http://www.yardbarker.com/content/team/1228 Recent articles about the Oregon State Beavers en-us Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:46:53 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/323319 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/323319 To be honest, 5 thoughts is going to be tough. I mean, 5? That's 5 more wins than the Beavs have in conference (BA-ZING!) Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:04:43 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/158630 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/158630 Oregon State may want to focus on winning games before talking any trash Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:13:04 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/154600 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/154600 Ohio State and Florida have recently offered 2008 center prospect Festus Ezeli. He currently is attending a Community College in California and will decide if he will go to prep school or to a D1 college. Festus holds offers from UCLA, California, West Virginia, Florida, Ohio State, and a few others. Sun, 29 Jul 2007 01:21:47 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/21345 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/21345 On the heels of a disappointing season that culminated in a 70-51 loss to Cal in the first round of the Pac-10 tournament, the Oregon State Beavers look to build on a season of frustration and despair, a season that ended tying the school record with 21 losses. "The memory of this season should be a driving force for us to excel next season and pushing harder than we ever have in order to come out victorious for next year," said Beaver guard Angelo Tsagarakis. Playing in a tough Pac-10 conference that sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament, the Beavers ended the season with three conference victories, two against a lowly Arizona State team, and one a late season home win against Washington, a team that later went on to defeat #3 UCLA to end the season. "The first thing that we can take from this season is the deep feeling of failure and frustration that no player wants to go through in their career," said Tsagarakis. OSU critics say that the Beavers aren't that far away, reminiscing of last year's Washington State team that lost 17 games and were a substantially young team ending the season. This year the Cougars turned things around, ending the season second in the Pac-10 and tying the school record with 25 wins. "We learned a lot about our guys," said forward Marcel Jones. "I don't think we ever stopped fighting, but you never want to have a season like that." "I know the guys know that Washington State turned it around, and we know that we are capable of the same thing," said Jones. Next year's team will have a bit of a different look, losing Seniors Kyle Jeffers, the team's leader in rebounding, and Michael Johnson, a defensive role player that usually came off the bench. Junior forward Sasa Cuic has also hinted at leaving the program. The Beavers, however, will add Junior C.J. Giles, a four-star transfer from Kansas who will have a big role in the OSU offense. "The future is always great for us because we have young guys," said Jones. "We'll see with C.J. coming in and the freshman class coming in. We'll see how everybody responds." Heading into an off season of strength and conditioning, the Beavers look to build on a season in which eight losses were decided by five points or less. "This season, we had a lot of games where we were close at halftime," said freshman forward Roeland Schaftenaar. "And we couldn't finish the game in the second half. That was our major problem, but it should be a lot better next year with more experience." Marcel Jones, in his junior year, emerged as the go-to guy in the Beaver offense, leading the team with 15 points per game, including a career conference high of 29 points in a three point loss to Cal early in the schedule, and 21 in the opening round loss of the Pac-10 tournament. Heading into his senior season, Jones looks to come back stronger in a key role for the Beavers. "Obviously it is a team sport," he said. "We need effort from everybody. Hopefully I can improve my game over the Summer, fine-tune some things, and come back stronger for next season." Head coach Jay John has scheduled a six game schedule in Italy to play against club teams in August, an opportunity for the Beavers to build some team chemistry before the regular season begins. "We have a mini season there," said John. "Those are 6 opportunities for the team to get together with a competitive situation with consequences for not playing hard." "I think we definitely have the talent to do big things next year," added Tsagarakis. "If we win the games we lost by three points, the one or two possession games that truly hurt our record at the end of the year, it could be a different season, and after that, after we build up confidence, greater things and better things can happen." Wed, 06 Jun 2007 23:00:01 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/15561 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/15561 