0 turnovers!!!
1 blocked shot for a 5'7" guy (that's more than Woods, Carter and Austin, combined)
and oh, yes 1/4 free throws (OMG!!! He's horrible! Pull his scholarship!)

Other than the turnovers, not impressive. I'm not sure exactly what you're seeing.

What I'm seeing is a kid playing his guts out with a severely injured hand, in a role (replacing Artis) he isn't supposed to be playing. Yet, he is being crushed by the "fans" on message boards. Far as I know, Loyd didn't break Artis' foot. He is being forced to replace one of the best point guards in the conference. Has he struggled? Yes. But to blame this team's problems all on him is just unfair and lazy. This team has had issues with turnovers all season, long before Artis was hurt! They were able to shoot their way out of them. Lately, they can't shoot a lick. It's not Loyd's fault that so many wide open shots are being missed. Only 25% for 3-pointers today, and only 39% overall. That won't win many games, and lately, it hasn't.

After the Colorado game, some claimed Emory was the best player on the team, and said he should play all 40 minutes. Today, Carlos made 5 turnovers, shot 3 for 10 (missing both 3-point attempts) and had 3 fouls. If he hadn't of missed 2 dunks against Colorado, the Ducks would have had 4 more points (enough to win the game). I don't do this to call out Emory. Today, Woods had 3 turnovers in only 12 minutes! And no rebounds. There are just so many other factors involved in the slump the Ducks have been experiencing lately. Time to stop blaming Loyd for everything that goes wrong.

That said, I sure hope Artis is back soon, and Loyd can return to the role he is better suited for. Wednesday is going to be a big challenge.

You're absolutely right that it's not fair to blame Loyd for not being as good as Artis. It's definitely not his fault that he's being forced into the role. I get what you're doing; you want to protect the kid from being bashed. It's definitely honorable, and he doesn't deserve to be torn apart, no matter how poorly he plays.

But at the same time, you'd have to be blind not to see the difference between this team with Loyd starting at point and this team starting with Artis at point. You can't just chalk it up to coincidence that we worked our way up to 10th in the country with Artis, then lost 3 straight to beatable teams with Loyd.

By the way, don't believe the stats re: Loyd. The Oregon stat keeper loves the kid. For example, gave him an assist on the half court shot that he took with 5 seconds left on the shot clock, and didn't credit him with a missed field goal.

[pudgejeff]

Loyd is a good free throw shooter, why don't you guys try shooting free throws with a broken thumb on your shooting hand.

The hate on Loyd is getting pathetic. He's no Artis, but the things you guys say about him is just dumb sometimes.

60% this year. 70% last year. That's not a good free throw, particularly for a guard. Guards (particularly undersized ones) who can't shoot should be able to at least knock down 80% from the line.

Other than Baron Davis and Rajon Rondo, I can't think of many point guards in the NBA who shoot under 70% from the free throw line.

Are you really saying because he's worse than an NBA point guard he's bad? Don't get me wrong, 61% for a PG is not desirable, but c'mon now. He shot 70 last year and was shooting well from the 3 earlier in the season. By no means am I saying he's amazing, but Artis' injury has hurt us two fold, not only did we lose our starting PG, we also lost our burst of energy PG off the bench for 12-15 min.

[TheMaehlMan]

Loyd is a good free throw shooter, why don't you guys try shooting free throws with a broken thumb on your shooting hand.

The hate on Loyd is getting pathetic. He's no Artis, but the things you guys say about him is just dumb sometimes.

60% this year. 70% last year. That's not a good free throw, particularly for a guard. Guards (particularly undersized ones) who can't shoot should be able to at least knock down 80% from the line.

Other than Baron Davis and Rajon Rondo, I can't think of many point guards in the NBA who shoot under 70% from the free throw line.

Are you really saying because he's worse than an NBA point guard he's bad? Don't get me wrong, 61% for a PG is not desirable, but c'mon now. He shot 70 last year and was shooting well from the 3 earlier in the season. By no means am I saying he's amazing, but Artis' injury has hurt us two fold, not only did we lose our starting PG, we also lost our burst of energy PG off the bench for 12-15 min.

This is a point that many have overlooked that is very true. Loyd is a good situational PG for that purpose, but right now he's being asked to take on a role that doesn't suit him. It's sort of like asking a nickel-back in football to take on the number one receiver. They could be a really good nickel-back, but asking them to cover the number one receiver will expose their flaws.

