The University of Oregon Men’s basketball team was one of the last eight teams left standing in last year’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. Though they fell to the eventual tournament champion, the Florida Gators, in the Elite 8, they did show the college basketball world that heart can matter just as much as height and that the relentlessly quick team from Eugene with the fearless perimeter game should not be taken lightly.
However, after a 29-8 record, a Pac-10 conference tournament crown, and three wins in the Big Dance in 2006-2007, being overlooked by opponents is not likely anything they’ll have to worry about this season. What they do need to worry about is how to replace the one player who simply would not allow them to fail last year, Aaron Brooks.
Oregon’s fiery senior point guard defined the team’s season a year ago with two monumental game-winning shots. The first, a buzzer-beater at home against then top-ranked UCLA last January, sky rocketed the team’s confidence and national credibility. The second, a dagger on the road at Arizona a week later, silenced any remaining doubts.
However, Brooks, who led the Ducks in points (17.7 ppg), assists (4.4 apg), and cool, parlayed his magical season into an NBA roster spot with Houston Rockets. And, without doubt, it was Brooks who made Oregon go last season. He played over 36 minutes a game for the Ducks, shooting over 40% from 3-point range and over 80% from the line, and his assist-to-turnover ratio was nearly 2:1. Not only did he know how to protect the basketball, he knew how put it into the basket or set-up his teammates to do so with impressive efficiency, and he was on the floor for over 90% of each game to make sure that happened.
The good news for Oregon in 2007-2008 is that they will have three seniors in the starting lineup ready to help fill that leadership void – G/F Malik Hairston, G/F Bryce Taylor, and F Maarty Leunen. Of the three, Hairston is the most dynamic. While a heel injury dampened his 2006-2007 season and caused him to miss 10 games, he bounced back enough down the stretch to give a glimpse of his impressive overall game. At 6’6”, he has enough speed and lift to do a lot of different things on the floor. He averaged six boards a game to highlight his ability to play inside and hit over 42% of 3-point shots to showcase his perimeter game. In fact, his 52% overall shooting from the floor led the team and reinforced his ever-improving court sense and shot selection. Fully healthy, Hairston will be the one his teammates look to as a team leader on the stat sheet and in the locker room.
For a game, Bryce Taylor was perfect. Literally. In the Pac-10 conference tournament final against USC, Taylor hit all 11 of his shots from the field, including an astonishing 7-for-7 from 3-point range, and was perfect in his three attempts from the free throw line. His 32-point demolition of the Trojans gave Oregon a convincing 81-57 win en route the conference tournament title. While Taylor’s career-night didn’t necessarily translate to those kind of superstar numbers night-in, night-out (how could they?), his improvement from his sophomore to junior seasons was remarkable, nonetheless. The 6’5” swingman improved his scoring average by nearly five points a game (from 9.3 to 14.1 ppg), raised his overall shooting percentage by over 10% (from 40.6% to 51.7%), and improved his 3-point accuracy by nearly 16% (from 26.7% to 42.2%). As it is, Taylor has transformed into a dangerous scorer with a versatile arsenal. If he continues to improve, he could really be lethal in teaming with Hairston to give the Ducks a deadly 1-2 scoring punch.
Maarty Leunen was really given an impossible task last season. The 6’9”, 215-pound forward was asked to carry Oregon’s front court all by himself. While he was out-jumped and out-muscled in nearly every game he played, he was never outplayed. He simply outlasted taller, stronger opponents. Tireless and fearless, he would slowly wear them down – minute after minute, game after game. And when they weren’t looking, he would sneak out to the perimeter and knock down a three. Like Taylor, Leunen’s improvement as a player exploded from his sophomore to his junior season. In achieving career-highs in scoring average (10.8), rebounds per game (8.2), assists per game (2.1), and steals per game (1.4), he fully demonstrated his remarkable versatility. Perhaps, most surprising was his improvement as a long-range shooter. As a sophomore, he made a pedestrian 28% of his tries from beyond the arc. As a junior, he dropped over 41% of those shots on opponents, and most never even knew what hit them.
