2012 » ers in basically every season of his career. He passes bett

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Dillon Brooks made the most of his first start of the season.Brooks had 20 points, including 16 in the second half, and the No. 22 Oregon Ducks extended their winning streak to eight games with an 83-63 victory over UNLV on Saturday night at Portlands Moda Center.I think that set the tone from the jump, said Jordan Bell, who finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Obviously you could see from the start we had a lot of energy. Thats what he does, he brings a lot of energy. So having him back starting really helps.Tyler Dorsey added 18 points for Oregon (10-2), which led by 23 points in the second half. The Ducks have held 11 straight opponents under 70 points.Jovan Mooring led the Rebels (6-5) with 20 points. Tyrell Green added 18 points and eight rebounds.Oregon was without leading scorer Chris Boucher, who was on crutches and wearing a boot on his right foot on the Ducks bench.Boucher played in Oregons 81-67 victory at home over Montana on Tuesday night, scoring 23 points with 19 rebounds. He was a rebound short of becoming the Ducks first player since 1977 with 20 or more points and rebounds.Boucher, a 6-foot-10 senior, is averaging 14.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game for Oregon this season. He ranks 10th nationally in blocks.Oregon coach Dana Altman said Boucher hurt his ankle in practice, and likely wont play on Tuesday against Fresno State, resting up for the conference season. Oregon opens Pac-12 play with No. 2 UCLA on Dec. 28.It was different, Bell said about playing without Boucher. Obviously everybody had to step up and rebound, do all the things he can do. I knew I had to get more rebounds than I usually do.Bouchers absence made way for Brooks first start. Brooks has played off the bench since returning from offseason foot surgery.Brooks was key to Oregons success last season, when the team won a school-record 31 games while claiming the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament titles. The Ducks earned a first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to Elite Eight for the first time since 2007.The Ducks led by as many as 11 points in the first half. The Rebels closed within 34-29 late after Tyrell Greens layup, but Oregons Tyler Dorsey answered with a 3-pointer.Green hit a 3-pointer for UNLV to narrow it to 37-33 at the break. Green led all scorers with 15 points in the half.Oregon went on a 10-run to open the first half, capped by Payton Pritchards 3-pointer, as the game started to get away from UNLV. The Ducks stretched the lead to 55-36 on Dorseys layup.Mooring said Oregon switched up its defense in the second half, and the Rebels were unprepared.They did all the little things right in the second half, he said.BIG PICTUREUNLV: The Rebels are in the midst of a tough stretch where theyll face three ranked teams. They lost at No. 5 Duke 94-45 last Saturday and theyll host No. 3 Kansas on Thursday. ... The Rebels are playing their first season under coach Marvin Menzies, hired after Chris Beard left the job after only a week in March to become head coach at Texas Tech.Oregon: With Oregons women ranked No. 25 this past week, it is the first time both the Ducks men and women are ranked since January 1995. The womens team played in the early game Saturday night, defeating Portland State 90-46. ... Oregon has been ranked in the Top 25 for 14 straight weeks dating to last season.LOCAL KID: Payton Pritchard drew cheers from the Portland crowd when he hit the Ducks first basket of the night, a 3-pointer. The 6-foot-2 freshman point guard played for West Linn High School just south of Portland. Hes played at the Moda Center before, when West Linn defeated Sheldon in the 2014 Class 6A state championship game.UP NEXTUNLV: The Runnin Rebels return home to face Southern Illinois on Monday.Oregon: The Ducks host Fresno State on Tuesday, the teams final nonconference game before Pac-12 play starts.Wholesale Custom Packers Shirts . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Rashan Gary Jersey Large .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. http://www.custompackersjersey.com/ . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. Custom Packers Jerseys . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end. Cheap Packers Jerseys . - Levi Browns tenure at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers is over before it even began.Despite the continuing story about the return of the Lakers, the LA Clippers are still the best team in Southern California -- and the best team in the NBA outside of Northern California.The Clippers (14-2) rank second in ESPNs Basketball Power Index?and?are the only team in BPIs top five offenses and defenses, and Chris Paul is having an MVP-caliber season. Paul leads the NBA in real plus-minus?and is more than two points ahead of second-place James Harden.But there is a scandal brewing that might cost the Clippers their chance at a championship -- and its name is Austin Rivers.Rivers is, by minutes per game, the second guy off the Clippers bench, but there is little evidence that he does much of anything well enough on the court to warrant being on the roster. Rivers is a guard who ranks ninth on his own team in 3-point shooting percentage, among players averaging at least one 3-point attempt a game. (Center Marreese Speights is currently hitting 3s at a higher rate.) He does not pass the ball well (his assist rate of 13.6 percent ranks 80th in the league), he ranks eighth on the Clippers in steals per 100 possessions and is the only player on the team to log more than 100 minutes with a negative box plus-minus rating on both offense and defense.Shall we go on? OK, in real plus-minus, Rivers ranks 60th among just the point guards. RPM suggests Rivers is being outplaayed by such luminaries as Jonathan Gibson and Malcolm Delaney.dddddddddddd.Advanced stats are not everything, of course, and we have not measured all aspects of what a player can contribute to his team. But we have measured a lot and there is simply no evidence that Rivers has earned a prominent role on a team that wants to challenge for a championship.The response here is about the Clippers options. Maybe Rivers was the best they could get? Nope. Rivers signed a deal in July that pays him $11 million this season (fifth-highest on the team), yet the Clippers could sign Jarrett Jack today (likely for a lot less than $11 million) and improve in every statistic mentioned above. Jack has better numbers than Rivers in basically every season of his career. He passes better, shoots better, plays better defense and, given that he made $6.3 million last year, would absolutely provide better value.Signing Jack is not the Clippers only option, or likely even their best option, but he is clearly a better option than Rivers. If coach Doc Rivers does not come to grips with that basic fact regarding his sons play, the Clippers will fall short again and waste another brilliant season from Chris Paul.For more analytics content, head to ESPN.com/analytics. ' ' '