Last Saturday, with 1.4 seconds to play, the Oregon State Beavers were looking to shock the Cal Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion. They inbounded the ball to Angelo Tsagarakis, who launched a deep three to tie the game and force overtime. Unfortunately, the Beavers went on to lose the game, 84 to 80. "It has a very sour taste," explained Tsagarakis. "It's one of those shots you wish could be talked about for a long time as being a game winner or something that helped us win." Big three point shots, however, are nothing new to Tsagarakis, who broke the school record his Freshman year with 45 three-point field goals, but things haven't been all that Angelo expected going into the season. "The season was kind of up and down for me especially coming in with back spasms," he explained. "The back spasms slowed me down, they didn't help me to be 100% and I had to fight through that, spending endless hours in training rooms, trying to be up for practice, and be able to sustain full practice, be able to play." Born and raised in France, Angelo grew up idolizing such NBA greats as Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd, and Gary Payton. As a Senior in high school, he compared his ability to that of NBA legend Reggie Miller. Once a highly recruited guard from Casa Grande High School in Petaluma, California, and teammate of fellow Beaver Kyle Jeffers, Angelo led the Gauchos with 23 points his senior year as the team captain, and was named Sonoma County League MVP. Before coming to Corvallis, Tsagarakis played on the French Under-20 National Team, averaging 14 points per game in the European Championship qualifiers, as well as participating in the French Nike Camp, while earning the MVP in 1999. "The thing about Angelo is he has amazing body control. He can take a Kobe Bryant-type fadeaway, but he's always square to the basket. He's also got a real quick release. There's so many ways he can score I'm not sure how you defend him. I'm glad I don't have to worry about it," said Angelo's high school coach, Chris Russotti. Angelo was forced to sit out his Sophomore year after dislocating his right shoulder before the beginning of the year, which resulted in surgery and a red shirt season. Coming into his junior year, the French phenom looked to showcase his shooting talents and land a key role on the Beavers basketball team, possibly scoring valuable playing time. However, beginning the season on a cold streak, Angelo looked to quickly turn things around. "I was in a shooting slump at the beginning of the season, and I came out of it. I think it was a positive for me to come back from that bad start when I was 1 for 16 and come back and be closer to 45 or 46 percent." Tsagarakis' luck finally changed four games into the season when the Beavers got blown out at home by Nevada. Angelo led the Beavers with 11 points in 16 minutes while coming off the bench. "The thing that Angelo is able to do that not very many people can do is come off the bench and be ready to shoot right away," said Beaver coach Jay John. "Not everyone is capable of doing that." This being his junior season, Angelo averages three points while logging 10 minutes per game, and a 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. "This is what sports are about. It's about battling through bad times and still fighting to come back and keep improving and competing," Tsagarakis said. Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:58:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/15558 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/15558 Four months ago, about two weeks into the season, Beaver forward Marcel Jones fueled a 69-67 victory over Northern Colorado with a career high 35 points, while high school teammate Wesley Washington won the game with a jump shot with 7.9 seconds left. Today, Jones is leading the Beavers with over 16 points per game, good for fifth in the Pac-10, and has scored in double digits in 13 conference games, including 26 at Arizona. "He's the leading scorer on our team," said Beaver guard Josh Tarver. "So times when he's hot, you have to get him the ball. He scores in bunches, so when he's hot, get him the ball." As a Freshman, playing time was limited for Jones, playing behind Seniors David Lucas and Nick DeWitz, but as a Sophomore, he improved to nine points per game and led the team in rebounding with seven per game and was awarded the Jim Anderson award for most improved player. "Being an older guy, being in the system a couple years I know the in's and the out's," said Jones. "And it's always good because when I was younger I had to look up to somebody so it's a good feeling for somebody when they're young to look up to you." He might win that award again this year, as he leads the team in scoring and is second in rebounds with six per game. Easily the go to guy as of late, Jones led the Beavers with 16 points and 3 of 5 shooting from beyond the arc in a four point loss to Washington State last week. "He's pretty much the go-to guy," said Tarver. "And scoring the way he scores, you have to give him the ball because the times when we have