The Phenom

[Wayne23]

11/30: 73-40. We took an early lead. Up by 13 with 99 to play in the 1st. Up by 21 at the half. Moby is looking a little rusty in the 1st half. Amazing D!

27, 7 for Baky, and he held his man scoreless without committing a single foul. He had 1 TO. The guy is unbelievable. Moby had a great 2nd half and wound up with 12 and 11. His man averaged 27 and was held to 8 and 6. 16, 5 for Sulu, 10, 7 for 6th man Car Mosh.

+19 RBs. We held them to 23.6%, 3-22 on threes.

+24 in the paint, +12 on 2nd chances.

At 3-3 Louisville next. A good program having a down year, at least so far. They work it inside and can score from there so our big guys will need to play good D. They've turned it over a lot so far.

[Wayne23]

12/3: 75-63. They scored the first 7 and stretched the lead to 10 quickly. We came back. Down 4 at the half. We turned it around in the 2nd half but the final was our biggest lead.

They double teamed Baky all night and held him to 22 and 6. As usual he completely shut down his man, 2, 4, 2. 18, 10 for Sulu.

+13 RBs. As usual we won it at the line, 20-27 to 8-13; the exact margin of victory.

4-2 Marquette comes to us next. Their PG and SF are their best players. We should own the boards and dominate inside. They take good care of the ball. But they haven't played anybody so they haven't been tested.

[Wayne23]

12/7: 90-74 but we led by as many as 33 in the 2nd half. We scored the first 8. Up 15 with 7 to play in the half. We lead by 13 at the half. This was a romp.

25, 11 for Sulu, who has been an excellent surprise all season long. We knew he was good but he's been more than good. Baky was doubled all night again but managed to score 22, with 5 RBs. 11, 9 for Moby, 14, 8 for 6th man Car Mosh.

+15 RBs, 10 TOs. We took 28 more shots and made 10 of them.

+36 in the paint, +21 on 2nd chances. We totally dominated inside as we expected to do.

The next one could be a challenge, #9 Cincinnati, 8-2, there. Another team with a good PG. They don't really have a big time scorer; they dish it to whoever is open. They play a really strong man to man. We'll need to be on our game for this one.

[Wayne23]

12/10: 87-64. Baky was blazing early. Up 10 with 8 to play in the first half. Up 23 at the break. We didn't get the challenge we expected, not any challenge at all.

Baky was a FORCE, 38 and 7. 11, 8 for Sulu.

+17 RBs. We shot 50%, 9-13 on threes.

#17 Indiana, 6-1 is here next. We feel like we're better at every position, but it's a road game against a ranked team so we'll need to earn it.

Red Butts, Portland Times: It's always a pleasure to talk about the Ducks. They are quacking to beat the band this season! As always with Coach Phee's teams they play tough D, they hit the boards, and they take care of the ball, but in addition to that, this year they have some powerful weapons. We'll talk about Marc Sulu, Key Moby, and the others in later columns. Today's focus is SG Derrick "Deke" Baky, who is nothing less than the best player in the country. He averages an amazing 29.3 despite usually being double teamed, and he dishes and rebounds. On top of that he plays incredible D. He is a joy to watch every single time he hits the court. He could very well lead the Ducks to their first national title.

[Wayne23]

12/14: 85-56. Up by 10 with 13 to go in the 1st half. Up 10 at the half. Another blowout.

Baky was held to a season low 19, 4, 3 by a very effective double team. His man had no points. 13, 8, 4 for Palt, 12, 5 for Sulu, 17, 7 for Mosh.

+5 RBs, 11 TOs. We held them to 35.2%, 3-13 on threes.

+10 in the paint, +10 on the fast break.

Car Mosh strained some abdominals and is out for 2 weeks. Eric Moss gets his minutes.

A week off then #6 Kona, 9-1, is here. Their SG averages 25.1, but he hasn't faced a defender like Baky. They're a good team.

[Wayne23]

12/21: 109-88. They stayed close. Up 3 at the half. An absolutely wild one. We took charge in the 2nd half.

