ANAHEIM – Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield said he didn’t find out about his head coach Lon Kruger’s long back history with Oregon head coach Dana Altman until one of his teammates gave him the low-down while stretching at the team’s shoot around.
The two coaches first came together back in 1986 when Kruger took over Kansas State and decided to bring Altman, a young coach from Moberly (Mo.) Junior College at the time, along as his assistant. It was Altman’s first gig at the Division I level.
Kruger and Altman have been close ever since and will be going head-to-head for the first time as opposing head coaches with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
“We talk all the time, so when opportunities have come up, we’ve bounced different things off each other,” Kruger said. “We’ve got a handful of coaches that are best friends and, certainly, Dana’s one of them, without question.”
Altman mirrored Kruger’s sentiments.
“He’s been a great friend and mentor for 30 years, and we’ve never played each other for a reason: We didn’t want to play,” Altman said. “If we are fortunate to win, I’m sure he’ll be happy for us, and if we lose, I know I’ll be happy for him.”
The more Hield, the front-runner for national player of the year, started to think about the history between the two long-time coaches who will meet tomorrow night in the Elite Eight, the more he couldn’t help but light up with interest.
“It’s cool; I didn’t know that (before). Good history.”
Like his teammates, Hield had some time last night to watch film on Oregon. The more he watched, the more he could see how similar the two teams were.
“It’s kind of weird watching them because you kind of watch yourself out there.”
Hield had a point.
Oregon and Oklahoma do have a lot in common — at least more than you would expect. A lot of that probably has to do with the shared principles and views of the game between Kruger and Altman. The rest of it falls on the shoulders of players who prioritized learning and developing under two renowned teachers of the game.
“You can tell that Coach Kruger taught him and he’s carried it over, too,” Hield said. “The system is working.”
You look at a senior in Hield and you see an older version of sophomore Dillon Brooks: both are skilled, emotional leaders for top-tier programs who play with a passion for the game that the national media eats up, and both always teeter the line between hyperbole and enthusiasm when in front of a camera.
Oregon forward Dillon Brooks talks with media members the day before Elite Eight matchup with Oregon (Hayden Kim/ Emerald).
“I can tell he’s very emotional,” Hield said about Brooks. “He’s their team energy. Having a guy like him helps the team, just like me. My team feeds off my energy too. It’s going to be a fun matchup.”
You hear about Oregon’s mantra of “make plays for each other” all season long — sometimes it’s you, other times it’s me, it’s always us — then you hear all five of Oklahoma’s starters at the podium uttering and repeating the same phrase minutes later.
You watch both teams play, and you see programs that succeed through their athleticism, shot-blocking ability, sharpshooting and speedy guard play.
“They spread it out, they like to get in transition, a lot of them can shoot, they like to drive, pass to each other and that’s what we kind of what we base ourselves off of,” senior forward Ryan Spangler said.
Need more proof? Look at the side-by-side stats for yourself.
Their similarity in unselfish ball movement and camaraderie on and off the court are uncanny.
“They’re just like us,” Hield said. “They’re tough. They’re one of the best teams in the country.”
Kruger and Altman’s even-keel demeanors are almost identical; both creating interactive, positive classroom-like environments that cater to their players rather than a totalitarian regime.
“Never seen him mad,” Spangler said about Kruger. “He never yells, never curses at us. We get after it, but at the same time, he’s going to stop and tell us what we need to do better or what we’re doing wrong.”
Earlier today, Kruger put Altman’s name into the hat for national coach of the year along with Kansas’ Bill Self. Two days ago, he declared Oregon the “best team in the country.”
When No. 1 seed Oregon meets No. 2 seed Oklahoma tomorrow afternoon in the West Regional Final — second meeting all-time since the Ducks beat the Sooners in their 1939 Final Four matchup en route to winning their one and only national title — it will be more than the Pac-12 outright champions facing up against Big-12 heavyweights.
It will be a Final Four-deciding reunion between two long-time friends who despise the idea of having to play each other at this stage of the season.
“Hopefully the teacher will win,” Hield joked.
“That’ll probably be a hard one right there,” Oregon assistant coach Tony Stubblefield said about Altman and Kruger having to go up against one another. “You don’t want to go up against one of your best friends to get to the Final Four. If they had to probably pick a different route to get there, I’m sure they would choose a different route.”
Follow Hayden Kim on Twitter @HayDayKim
