At the beginning of any basketball team’s season, trial and error is commonplace. Rotations are toyed with, defensive schemes shifted through and mistakes even welcomed. 

The Oregon men’s basketball team wasn’t gifted that luxury.

Instead it dealt with an injury bug that left its record reeling. Rather than finding those lineups or zone defenses that could be applied in the middle of the season, or the postseason, for that matter, it struggled to field even an eight-man lineup at times. 

Now that high-usage players like guards Jermaine Couisnard, Brennen Rigsby and Keeshawn Barthelemy have returned, the Ducks are playing like one of those early-season teams in search of consistency, without the time that it takes to discover it.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed with the inconsistencies we’ve shown,” head coach Dana Altman said. “There’s no excuse for it now. Earlier in the year, I could have given them an excuse for it, now there’s none and we’re still inconsistent.”

That much was made apparent by their night-and-day like performances against No. 6 Arizona and the Pac-12’s worst team, Stanford. It’s no question, they are a talented bunch — to beat Arizona a team needs to match up skill-wise — but those inconsistencies that have trickled into the back half of their 2022-23 season overshadow the strengths they do have. 

They’re unpredictable to say the least, a trait that Altman attests to lapses in focus and chemistry for the most part, but it’s clear it’s more than that. At times, the Ducks show little effort to get their hands in passing lanes and corral rebounds or loose balls. 

Against Arizona they had over 50 deflections, but against Stanford they had just 26, according to Altman. They allowed 11 offensive rebounds in the latter matchup, which resulted in 10 second-chance points. 

It’s those little things that Barthelemy pointed to when asked how this team can find steadiness.

“Communicating on defense, crashing the boards, doing the hard-nosed stuff,” he said. “Sometimes we hang our heads because we’re not making shots and the inconsistencies of not making shots is affecting the little things.”

Against Stanford, Richardson and N’Faly Dante — the Ducks’ No. 1 and No. 3 scorers on a per-game basis — went a combined 6-of-18 from the field. Their offensive woes seemingly seeped into the collective defensive play reflected by that poor deflection number. 

That lack of effort at times has manifested itself in practice, as well. Yes, this team has displayed spurts of competitiveness, but its 11-9 record is a direct product of not having set rotations or defensive structure. And it’s not just in front of the fans. 

“Today, like I said, was good for the first part and then not as focused as we need to be,” Altman said about Tuesday’s practice. “That’s been part of our problem, that consistency over long periods of time.”

It’s far from a vote of confidence for an Oregon team that’s preparing to host the Colorado Buffaloes (12-9) — a matchup in which, earlier this season, the Ducks produced their worst shooting performance under Altman in his 13 years at the helm, shooting 26.9% from the field as they put up just 41 points.

While it’s tough to know which version of the Ducks will take the floor on a night-to-night basis, that previous performance can’t affect Thursday’s. To avoid that, it goes back to Barthelemy’s point: If the shots aren’t falling, the effort levels in the passing lanes and on the boards must remain high. 

And at 11-9, while the Ducks’ postseason prospects are far from secure, Altman still sees a path for them to make a push at the NCAA Tournament. 

“We still got a lot of opportunities to finish second in the league,” Altman said. “Everybody that’s ahead of us, we play them.”

That process starts when the Ducks take the court at 6 p.m. on Thursday against Colorado.