True Test Begins As Pac-12 Play Dawns
12/28/17 | Men's Basketball, @GoDucksMoseley
The Oregon men host Utah on Friday in Matthew Knight Arena (7:15 p.m., FS1).
EUGENE, Ore. — Through almost no fault of their own, the Oregon men's basketball team enters the start of Pac-12 play with a target on their collective backs.
A year after Dillon Brooks, Jordan Bell, Tyler Dorsey and Chris Boucher helped the Ducks win a share of the conference title, that quartet is off competing for NBA roster spots and minutes. Left in their stead is a roster led by sophomore point guard Payton Pritchard, surrounded by a fresh cast of supporting players who know they'll be the hunted to a certain extent this conference season, which kicks off Friday when the Ducks host Utah in Matthew Knight Arena (7:15 p.m. PT, FS1).
"We've got to understand that we've got to come out and play our best basketball, every game," graduate transfer MiKyle McIntosh said this week.
The Ducks (10-3) didn't always do that in the nonconference season. Against their toughest competition, at the PK80 Invitational, the UO men went 1-2, their only win in overtime. They saw their 46-game home win streak end on a halfcourt buzzer-beater against Boise State.
But Oregon also finished nonconference play on a five-game win streak that included an encouraging road win, at Fresno State. This rebuilt roster knew it would face some growing pains. Now, the Ducks hope it's their time to shine.
"I think we're ready," said the team's other graduate transfer, guard Elijah Brown. "We're hungry. We've been working pretty hard in practice, trying to do the things coach is telling us to do. We know it's up for grabs; all we have to do is just do our jobs."
When they take the court Friday against the Utes (8-3), the Ducks will end an eight-day layoff since their win over Central Arkansas. UO coach Dana Altman gave his players four days off for the holidays, and had them reconvene for a Christmas night practice that he said was a bit ragged.
But Oregon was sharper as the week wore on, Altman said. The Ducks had established some momentum late in the nonconference slate, and now have a chance to keep it rolling for the start of Pac-12 play.
"We didn't play well in some of the bigger games we had, and I was disappointed there," Altman said. "Now, gotta be better. There's nothing we can do about the 13 games we've played; all we can focus now is on the conference, and see how well we can play."
Conference play dawns for the Pac-12 after a thoroughly intriguing nonconference season. Traditional power Arizona fell flat out of the gates, but has fought back to a No. 17 national ranking. Arizona State is one of just three unbeaten teams left in the country; the Sun Devils, Colorado, WSU and USC all won preseason tournaments, and ASU also has one of four wins by Pac-12 teams over top-10 foes, having beaten then-No. 2 Kansas. Washington also beat Kansas, UCLA beat Kentucky and Arizona beat Texas A&M.
"I think everybody's starting to play a little bit," Altman said, noting that the Pac-12 lost a league-record 14 players to the 2017 NBA draft, including Brooks, Bell and Dorsey from Oregon. "You lose as many players as we did to the draft last year, you're gonna start out a little slow; guys are gonna build up a little bit."
Utah won four straight before an uneven finish to conference play, going 4-3 with wins over Ole Miss and Utah State and losses at Butler and BYU. The Utes are the only Pac-12 team holding opponents under 70 points per game, at 67.9, helped by the conference-leading three-point defense of 29.1 percent.
Altman expects the Ducks to see a heavy dose of Utah post David Collette, who averages 13.5 points and shoots 58.8 percent.
"They start every ballgame throwing it in there," he said.
Oregon's post defense figures to be without Paul White again while he rehabs from concussion symptoms. The Ducks have gotten a boost of late from freshman Kenny Wooten, who has them leading the Pac-12 in field-goal defense and rebound margin entering the start of conference play.
Reserving judgment until the team has a few conference games under its belt, Altman continues to harp on Oregon's physicality on the boards and defensive communication, along with the Ducks' ball movement offensively. He also wants to see the UO men hold serve at home, despite the loss of the home winning streak on Dec. 1.
