Hype.
With it comes the potential for glory. Consequently, the possibility of disappointment lurks in the background.
The 2004-05 version of the Oregon men’s basketball team received ample attention before it ever stepped foot on McArthur Court. The Ducks were ready to unveil their best recruiting class in school history. Aaron Brooks was supposed to make a Luke Ridnour-esque transition from his freshman year to his sophomore campaign as the team’s point guard, and Ian Crosswhite was going to be the glue holding everything together as a dominant low-post scorer.
After Oregon defeated Southern California in its Pacific-10 Conference opener Dec. 31, the hype seemed justified as the Ducks started the season with a 9-1 record. The next two months proved otherwise, however, as competition stiffened and Oregon (14-13 overall, 6-12 Pac-10) dropped 12 of its last 17 games.
Each member of the four-man, all-star recruiting class hit the wall at some point. Brooks never quite matured the way head coach Ernie Kent had hoped, and Crosswhite was dismissed from the team for an unspecified violation of Athletics Department policy, after
19 games worth of underachievement.
Things got so bad down the stretch for Oregon that it failed to qualify for the Pac-10 Tournament. The Ducks finished in a tie for the eighth and final spot with California, but lost in a tiebreaker with the Golden Bears.
Road losses to Cal and Oregon State and home losses to Washington and Stanford were particularly painful as Oregon let victory slip away in a cloud of inexperience.
Oregon’s season can be viewed as a disappointment or a building block for a bright future.
Impressive young talent
It’s easy to see why so many expected so much from a team with five freshmen, six sophomores, three juniors and no seniors on its preseason roster. The recruiting class of swingman Malik Hairston, guards Bryce Taylor and Chamberlain Oguchi and forward Maarty Leunen was a talented group expected to play like seasoned veterans.
Most of the Ducks’ preseason hype was a direct result of landing Hairston. Rated the No. 7 prep recruit in the country by Rivals, the 6-foot-6 Detroit, Mich., native was considered the school’s biggest recruit since the days of Ron Lee and Greg Ballard. Hairston didn’t wait long to solidify himself as a legitimate offensive threat, scoring
30 points in just 19 minutes of play during Oregon’s exhibition opener against Trinity Western on Nov. 7. That would be his biggest performance of the year, however, as Hairston struggled to find his place in the
offense at times.
Hairston ended the season as the Ducks’ second-leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 13.1 points and 5.0 boards per game.
While he showed flashes of brilliance throughout the season, the former McDonald’s High School All-American came under scrutiny for not being aggressive enough on the offensive end. Though his numbers weren’t high enough for some, they were good enough to earn him
Pac-10 All-Freshman Team honors.
Joining Hairston on the All-Freshman team was Taylor. The fuzzy-haired sharpshooter helped carry the offensive load as Hairston was trying to get on track. The 6-foot-5 guard had a tremendous three-game stretch early in the Pac-10 season where he led the team in scoring during games against Washington, Washington State and Arizona. His best performance of the season came against the Cougars when he scored 26 points to lead the Ducks to a big road win in Pullman, Wash., on Jan. 15.
Taylor hit the dreaded “freshman wall,” shortly thereafter, however, and his production took a hit. After consecutive 20-plus-point performances against Washington State and Arizona in mid January, the Encino, Calif., native experienced a 6-of-37 shooting slump during his next four games and connected on only 38 of 119 field goals (32 percent) during the final 12 games of the season.
One of the team’s best perimeter shooters early in the season, Taylor struggled especially with his three-point shooting during Oregon’s final 12 contests, knocking down only 14 of 53 (26 percent) from
behind the arc.
Taylor ended the season as one of only three Ducks to average double figures in scoring with 11.6 points per game.
Oguchi provided an offensive spark off the bench, and his game greatly improved as the season
progressed. Leunen stepped in immediately and gave the Ducks a
rebounding presence in the middle.
Lacking leadership
Brooks and Crosswhite were depended on to be leaders this season and never quite grew into the role. Brooks finished as the team’s leading scorer at 14.7 points per game, but struggled when the team leaned on him for big baskets. Other than a 34-point performance against USC, Brooks’ season could be viewed as a disappointment.
Crosswhite may have been the biggest underachiever in the country and will have his roster spot filled by new recruit next season.
