There are two main questions heading into the Oregon men’s basketball game tonight as the Ducks host the Stanford Cardinal for the final time at McArthur Court. First: how do you slow Stanford scoring machine Landry Fields? Second: Will Oregon senior Tajuan Porter finally play his way out of this February slump?
The first time around the Cardinal had its way with the Oregon defense, with Fields and sophomore forward Jeremy Green combining for 57 of Stanford’s 84 total points. Fields posted a career-best 32 points on 9-for-15 shooting, while Green tallied 25 points on 3-for-4 from beyond the arc to give Stanford a 84-69 win.
“There’s some adjustments we’re going to have to make with those two,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “And no different with Cal as well also brings in a great scoring team. But with Fields and Green, there’s going to be some things we’ve got to do to slow those two guys down. They are playing really, really well.”
Fields is leading the Pac-10 in scoring with 22.5 points per game — Green follows closely behind in fifth at 17.6 — and also leads the team in minutes (35.7) and rebounds (8.7)
per outing.
Oregon, on the other hand, has struggled immensely on the offensive end during its current three-game losing skid. They have yet to surpass the 60-point mark during those contests, scoring 42 at Oregon State, 57 at Arizona, and 51 at Arizona State. According to sophomore guard Matt Humphrey, the Ducks offensive woes stem from their lack of defensive execution.
“Sustaining defensive consistency is something that we definitely need to do,” Humphrey said. “We just need to execute when it counts.”
Humphrey has been one of the few consistent offensive threats for Oregon recently, scoring in double digits in two of the Ducks’ last three games. But he understands that in order to start picking up the much-needed wins down the stretch, the defense must improve.
“Those guys are studs,” Humphrey said. “Fields and Green shoot the ball well, they drive, they have basically the green light on their team. And we’ve just really got to be on our A-game defensively to stop them first and foremost.”
The next concern for the Ducks will be addressing Porter’s most recent shooting slump. Over the past three games Porter has been held to five points or fewer, which is less than common for the most prolific three-point shooter in Oregon school history. Kent says the credit should be given to opposing defenses.
“Everybody is just running at him and just taking his shots away from him,” Kent said.
Porter led the Ducks with 16 points when they played at Stanford on Jan. 23 and will have to get back to his old ways if the Ducks look to close out their season on a winning note.
“We need for him to make buckets,” Kent said. “And that’s not to put too much pressure on him, that’s just that fact of the matter.”
Oregon has found another relatively consistent scoring threat since moving sophomore forward Jeremy Jacob into the starting lineup. Jacob put up a double-double at Arizona a week ago, and experienced some success against the Cardinal the first time around, coming off the bench to score 11 points and grab five boards.
“It’s very important; we’ve got to get these wins,” Jacob said. “Get these wins and just spark it up for the next couple games.”
The one factor playing into the Ducks favor is Stanford will be playing on the road where they are 0-10 this season.
“At the end of the day, that stuff doesn’t matter,” Humphrey concluded. “Guys come to play regardless of on the road or at home, especially players. And (Fields and Green) are definitely players, so we’ve got to come to play as well.”
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