When Washington’s NCAA Tournament run came to an end against Louisville in the Sweet 16, some considered the Huskies’ postseason a disappointment because of their No. 1 seed.
Truthfully, Washington lost to a better team. Louisville should have been the owner of the Albuquerque Region’s top seed, as justified by the Cardinals’ berth in the Final Four.
With all of its accomplishments this season, Washington has nothing to be ashamed of. Over a span of three seasons, head coach Lorenzo Romar turned the Huskies from a Pacific-10 Conference doormat into the second-highest scoring team in the country. The purple and gold won the Pac-10 Tournament, came within one game of a regular season conference title and changed the image of a school that had only been known for football greatness.
While Seattle is certainly proud of its overachieving Huskies, there’s a basketball team that resides five hours south of the Emerald City that should definitely be
intrigued by Washington’s success.
The 2004-05 Oregon men’s basketball team resembled the Washington teams of previous years — a group of exciting young players who didn’t have the experience to win a lot of games during the Pac-10 season.
There are two big differences, however. First, Oregon is arguably more talented at this stage than Washington was two years ago. Second, the Ducks’ young players were expected to do far more than Nate Robinson, Brandon Roy and Will Conroy when they were first playing Division I basketball.
Malik Hairston and Bryce Taylor started all 27 of Oregon’s games this season and, along with sophomore point guard Aaron Brooks, were often the Ducks’ first offensive options.
Robinson started less than half of Washington’s 27 games as a freshman during the 2002-03 season, while Roy wasn’t even eligible to play in the first 14 contests. Conroy started only seven games during his freshman campaign a year earlier, averaging only 12.5 minutes per game.
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent compared his youthful team to Washington throughout the season, telling pundits that all the Ducks needed was time and experience to be great. If Washington’s rise to national prominence is any indicator on what experience does for talent, Oregon has a bright future ahead.
Oregon finished the season with a winning record overall, and were a play or two away from getting wins against Washington and Stanford. If Taylor, Maarty Leunen and Chamberlain Oguchi continue to improve and Hairston decides to stick around for another two seasons, the Ducks have a chance to be a carbon copy of the up-tempo Husky team that made it to the Sweet 16.
Or even better.

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