Energy has been the buzzword of choice around McArthur Court lately, whether used critically in the loss to USC, or as the reason why the Ducks stayed with UCLA on Sunday.
One difference that may explain part of why Oregon’s second half was so much better on Sunday was Matt Humphrey’s insertion into the starting lineup – or is it because a more rested LeKendric Longmire came off the bench?
Head coach Ernie Kent said Tuesday it was a combination of both.
“The biggest thing for us is, I don’t care so much about the lineup but how hard they’re going to play when they get on the floor,” Kent said. “Whichever one of those guys is going to start, they need to start with an enormous amount of intensity, and whichever one comes off the bench, they need to play hard.”
While saying that both Humphrey, a true freshman, and Longmire, a redshirt sophomore, had good practices Tuesday, Kent also seemed to suggest another start for Humphrey on Thursday at Arizona because of the boost it gave Longmire in the second half. Longmire, who is arguably one of the team’s best defenders and with experience, had been plagued by cramps in the early season.
“This is an opportunity for him to have a lot more energy coming down the stretch of the game,” Kent said. “Now we gotta find a way to get TP (Tajuan Porter) a little more rest in the game.”
Humphrey, meanwhile, said the biggest difference for him is being fully prepared from the tipoff.
“It’s immediate,” Humphrey said. “You gotta pay attention a lot more to walk-throughs to get the job done from the jump.”
While energy didn’t seem to be a problem against UCLA, perimeter defense was a major area of concern for the coaches, seeing the Bruins shoot 13-of-22 from three-point range, including two comeback-killing triples by Josh Shipp in the final 10 minutes. In Arizona and Arizona State, the Ducks will face teams that shoot 40 percent from long-range each. The Sun Devils lead the Pac-10 in three-pointers made and attempted.
“Defensively, we’ve got to lock down,” said freshman Garrett Sim, who will be making his first Pac-10 road trip like the five other true freshmen. “It’ll be fun, see how we handle it.”
Oregon went to its matchup zone defense in an effort to slow the Bruins’ success in the second half, and it could be a look Kent breaks out against the Wildcats and Sun Devils, as well.
“Once we got into it we played it really well for notProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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aving played it much this year,” Kent said. “Went back and looked at the tape and every time we broke down they made us pay. When we didn’t break down, we shut them down, so that was a good indication of where we can go with that, as long as our freshmen continue to learn rotations.”
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Ducks working on keeping energy up for Pac-10 schedule
Daily Emerald
January 6, 2009
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