When Oregon forward Chris Boucher went down with a season-ending knee injury midway through the Pac-12 Tournament, many thought his absence would spell doom for the Ducks’ national title hopes.
Already thin on contributing big-men, the loss of Boucher meant Oregon would have to navigate the NCAA Tournament with Jordan Bell as their only post presence who had played consistent minutes throughout the regular season.
Since the start of the tournament, though, the Ducks have actually become a better rebounding team in Boucher’s absence. You could chalk that up to Bell suddenly becoming Oregon’s version of Draymond Green, or the fact that the Ducks have faced perimeter oriented teams throughout the tournament.
However you look at it, the Ducks are averaging almost one rebound a game better than they did during the regular season. They’re outrebounding NCAA Tournament opponents by almost seven boards a game.
“Jordan Bell is really playing well, but the guys have all chipped in a little bit,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said. “I got after Tyler [Dorsey] and Dylan Ennis at halftime because neither one of them had a rebound [against Kansas]. In the second half, Tyler gets five and Dylan had two or three. Eight rebounds in a half. … That makes a big difference.”
Bell’s strong play inside has been a shot in the arm for Oregon. He is one of just eight players since 1985 to average more than 12 rebounds in four straight tournament games. However, on Saturday he will face an entirely different beast in North Carolina (5:45 p.m., CBS).
Oregon Ducks forward Kavell Bigby-Williams (35) talks to a reporter in the locker room at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. on March 18, 2017. (Aaron Nelson/Emerald)
The Tar Heels will roll out a lineup that out rebounds opponents by 13 boards a game and owns the best rebounding margin in the country.
“We’ve watched a lot of film the last couple of days,” Altman said. “[North Carolina’s] not gonna try to trick you. They pound the offensive boards; their transition game is off the charts.”
Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks each stand 6-foot-10 and average better than 12 points per contest on the year. They are the Tar Heels’ two leading rebounders and are spelled by Tony Bradley (6-foot-10) and Luke Maye (6-foot-8), each of whom plays around 15 minutes each game. To add to the depth, North Carolina has national player of the year candidate Justin Jackson, a springy 6-foot-8 forward who can both pull down a rebound and start the break.
Oregon’s obvious fix is to add more of Kavell Bigby-Willimas into the mix. But with limited offensive upside, he leaves the Ducks disadvantaged on one end of the floor. A better solution for Oregon might be to continue doing what it has done — roll out a small-ball lineup that loves to run and exploit mismatches.
Oregon has a physical bunch of guards who have done a much better job crashing the boards throughout the tournament than they did during the regular season. With Pac-12 player of the year Dillon Brooks able to float between the perimeter and the post, the Tar Heels will have a tough time rolling out two-post lineups for the entire game without giving up a mismatch outside the paint if they leave a big man on Brooks.
Not a team in the nation has found a way to keep the Tar Heels off the glass this year, but Oregon’s frenetic style of play could keep the No. 1 seed out of sync and mitigate any rebound advantage, even with Boucher out of the lineup.
“I think all the guys have realized the significance of it and that we need all five guys rebounding,” Altman said.
Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @Jarrid_Denney
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The University of Oregon has released a statement about the Emerald’s report on the sexual assault investigation of former men’s basketball player Kavell Bigby-Williams. Bigby-Williams recently announced he is transferring to Louisiana State University. Here is the full statement found on AroundtheO: Recent media coverage of an allegation of sexual assault …