The Ducks exited Eugene two weeks ago near the top of the Pacific-10 Conference standings as the seventh-ranked team in the country, having won five in row.
Tonight, they return to the friendly confines of McArthur Court sitting in fifth place in the Pac-10 after an arduous four-game road trip in which the now-No. 13 Ducks finished 1-3, including two consecutive losses.
“I’m happy I don’t have to pack a suitcase,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “I thought we played four really great teams. There were no cupcakes on that schedule. Every game was a physical and mental drain on your body. Now hopefully all the energy in (McArthur Court) turns around in our favor.”
The Ducks’ four-game road trip, at Washington and Washington State, then at UCLA and USC, ended with the lone victory coming at then-No. 20 Washington State in overtime, when the Ducks erased a nine-point deficit with four minutes remaining, to win 77-74.
In losses at Washington, UCLA and USC, each opponent shot better than 50 percent for the game, topped by USC’s 60-percent shooting last Saturday.
In that four-game stretch, Oregon also committed 66 turnovers, or 16.5 per game, and shot just 36.8 percent and 33.3 percent against UCLA and USC, respectively.
Clearly there are a lot of improvements needed, even with last-place Arizona State (6-16 overall, 0-11 Pac-10) paying a visit tonight.
Most of the focus this week centered on the defensive end. Kent said he’ll likely use more substitutions in upcoming games to keep his players fresh and “accountable.”
“It’s not a matter of playing hard on D because I think they do,” Kent said. “I think it’s just being accountable to their rations.”
The Ducks also reviewed tapes this week from their win in late November at then-No. 18 Georgetown, a game where Oregon forced 17 turnovers and won 57-50.
“I think we’ve kind of forgotten about (defense),” Oregon’s Malik Hairston said. “I think we have a talented basketball team, a lot of guys that can score. We kind of lost sight of what got us here.”
Oregon’s Bryce Taylor said: “There’s not really too much we can do offensively…really what’s going to make us win more games is playing defense.”
Oregon is also hoping to regain some energy, which will certainly help on the defensive end, by playing in front of the home crowd for the first time in two weeks.
“It’s extremely hard to play perfect for 27-28 games,” Kent said. “If you remember Luke (Jackson) and Luke (Ridnour), we went down to the Bay Area and lost back-to-back games down there. At some point in the season, you’re going to have to step back and get reenergized and make another push. I certainly sensed that with this team on this road trip.
“Hopefully the fact that we’re back home, we can get reenergized and we can go in the other direction coming down the stretch.”
The Ducks sit at 19-4 overall, 7-4 in the Pac-10 and have a favorable stretch ahead with five of seven regular-season games remaining in Eugene, including against the Sun Devils tonight and Oregon State to end the regular season. The Sun Devils are winless in Pac-10 play, and the Beavers’ lone conference win came at Arizona State.
Still, the Ducks aren’t overlooking anybody, including the Sun Devils, led by first-year head coach Herb Sendek. Arizona State nearly upset Washington State last weekend, but a three-pointer at the buzzer rimmed off and the Cougars held on, 48-47. The Ducks previously defeated Arizona State on the road 60-55, but the Sun Devils have shown improvement and are knocking on the door of their first conference win.
“They play a zone for probably the whole game. It’s able to slow a lot of teams down” Hairston said. “Every team in this conference can win on any night. It’s a very tough conference to play in.”
Should the Ducks win tonight, it’ll be win number 20 – the magical number, it seems, for teams eyeing the NCAA Tournament. Last season, Arizona finished 11-7 in the Pac-10 Conference but won 20 overall games and used its strong RPI to join the tournament field.
None of that concerns the Ducks right now as they hope to get back on track and end a two-game skid, their longest of the season.
“I think there are probably only about five teams in the country that can say they’re a lock for the NCAA Tournament,” Kent said. “The rest of us still need to win games.
“I’m still more concerned with where we are at the end of February, heading into March.”
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Ducks focus on defense for home return
Daily Emerald
February 7, 2007
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