As I sat in my living room watching the Oregon men’s basketball team struggle for the fourth game in a row last night, it took almost 15 minutes for me to become even slightly invested in the game. And as I partially expected, it wasn’t the Duck squad that sparked my interest.
It was California senior guard Patrick Christopher.
Christopher, whose scoring ability is often overshadowed by teammate Jerome Randle, put on an offensive show in the first half of last night’s blowout over the visiting Ducks. Scoring all of his points in the first half, he matched the entire Oregon team total to go along with five rebounds, one assist and steal.
At 6 feet 5 inches, the Compton, Calif.-native grabbed one board in the second half and finished the night with a game-high 21 points, reminding people why he’s one of three current Cal players with more than 1,000 career points. To me, Christopher represents the type of player that Oregon desperately lacks: a big and versatile scoring guard.
For the past two years, I’ve painfully watched the Oregon offense struggle to put points on the board. Broken jump shots, next to no post presence and a dash of deep three-point shooting from senior Tajuan Porter have proven not to be a winning combination in the Pacific-10 Conference.
Oregon appears to have the physical size at the two and three guard positions, with freshman Jamil Wilson and sophomore Teondre Williams, but neither has proven to be a constant offensive threat. Granted, Wilson is still in his first season of Division I basketball, but at some point the learning curve can only be so flexible. At some point that raw talent needs to translate into wins, doesn’t it?
Night after night, Duck jumpers fall flat, while the shooting percentages drop to embarrassing levels. Shooting in the 30-percent range — including the 38.1 percent performance last night — on a continuous basis is borderline scary. 
Will the heavily touted young Oregon talent ever actually develop? That’s tough to say at this point. The initial reaction is to say yes, but aside from the two road wins against the Washington schools, the team’s wins have been far from impressive.
In those other eight wins, Oregon has beaten Winston-Salem State, UC Davis, Colorado State, Montana State, Mississippi Valley State, Idaho State, Oakland and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Well, congrats.
I don’t want to take anything away from the wins over Washington and Washington State, because both are impressive. But aside from that, I’ve seen a team that looks dangerously similar to that of the 8-23 team of last season.
Getting back to my initial point, with a player like Christopher so many things open up offensively. If the opponent gives him the lane, he takes it. If they give him the three, he’ll take that, too. And if they double, he’ll find the open teammate. This is largely because of his four years’ worth of experience, but also possessing that killer competitive instinct.
When I watch the Ducks play, I see so much physical potential — I don’t think anyone questions the team’s athleticism — but at this point it’s beyond that. It’s about taking the ball and going and getting a bucket when nothing is going your way. It’s about making the big play and getting things rolling, both offensively and defensively. 
Oregon has shown that when things are going well, they can compete with anyone. But it’s those bad times in between the good that the Ducks seem to be continuously stuck in.
What will right the ship at this point in the season? Well, tough to say. The shooting hasn’t improved and the defense may be giving the effort they need, but at the end of the day it boils downs to wins and losses. And right now, the Ducks are nothing short of desperate for a win.
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