In fact, Oregon’s perimeter game was their trademark last season, and befitting a team from Oregon, they made it rain buckets. Dropping shots from the rafters like it was monsoon season in Singapore, everyone who touched the ball for the Ducks could hit a 3-pointer. All five starters made better than 40% of their treys, and they needed each one. With an undersized lineup that relied on speed to create open looks, they couldn’t allow a game to be decided on the glass. Missed shots meant rebounds, and the Ducks knew they how little chance they had to win that way. So, they ran and shot. And made.
And few people on the floor ran faster or shot quicker than the smallest player out there, 5’6” freshman Tajuan Porter. Porter needed that quickness because his window for an open look closed faster than anyone else’s. Although he started the year with little more expectation on him than to be a safety valve for Aaron Brooks to catch his breath for a few minutes a game, his deadly shooting touch earned him significant playing time. He averaged 14.6 points a game, shooting better than 41% from long distance and better than 90% from the line. When open, there was little question how good the little man with the big jumper was. His crowning moment was a 33-point barrage (on 8-of-12 shooting from 3-point range) against UNLV in Oregon’s Sweet 16 win over the Rebs in the NCAA Tournament.
This year, however, Porter will not only be expected to pick up where he left off shooting the rock but also to assume the team’s point guard duties. Can he make the transition from a shoot-only player to a pass-and-shoot player? He needs to, because the only other point guard on the roster is true freshman Kamyron Brown. While Brown has loads of potential with great court vision and a deft passing touch, asking him to run the team if Porter is slow to make the transition from off-guard to the point would be asking a bit much too soon. However, Brown certainly has the ability to play his way into more minutes at the point (shifting Porter and his deadly outside game to the 2) as the season progresses.
In addition to Brown, the Ducks’ bench looks to be much stronger this year.
The Invisible Man is finally visible. JC transfer Frantz Dorsainvil looked like a perfect fit for the Ducks last season. At 6’8”, 270 pounds, the athletic Dorsainvil would have given Maarty Leunen the front court help the team so desperately needed. Unfortunately, a funny thing happened on the way to Mac Court. The prized JC transfer, a native of Haiti who grew up in Montreal, got tangled up in Visa-related red tape and never made it to Eugene. Luckily, all of that crimson adhesive was somehow detangled in the off-season, and the Ducks finally have their highly coveted athletic big man on the roster.
Another transfer, 6’6” swingman Churchill Odia, may also see some significant playing time. Odia, who transferred from Xavier in 2005, played limited minutes last year, averaging just 1.8 points per game in just over nine minutes a contest. However, in his second season in head coach Ernie Kent’s system, he may find his way into the rotation more often, especially in light of the transfer of Chamberlain Oguchi. Oguchi, the very definition of a streak shooter, never found his touch last season. After establishing himself as a dangerous 3-point threat in 2005-2006, he hit just 26% of his long-range shots in 2006-2007 and then transferred to Illinois State in the off-season. So, Odia, recruited as a point guard by Xavier, may be the one who picks up Oguchi’s minutes this year or help in the point guard rotation, but he’ll have plenty of competition for those minutes.
Another swingman, 6’5” redshirt freshman LeKendric Longmire, is also in the running for guard minutes. His athleticism and defense may win him some time, and defense became a surprising strength for the undersized Ducks late in the season. The team’s ability to shut down some of the Pac-10’s top scorers in the conference tournament jump started their NCAA tourney run. So, Longmire’s defensive potential may help to continue that trend. Early season games will likely sort out the minutes, but Longmire will have a chance to claim some of them.
With so many wing players, Ernie Kent’s squad might as well be playing in Buffalo, because they have yet another “tweener”, highly-touted freshman Drew Viney, whose impressive perimeter game fits in perfectly with Oregon’s high-powered long-range offense. With so much riding on getting outside shots to fall, the Ducks always need marksmen, and Viney is definitely that. It will just be a matter of how quickly he finds his range that determines his role on the team.
Along with Dorsainvil, sophomore forward Joevan Catron will get quality minutes in the front court. Last season, as a freshman, Catron saw his playing time increase as he showed his ability to defend in the paint and fight for rebounds. Although just 6’6”, he played bigger than that and wasn’t bashful about the physical nature of the interior.
