Pac-10 Basketball Early Previews – Oregon Ducks
To say that the 2008-2009 season was a rebuilding period for the Ducks would be an understatement. Oregon finished dead last in the Pac-10 with just two wins in-conference and eight wins on the entire season. They relied heavily on freshmen, who played as you would expect them to; like freshmen. 41 percent of the team’s scoring came from freshmen, even though some didn’t play up to their potential in their first college season.
Freshman center Michael Dunigan, who was one of the nation’s top prospects coming out of high school, struggled to stay on the floor for long in games because of foul trouble. He averaged just over eight PPG and looked unpolished offensively. He will need to drastically improve his play if the Ducks are to contend this year in the Pac-10.
Another big man who underperformed for Oregon last season was Josh Crittle. Crittle averaged just three points and three boards per game with the Ducks last season. The team was undersized and did not rebound well – just a couple of reasons why they had such a tough season.
Tajaun Porter cuts through the defense
The one constant for the team was Junior Tajuan Porter, who was the team’s leading scorer with over 15 PPG. The one drawback with the 5′6″ soon-to-be senior is his shoot first mentality. That’s fine for a shooting guard, but if Porter continues to run the point for the Ducks this season, he will have to do a better job finding his teammates. He totaled just 55 assists in the 30 games he played in; not the numbers you want to see from the guy running the show offensively.
Looking forward to the 2009-2010 season:
Departures
Sophomore Guard Kamyron Brown (Transfer) – Transferred out following the signing of transfer Malcolm Armstead. Played in 61 career games (13 as a starter) for the Ducks and averaged 4.4 points and 2.7 assists per game. With the abundance of youth on the team and the development Coach Ernie Kent hopes to see from his young team, losing Brown shouldn’t impact the team too much.
Senior Guard Churchill Odia (Eligibility) – The red-shirt senior out of Lagos, Nigeria was a solid contributor off the bench, averaging 3.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game in 27 games in 2008-2009.
Senior Forward Frantz Dorsainvil (Eligibility) – Saw very limited action off of the bench in only eight games in his senior campaign.
Arrivals
Freshman Forward E.J. Singler, 6-6 210 pounds (Recruit) – Younger brother of Duke’s Kyle Singler. Singler is sure to be another scoring threat for the Ducks, as he averaged almost 22 PPG in high school and was named the state of Oregon’s prep player of the year.
Freshman Forward Jamil Wilson, 6-7 190 pounds (Recruit) – Led Horlick High in Wisconsin in most statistical categories with 21.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.8 blocks and 1.4 steals as a senior. At 6′7″, he will also give the team some much needed size and athleticism at the forward position.
Sophomore Guard Malcolm Armstead, 5-10 185 pounds (Transfer) – A transfer from Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Fla. Armstead averaged 6.8 points, 4.9 assists and 1.9 steals last season for a team that lost only twice all of last year. He also shot better than 50 percent from beyond the arch, something Coach Kent is sure to enjoy having on his team.
Sophomore Forward Jeremy Jacob, 6-7 220 pounds (Transfer) – A teammate of Armstead’s at Chipola. He helped lead the team along with Armstead to a third place finish at the 2009 National Junior College Athletic Association championships.
My Take
The team will still be full of young players needing to develop their all-around game. They should have enough experience and athleticism as a team to improve on their 8-23 record from last season, but expecting this team to make a post-season run at this juncture would probably be unreasonable. If they come together and improve as a team, 2010-2011 might be the year they make a run at it.
Oregon Ducks
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Basketball, E.J. Singler, Jamil Wilson, Jeremy Jacob, Josh Crittle, Malcolm Armstead, Michael Dunigan, Tajuan Porter
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