Ducks in the thick of Pac-12 race
Ken Cross, Columnist
Oh, but for some lost opportunities in the Civil War last Sunday night at Matthew Knight arena, the Oregon Ducks could have been tied for first place at the season's mid point with the Cal Bears and the Washington Huskies at 7-2. As it stands right now though, the Ducks are 6-3 and second-year coach Dana Altman might have taken that record and a game off the pace if he had been given that option at the beginning of the season.
In any event, the Ducks dropped a 76-71 loss to their bitter rivals and now they still sit pretty high in the Pac-12 nest despite Altman's disappointment with overall ball-handling.
"We had very careless play and bad decision making and mishandling balls," commented Altman, "Their traps have bothered us. Basically, our guys were straight up and down and making bad decisions and not sharp."
The 6-3 record is Oregon's best start in league play since the 2006-07 season and interestingly, the Ducks' RPI of 74 is second in the league only to Cal's No. 30. Although Oregon has been a tough preparation all season in fashioning a 15-6 mark, Altman is still concerned about the inconsistencies that have plagues his 'Quack Attack.'
"We've been inconsistent and I have been disappointed with that,"
noted Altman, "However, we have made progress in a lot of
areas. There's no one real area that I am concerned with over
another. We rebound well in some games, others we don't. We
had handled the ball pretty well, but then we didn;t against Oregon
State. There's just not at a place where we can put a finger on one
thing and say this is the problem."
Oregon has relied on a balanced scoring attack this season as Devoe Joseph became eligible on Dec. 10 via transfer rules and has averred a team high 15.4 ppg. The Ducks are 11-4 with him in the lineup as he top out with 30 points in a win over Stanford.
The Ducks get plenty of consistency in the backcourt from E.J. Singler (left, courtesy Oregon Athletics) and Garrett Sim joining Joseph while Olu Ashalou and Tony Woods have been workman like up front. Sim has shot 51.2% from the field and 45.6% from the three point line as he is only one of two guards in the top 12 in the league in field goal percentage.
"Garrett has had a tremendous year for us," said Altman, "His numbers and play for us have very steady."
Going down the stretch, the Ducks' NCAA Tournament chances really rest in their own hands. Four of their nine games are against newbies Colorado and Utah while the Washington Schools visit Eugene. The key for Oregon may come in a three-game, 10-day stretch from Feb. 16-26 when Oregon visits Cal, Stanford, and the return match in Corvalis.
"They're understanding how to play well together and they are a well oiled machine," said Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak, "Their backcourt, one through three is a hard one to handle, and they have some nice players in the post as well."
Twitter: @kcrossizballin
Pac-12 Newsstand
Touch base with The Olympian and see why the Olympia, Washington newspaper labeled the 2011-12 UCLA Bruins "dysfunctional."
Although 6-3 over the first half of the Pac-12 campaign, Colorado is looking for a better second half of their first year of league play.
Arizona State guard Chris Colvin is picking his game up as the season unfolds.
Washington shooter C.J. Wilcox is taking his game to an elite level.
Stat of the week
Washington State big-man Brock Motum scored a career-high 34 points last week as the Cougars fell to Arizona State, 71-67. Klay Thompason is the only other Cougar to score at least 34 in a game since Derrick Low nailed 37 against Oregon in 2007.
Spanning the Pac 12
Up North: Washington has won six of its last seven games and looks like it might be the main challenger to Cal for the league’s regular season title. Freshman guard Tony Wroten has averaged 18.5 ppg. over the last six outings for Lorenzo Romar…Washington State hosts UCLA on Saturday. The Cougars last home win over the Bruins was in 1993. Two members of the team were not even born yet…Oregon is 10-1 in games decided by 10 points or fewer this season. The lone loss was last Sunday at home against arch-rival Oregon State….Coincidently, the Beavers have won three consecutive conference games for the first time in three years…Cal’s Allen Crabbe continues to stroke the three with regularity as he has 120 career triples, making a league leading 2.6 per game on the season…Stanford is 5-4 at the midway point of conference play. It is the first time in four years that the Cardinal have had a winning record in Conference action through nine games.
Down South: The injury bug hit both Arizona and USC last weekend. The Wildcats’ Kevin Parrom went down with a bone fracture in his right foot while 7-0 Dewayne Dedmon of the Trojans tore his MCL in his left knee and also had a tibial bone bruise in his left leg. The Wildcats will miss Parrom’s motivational abilities on the floor while Demon is the fifth Trojan to go down with injury this season as USC is now down to seven scholarship players…Colorado is 8-3 and pushing for the top spot in the league plus NCAA consideration. The last time the Buffaloes started conference play with an 8-3 ledger was in 1997 as a member of the Big 12…Utah has bottomed out in it’s first year in the league. The Utes dismissed guard Josh Watkins and now have only one player averaging double figures in center Jason Washburn, who goes for 10.4 ppg…Arizona State freshman Jonathan Gilling is averaging 32.7 mpg. and shooting at a 41.4% clip from behind the arc to lead Pac 12 freshman as he is ninth in the league…UCLA’s David and Travis Wear have scored in double figures in the same game eight times this season and in six of the last 10 games.