Besides sitting at the end of Ernie Kent’s bench last year, 6’10” Mitch Platt and 7’0” Ray Schafer seemed to offer little more than 10 fouls and traffic in the post. The nature of Oregon’s high-octane offense didn’t help them get any closer to the scorer’s table, either. However, Platt’s a somewhat intriguing player. The fifth-year senior has had some productive minutes for the team but missed all of the 2005-2006 season with injury. As a freshman, he did play enough to average five points and four boards a game.
Of course, head coach Ernie Kent’s philosophy in recent years has been all about speed, and, frankly, tall players just tend to slow things down. And the methodology to Kent’s basketball madness can be traced directly back to his own playing days. In the mid-70’s, Kent was a player at Oregon. His team at the time was nicknamed the “Kamikaze Kids” for their aggressive, all-out style and their knack for sacrificing their bodies (via taking charges) on the floor. They were a frenetic, relentless bunch led by their all-everything guard Ron Lee. Forwards Greg Ballard and Stu Jackson were Lee’s top lieutenants, and Kent joined the fray off the bench.
The experience must have resonated, because Kent’s teams play with that same kind of fury. Although this year’s team is lacking their Ron Lee, Houston-bound Aaron Brooks, they haven’t lost their speed or intensity. With three senior leaders returning and Tajuan Porter with a full year of experience on his resume, they have enough to overcome the loss of Brooks. It is the addition of Dorsainvil and the high-ceiling potential of Kamyron Brown and Drew Viney that may be the keys for an even deeper run into March Madness.
So, there’s no sneaking up on anyone for the Ducks this season. However, that’s ok, because they can always just run past them on their way to another 3-point shot. And it all starts this Saturday night at the Pit against Pepperdine. Mac Court will be rocking, and, I suspect, it will, like the team itself, continue to rock all the way into March.
and how many times have we made it to the elite 8 2 times under ernie kent.... and the other under the late howard hobson in 1939 when oregon won the 1st NCAA tourney
No doubt about it. The Ducks look tough going into this season. Three returning seniors, a more experienced Tajuan Porter, and the new guys - Dorsainvil, Brown and Viney. I think Dorsainvil may be the key. An athletic big man to help out Leunen in the front court is just what the doctor ordered.
Now, it will be up to Hairston to really step forward and take control of the team now that Brooks has graduated. I think he and Taylor will make a terrific 1-2 scoring punch. Both have very versatile games.
Man, I can't wait for the season to start! Should be fun to watch!
Thanks for the comments and the visit. I always appreciate the feedback. Go Ducks!
Two Elite 8 appearances under his watch is impressive. He's really done some great stuff with the program. Just look at the quality of the players he can recruit these days. My understanding is that Brown was one of the top point guards in California and getting him helped bring his good friend and teammate Viney to the Ducks as well. Both are considered blue chip prospects.
And Kent has done this before. I think getting Hairston, which was huge for the program, helped him get Porter as well, as both are from Detroit. And to think that people were talking about getting rid of Ernie before the start of last season because the Ducks hadn't made the Tournament in three years. How crazy was that?
Kent is a very, very good coach and a brilliant recruiter. The Ducks are lucky to have him on the bench.
Again, thanks for the comments and the visit. I always appreciate the feedback. Go Ducks!
YEA WOW i look back at hairston and his statements before his first year , not quoting but someting like he would be here 1 year we would win the NCAA and he would go pro??? wow im glad he didnt he wasnt ready for the NBA!! rember that!!!!
hey i think the world of ernie CLASS ACT!!!! yea not maybe the perfect coach, ( i think ray should play more) but kents the coach.... show me the perfect coach!!!! hey even john wooden lost games!!!!!! and in closing i will really miss macourt when its not used anymore!!! wow do i rember the games from the past(ewwwwww showing my age now) ok im 55 but i rember ernie playing, bev smith , i started going to macourt as a kid, rember steve belko as basketball coach coaching stan love,
Agreed, Hairston needs to show he can dominate in college before he starts thinking about the pros. And this is his year to show off his game. I think he certainly has the ability to become a superstar at the colege and he'll have a great eam around him this year. Now, it's just a matter of seeing if he's ready to walk the walk after talking the talk.
