Oregon Ducks
Pac-12 (25-9, 15-6)
It was a pretty rough start to the season for Oregon. At the time, the Ducks lost every big non-conference game, against Michigan, VCU and Ole Miss. They did beat Illinois, which turned out to be a quality win later. And in conference play they were sitting at 2-3 in the middle of January. But Coach Dana Altman’s team started to play better defense and string together quite a few wins.
Big Wins: 1/24 UCLA (82-64), 2/22 Utah (69-58), 3/1 at Stanford (73-70)
Bad Losses: 11/24 vs Michigan (63-70), 1/15 at Washington State (99-108), 1/18 at Washington (77-85)
Coach: Dana Altman
Why They Can Surprise:
The offense has been pretty consistent from start to finish. Joseph Young is a great all-around scorer and averages 20.2 points and 3.7 assists per game. Young can make things happen and, on those rare occasions the shot clock is running down on Oregon, the ball will be in his hands. Forwards Elgin Cook and Dillon Brooks are the top two scorers after Young. Cook is a great slasher, while Brooks has more versatility and can knock down some outside shots. Young may be the most prolific shooter on the team, but Jalil Abdul-Bassit has been the most consistent. The senior guard connects on 42.7 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc. Overall, the team shoots 46.0 percent from the floor, 36.0 percent from beyond the arc and 75.4 percent from the line. Those are all very good numbers and it is tough to beat Oregon when they are consistently knocking down shots.
Why They Can Disappoint:
But there are two problems. One is that this is not a team that gets to the charity stripe very often. For such a high scoring team, that is a problem. They certainly do not make it easy for themselves when it comes to scoring and if shots are not falling, the Ducks need to find another way to score. In their February 14th loss at UCLA, the Ducks shot below their season average from the floor and only reached the free-throw line 14 times. That is how you keep this team in the 60s and beat them, since they are going to allow more than 60 points just about every game. The defense is average at best by Pac-12 standards. There will be times when the Ducks need to string a couple stops together and they may not be able to do that against some teams in the tournament.
Probable Starters:
Joseph Young, Senior, Guard, 20.2 ppg, 3.7 apg, 4.5 rpg
Jalil Abdul-Bassit, Senior, Guard, 8.2 ppg
Elgin Cook, Junior, Forward, 13.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg
Dillon Brooks, Freshman, Forward, 11.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg
Jordan Bell, Freshman, Forward, 4.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.6 bpg
Key Roleplayers:
Dwayne Benjamin, Junior, Forward, 8.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg
Casey Benson, Freshman, Guard, 3.7 ppg, 2.0 apg
Ahmaad Rorie, Freshman, Guard, 4.4 ppg, 1.9 apg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 76.0 (22nd in nation, 2nd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 70.2 (270, 10)
Field-Goal Percentage: 46.0 (64, 3)
Field-Goal Defense: 41.5 (105, 4)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 7.4 (71, 2)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 36.0 (98, 3)
Free-Throw Percentage: 75.4 (14, 1)
Rebound Margin: 2.5 (93, 7)
Assists Per Game: 14.8 (45, 2)
Turnovers Per Game: 12.0 (112, 8)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2014 NCAA Second Round win over BYU
2014 NCAA Third Round loss to Wisconsin
2013 NCAA Second Round win over Oklahoma State
2013 NCAA Third Round win over St. Louis
2013 NCAA Regional Semifinal loss to Louisville
2012 NIT First Round win over LSU
2012 NIT Second Round win over Iowa
2012 NIT Quarterfinal loss to Washington
2011 CBI First Round win over Weber State
2011 CBI Second Round win over Duquesne
2011 CBI Semifinal win over Boise State
2011 CBI Final loss to Creighton
2008 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Mississippi State
2007 NCAA Round of 64 win over Miami-Ohio
2007 NCAA Round of 32 win over Winthrop
2007 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over UNLV
2007 NCAA Regional Final loss to Florida
2004 NIT First round win over Colorado
2004 NIT Second round win over George Mason
2004 NIT Quarterfinal win over Notre Dame
2004 NIT Semifinal loss to Michigan
2003 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Utah
*all team stats through 3/8
See All Men’s Basketball Postseason Capsules
