It’s officially game week for the Oregon men’s basketball team.
Friday marks the opening of the 2011-12 season for the Ducks, who will travel to Nashville, Tenn., to take on the seventh-ranked@@http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d1@@ Vanderbilt Commodores@@CE@@ of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
Oregon has spent the last four weeks preparing for the season opener, with a pair of exhibition victories over Grand Canyon University (82-75)@@CE@@ and Lewis & Clark College (100-58)@@CE@@ to measure just how far the team has come since touring Italy this summer.
“It’s two teams that are in a little different spot,” second-year head coach Dana Altman@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204936844@@ said of the matchup. “One (team) that’s really experienced, and one that’s trying to piece a lot of things together.
“It’s going to take a lot of focus and a lot of preparation on our game plan this week to put ourselves in a position to win that game.”
There were certainly noticeable differences in the two exhibition games played last week, mostly from a defensive and intensity standpoint. In the opener against Grand Canyon, Oregon looked flat in its man-to-man defense and settled for too many perimeter jumpers on offense, which led to an 0-for-10 shooting clip from behind the three-point line in the first half alone.
Despite a clear size advantage, the Ducks barely won the battle on the boards, 52-50@@CE@@, and allowed 13 points off 17 turnovers@@CE@@.
Most of those issues were addressed in practice prior to the Lewis & Clark matchup, and Oregon quickly took advantage of its size in the paint with three easy buckets from senior forward Jeremy Jacob@@CE@@ in the first minute of play.
Jacob’s early success paved the way for what could be a common mismatch for the Ducks this season, as they outscored the Pioneers 54-14@@CE@@ in the paint. Big men Olu Ashaolu@@CE@@ (16 points, nine rebounds)@@CE@@, Jacob (13 points, seven rebounds@@CE@@) and Tony Woods@@CE@@ (13 points, two rebounds@@CE@@) combined to shoot 16 for 22@@CE@@ from the field, while owning the paint defensively.
“Coach has really been preaching to turn it up on the defensive side,” Ashaolu said. “We can score — there’s a bunch of scorers on this team — but the thing he pushes and stresses every day in practice is defending.”
No doubt that defending will be key when the Ducks visit historical Memorial Gymnasium@@http://www.vucommodores.com/facilities/memorial-gym.html@@ Friday night. Vanderbilt returns six seniors and two juniors, with just three true freshmen@@CE@@ added to the roster this offseason.
The Commodores return all four of their leading scorers from a year ago, with junior guard John Jenkins leading the way with 19.5 points per game. Seniors Jeffery Taylor (14.7 points per game), Festus Ezeli (13.0) and Brad Tinsley (10.6) all averaged double figures for last year’s team@@CE all: http://www.vucommodores.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2010-2011/teamcume.html@@ that was upset by 12th-seeded Richmond in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. However, Ezeli has been suspended for the first six games of the season by the NCAA for receiving improper benefits.
“Practice has been intense,” Oregon freshman guard Jabari Brown@@CE@@ said. “Coach has been on us, pushing us, letting us know that if we’re not prepared, we could take a tough loss at Vanderbilt.”
Brown, a five-star recruit out of Oakland High School,@@CE@@ shook off a tough opening performance (2-of-12 shooting with six turnovers)@@CE@@ and came back with a double-double (16 points, 11 boards)@@CE@@ against Lewis & Clark four days later.
The 6-foot-5 freshman@@CE@@ figures to be a key cog in Oregon’s fast-break offense this season after showing great speed and court vision against the Pioneers. And with players like Ashaolu, Carlos Emory and Tyrone Nared@@CE BOTH@@ running the floor, the Ducks’ backcourt has plenty of options to work with.
“I like to get out and run and we’ve got a lot of athletes on our team,” Brown said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who can get up and down the court, so for me, finding them opens things up for me as well.”