Originally posted on CampusAttic.com on December 19th, 2013
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| Oregon Ducks head coach Dana Altman has had a lot to applaud so far in 2013. (courtesy: NBCsports.com) |
Just
how good could the 2013-14 Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team be? At 10-0, so
far so good. In the past four years since Dana Altman took over the program
from Ernie Kent, Oregon has had to implement stop-gap measures to fill the
roster, surviving on transfers to replace the constant departures from the
program.
At times it has felt like a tale of two seasons, as the team that starts the
year barely resembles the squad that finishes it, with late additions to
balance out players leaving. Familiar faces returned for the first time this
year on Tuesday, when Dominic Artis and Ben Carter returned from a nine-game
suspension, and in the near future yet more help could be on the way.
Somehow,
Altman has made it work. From the first recruit Altman ever signed, Johnathan
Loyd — now a senior, to the masterful use of the graduate transfer rule that
has allowed single-year stars to emerge like Devoe Joseph and Arsalan Kazemi,
Altman and company have managed to find a way to keep the train on the tracks
when so much could have gone wrong amidst a very fluid roster.
Every
year Oregon has improved on the previous season under Coach Altman. First there
was the CBI championship in the inaugural season at Matthew Knight Arena, then
the NIT, then reaching the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament; but now Oregon
feels different. Before the Ducks were the overachieving up-and-comers, this
year, they have officially arrived as a true west coast contender.
At
10-0, Oregon is ranked 13th in the country, but easily playing at a top-10
level. It is the first 10-0 start for Oregon since the 2006-07 season, the last
time the Ducks reached the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament. Despite being
shorthanded due to the nine-game suspension of 2012 starting point guard
Dominic Artis and big man Ben Carter, Oregon in 2013 has not only reloaded but
grown stronger. Senior point guard Johnathan Loyd has expanded on his 2012-13
Pac-12 Tournament MVP performance to become an early season Pac-12 Player of
the Year candidate, while transfers Joseph Young and Jason Calliste have made
the Ducks one of the top scoring teams in the country.
Every
test has been passed so far, with the team surviving the Carter and Artis
suspensions with flying colors, to the point where concern was raised that the
return of the two sidelined Ducks this past Tuesday vs. UC-Irvine might
actually upset team chemistry. After a 91-63 win over a tough Anteater squad
that had beaten UW earlier in the year, that proved unfounded, but will reduced
minutes for some result in inconsistent play in the future?
Oregon hasn’t just reloaded like past years, but expanded the roster of an
already-proven-to-be-very-good team to an elite level. If this team had one
flaw, it was their size in the paint, a problem (hopefully) resolved with the
addition of Ben Carter, and with Dominic Artis back in the point guard rotation
it allows Loyd to bring even more energy to the floor. With one game done,
sharing the ball between Artis and Loyd doesn’t appear to be an issue.
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| Dominic Artis’ return to the lineup Tuesday should pay great dividends going forward. (courtesy: CSNNW.com) |
There
are many tests yet to come in a still very young season, the Pac-12 is as
stacked with talent as any conference in the country this year. Proving the best
team out west could perhaps come down to the last game of the year, when Oregon
hosts the #1 ranked Arizona Wildcats in March before the Pac-12 Tournament.
Joseph
Young, Jason Calliste, and Mike Moser are all capable scorers added to last
year’s leaders Dominic Artis and Damyean Dotson, while Artis and Loyd are both
extremely capable and proven point guards. The only thing that could be lacking
in this year’s version of the Ducks is a dominant rebounder/defender with the
loss of Arsalan Kazemi and Tony Woods from last year’s squad. So far Oregon has
been able to outrun and shoot past any inside presence hindrance, with so many
quality role players able to take over a game any shortcomings seem more than
possible to be overcome.
Scary
to think then that this Oregon team could actually still get deeper and
stronger. Come January, once the football season ends, several Oregon football
players may join the already deep basketball squad. Arik Armstead is a big body
who redshirted last season, but could add another post presence off the bench
backing up Carter and Waverly Austin.
