Oregon basketball has looked shaky thus far this season, but they can turn it around in time for March.
Head coach Dana Altman has started this season with a record of 7-2. The Oregon Ducks have been winning, but let’s be honest, they don’t have any quality victories on their resume. They loss to a hot Baylor squad and dropped a close game to Georgetown, while their best win has come against Valpo.
This team has yet to find it’s identity, and part of that is finding a true consistent leader.
Dillon Brooks is still working his way back from injury. Dylan Ennis (one of their older players) is only in his second year with the program. And the Ducks still have a lot of young pieces, including sophomore guard Tyler Dorsey.
Add in the fact that Elgin Cook and Dwayne Benjamin have graduated, and Oregon is still going through growing pains in the leadership department.
But that’s not the only reason Oregon is struggling early in the season. Their guard play is also lacking.
Senior Dylan Ennis has more of a scoring role than distributing. He’s averaging 10 points, five rebounds and only 2.9 assists. Ennis is also shooting an abysmal 22 percent from three. Another key piece is Tyler Dorsey, who is averaging 13.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and hasn’t been a great distributor this year.
The Ducks truly don’t have a clear cut floor general.
What the team can count on is their big men. The Ducks rank 17th in the nation in rebounding with about 43 per game.
Jordan Bell has been impressive, as he is averaging 9.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and he already has the school record for blocks. Forward Dillon Brooks is the biggest piece to the puzzle when he can stay healthy. He’s averaging 13.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and two assists on the season.
Oregon has a few key games to correct their issues before Pac 12 play begins. Alabama and UNLV would both be bad losses for a tournament resume, so these are must win games. Last season, the Ducks earned a one seed. Unless they can find more leadership and guard play, the Ducks won’t last against the likes of UCLA or Arizona.
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