Last night's win was encouraging and it looks like the Altman train might pull into the station on time, despite a few malfunctions along the way. Typically his teams improve as the season moves along and the pattern holds so far.
What I saw was a more even performance than has been the norm so far this season. While not overwhelming, Oregon did the things they needed to to win. They did not seem to get tired toward the end of the game. They were not outrebounded by a wide margin as they were in Colorado. They did not give the top free-throw shooting team in the conference a lot of opportunity to display their skill. Nobody exploded with a showcase offensive game against them.
Offensively they didn't have a great thee point shooting game. It looks like Richardson's powder is still a little damp but he was a knife fighter in the paint. Much the same came from Duarte who earned his 20 point honestly. Kepnang had another promising game and I'd say his development is at about where Infante's was when he was injured. Frank got there much more quickly. He had some strong moves and rebounds, even dove on the floor to save a possession.
Considering Williams' absence, which looks to end soon, Oregon probably outperformed expectations and solidified an invitation to the dance, theirs to lose, not to gain, now. They went in as a probable 10 seed and with a victory against a struggling Utah tomorrow they could jump a couple of spots. If they succeed against taller and possibly more talented, but younger, USC early in the week they could find themselves in the top half of the bracket, not to mention more in the running for a regular season Pac12 championship. There are a lot of if's in that but achieving at least one of them is highly possible.
Looking forward, it seems like a sure thing Duarte will be on an NBA roster next season. Possibly Richardson could take a shot as well. I don't see anyone else who would be exercising good judgement to give it a try. If that holds, the Ducks could be a much different team next season. Gone might be the only two solid three point shooters but Altman seems to find replacements for key parts, often via transfer. New would be twin towers with depth. I expect Kepnang to go from raw recruit through medium-rare, where he is now, to well done, perhaps even tough-as-shoe-leather. Hopefully, Dante recovers and stays healthy as Biddle arrives. If Biddle learns quickly, not many teams will out-rebound the Ducks or spend much time in the paint trying to score.
With an encouraging outlook for the rest of the season and what is to come Altman is holding up his end of a partnership with Graves and Cristobal to make sports exciting for Duck fans. Maybe the goal is to be so good they become boring. We have some waiting time before that happens, though. Right now, Oregon is rated third best sports school, behind Ohio State and Alabama, with improvement in the picture. Track is back on the rise as is Women's softball and who knows what baseball is going to to do. It's a good time to be a Duck or a Duck fan.
PS ... looked at the stats and Oregon did get pretty badly beat on the boards, but the effect was not all that apparent on the court. Colorado made up for it with poor shooting and turnovers.
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