A lot returns this season for Oregon men’s basketball.
That includes the starting five consisting of Malik Hairston, the team’s leading scorer; Maarty Leunen, the leading rebounder; Aaron Brooks, the leader in assists; and Chamberlain Oguchi, the leader in three-point field goals.
Bryce Taylor and Mitch Platt also return after injuries sidelined them last season.
And when the season officially begins tonight against Lehigh, also returning are the great number of expectations that went unfulfilled in a 15-18 season that marked the second consecutive year Oregon missed postseason play.
So are things different this season?
If nothing else, the mood seems to indicate things are. The Ducks spent part of the summer together at Bahamian tournament, allowing them to practice earlier than usual.
“I just think from a maturity standpoint, they’re going to be able to handle themselves a lot better,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said.
Of Oregon’s 15 losses last season, eight were decided by five points or less and 12 were by 10 points or less, including a stretch of four straight home games in which the Ducks lost by an average of four points.
Oregon advanced to the Pac-10 Tournament semi-final but fell in overtime to California.
“This team really wasn’t blown out of games last year,” Kent said. “So you’re not looking at a team that’s lacking talent. This team was right there to win games. Hopefully that adversity will allow them to turn the corner.”
Kent attributed the high number of close games to Oregon’s slower offensive pace last season. Don’t expect that to be the case this year as the Ducks plan to push the ball on made and missed baskets, taking advantage of their deep bench.
“We always called ourselves a running team, but we didn’t really take the steps to be a running team,” Brooks said. “This year, we’ve been on the track three days a week to get back to running.”
Brooks specifically will benefit from Oregon’s deeper bench this season with the addition of 5-foot-6-inch true freshman Tajuan Porter, who can give Brooks the occasional rest he lacked last season.
“(Tajuan), if he stays healthy, he’s going to be a valuable key to this team’s success,” Brooks said. “I’m looking forward to being a little tandem with him.”
In Oregon’s exhibition victories against Lewis and Clark and Southern Oregon, Porter connected on 11 of 21 three pointers and scored 43 total points.
Another true freshman, 6-foot-6-inch Joevan Catron, is also expected to contribute inside and add depth to Oregon’s frontcourt that will, without a dominant force, rely on its strength in numbers.
“We have a mixture of guys that, if we can get a double-double out of that position, we’re in great shape,” Kent said. “That’s between Ray (Schafer), Mitch (Platt), and Adam Zahn.”
Oregon’s non-conference schedule figures to provide little challenge until the Ducks travel for consecutive road games to Rice and Georgetown on Nov. 20 and 29, respectively.
The Pac-10 season starts Dec. 30 at Oregon State. After that, Oregon returns home to host the Los Angeles schools and ends the season with three straight at home beginning with the Washington schools and ending with Oregon State before the Pac-10 tournament.
“I don’t know who can say, ‘I’ve got the dominant ball club’,” Kent said of the Pac-10. “There’s been enough turnover in the conference that’s going to make it a very compact dog fight.”
As for the NCAA Tournament?
“There’s no doubt this is a tournament team and beyond,” Brooks said. “If we put our minds to it, there’s no doubt that we can go to the tournament and make some noise.”
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