It would never have been confused with Duke or North Carolina, but all things considered, Oregon did a nice job in putting on the first-ever Matthew Knight Madness last Friday night.
With raffles for Nike gear, a dunk contest and the pomp and circumstance we’ve come to expect from an event at Oregon’s $200 million on-campus athletic event center, I’d venture that most — if not all — of the surprisingly modest crowd of about 4,000 fans in attendance had a good time.
Whether the men’s and women’s teams can live up to the standard set by the first-ever Matthew Knight Madness is a different story.
While fellow Emerald sports reporters Patrick Malee and Lucas Clark have written many words about the men’s team and the newfound optimism for Dana Altman’s bunch, I’ll take a stab at the women’s team and the lukewarm interest in their upcoming season. (Excitement tends to be lower when a team loses 12 of its last 14 games the year prior.)@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=4304&SPID=236&DB_OEM_ID=500&Q_SEASON=2010@@
And although I still hold serious reservations about the future of the women’s program moving forward (that’s for another column), this year should be more fruitful than last. The Ducks returned their most important players from last year’s team, namely Amanda Johnson, Nia Jackson, Jasmin Holliday and Ariel Thomas. They brought in a five-person freshman class that should receive substantial playing time. There is, I believe, enough talent on the roster for the Ducks to make a mark in 2011-12.
There’s one big caveat to that statement, however — Oregon needs its major players to remain healthy. There are serious questions about the team’s depth — at a recent media day event, coach Paul Westhead had a hard time identifying rotation players outside of Oregon’s top six.
But for the purpose of this column, let’s assume the Ducks do stay healthy — even after a paint job, there’s still barely a midcourt line for the players to trip over, after all. If that’s the case, there’s no doubt in my mind that Oregon has the horses to contend in the Pac-12.
When she does well, Jackson is easily one of Oregon’s best players and one of the most electric guards on the West Coast. She has the speed needed to quarterback Oregon’s uptempo offense and when Oregon gets stuck playing its half-court offense, she can penetrate past opposing players. It’s no surprise that Oregon’s dismal end to its 2010-11 season coincided with an injury to Jackson — she’s that important to this team.
Along with Jackson’s injury, Johnson’s late-season fade played a critical role in the Ducks’ struggles. Some of the players in Westhead’s fast-paced system are more susceptible to fatigue than others, and Johnson, who played in every game last season, saw her play time noticeably decline during the season’s stretch run. Given the experience on Oregon’s coaching staff and Johnson’s determination, I’d guess that won’t be as much of an issue this year. When at 100 percent, Johnson has proven to be a versatile, inside-outside threat who can do many things well on the basketball court.
There are a number of versatile contributors beyond Johnson and Jackson. Sophomores Thomas, Danielle Love and Deanna Weaver all impressed last season and should be more consistent this year. Thomas is another one of the more athletic guards in the conference, Weaver is a versatile, jack-of-all-trades wing player and Love is one of the better shooting bigs around. With senior and program veteran Holliday back for her last year, Oregon is set up well in the first year of the Pac-12.
So yes, the Ducks are currently flying under the radar and probably won’t challenge Stanford for the Pac-12 crown. But so far an improvement from last year’s ninth-place finish seems a near certainty and a top-half finish isn’t out of the question. There’s too much talent for Oregon to be satisfied with anything less.