Oregon’s first exhibition game is still a month away but practice has now begun in Eugene. The Ducks hosted media day last Thursday — the same day they were ranked No. 7 in the nation by ESPN — and helped give some insight on the preseason hype surrounding them, the exhibition trip to Spain, the addition of several newcomers and expectations for the upcoming season.
Here are a few notes and key points from Oregon’s 2016-2017 media day:
— Dylan Ennis is back and ready for the season. After missing almost all of last year with a foot injury, Ennis was granted a sixth year of eligibility and is thankful for the opportunity. His foot is fully healed and he says he feels so good now it’s almost as if he had never broken it at all.
— Dillon Brooks is out of his walking boot, but there is still no timetable for his return. He did say that the doctors told him “that it’s on schedule and it’s healing properly.”
Dillon Brooks spoke with media today. He got out of his boot yesterday, but no timetable for a return. pic.twitter.com/np9vFd1Utd
— Kylee O’Connor (@kyleethemightee) October 6, 2016
— Brooks also said that seeing Duke’s Grayson Allen at the top of preseason player of the year list’s has motivated him.
“We really put it to Duke and we have an even stronger team this year so it gives me more motivation to get to that level,” Brooks said.
— Jordan Bell has been working on his offensive game this off-season. He said Altman has been keeping things simple, working mainly on jump hooks and drives from the post.
“I think honestly, Jordan has a better offensive repertoire than everybody gives him credit for because last year he came off a broken foot,” Ennis said about Bell’s offensive game. “Even though he played the rest of the season it still takes you a long time to really get your rhythm back. But I think his rhythm is back now and I think he’s better than ever.”
But with all the weapons Oregon has offensively, Bell may not need to be a scorer this season. He’s more focused on being an anchor on the defensive end.
— Bell commented that Tyler Dorsey has been “killing it this summer” and that he’s “definitely ready for the next level.” Dorsey, Brooks and Chris Boucher all declared for the NBA draft this summer but never hired an agent and were eligible to return to school.
— Brooks said that the biggest advice he got from his NBA workouts was to work on his ball-handling and three-point shooting, both things he worked on in the off-season before injuring his foot.
— Both Dorsey and Brooks said that this team has really improved on the rebounding aspect of their game. “We’re gonna really pound the boards this year,” Dorsey said. Oregon returns Boucher and Bell who averaged 7.4 and 5.4 boards, respectively, and added junior college transfer Kavell Bigby-Williams who averaged 13.6 boards at Gillete College in Wyoming.
— All the players have said they aren’t paying attention to preseason hype around their team, mainly because the pre-season picks have been wrong before.
“They said we were fifth last year [in the conference] and we finished first, the year before they said we were eighth,” Bell said. “So we just don’t listen to it.”
— Altman said the Ducks will be play a scrimmage against Oklahoma in Las Vegas this preseason.
— Ennis, a Villanova transfer, drew similarities between this year’s Oregon team and reigning National Champions Villanova. He said that it was the depth of returners that helped Villanova claim their title, something that Oregon possesses this year too.
“I think the reason that they won it is because they learned from the year before,” Ennis said. ” A couple guys who came off the bench learned from what the starters did and I think this year, at Oregon, we have those guys who learned from the experience, playing in the Elite Eight. So now when we get there and when we get into tough games it’ll be second nature to us.”
Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris
