Bringing back "Sink the Tink" for Saturday.


Oregon State got 30 points from the charity stripe last night. I don't think that will happen against us. What I do worry about is Calloo. He's a legit 3 point threat. If I'm Tinkle I go small ball. Bench Silva and make Krutwig have to run Calloo off the line. Other than that I'm not super stressed. They seemed kinda sloppy at points. Lots of turnovers and undisciplined shots. Thompson is legit. He can get his 20 though, as long as we don't give them 30 from the foul line, and keep Calloo from having a big game I think there's a path to victory here.

It's wild that we're favorites in a sweet 16 game. Something to savor. It'll be interesting to see what lineups Porter and Tinkle cook up. Both seem like guys willing to use their whole bench. It's a bit hard for me to get a read on this. Oregon State has won based on guys stepping up and playing above a level most thought they had. Calloo had 15 in the first half and was quiet in the second. Who shows up? I think we can blow them out or it could be an absolute nail-biter, depending on how some of the OSU role players play.

I'll say this - I think we match up better against them than Oklahoma State. They were pretty undisciplined offensively (and defensively) but they were fast as hell and I'm not sure we could've stayed in front as much as we usually do.

ACC Champs -> BIG 10 Champs -> PAC 12 Champs?

Our guys are making the media rounds hard today. Porter on ESPN + several radio shows. Lucas and Custer also doing interviews.

Loyola has won all their postseason games by double digits. The last three of those games have been against tournament teams.

Ramblers should have a decided advantage in crowd on Saturday with no other team playing that day being from the midwest

I'm FULL OF... interesting tidbits today!

Oregon State was in the 1963 Final Four, along with Duke, Cincy and somebody else.

I wonder if Welch gets the minutes at backup C in this game to defend a mobile opponent

Great Krut interview on the Dan Patrick show today:
https://youtu.be/Sy5J-6y1xW4

I know it's not reasonable, but honestly, I'm a bit more worried about this game than I was against the Illini.

The Pac 12 is really, really good this year and the Beavers had to go through UCLA, Oregon and Colorado (they also have a win against USC) to win their tournament.

They've been on a hot streak and absolutely steam rolled Tennessee. The Beavers also handled a solid OSU team pretty comfortably. That game got a bit sloppy, with both teams shooting a combined 73 free throws. Wtf...?

Offensively, they can be prone to turnovers at times, but are an otherwise really good team. They have a very good inside-out game, quick guards, pass the ball unselfishly and aren't afraid to take threes. Definitely not a team that we want to fall behind early against because it will be hard to close the gap.

On the defensive side, they kind of remind me of our Ramblers. Super physical, high energy defense...they jam the paint well, pressure the ball, and seem to hedge well against screens. One area where we can probably take an advantage is that they can be prone to fouling.

Krutwig is going to have his hands full. Unlike the Illini, I don't think they're going to play him 1-1.

This is going to a really tough, gritty match-up. Our guys need to convert the open threes and win the free throw battle!

Someone else said Oregon State looks like an MVC team. I agree. They're a good squad but this is a style of play we're familiar with. They remind me of UNI last year a little bit. Like I said earlier, they're not going to get to shoot as many FTs as they did against Oklahoma State. They're bigger and stronger than us but I think we're more disciplined. Will they have the patience to grind for good shots possession after possession deep into the shot clock and then run back and chase cutters around Krutwig for 25 seconds? Oklahoma State bailed them out a lot last night with stupid fouls. We won't do the same.

2:40 ET start time on Saturday. First game of the weekend.

Watching the tournament in general and a little of Oregon State, these teams all seem undisciplined at times and so many rely on transition buckets. Illinois relies on transition and we held them to two points in transition and that is a big reason they struggled. This is why it is important for teams to be disciplined on offensive end of the floor. Nothing hurts you more than a quick shot taken out of the context of the offense because the rest of the team is not expecting it and are generally out of a position to either rebound or cover back on defense. I have seen so many quick and dumb shots by teams this tournament and the game just devolves into a track meet.

If we limit OSU transition, our half court defense will be fine.