A Peek Inside The New-Look Oregon Men's Basketball Team
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
When addressing his team during practice, Oregon men’s basketball coach Dana Altman has a habit of repeating himself.
“Game time, game time,” Altman said before a recent practice, clapping his hands for emphasis. The Ducks were preparing to face Coppin State in their regular-season opener, and as players stretched, Altman exhorted the strength and conditioning coaches to “get ‘em loose, men, get ‘em loose.” He sent players off to the weight room a few minutes later. “Let’s get a good lift in, let’s get a good lift in,” Altman called out.
Altman’s coaching techniques have helped Oregon win at least 20 games in each of his first four seasons with the Ducks. His teams have all made extended postseason runs, the last two in the NCAA Tournament. But after a tumultuous offseason that ended with just two true returning veterans, the current roster features 11 new faces. Altman’s ability to hammer home his messages to this young team is critical.
The Ducks, who return to the court Monday against Detroit in Matthew Knight Arena (8 p.m. PT, ESPNU), opened this winter with two exhibition wins, surpassing 100 points each time against small in-state universities.
Oregon featured several athletic scorers who were able to get out and run against overmatched opponents. The opener against Coppin State had the potential to be a different story, and there was urgency to Altman’s instruction as he prepared the team to play the Eagles this past Friday night.
“Let’s have a good day, now,” Altman said at the beginning of practice last Wednesday. “We’ve got two days to get ready, two days to get ready.”
The first few minutes Friday night were close to a worst-case scenario. All that repeating himself about how the Eagles loved to take pull-up three-pointers, and contest shots with physical defense, and Altman was watching his Ducks fall behind right from the tip.
Coppin State took an early 11-2 lead, thanks to a trio of three-point shots and 1-of-7 shooting by the Ducks. Just 2:22 into the game, Altman took timeout to interrupt the Eagles’ sizzling start.
A little over 48 hours earlier, the Ducks wrapped up their practice Wednesday by squatting into defensive stances, shuffling their feet as fast as possible and back-pedaling at Altman’s direction. He wanted every player to get through the drill for a full 35 seconds without cracking, but coming at the end of what had already been a high-intensity workout, the Ducks were struggling. Assistant coach Tony Stubblefield called out, “Where’s the leadership now, when stuff gets a little hard?”
Altman’s message in that timeout just after Friday’s game began might have been similar. After two games of running past and jumping over their exhibition foes, Oregon had been smacked in the mouth by the tough team from Baltimore. Who would rise to the challenge?
Coppin State’s sixth three-pointer of the game made it 22-16. Oregon turned it over at the other end, still showing little signs of being able to stanch the bleeding. Senior guard Jalil Abdul-Bassit, who endured an injury plagued debut season with the Ducks the year before, backpedaled on defense past the UO bench. As the senior swept past his coach, Altman’s instructions were succinct: “Stop and a rebound, Jalil.”
Altman’s assistants each chimed in occasionally during practice Wednesday, but the second most prominent voice on the court was that of senior guard Joseph Young. The high-scoring perimeter player is looking to expand his skill set in his last year before turning professional, and he’s embraced the idea of becoming the Ducks’ vocal leader.
“Hey, hey, hey, we’ve got to communicate,” Young said early in practice, as the Ducks went over some halfcourt defensive concepts. The Ducks were five-on-five an hour or so later, and Young still wasn’t hearing enough from his teammates on defense. “Hey man, we gotta talk louder, man!” he said. “I’m the only one talking!”
As a junior, Young averaged 18.9 points per game, second in the Pac-12, and helped the Ducks reach the third round of the NCAA Tournament. He considered entering the draft after that season, but returned to school to enhance his prospects. He showed immediate growth in Oregon’s first exhibition, dishing out seven assists against one turnover, and also calming freshman Dillon Brooks and the rest of the team when a call didn’t go the Ducks’ way.
On Friday afternoon, some seven hours before the 9 p.m. PT tipoff with Coppin State, Young was again vocal during the Ducks’ shoot-around. “Hey, we should be loose now, we should be loose,” he said early on. The intensity built over the course of the warmup, though not enough for Young’s liking. “Let’s go, we gotta pick it up!” he shouted later. “Pick it up!”