Who's Hot & Not
Hot: California's Allen Crabbe continues to be a major contributor on offense as he has averaged 16 ppg. and 8.7 rpg. over his last three games. He had a double-double in the Bears' win over Washington and then just missed the feat with a 14-point, 9-rebound effort vs. Washington State.
Not: This will be the year that the Utah Utes bottom out as first-year coach Larry Krystkowiak's team will ascend as he has already signed a very good five-man recruiting class to begin play next season. The Utes lost 62-45 at USC last Saturday. Utah is near the bottom of the league in most all categories. Shooting percentage is the definer, though, as the Utes shoot only 41.1% from the floor while opponents knock down 48.1%
Ken's High Five: Coaches take a look at players, strategies, injuires
Arizona coach Sean Miller, on Solomon Hill, who had a career-high 28 points in last week's 69-67 win over Washington: "Solomon is an example of what you hope is a part of your program. He was thrust into a starting role most of his first year. He really got better last year as the season went on last year. He has a much bigger role this year. He has really responded."
Cal Coach Mike Montgomery, on Justin Cobbs, who shoots 49.5% from the floor and leads the Bears with 103 assists: "He gives us a different dimension and gets to the basket. He can finish and he is good at dropping it off and has made steady gains in understanding if he drives, look for the kick out."
Colorado coach Thad Boyle, on how the Buffaloes need to pick up their physicality: "We need to get more physical in getting through screens. The physical toughness against UCLA was what I was most disappointed in and the same thing happened at Stanford earlier. You have to fight, scratch, claw, and get through screens."
USC coach Kevin O'Neill, on the Trojans' mounting injuries: "We don't have any choices. If you look, our team lost four of top six players in a six-man rotation from last year and then, we lost four players to season-ending injuries that started our first summer tour game in Brazil. We are down to two freshmen, three sophomores and two walk-ons. This season has been unavoidable with the injuries."
UCLA coach Ben Howland, on Jerime Anderson and Lazeric Jones' play in the backcourt after Jones moved to the wing and Anderson to the point six games ago: "It's been better for us offensively, the way we switched it around. Lazeric is getting more assists than when he was a '1". Both of them have been playing well offensively in terms of assist-to-turnover ratio and getting the ball to others."
Cross-Continental
National pundits missing a scintillating show in Oregon State’s Cunningham
Oregon State junior Jared Cunningham is ascending in major fashion as the Beavers are off on a three-game winning streak and their 14-7 record is putting them in position to have NCAA aspirations should Oregon State finish strong down the stretch. He leads the Pac-12 at 18.2 ppg. and also in steals at 2.8 per night, which is also third in the nation.
Cunningham has played a major role in the consecutive wins over
USC, UCLA, and Oregon by averaging 22 points, 4.3 boards and 3
assists in those contests. He also has seven steals in those
three outings.
Coach Craig Robinson believes in the Oakland, Calif. native to the point where he knew he would ask Cunningham to will the Beavers to the win over the Ducks in Eugene last Sunday.
“I told Jared that our best player will help us win games on the road,” said Robinson, “So not only did he have the pressure he was putting on himself, but I added the pressure on him.”
Cunningham is the odds-on-favorite for the Pac-12 Player-of-the-Year and it, quite frankly, is a shame that he is not getting more national attention. Skeptically speaking, that is basically because he plays in a college town on the west coast where the east coach media fail to watch enough Pac-12 basketball to be able to make an objective decision on Cunningham, or really any other player in the Pac-12, WCC, Big West, WAC, or Mountain West Conference.
Cunningham is a highlight film when he gets the ball in the open floor of Robinson’s new up-tempo offense. He has really no offensive deficiencies as he his the knack for attacking the rim, flaring for a three, or making a good pass to a Joe Burton or an Angus Brandt for a score on the box. His defensive speaks for itself in forcing the steals as his length causes lots of problems for opponents he may guard.
Then there are numerous intangibles as his leadership role in the win at Oregon on Sunday was a major plus. He was able to Ahmad Starks and gave him confidence to make plays in the OSU backcourt.
“I was trying to get Ahmad going,” said Cunningham, “I talked to him at halftime and just told him to play hard and get his shot going.”
Starks finished with 15 points in 39 minutes.
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All Oregon photos courtesy of
Oregon Athletics/Eric Evans; Craig Robinson photo courtesy Ethan
Erickson