[OregonFan4Life]

I do laugh at those acting like the losses are all Loyd's fault. Loyd wasn't the reason Altman stuck with the same offense too long, Loyd isn't the reason why Singler has played so sloppy lately, Loyd isn't the reason Woods and Austin have been non-factors, and Loyd wasn't the reason Dotson lost his confidence. I know some of you will twist these to say Loyd is the reason for it all somehow, but he isn't! Yes, we all know Loyd isn't near as good as Artis, Artis is a special talent that we are lucky to have at Oregon, but Loyd isn't just throwing the ball at the other team and telling his teammates to play with no confidence, some of you make it sound as if Loyd is almost doing that.

[TheMaehlMan]

I do laugh at those acting like the losses are all Loyd's fault. Loyd wasn't the reason Altman stuck with the same offense too long, Loyd isn't the reason why Singler has played so sloppy lately, Loyd isn't the reason Woods and Austin have been non-factors, and Loyd wasn't the reason Dotson lost his confidence. I know some of you will twist these to say Loyd is the reason for it all somehow, but he isn't! Yes, we all know Loyd isn't near as good as Artis, Artis is a special talent that we are lucky to have at Oregon, but Loyd isn't just throwing the ball at the other team and telling his teammates to play with no confidence, some of you make it sound as if Loyd is almost doing that.

I agree with a lot of this post, but Loyd is supposed to set the tone for the offense. His job is to put players in a position to succeed, and he has let the shot-clock drain without getting the offense in good form. Now, I totally agree that there are players on this team that have failed to step up. In the two close losses, Oregon was in-control of both games, and no-one found a way to win the game. Seniors like Singler need to get everyone's nerves in-check, and many times the Seniors were making the big mistakes.

I guess my point is that I agree that Loyd playing in a role not suited for him has forced the offense to go stagnant for ridiculously long periods of time...but there's enough blame to go around for other guys not stepping up. Thankfully, Oregon found a way to win versus Utah, and has a shot to put this losing streak behind them.

Also, Artis is going to the doctor on Monday and could be cleared to play versus UW. If he is cleared, don't expect him to go back to the normal amount of minutes right away. He will be eased into the rotation, and Altman really wants to avoid making Artis' foot problem worse. They aren't about to jeopardize Artis' future for this season, which is obviously very smart.

[oregontrack]

i've never heard anyone say all of our problems are on loyd's shoulders.

i have heard people say he's generally ineffective in all aspects of the game and we'd be better off without him. those are, technically, two very different arguments.

[OregonFan4Life]

I do laugh at those acting like the losses are all Loyd's fault. Loyd wasn't the reason Altman stuck with the same offense too long, Loyd isn't the reason why Singler has played so sloppy lately, Loyd isn't the reason Woods and Austin have been non-factors, and Loyd wasn't the reason Dotson lost his confidence. I know some of you will twist these to say Loyd is the reason for it all somehow, but he isn't! Yes, we all know Loyd isn't near as good as Artis, Artis is a special talent that we are lucky to have at Oregon, but Loyd isn't just throwing the ball at the other team and telling his teammates to play with no confidence, some of you make it sound as if Loyd is almost doing that.

I agree with a lot of this post, but Loyd is supposed to set the tone for the offense. His job is to put players in a position to succeed, and he has let the shot-clock drain without getting the offense in good form. Now, I totally agree that there are players on this team that have failed to step up. In the two close losses, Oregon was in-control of both games, and no-one found a way to win the game. Seniors like Singler need to get everyone's nerves in-check, and many times the Seniors were making the big mistakes.

I guess my point is that I agree that Loyd playing in a role not suited for him has forced the offense to go stagnant for ridiculously long periods of time...but there's enough blame to go around for other guys not stepping up. Thankfully, Oregon found a way to win versus Utah, and has a shot to put this losing streak behind them.

Also, Artis is going to the doctor on Monday and could be cleared to play versus UW. If he is cleared, don't expect him to go back to the normal amount of minutes right away. He will be eased into the rotation, and Altman really wants to avoid making Artis' foot problem worse. They aren't about to jeopardize Artis' future for this season, which is obviously very smart.

Loyd is definitely a part of the problem, mostly because before we were playing with Artis, now we aren't and Artis is way better. Loyd has struggled setting the rhythm on offense at times, and I will blame part of the problem, but like you said, the blame should go all around. In the 1st half against Utah, Loyd was nowhere near being the only problem or main problem. I saw players being lazy and literally standing on offense. I saw one possession where nobody moved for literally about 10 seconds, I don't know if I even saw that under Ernie. The sad thing was, it's not like Utah's defense was outstanding, it was Oregon's players being lazy. On one possession Woods got the ball with great positioning, but he was instantly doubled, and this left Dotson wide open at the three pont line, where he did nothing. Dotson should've cut to the hoop helping out Woods and that would've led to an easy dunk for Dotson and easy assist for Woods. I saw this team do a much better job of moving without the ball in the 2nd half, and that was the difference. I think Altman may have realized the spread offense hasn't been working so he encouraged his team to play more aggressive and almost with a streetball style. It seemed Oregon's run yesterday consisted of a streetball style of play, I saw no design, maybe I missed it, but I saw no organized plays.

