Coach Ernie Kent sat down on a stool near mid-court for most of Tuesday’s basketball practice, distancing himself so he could get a good look at his team going through a set of defense and passing drills. When a loose ball bounced his way, he caught it with his right arm and tried to sling it back to the players.
Except he couldn’t move the right arm forward. Instead, he bounced the ball off his forehead and continued to sit down while yelling directions at his players.
After suffering a torn rotator cuff while calling a time-out during the final minute in Oregon’s 77-74 loss to Arizona Saturday, Kent has had to subdue his usual antics, tying himself to that stool during practice and likely remaining seated for the remainder of the season.
“I do a pretty good job with the right arm knowing what I can and can’t do,” Kent said. “I’ve been through this already and with the excruciating pain you experience, you’ll know real quick what you can and cannot do. So I don’t think I’ve been nearly as animated this year than I have in the past and that’s me telling myself I’m not as young and active as I used to be.”
But the injury won’t prevent him from voicing his opinion.
“If I need to get on officials, I’ll get on officials,” Kent said. “Even if I need to use my foot and wave at them.”
Aside from having to be dependent on using his left arm, the injury isn’t too much of a concern for Kent, knowing that he has an experienced basketball team on the floor.
“You don’t have to get and up and down as much with them because they know exactly what they’re doing,” Kent said.
Kent received a phone call from his mother saying that she and her whole church thought he had a heart attack.
“I told her, ‘If I got to go, Mac Court’s the place I want to go’,” Kent said. “Maybe they could bury me under the new arena. I could be like Jimmy Hoffa.”
Oregon players think Kent should try and tone himself down a few notches, considering that he is becoming older. Kent turned 52 last month. He had also torn his rotator cuff on his left arm in a bicycle crash prior to starting this season. After surgery, Kent’s arm was in a sling for the team’s first few games.
“Maybe he shouldn’t jump around as much,” senior Aaron Brooks said. “He probably wants to chill out a little bit.”
“I think he just gets caught up in the game,” junior Bryce Taylor said. “He’s getting kind of fragile so he needs to be a little more careful.”
Even if he is in immense pain, the Ducks don’t think their coach will be able to contain himself in the team’s final games.
“We’ll get into the last couple of games and I don’t think he’ll be able to sit on that stool,” Brooks said. “These are big games coming up, so I don’t think he’ll sit down for that.”
Those big games begin tonight, when Oregon (20-5 overall, 8-5 Pacific-10 Conference) takes on Cal (12-12, 4-8) at Berkeley at 7:30 p.m., a place the Ducks haven’t won since 2000.
And after losing four of the last six games, the Ducks are beginning to lose what seemed like an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
“The biggest thing for us is that we play with a sense of urgency but not a sense of panic,” Kent said. “This is a chance for us to win a couple of basketball games and come back to Mac Court.”
jmay@dailyemerald.com