While still developing as a leader, Young definitely hasn’t forgotten how to score the basketball. He had 27 points to go with those seven assists against Northwest Christian. And it was Young who would lead Oregon’s comeback against Coppin State.
Altman had asked Abdul-Bassit for a stop and a rebound with the Ducks down 22-16, and they obliged by forcing a turnover. Young scored an acrobatic bucket in transition, and the UO men came alive. Oregon’s senior leader hit a three-pointer to get the Ducks within 24-23, then assisted on a dunk by Elgin Cook to give Oregon its first lead. The Ducks never trailed again.
Jahvari Josiah made a jumper for Coppin State with 9:46 left in the first half, but it would be the Eagles’ last bucket before halftime. Oregon went into the break on a 33-1 run, and Young had 25 points. All that scoring can do wonders for a coach’s blood pressure; when Young hit a three-pointer for a 53-26 lead, Altman casually kicked out his leg for emphasis as the shot dropped.
With eight healthy scholarship players – post Michael Chandler remains sidelined by a knee injury – Altman will need complete buy-in from the Ducks this season, and right from the outset. In various ways, players made their presence felt as Oregon prepared for and then took on Coppin State.
Other than Young, the most vocal player on the roster might be freshman point guard Ahmaad Rorie. “Let’s go, y’all, fight through fatigue,” Rorie said as the Ducks struggled through the defensive drill late in Wednesday’s practice. Earlier, a teammate had become frustrated when pulled out of a drill, and Rorie walked over to calm him down. The frustration was gone as quickly as it had materialized.
Like Young, Cook’s natural demeanor is quiet, but he’s trying to put his experience to use. When the Ducks weren’t making it through the full 35 seconds in the defensive stance drill, Altman cut the time to 20. Cook angrily yelled at the student manager operating the clock to “put 35 up there! Thirty five!” Cook didn’t want the Ducks cutting any corners.
The practice had been a physical one from the start; Altman told scout-team players to foul the regulars, early and often. Having seen it all in 25 years as a head coach, Altman knew the regular season would be much tougher than those exhibition games. “I don’t want to hear any complaining,” he said. “We’ve got to get ready for physical play. (Coppin State) is out of Baltimore; they’re going to put their hands right on you.”
In a pregame film session Friday, Altman again preached toughness. “We’re simply going to have to play harder than them,” he said. “You’re going to hear me say this 31 times this year. Don’t underestimate playing hard. Talent is one thing; playing hard levels that out real quick.”
As the opening tip approached, Altman had his team’s focus. “What do we have to take away right from the start,” he asked. “Easy buckets,” the Ducks said in unison. “What shots get you beat, fellas,” Altman posed a few minutes later. Again, the team answered together: “Layups.”
In Wednesday’s practice and on game day Friday, the two players Altman pushed hardest were junior Dwayne Benjamin and freshman Jordan Bell. With Chandler out, they’re the only two Ducks taller than 6-foot-6, and thus they’re critical to Oregon’s success in 2014-15.
Benjamin scored 22 in the second exhibition win, over Western Oregon. But the Ducks can score everywhere on the floor. They need the JC transfer to be at least as productive, if not more so, on the defensive end and as a rebounder.
On Friday night, Oregon led 68-38 when the clock stopped for Coppin State to shoot free throws. “Dwayne,” Altman called out. Benjamin turned, surely expecting to find out what play Oregon would run at the other end. Instead he heard: “Tuck your shirt in.” Attention to detail, even as the Ducks were turning the game into a blowout.
A few minutes later it was 85-47, and Young put up his eighth and final three-point attempt of the night. Oregon was up 38, but Altman wasn’t close to being done coaching. “Go get it Dwayne, go get it!” Altman yelled, anticipating a miss.
Young didn’t miss much that night; the three-pointer, like 10 other shots before it, dropped through the rim. There was no rebound for Benjamin to go and get. But, though he followed up his 22 points in the last exhibition with just three Friday, Benjamin grabbed seven rebounds against Coppin State, second on the team behind Bell’s 12; each also blocked two shots.
Those weren’t glamorous performances like that of Young, but they’re exactly what Altman needs from Benjamin and Bell this season. That’s a message that bears repeating. No doubt, Altman will do so.
