He’s made it easy to forget how challenging it is.

Reputations, personalities and play styles at odds with each other. The upward trends and late-season surges for which his teams have a proclivity. Roster reconstruction is as demanding as it is paramount. Oregon head coach Dana Altman just makes it look simple.

In the latest case study of Altman’s masterful roster puppetry, and most recent testament to his player’s belief in it, Oregon (11-6, 4-2 Pac-12) swept its Southern California road trip, earning two of the biggest wins in college basketball this season against then-ranked No. 3 UCLA and No. 5 USC.

“As a team we’re coming together,” Will Richardson, the fourth-year guard who scored a career-high 28 against USC, said. “This is feeling like one of the teams I’ve been on before where everybody really likes each other, and everybody’s cheering for each other; nobody’s worried about playing time. We’re starting to realize that, and we’re starting to buy into the team effort. Any day, anybody could have a big day.”

The wins — an 84-81 overtime thriller against the Bruins and wire-to-wire 79-69 win over the Trojans — gave an Oregon team, which entered the weekend 0-4 in Quadrant 1, two wins in the quadrant and two key resume staples come March. It’s a monumental step forward for a program that just two months ago was struggling to score 20 points in a half and twice lost by 29-plus.

“We needed a big week; we know that our guys know that,” Altman said.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what has spurred the Ducks’ Pac-12-leading, five-game win streak in the throes of conference play. Renewed offensive potency? Improved fundamentals on the defensive end? Full-fledged effort?

“This week, coming out of the COVID stretch we just feel closer than we ever have,” Richardson said.

It was never about a dearth of talent. The Ducks are starting to play connected. And a well-oiled roster with tight chemistry can remedy the Ducks’ blemishes: six losses tacked onto their record.

“Attitude, energy and connection, and we’re putting all of those together,” guard De’Vion Harmon said. 

What does that look like? Like Richardson, Harmon and fellow guard Jacob Young — who authored the UCLA win with punctual shot-making in the second half and overtime — formulating a three-headed weapon on the perimeter. Like centers N’Faly Dante and Franck Kepnang’s 8-for-9 from the field and six block performance against USC. Like a team, at last, playing for one another and not themselves, prodding its coach who seldom smiles to flaunt a grin after the win in Pauley Pavilion.

“I wish I could act like we invented something here, but we’re just playing so much harder than we did,” Altman said.

He added: “That’s the exciting thing: I still think we’ve got so much room to grow into.”

Unlike in recent years, Oregon has several in-conference opportunities for Quadrant 1 wins. On the heels of their wins in Southern California, the Ducks still have matchups at home against USC and UCLA and Quadrant 2 teams such as Washington State and Colorado. They’ll face Arizona, the nation’s new No. 3 team, in Tucson too.

The Ducks can’t bury themselves any further; they know that, but the next few weeks hold plenty of chances to climb the ladder.
As Altman frequently tells his players, ‘Swing away, swing away, swing away.’