31, 4, 4 for Baky. His man had 17, but averaged 25. 18, 12 for Sulu, 18, 3 for Palt. 11, 6, 3 for Nash, who usually doesn't score much but does everything else well.

+11 RBs, 7 TOs.

We shot 53.7%, 50% on threes. They shot 50.8%. This was an old fashioned shoot out and we had the bigger guns!

At 6-5 Georgetown next. We think they're better than their record, so we're taking this one seriously.

Lu and I are really getting along well. Her team is 10-1, and ranked #5. We do a lot of hoops related stuff of course, but we take a break and watch a video, go out to eat, and things like that. We try to catch all of the shows and concerts on campus. We can't always because of our crazy schedules but when we can, we go.

[Wayne23]

12/24: 77-87. Close early. Then they took the lead. Down 1 at the half. I guess it had to happen eventually. Fouls did us in. Palt fouled out, Moby was limited to 15 minutes, and Sulu was limited to 7. I took a T at the end but it didn't matter.

30, 8, 4 for Baky, who held his man to 4. Nobody else did much.

-2 RBs, 1 less TO. We took 7 more shots but made 1 less. A bad night. Time to move on.

8-3 North Carolina here next. A great program having a down year, or at least a somewhat down year, they're not ranked. We think we're better and we think we can turn them over often.

[Wayne23]

12/28: 102-78. We score the first 9. Up by 21 10 minutes in. Up 22 at the break. BIG game for Baky! I guess we get mad when we lose. We were very focused tonight.

45, and 4 for Baky. 14, 7 for Sulu.

+8 RBs, 11 TOs. We shot 54.2%, 11-23 on threes. +26 in the paint.

Both Moby and Palt fouled out, as did #3 guard Jonn. Not good. We work on disciplined D but we don't always get it.
Mosh is back from the injury.

1/1/2030: We're 13-1, #1, NET #1.

#4 Overall NET, #1 Off. NET, only #52 on Def. Net. #1 in PPG, #2 in RBs, #12 in free throw pct., which is great!

+18.4 PPG, +9.7 RBs, -4.4 TOs.

Baky leads us with 29.9 PPG, #1 in the nation by 2.5. Sulu is 2nd with 15.4, and 1st in RBs with 7.9. No one else scores more than 8.9. Moby is 2nd in RBs with 6.9.

No one turns it over more than 1.6 times per game. Nash gets 6.9 assists, tied for 1st in the nation.

11-2 Cal is here to start PAC 12 play. They rebound well but we think we can turn them over.

Only 2 PAC 12 teams are ranked other than us, Arizona at #12, Stanford at #22.

[Wayne23]

1/4: 94-69. Up 10 with 8 left in the 1st. Up 17 at the half. An other blowout.

Baky had another one of those games, 41 and 6, and held his man scoreless. 8, 12, 3 for Moby, 12, 4 for Sulu.

+10 RBs, 10 TOs.

We took 26 more shots and made 13 of them. +16 in the paint, +14 2nd chance.

Next up is 8-4 Washington, here. They play good D but we don't think it will be good enough to shut us down.

Red Butts, Portland Times: The Ducks continue to play outstanding ball. After their one and only slip up, with Georgetown they have blown out their last two opponents and they look ready to own the PAC 12. Deke Baky continues to set the hoops world on fire averaging a nation leading 30.6. Point Guard Evan Nash leads the nation with 7.2 assists. This is quite the team, and it looks like it's going to be a long ride, maybe all the way!

[Wayne23]

1/7: 91-66. Early lead. Up 20 at the half. Another easy win. We haven't played the better teams in the conf. yet.

24, 6, 6, 3 steals for Baky, 20, 4 for Sulu, 12, 8 for Moby.

8 TOs. We shot 51.5% to their 39.7%.

At 11-3, 1-1 Washington ST next. Their SF can score and they take care of the ball but we're better at every position.

The women still have only one loss, 14-1. They're #3 in the nation.