This Saturday, a handful of Oregon fans will make the short trip to Corvallis to watch the 8-10 Oregon men’s basketball team match up with 8-9 Oregon State. The Ducks and Beavers have the only overall losing records in the Pacific-10 Conference at this point in the season, as Oregon (1-5 Pac-10) sits dead last and Oregon State (3-3) comes in sixth.
Riveting stuff, I know, given the Ducks haven’t won in Corvallis since March 2, 2008, when then-senior Maarty Leunen scored a career-high 32 points on seven made three-pointers.
Remember Maarty? I vaguely do.
That group went on to an NCAA Tournament berth and a quick first-round exit at the hands of Mississippi State. We know this 2011 Oregon team isn’t fighting, or even thinking, about life after the regular season, because frankly there isn’t one.
I’ll admit I won’t be making the trek up to Gill Coliseum, and my personal lack of interest in our basketball program is implausible. I am a die-hard hoops fan and probably know Garrett Sim’s jump shot better than most people would ever care to. I’ve watched this team, uh, develop, over the course of this season and seasons past with little to show for it.
No postseason tournaments, ever. A winning record has been reserved only for the first five games of the season against perennial powers Northwest Christian University, North Dakota State and Denver — you get my point.
And at this point, like most frustrated fans who continue to show their support (I applaud the dozen of you), I’m mostly just looking for something to peak my interest. The games are already long; I wince at each four-minute timeout.
There are a few things I still get some enjoyment out of, though.
True freshman Johnathan Loyd taking over as the starting point guard has been one of them. He looks the part of the traditional Oregon one-guard, standing just 5-foot-8, and even mentioned Tajuan Porter and Aaron Brooks as reasons for his commitment to the Ducks. He wanted a chance to play and had already seen two guys with similar statures have successful careers in green and yellow.
Loyd’s style of play is much easier on the eyes, as he’s not the shoot-first, pass-maybe-later type we grew accustomed to. He seems unselfish on the court, with lightning-quick speed that’s proven difficult for most defenders to contain. Personally I was glad to see Loyd relieve junior Malcolm Armstead of those duties.
Unfortunately, neither is a half-court scoring threat. That’s a source Oregon hasn’t been able to tap into on the recruiting trail just yet. But it sounds like athletes are on the way, which, from the outside looking in, seems to be exactly what Oregon is looking for.
Most nights the Ducks aren’t able to get any dribble-penetration into the key, and ultimately pass the ball around the perimeter until someone finally pulls the trigger on an 18-foot jumper. Oregon doesn’t shoot the ball well at all, which normally turns into easy transition scores at the other end.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
And for a school whose football team is chock-full of some of the best all-around athletes in the country, it’s puzzling the basketball team hasn’t been able to scoop a few up along the way.
This brings me to the original idea of this column, the Great White Hope, formerly known as Jeff Maehl.
It’s been said first-year head coach Dana Altman approached Maehl earlier this year about joining the Oregon basketball team. For those of you who’ve seen him play in pickup games at the Student Recreation Center, I don’t need to elaborate on why this was a smart move on Altman’s part.
Any time the question is raised among football players for who’s the best basketball player on the team, the answer is always Jeff.
The athleticism seen on the football field translates tenfold on the court.
More often than not it’s shocking how quick he is with the ball, and before you know it, he’s already dunked on three of your teammates and is back on the other end chirping for more.
I was there the day he dunked on the majority of the people on the court, one of them a close friend of mine, who went to the hospital later that day to get staples in his head to keep the gash left by Maehl’s elbow on the way down from bleeding.
He’s a beast. We know.
But when I heard about Altman reaching out to Maehl, a lot of things went through my mind. Just imagine what Maehl would do for the Oregon basketball fan base. (I think we can all agree it’s lacking.) Students and other football fans alike would come to games just to see if the rumors were true.
Would it be a success or complete train wreck? I like to think the former. But at the end of the day, Maehl declined Altman’s offer and will probably start gearing up for a career playing on Sundays.
Can’t say I blame him, but you can’t fault a kid for dreaming.
[email protected]
Clark: Does anyone care about Oregon basketball?
Daily Emerald
January 18, 2011
0
More to Discover