When the season kicked off for Oregon men’s basketball, the question was about the stars.
Would it be Jackson Shelstad who shone even brighter in his second year? Could Nate Bittle fill N’Faly Dante’s shoes? Discussions over the top of the box score dominated keyboards and airwaves.
Nobody was talking about the unit that has kept the Ducks in bounceback games, led comebacks and succeeded even in losses.
Nobody was talking about the bench.
Oregon’s relief unit has been the one to push it through a season that had obvious goals, but less-obvious ways to get there. The Ducks went into the season with question marks in the starting lineup, but relative security down the line; two of the five starters were transfers, but just one of the Ducks’ bench players would play his first year in the program. It was a secure backup, or a failsafe option when the first-choice players didn’t click on their day.
This year, it was all about the bench.
Five Oregon players play, on average, more than half of the game. That’s head coach Dana Altman’s starting lineup — Jackson Shelstad, TJ Bamba, Nate Bittle, Brandon Angel and Keeshawn Barthelemy (rotated from Jadrian Tracey earlier in the season). Those players are tasked with building the lead, and with defending it.
When Altman looks down the bench, though, he’s got more options. Tracey, a fourth-year wing with 42 career starts and 86 total games, won’t be flustered when he comes off the bench. Supreme Cook, the 6’9’’ center, provides no physical drop-off from Angel and Bittle. Second-year forward Kwame Evans Jr. struggled early in the season, but is averaging 5.9 points per game and has emerged as a dominant defender.
“It helps,” Altman said after the bench put up 19 points against USC on March 1. “Mookie (Cook) made a big difference at Wisconsin, gave us three or four really good minutes. Ra’Heim (Moss)’s given us some good defensive minutes. The conference tournament … I’d like to think our depth could help us and win the first one to get to the second one.”
The Ducks, though, have struggled to hold leads all year, and that came to bear when they headed to East Lansing, Michigan, on Feb. 8.
Oregon raced out to a 50-36 first-half advantage, and the bench tallied 13 points. After the break, though, the Ducks couldn’t swim. Oregon put up just 24 points in the second half and lost a game where it had one of the nation’s top teams on the ropes. The bench outscored the Spartans, 24-14, and yet the Ducks lost.
The bench thrived again against Washington at Matthew Knight Arena on Jan. 21 — less than a week after the Ducks were held to just 58 points at home in a loss to No. 20 Purdue.
Starters Shelstad and Bittle were held to two and three first-half points, respectively. It didn’t matter. Supreme Cook (13 points) and Barthelemy (11) took over, scoring freely to will the Ducks to a win in a crucial spot. Oregon led the game in bench points 26-9, including a 15-4 mark in the second half.
The postgame press conference didn’t hound Oregon’s stars; it praised two potential starters in other places for their roles in a rivalry victory.
“Depth always helps,” Altman said after a win over USC. “You’ve got options, and you’ve definitely got to have the depth.”
As the Ducks move into a period where they’ll have to play games like their battles with the Spartans and Huskies more and more often — and with their season on the line — the bench will be in a position to step up once again.