a drought, he's the only guy that can score." Jones' go-to guy status isn't a new thing. He led Mater Dei High School with 20 points per game, while adding 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Beaver and high school teammate Wesley Washington added 16 points per game and both led Mater Dei to the State Title. "We had a lot of Division-1 athletes, so obviously you could imagine some of the egos," said Jones. "But we tried to keep it sane and I was one of the one's that had to keep a level head." When Marcel was a kid, his father, actor Michael Jones, took Marcel to audition for a part in the movie "Stripes." While he didn't get the part, he later appeared in "The Princess Diaries," and "Big Momma's House," as well as Disney's "Even Stevens." "A while back, just had to venture out and do some different stuff, had to have fun as a kid," Marcel said. And now as a Junior at Oregon State, has stepped up and taken the leadership role for a young Beaver team that has had a rocky season. "I have been pleased with Marcel throughout the season in that he has come to play," said Beaver coach Jay John. "And people are coming at him and he is still in the top ten in scoring in the Pac-10" "I'm a natural leader, I think," adds Jones. "I lead by example, not just by talking." Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:57:37 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/15557 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/15557 The Beavers gave up a 34-2 run to the Cal Bears. Our question? Did they even have 5 players on the floor? They couldn't have possibly had more than 3 right? Thu, 08 Mar 2007 07:11:48 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10940 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10940 The woeful season that has been California basketball took a positive turn on Thursday, as the Golden Bears defeated #15 Oregon 63-61 at Haas Pavilion. This marks the fourth straight loss for star guard Aaron Brooks at Haas, and the Ducks seem to go as Brooks does. The star point guard struggled again, scoring only 12 points on 5-12 shooting. The Bears got their usual contribution from Ryan Anderson, 18 points, but a surprise effort by freshman Patrick Christopher off the bench, who added 16 points. Senior leader Ayinde Ubaka struggled again, scoring only 6 points on 2-9 shooting, but did have a team high 12 rebounds. Today the Bears take on Oregon St, while Oregon tries to recover at Stanfurd. What's your take on these games? Are the Ducks free falling into the tournament? Are they at risk of not making the tourney? Sat, 17 Feb 2007 21:50:13 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10166 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10166 The No. 5 ranked Bruins played like they should be the No. 1 team in the nation as they continued to take out their aggression from their loss to Stanford on other opponents. This time their victim was Oregon State. The Bruins came out firing on all cylinders and used a 11-2 run at the beginning to fuel a 82-35 rout. Look out Pac-10, the Bruins are angry, and looking to take it out on you. Mon, 05 Feb 2007 02:28:40 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/9528 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/9528 Can the young Huskies build on the success of defeating Oregon (although without POY candidate Aaron Brooks)? That seems to be the question, as the Huskies dropped to the bottom of the Pac-10 after being a pre-season favorite and national title contender. Meanwhile, the Beavers suck again, and it seems that especially this year they are overmatched every game. A victory today would really help the Beavers get their season rolling, but I don't see it happening. Sat, 27 Jan 2007 22:56:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/9070 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/9070 By now it's nothing new, the best basketball in the country is being played in the Pacific-10 Conference. And this weekend Pullman, Wash., will be at center stage. The Cougs, now ranked 18th in the nation, are set to host Oregon State tonight and No. 7 Oregon on Saturday. Both games will be played at WAZZU's Friel Court and tipoff at 7 p.m. (PST). Saturday's game against the Ducks will be televised locally on Fox Sports Net. Oregon (18-1 overall, 6-1 Pac-10) is currently tied for first in Pac-10 standings while the Cougs (17-3, 5-2) are sitting in third. Things may change a little after this weekend, however. Go Cougs. Thu, 25 Jan 2007 22:22:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/8961 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/8961 UCLA still the team to beat in the Pac-10, but Oregon, Washington St., Arizona and USC are all title contendors. Stanford and Cal are good teams caught in the best conference; they will probably struggle. Washington is one of the most talented teams in the nation but are playing horrible basketball and sitting at the bottom of the Pac-10 with doldrums Oregon St and Arizona St. Fri, 19 Jan 2007 03:50:05 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/8618 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/8618