“Aaaaaah.”
That was the reaction of the Brisbane Capitals’ head coach after one of his players bobbled a pass midway through the first half of Tuesday night’s game against Oregon at McArthur Court.
The Ducks were screaming — with happiness — as they toppled the Capitals 97-45 in the season’s first exhibition game. Oregon did almost everything right in the opener, and Ducks head coach Ernie Kent was pleased with his team’s performance.
“Overall, I was comfortable and confident in our performance,” Kent said. “It should have been a lopsided score. I would have been worried if it wasn’t.”
Oregon broke open the game early, with a 20-2 run that began at the 13-minute mark of the first half. The Capitals didn’t get their 20th point until the 18th minute of the game. By then, the Ducks had 49 points.
Oregon unveiled a new lineup Tuesday night, including one new starter who made a big impact. Robert Johnson, a junior transfer from Santa Rosa Junior College in California, proved to be the Ducks’ most effective rebounder. Johnson ended the contest with eight points and 10 boards, a game high.
“Robert will be a factor on our team,” Kent said. “You saw him rebound. You saw him score. But what you didn’t see is that he does so many more little things that help this team a great deal.”

The Ducks’ high scorer of the night was senior guard Freddie Jones, who finished with 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting. Jones did everything Oregon fans are accustomed to seeing: he made acrobatic dunks, played tight defense and dished out assists on fast breaks.
Sophomore point guard Luke Ridnour, last year’s Pacific-10 Conference Freshman of the Year, proved that he might be even better than last season. Ridnour ended with the game’s only double-double: 17 points and 10 assists.
Ridnour accumulated most of his statistics on fast breaks, as the Ducks ran on the Travelers all night.
“That’s the way the game was meant to be played,” Ridnour said. “Hopefully we’re in better shape this year, and we can just keep runnin’ and runnin.’”
Despite the offensive effort, all eyes were on Oregon’s defense Tuesday night. The Ducks said they showed a grit on defense that was missing last season, as they allowed Brisbane to convert only 32.8 percent of their shots. The Capitals were 2-16 from three-point land in the contest.
“We’ve changed our whole defensive style, and that’s making us more focused and intense out there,” Jones said. “Our goal on defense is to make the other offense do things they’re not accustomed to doing.”
Oregon forced 25 turnovers Tuesday, including 12 steals. But Kent said that the Ducks’ one weak point was the 23 turnovers that Oregon committed themselves.
“We’re going to turn it over some,” Kent said. “We can tone that down some.”
Tuesday night’s game was summed up in the frustration vented by Brisbane’s coach after that early turnover. It was also the first taunt of the season for Oregon’s loud “Pit Crew,” who heckled the Australian team for much of the 40-minute contest.
Aaaaah.