Try to contain your excitement, but the college basketball season is just around the corner.
It’s kind of hard to imagine given the current state of the second-ranked football team flirting with a national championship appearance, but nevertheless, Oregon basketball will lace ‘em up for another season in just 22 days for its first exhibition game against Northwest Christian University.
For those select few who followed Duck basketball from day one last winter, you know this 2010-11 season is, quite literally, a mystery.
Nearly every familiar face is gone; Dana Altman is the new head coach and will be the first to take the Oregon helm since Ernie Kent’s 13-year tenure concluded at the end of last season, and a new arena is nearing completion. This is nothing new; you’ve heard this for months.
But now the skepticism and question marks will slowly start panning out for better or worse. We’ll get our first impressions of Johnathan Loyd, Tyrone Nared and Martin Seiferth on the court, and how Altman differs from Kent during in-game situations. The three new team members figure to see significant playing time this season with the Oregon roster in shambles just months before their arrival.
Loyd, who is very generously listed at 5 feet 9 inches tall, will likely back up Malcolm Armstead at the point guard position. Loyd’s speed is undeniable, but his size will be exploited when the Ducks enter conference play. Unless Loyd has a Tajuan Porter shooting touch (I hope not, I just can’t do it anymore) he’ll struggle to get shots off against taller defenders, which probably wasn’t an issue for Loyd against slower prep players.
Loyd’s upside, however, is much bigger than his shoe size. Simply put, Loyd was a winner in high school, tallying 102 notches in the win column during his four-year career. The 2009-10 Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year led his Bishop Gorman High School squad to back-to-back state titles, while also earning first team all-state honors for the state champion football team his senior season.
Over the past few years Oregon has been in the unfortunate situation of living and dying by its point guard play. Armstead was a welcome relief last season and enters the season as the Ducks top returner in points, steals, assists and minutes played. Will Loyd provide the needed rest, or does Altman move junior Garrett Sim back to point guard after a dreary season at the wing?
Moving down the roster, Nared and Seiferth will look to fill the void left by former Duck small forward Jamil Wilson and center Michael Dunigan. Nared comes to Oregon off a one-year stint at Monroe College in Bronx, N.Y., with a relatively raw skill set, but is known to be a very coachable player who wants to improve. Nared’s strengths are around the perimeter, but his size provides elite rebounding that Oregon desperately lacked last season.
Seiferth, Oregon’s newest signee from Berlin, Germany, has the most leeway of the three recruits. As the only true center on the Ducks 11-man roster, Seiferth will not have to battle for playing time and will quickly learn what playing in the paint in the Pac-10 Conference is all about.
Arguably the best thing going for Seiferth has been the departure of Dunigan. In two seasons as one of the most praised recruits to suit up in an Oregon uniform, Dunigan was inconsistent and did not pan out the way many had anticipated. Fans were frustrated by Dunigan’s play through two seasons, leaving the door open for a dominant physical center to fill the vacancy — enter Seiferth. He’s lengthy, standing 6 feet 10 inches, 220 pounds and his mobility and post-play still remain to be seen.
Not much will be made of the Ducks first handful of games (NCU, North Dakota State, Denver, UC Santa Barbara, San Jose State, and Texas Southern — all at home), but this small window into a long winter season will be telling, you can be sure.
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