"If you're gonna have a good conference season, you've gotta take care of business at home," Altman said. "We've done a decent job of that the last few years. So hopefully Friday night we can get it kicked off here at home."
A year after Dillon Brooks, Jordan Bell, Tyler Dorsey and Chris Boucher helped the Ducks win a share of the conference title, that quartet is off competing for NBA roster spots and minutes. Left in their stead is a roster led by sophomore point guard Payton Pritchard, surrounded by a fresh cast of supporting players who know they'll be the hunted to a certain extent this conference season, which kicks off Friday when the Ducks host Utah in Matthew Knight Arena (7:15 p.m. PT, FS1).
"We've got to understand that we've got to come out and play our best basketball, every game," graduate transfer MiKyle McIntosh said this week.
The Ducks (10-3) didn't always do that in the nonconference season. Against their toughest competition, at the PK80 Invitational, the UO men went 1-2, their only win in overtime. They saw their 46-game home win streak end on a halfcourt buzzer-beater against Boise State.
But Oregon also finished nonconference play on a five-game win streak that included an encouraging road win, at Fresno State. This rebuilt roster knew it would face some growing pains. Now, the Ducks hope it's their time to shine.
"I think we're ready," said the team's other graduate transfer, guard Elijah Brown. "We're hungry. We've been working pretty hard in practice, trying to do the things coach is telling us to do. We know it's up for grabs; all we have to do is just do our jobs."
When they take the court Friday against the Utes (8-3), the Ducks will end an eight-day layoff since their win over Central Arkansas. UO coach Dana Altman gave his players four days off for the holidays, and had them reconvene for a Christmas night practice that he said was a bit ragged.
But Oregon was sharper as the week wore on, Altman said. The Ducks had established some momentum late in the nonconference slate, and now have a chance to keep it rolling for the start of Pac-12 play.
"We didn't play well in some of the bigger games we had, and I was disappointed there," Altman said. "Now, gotta be better. There's nothing we can do about the 13 games we've played; all we can focus now is on the conference, and see how well we can play."
Conference play dawns for the Pac-12 after a thoroughly intriguing nonconference season. Traditional power Arizona fell flat out of the gates, but has fought back to a No. 17 national ranking. Arizona State is one of just three unbeaten teams left in the country; the Sun Devils, Colorado, WSU and USC all won preseason tournaments, and ASU also has one of four wins by Pac-12 teams over top-10 foes, having beaten then-No. 2 Kansas. Washington also beat Kansas, UCLA beat Kentucky and Arizona beat Texas A&M.
"I think everybody's starting to play a little bit," Altman said, noting that the Pac-12 lost a league-record 14 players to the 2017 NBA draft, including Brooks, Bell and Dorsey from Oregon. "You lose as many players as we did to the draft last year, you're gonna start out a little slow; guys are gonna build up a little bit."
Utah won four straight before an uneven finish to conference play, going 4-3 with wins over Ole Miss and Utah State and losses at Butler and BYU. The Utes are the only Pac-12 team holding opponents under 70 points per game, at 67.9, helped by the conference-leading three-point defense of 29.1 percent.
Altman expects the Ducks to see a heavy dose of Utah post David Collette, who averages 13.5 points and shoots 58.8 percent.
"They start every ballgame throwing it in there," he said.
Oregon's post defense figures to be without Paul White again while he rehabs from concussion symptoms. The Ducks have gotten a boost of late from freshman Kenny Wooten, who has them leading the Pac-12 in field-goal defense and rebound margin entering the start of conference play.
Reserving judgment until the team has a few conference games under its belt, Altman continues to harp on Oregon's physicality on the boards and defensive communication, along with the Ducks' ball movement offensively. He also wants to see the UO men hold serve at home, despite the loss of the home winning streak on Dec. 1.
"If you're gonna have a good conference season, you've gotta take care of business at home," Altman said. "We've done a decent job of that the last few years. So hopefully Friday night we can get it kicked off here at home."
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