Then
there is the matter of Tyrell and Tyree Robinson, freshmen on the football team
who have expressed interest in also playing basketball, and the possibility
that 2013 signee Jordan Bell, delayed in arrival due to a NCAA clearance issue,
is scheduled to enroll next term and could add even more depth, though he seems
a likely redshirt candidate.
That
brings the body count up to 19! 19 players on the Oregon roster — if Armstead,
the Robinson twins, and Bell all join Oregon for the winter 2014 term. For a
sport where teams rarely go deeper than a 10-man rotation, that’s tremendous
depth and talent to keep legs fresh, allowing Oregon to run and play press
defense, just the way Altman likes it.
It’s
an odd position for Altman to be in, who has had to scramble in the past just
to be able to fill a roster, now having too many athletes than he knows what to
do with. Only so many minutes to go around, so perhaps down the line the
plethora of talent may in fact become an issue as had been speculated prior to
the UC-Irvine game Tuesday, but if the positive results continue then
nitpicking over minutes may be the only flaw anyone can find.
Ask
the coach though, and there is always room for improvement. Altman has made it
known he expects better rebounding, more defensive intensity, better overall
effort…ya know, typical coach-speak. Yet with areas to improve, even Coach
Altman has to be smiling over the great start to the 2013-14 campaign.
Before
the 10-0 euphoria gets too big, however, it is important to remember that this
Oregon team has yet to prove they can consistently play well on the road. Seven
of the 10 wins have been in the friendly confines of Matt Knight Arena, with
one neutral site game in South Korea, one overtime win at Ole Miss, and a very
pro-Oregon “neutral site” game in Portland. The Ole Miss game in Oxford, MS
proved the most difficult matchup so far, and Oregon barely survived, so does
that show enough cause to be concerned for future road contests?
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| What size disadvantage? Oregon didn’t have a problem contending against UC-Irvine’s big men Tuesday. |
Dominant big man be damned, the other major concern for this year’s team, as
Oregon quickly neutralized UCI’s 7’6″
monstrosity, Mamadou Ndiaye. So far that concern has also proven unfounded, but
could an elite center or power forward be Oregon’s kryptonite come tournament
time? The jury is still out.
Oregon
next hosts BYU, once again playing at Matt Knight Arena, this Saturday at
7:30pm (Pac-12 Network). Another home game to follow vs. Morgan State wraps up
the 2013 portion of the season before the holiday break and Pac-12 play begins.
Come January the true tests begin, with road games at Utah and Colorado
commencing Pac-12 conference games. If Oregon proves they can win on the road
in the Pac-12, only then should realistic expectations be raised that Oregon
can and should exceed last year’s Pac-12 Tournament Championship and NCAA
Tournament Sweet 16 finish.
Consider
BYU and Morgan State the last opportunities to polish fundamentals, dust off
the rust on Artis and Carter, and solidify the team’s position as one of the
top contenders out west before conference play begins. BYU can’t be overlooked
though, at 8-4 the Cougars have suffered three losses to top-25 teams, while
holding wins over Texas and Stanford already on the young season. BYU is top-10
in the country in points, rebounds, and assists per game, a difficult opponent
that once again will go a ways in showing how well this deep Oregon lineup can
play together.
The
early tests have been passed, with many more yet to come. The legitimacy of
Oregon as a championship contender can’t be overlooked with the talent on the
roster and undefeated start, but it is still very premature to start dreaming
of nets being cut down.
Finding
consistency in the rotation, proving they can win on the road, surviving a
difficult Pac-12 schedule, defeating an able-bodied BYU, proving they can
overcome size disadvantages in the paint — these are the tests that still await
Altman’s Ducks. With the recent additions and more reinforcements on the way,
the Ducks just keep getting stronger. It’s a long season yet to come, but so
far so good.
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| Oregon Ducks celebrate their win over UC-Irvine Tuesday. The team next hosts BYU on Saturday. (courtesy: GoDucks.com) |
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