After a good run in last year's March Madness, where Oregon made it to the Sweet Sixteen and played eventual champ Louisville close, the Ducks have taken a step back this season.
This team misses Arsalan Kazemi, the Iranian Nuke, who was a force on defense and rebounding last year.
The Ducks are 17-8 after beating Washington Wednesday night, and once again looked skittish in doing it. Every game is a must-win game now, as Oregon blew game after game earlier in the season.
A low point was leading then No. 2 Arizona late a couple of weeks ago and letting the Wildcats off the hook by missing open jumpers and playing sloppily down the stretch. It was another in a series of close games that Oregon could have won but for its ball insecurity when it counted.
A guard-oriented team that must rely on its outside shooting to compete, Oregon lacks consistency. Its big-men are usually non-factors.
Hard to win without the big guys. Oregon had two of them lined up for the season, but neither qualified academically.
We'll see, but I don't expect much to happen in the rush to March. One small advantage may be that Oregon has four of its last six at home.
However, it lost several it should have won at home this season, usually late with ball-handling mistakes and cold shooting, so I'm not sure home court is an advantage for this undersized team.
TS
No comments:
Post a Comment