Dana Altman, I owe you an apology.
Come to think of it, let’s rephrase that. To every member of the Oregon men’s basketball team: I’m sorry.
I’ll be the first to admit that I had serious doubts about this team. I subtly hinted so back in a December column when I said that after football ended, Oregon sports were “headed off a cliff.” On the Emerald’s Twitter account, I’ve made plenty of snarky remarks about 50-point blowouts and Garrett Sim’s jump shot.
I’m here today to make amends for all of that. I officially take back everything I’ve said because, damn, this team is really becoming fun to watch.
Really, this column could have come any time over the last few weeks. The Ducks have won four of their last five games, after all.
But this past weekend was truly a breakthrough. Washington State and Washington are both legitimately good programs with real talent. The odds were stacked heavily against the Ducks in both games. Yet, Oregon ran the Cougars off the floor on Thursday and hung on to beat an even better Husky squad on Saturday.
Raise your hand if you predicted that happening. To me, those two wins signified that the Ducks really are making progress and can no longer be considered a doormat team in the conference.
Much of the credit for this obviously goes to Altman. After the Washington State game last week, senior guard Jay-R Strowbridge made a point of mentioning how the first-year head coach’s style is affecting their play. It can pretty much be boiled down to organized chaos, particularly on defense. For this team, nothing could be better.
After all, this isn’t a squad filled with five-star athletes. There was a reason people like me were so down on Oregon during the preseason: The most talented players had bolted elsewhere. Yet, it seems as if Altman has recognized this and used it to his advantage. The Ducks play with a certain reckless abandon, as if they have nothing to lose.
This has clearly caught some opposing teams by surprise, and as a result Oregon stands at a respectable 5-6 in the Pac-10 (well ahead of such teams as Oregon State and Arizona State). At the beginning of the season, I wasn’t sure if the Ducks could win five games all season. I don’t think I was alone in feeling that way.
No, Oregon probably isn’t going to make any miraculous run to the NCAA Tournament, and there is certainly much improvement to be made. We don’t yet know if this stretch is simply a blip in the radar or a sign of things to come.
But if nothing else, this team has taught us an awful lot about resiliency in the face of a storm of negativity. I specifically remember standing at media day back before the season started. Each player had to answer about five different variations of the question, “Everybody thinks you’ll be the worst team in the Pac-10 — how will you respond to that?”
It had to be a fairly defeating experience. The season hadn’t even started yet, and people were throwing them down to the bottom of the pile. I was one of those people.
Yet, here they are, standing tall in the midst of it all. Altman has already proved his worth as a coach, and players like Joevan Catron, Tyrone Nared and Strowbridge are each performing well above expectations.
All of this adds up to a team that has become entertaining to watch. And it’s infectious; Matthew Knight Arena was truly rocking on Saturday as the Ducks fought to upset Washington. The crowd came through with more than a few spontaneous standing ovations, and didn’t need to be prompted by a large-screen display to get louder. Taking it all in, it was hard not to crack a smile.
Personally, I don’t ask for much out of my favorite teams. It’s nonsensical to expect a championship-caliber squad year in and year out, and most of the time it’s going to be a struggle to even stay above average.
Really, all I want is for them to pass the “effort” test. In other words, are they giving all they have every night on the floor? That’s what’s truly important.
As it turns out, the Ducks pass this exam with flying colors.
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