State of the Program
The 2008-09 season was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Oregon Ducks, but did anyone really see 8-23 (2-16 in Pac-10) coming? Certainly last season was one of the most disappointing of head coach Ernie Kent’s career, however most prognosticators do not foresee a repeat scenario in 2009-10. The Ducks are young, but the talent in Eugene is top notch, and a middle of the conference finish is more than achievable. In fact, the Ducks could end up being one of America’s most improved teams by season’s end.
For Oregon to meet expectations in 2009-10, improvement MUST be made defensively. The Ducks gave up 76 points per game, good enough for dead last in the Pac-10 and 314th nationally. Poor fundamentals were a big part of the problem, which is what prompted Kent to hire one of the best assistant coaches in college basketball, Mike Dunlap. Under Dunlap’s guidance the Ducks should be considerably more organized on defense.
Continue reading 'Pac-10 Basketball Preview – 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
Continue reading 'Pac-10 Basketball Early Previews – Oregon Ducks'»
Comments (0) 