Agreed also that Kent is a class act. He seems like a really solid guy who has his act together. I'm so glad he's still the team's coach.
Man, it will definitely be tough to see them leave Mac Court. What a great place to watch a game!
Again, thanks so much for the comments and the visit. I always appreciate the feedback.
Yes, can you believe it's already time for college hoops? I'm still trying to comprehend how well the Ducks football team is doing and now the hoops team is starting their season and looking every bit as tough as last year.
Thanks for the kind words about the preview. As I was writing it, I started feeling better and better about the team's prospects this season. Although I'm concerned about the loss of Brooks and what that will do to the turnover rate, this team has so much more depth this season. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the addition of Dorsainvil in the front court will mean as the season goes on.
Again, thanks for the kind words and the visit. I always appreciate the feedback, because...You Da Man!
Nooch, it could be a very good year for the boys this year but the PAC 10 is loaded. We could give each other so many losses that deserving teams my not make it to the tourney.
wow do i ever remebr the OLD DAYS at macourt before the reconstruction a few years ago, they took out about 1,000 seats , so when the students below the crowd when they stood wouoldnt block the view, also it seemed a bit dark, until the big lights near the ceiling would put in , and the liitle score board abouve, you rember that said joe roemania , it would shake, yes ive heard this new one does! but the liitle one would so bad , you would have thought an earthquack had just hit campus!!!! i one game vs UCLA sat under one of the balconies and it was bouncing!!!! wow the old days of macourt!!!! fun times
i also rember when the circus came to the building, as a kid i went, and there we were sitting there enjoying the fun, our coats gently laying close to us, when a kid got sick and threw up on them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! of course his mom payed for their cleaning!!!! elvis came, shortly before he died, i didnt go but my folks went and said he looked bad!!!!! ohyea BOB HOPE came and called it a garage ??????? thanks for the memory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nooch
Things are looking good for this Hoops' season. I certainly like the looks of a number of teams. But above all I'm looking how to see how OJ Mayo does. The hype surrounding him been simply unbelievable.
If he's that good then we'll definately see how far he can take the Trojans.
The usual powerhouses seem to be ready for the season. But I do believe that the Wildcats were caught cold. Gardner Webb I thought that they were some non-descript school ?
Who knew ?
I've new post up if you're interested in reading it ? Somewhat thought provoking to say the least. It's titled I's Got's Mine's Whose Got's Your's ?
hey the last couple of nights ive been in mac, watching volley balll no not a major sport but hey!!! they knocked out #6 USC then last night beat #9 ucla!!!!!!!!!!
and i think the basketabll season which is longer than football!! will be very interresting so as bette davis said something like, fasten your seat belts it ganna be a bumpy NIGHT!!!!!
i guess maybe to add some fuel to your fire of your blogg OK!!! now i would hope!!! when UCLA comes to the building we as fans show some sportsmanship!!! why?? kevin love you rember the kid who picked UCLA over oregon.... and state... show some sportsmanship!!! but i know the students will not!! i suspect!!!!! comeone PIT CREW... rember a FREE COUNTRY this kid can go anywhere he wants!!! i will be betting that?? and maybe??? KL will pull a greg oden (ohio state) one year then said bye went pro!!!!
Agreed, the Pac-10 looks really tough this year. Conference play will be brutal. However, I think the senior leadership will really benefit the Ducks this year. The biggest question will be at PG. I hope Porter can make the transition from 2 to 1 and that Brown gets into the PG rotation as the season moves on to allow Porter to play some SG, where he's more dangerous.
Should be a fun year!
Thanks for the comments and the visit. I always appreciate the feedback. Go Ducks!
Agreed, the atmosphere at Mac Court before the renovation was really something else. I remember how far the balconies extended out over the floor. I can only imagine how a visiting team must have felt walking into the place. The crowd must have seemed like they were hovering over the floor.
I'm sure the new arena will be nice, but the atmosphere at Mac Court will really be missed.
Again, thanks for the comments and the visit. I always appreciate the feedback.