[UOducksTK1]

Today's stats for Jonathan "The Pariah" Loyd:

32 minutes
2/4 3-pointers (rest of team 2/12)
3 assists
0 turnovers!!!
1 blocked shot for a 5'7" guy (that's more than Woods, Carter and Austin, combined)
and oh, yes 1/4 free throws (OMG!!! He's horrible! Pull his scholarship!)

Do you see him run the offense? I was at the game. He dribbles for 5 seconds. Passes to the wing. Get it back, dribbles for 5 seconds. Shot clock is down to 10 or 15 seconds, and we have to either settle for an outside shot or force passes. While Loyd didn't have any turnovers, a lot of turnovers are forced to his terrible job of game/time managing.

Kid is not a PG period. He plays hard, and he at least didn't make a whole lot of mistakes this games. But he is one of the biggest reasons our offense gets sapped each possession.

Cannot wait for Artis to get back. I've been to about 10 basketball games in my life. That was one of the ugliest games I've ever been to in person. Loyd just does better off the bench.

Before anyone freaks out that I'm bashing Loyd, just stating my observations as unbiased as possible. Artis did a much better job of managing the team.

[UOducksTK1]

But glad we won at least.

[TheMaehlMan]

Loyd is definitely a part of the problem, mostly because before we were playing with Artis, now we aren't and Artis is way better. Loyd has struggled setting the rhythm on offense at times, and I will blame part of the problem, but like you said, the blame should go all around. In the 1st half against Utah, Loyd was nowhere near being the only problem or main problem. I saw players being lazy and literally standing on offense. I saw one possession where nobody moved for literally about 10 seconds, I don't know if I even saw that under Ernie. The sad thing was, it's not like Utah's defense was outstanding, it was Oregon's players being lazy. On one possession Woods got the ball with great positioning, but he was instantly doubled, and this left Dotson wide open at the three pont line, where he did nothing. Dotson should've cut to the hoop helping out Woods and that would've led to an easy dunk for Dotson and easy assist for Woods. I saw this team do a much better job of moving without the ball in the 2nd half, and that was the difference. I think Altman may have realized the spread offense hasn't been working so he encouraged his team to play more aggressive and almost with a streetball style. It seemed Oregon's run yesterday consisted of a streetball style of play, I saw no design, maybe I missed it, but I saw no organized plays.

Street ball is more like giving a guy the ball on the perimeter and telling him to go make something happen, and that's not how Oregon got back into the game. Oregon dominated the boards, and opened up scoring opportunities by increasing the pace of the game. The pressure defense forced Utah to not use most of the shot-clock to slow the game down, and that was a great half-time adjustment. I expect Altman will try to increase the pace of the game through this tactic with Loyd as the primary PG. He does much better when he isn't asked to run a half-court offense consistently, but that doesn't make it street ball. What Loyd can do to help the offense in half-court situations is ask for picks and try to find openings that way. Loyd has been waiting too long to initiate the offense, and that's why we kept on getting bad shots and turnovers late in the shot-clock. It also didn't help that the refs were calling fouls on just about any contact. That meant that setting picks was not as easy as it should have been.

As for whether the players were lazy, I don't agree with that. These guys aren't great at putting the ball on the floor to get their own shot, and Loyd doesn't command respect from defenders which limits the opportunities for Singler, Emory, and Dotson. Oregon's half-court offense isn't pretty right now, and I do think that once Artis returns that he could improve this part of the game. He isn't perfect by any means, but he is a legitimate scoring threat that helps open up opportunities for guys like Emory, Singler, and Dotson. None of these guys can consistently put the ball on the floor and get their own shot, so having a guy like Artis that can force the defense to crash on them makes the offense much more effective. My biggest mistake in analyzing the loss of Artis was not understanding that Loyd was not capable of doing this. He is very good at playing in an uptempo game where we get out in transition, but the defense doesn't respect him enough to open up opportunities for Singler, Emory, and Dotson.

[MFRDuckFan]

I do have to say that Ernie sure was better during this game as in being more supportive of the Duck losses and not being so critical. I appreciated his empathy, especially for Altman saying how he needed to set aside his coaching hat and be more of a psychologist of sorts in order to get these boys out of their slump. Lack of confidence is what he said and he was absolutely right.