The Oregon men’s basketball team has started its season in a nice fashion at 3-0 with an upcoming game against Vanderbilt on the horizon at the Papé Jam in Portland.
They’ve defeated a good New Mexico team at home and have beat up on two cupcake teams to get to where they are now.
So how good is this team?
In my eyes they have exceeded expectation, but one thing wrong with other people’s expectations is that they compare this team to Oregon teams of the past, especially the Elite Eight team of 2001-02.
That’s not fair.
I’ve heard on numerous occasions that this team is “in better shape than the Elite Eight team,” or that they are “a better defensive squad than the Elite Eight team,” but I’m afraid that all of you who are comparing this team to that team are completely off track.
This is not that team.
Not even close.
This year’s squad hasn’t won anything yet.
Talented: yes.
Proven: no.
Go back in the time machine with me to the 2001-02 season.
The Ducks went 26-9 for the season. They defended Mac Court perfectly with a 16-0 record (the first time since 1937-38).
Most importantly, they had Luke, Luke and Fred.
Who can forget when Oregon faced Wake Forest in the NCAA tournament and the trio combined for 81 (Jackson 29, Ridnour 28, Jones 24) of the team’s 92 points.
Or the Texas game when Jones, despite only having two points for the previous 39 minutes, drove through the lane and scored the game-winning basket with 2.8 seconds left to propel Oregon to a 72-70 victory — and a spot in the Elite Eight.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not bashing this season’s Oregon team at all.
One of my favorite things about this squad is that it doesn’t want to be those teams. Redshirt freshman Ray Schafer told me the 2004-05 Ducks don’t want to be compared to teams of the past; they are their own team.
Yes, they still have the uptempo style and great scoring talent like previous teams, but they are different.
One thing they are missing is a big, tough presence in the middle that makes little guards think twice about coming inside.
A Robert Johnson or a Brian Helquist type of player. Someone that can do the dirty work in the interior and has the size to push some bodies around.
Mitch Platt could be that guy for the Ducks. He’s big (6-foot-10, 265 pounds), and if he gets healthy and gets a little bit of a mean streak in him, he could be the enforcer the Ducks need.
But remember, this team is young. It will take its bumps and bruises, and to hold it to the same expectation as past teams is unreasonable.

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