Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

DEC. 1 (WED) 7 PM
UC RIVERSIDE
EUGENE, OR
TV: PAC-12 NETWORK

We need this win......Go Ducks!

Thank God they get ASU next. Wazzu just held them to a total of 29 points. Lowest score for them in about 70 years.

Tough game. Our D in the first half way very poor. Riverside ain’t bad but we still have a lot to improve on.

Nice to see Richardson playing well again

Looking at the box score, we didn't do well on the glass which is likely also why the shot a high %

It seems almost a certainty Altman will turn this team around only because he always does, but I have a hard time seeing what that better team will look like. I just don't see the ingredients, the athleticism or ball hawking to build a defensive powerhouse or the offensive skills to be a high scoring team.

When Altman turns this team into a winner it will be his greatest coaching job. And once again I'll say this is the year I didn't think he could do it.

GrandpaDuck wrote:It seems almost a certainty Altman will turn this team around only because he always does, but I have a hard time seeing what that better team will look like. I just don't see the ingredients, the athleticism or ball hawking to build a defensive powerhouse or the offensive skills to be a high scoring team.

When Altman turns this team into a winner it will be his greatest coaching job. And once again I'll say this is the year I didn't think he could do it.

Which is wild because, preseason, all the talk was about how this team is as talented as any and finally has a stable of true big men.

StevensTechU wrote:

GrandpaDuck wrote:It seems almost a certainty Altman will turn this team around only because he always does, but I have a hard time seeing what that better team will look like. I just don't see the ingredients, the athleticism or ball hawking to build a defensive powerhouse or the offensive skills to be a high scoring team.

When Altman turns this team into a winner it will be his greatest coaching job. And once again I'll say this is the year I didn't think he could do it.

Which is wild because, preseason, all the talk was about how this team is as talented as any and finally has a stable of true big men.

I think that’s due to three main reasons, Richardson isn’t showing to be the emotional leader we expected, Bittle isn’t near ready to contribute and we thought he’d be a real threat day 1, and Kepnag didn’t improve during the off-season like we expected.

OregonFan4Life wrote:

StevensTechU wrote:

GrandpaDuck wrote:It seems almost a certainty Altman will turn this team around only because he always does, but I have a hard time seeing what that better team will look like. I just don't see the ingredients, the athleticism or ball hawking to build a defensive powerhouse or the offensive skills to be a high scoring team.

When Altman turns this team into a winner it will be his greatest coaching job. And once again I'll say this is the year I didn't think he could do it.

Which is wild because, preseason, all the talk was about how this team is as talented as any and finally has a stable of true big men.

I think that’s due to three main reasons, Richardson isn’t showing to be the emotional leader we expected, Bittle isn’t near ready to contribute and we thought he’d be a real threat day 1, and Kepnag didn’t improve during the off-season like we expected.

While I agree with those 3, the bigger thing is the big transfers Guerrier, Harmon, Young and Soares were even more expected to be day 1 contributors than Bittle. No one who has only seen them play at Oregon would believe they put up the numbers they did at their last schools.

I actually think most of it is due to lack of flow and experience playing together, not due to lack of talent. Nobody is where they are supposed to be, there is no movement without the ball, nobody is cutting to the basket and we are left with a bunch of 1 on 1 basketball resulting in a bunch of low percentage shots. This team had SEVEN total assists last night against a much less talented team. That is flat out tragic for a team with Oregon's talent level!

The defense might be even worse, if that is possible. Giving up 40+ points in the paint when you have four 7 footers on the roster is about as bad as it gets. But again, I saw tons of missed assignments - people not switching or switch when they shouldn't, running under screens, zero rim protection or interior help when a guard gets beat.

The good news is that we have Dana Altman and you know he is going to be able to fix most of these issues by February. There still is an unbelievable amount of talent on this team. These guys just don't know how to play together yet, but I am 100% convinced it will come together in the next month.

Agreed. The flow in the first half last night wasn’t terrible, but the second half reminded me of the Blazers. Guys just watching, and players going one-on-one. UCR had great flow and created all the layups they got. Has to be maddening for Altman to watch game film, when the other team moves and cuts, and his doesn’t.

we've had years where the team does not look like it could get any worse... And somehow Dana Altman gets them in the tournament late in the season.

Will Richardson should watch tape of Pritchard's transformation between jr and sr years.

PP's skill level was the same; mentality was totally different. Richardson has to act like the #1 option.

Caveat: I haven't actually watched any games yet, but this is based off comments I've read and how Richardson has played the last 3 seasons.

I find it interesting how people say this team is really talented but the reason they struggle is cause they play 1 v 1 basketball. That’s not a recipe for success but if this team was really that talented then they wouldn’t struggle so much offensively playing 1 v1 basketball, after all that’s how the 2017 team beat Kansas to go to the Final Four. I just think this team isn’t as talented as we thought they’d be.

OregonFan4Life wrote:I find it interesting how people say this team is really talented but the reason they struggle is cause they play 1 v 1 basketball. That’s not a recipe for success but if this team was really that talented then they wouldn’t struggle so much offensively playing 1 v1 basketball, after all that’s how the 2017 team beat Kansas to go to the Final Four. I just think this team isn’t as talented as we thought they’d be.

Agree that in the Kansas game, the talent just took over and won it. However, that team was actually pretty good at sharing the ball throughout the year. They finished 2nd in the Pac-12 conference in assists per game. They were also elite on the defensive end and finished 1st in both blocks and steals in conference play.

The core of that team had also been playing together for a couple years. There was a lot of trust between teammates and I think maybe that reinforces the point I was trying to make. You didn't see missed assignments on either end.