Agreed, it should be a fun hoops season. As you mentioned, I'll be curious to see if Mayo lives up to the hype. Certainly, Oden and Durant showed that it's possible for a first-year player to be as good as advertised last season. So, it'll be interesting to see if Mayo can follow in their footsteps.
While I think UK's loss to Gardner-Webb was a bad one, it's so early in the season that something like that can be a distant memory for the Wildcats and maybe even provide some motivation to not let anything like happen again. Conference play really determines contenders from pretenders, anyway. Of course, if the Cats continue to stumble, everyone will point to this loss as the beginning of the end.
Thanks for the comments and the visit. I always appreciate the feedback.
Good point. As good as the conference has looked in football this season, I think the hoops teams will be even better. Top to bottom there are really strong teams all the way through. There might only be one or two teams that aren't very good. The rest could make real cases for getting into the NCAA tourney.
Should be a fun season!
Again, thanks for the kind words and the visit. I always appreciate the feedback.
I like Oregon's chances this season. Having all of those seniors back is a huge plus, and the bench is so much better this year. I'm really hoping that Dorsainvil gives Leunen the front court help that was lacking last season.
The conference schedule is going to be brutal this year, though. So many talented teams in the Pac-10 this season.
Should be a fun year!
Again, thanks for the kind words and the visit. I always appreciate the feedback.
Cool news about the volleyball team. Those are big wins against top programs. I think the school has really improved the quality of their teams in a lot of sports, and that's good to see. I can't wait to see baseball back at UO! Hopefully, they'll be able to field a quality team within a few years they start back up. I know it takes time to build a program, but it will be fun to see them playing baseball again.
Regarding Kevin Love, I hope the fans aren't too tough on him. As you mentioned, the kid is free to choose whatever school he wants. Agreed also that he looks like he's going to be a great player. It would have been nice if he choose UO, but the players Ernie has brought in are quality players as well.
Again, thanks for the comments and the visit. I always appreciate the feedback. Go Ducks!
No question, Coach Bennett's team looks tough. With so many returning players from such a dangerous team from a year ago, the Cougars are definitely a top contender. And with the stifling defensive game that WSU plays, they will always be in games and always make the other team work for everything they get.
The Pac-10 is absoluely loaded this year. Should be a fun season!
Good luck to both the Ducks and Cougars this year!
Thanks for the comments and the visit. I always appreciate the feedback.
I saw the reply, and that is fantastic news. I'm so glad things are looking up for your former player. He sounds like a tough young man. Glad to hear he is doing so well. Tell him to keep on fighting.
With the way the Pac-10 looks in hoops this year, I'll be happy to just survive that conference schedule, let alone any run into March. As the saying goes, one game at a time...in football and basketball.
Thanks for the comments and the visit. I always appreciate the feedback.
You are so the man! What a great read, if only every program had someone like you to put it out there. As always, you do it in a positive way, without raising expectations to the level of some teams who expect to just walk onto the court and win (but this isn't about USC and Mercer). Go Ducks!!!
I do what I can to help get the news out there about the Ducks. However, this year's football and basketball teams are making it easy with so much positive stuff to write about. That is precisely why I haven't written about the SF Giants in months! LOL.
I think the Ducks bench will be key this year. They have so many more options this season. I'm hoping that Dorsainvil is the front court beast he supposed to be. That would be just what the doctor ordered. And the freshmen, Drew Viney and Kamyron Brown, are both supposed to be big-time prospects.
Ultimately, though, it's up to Hairston and Taylor to lead the team. I think Hariston has to be the guy who lights it up for 20 per. When they need a shot, he has to be the one who takes it, just like Brooks last year. Hairston needs to want to be in the spotlight.
I'm looking forward to the season. Should be fun!
Again, thanks so much for the kind words and the visit. Always good to see you, my friend.
Nooch is a lifelong sports fan who believes that Indianapolis ended up with a slightly better QB than San Diego in the 1998 NFL Draft, the Golden State Warriors may not make the NBA playoffs again in his lifetime (how was I supposed to know that Chris Mullin would make a coaching hire and a mid-season trade that would basically save the franchise?), and that Mike Ivie's pinch-hit, game winning grand slam for the Giants against the Dodgers in 1978 may have been the greatest moment in baseball history.
