The 2001-02 Texas Longhorns could be the Oregon Ducks from 2000-01.
The much-hyped but erratic freshman point guard. The forward point
machine. The cast of youngsters just itching to make an impact.
Texas’ point guard is T.J. Ford, and if you haven’t heard the name yet,
you will, just like the name ‘Ridnour’ was close to the lips of many last season.
“This is going to be a big challenge, because (Ford) pushes the ball and
does a lot of things for his team,” Oregon’s Freddie Jones said. “It’ll be one of the biggest challenges of the year for me defensively.”
Texas’ point-producing forward is Chris Owens, who, much like Bryan
Bracey of last season’s Oregon team, was forced to score and score often. Until Owens went down with a season-ending injury in January.
The Longhorns represent the Ducks’ next challenge in this challenging
season. At 4:55 pm P.S.T. Friday, the two teams will square off in Madison,Wis., with a berth in the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight at stake.
This weekend the stakes are increased from last weekend, when No. 2
Oregon worked over No. 15 Montana and survived No. 7 Wake Forest. This time, the seed increases (Texas is a No. 6), the pressure increases and the importance increases.
“We don’t feel the pressure,” Oregon center Chris Christoffersen said
Tuesday before practice. “We know we can win.”
The scintillating matchup of Friday’s game will be Ford’s performance
against the hard-nosed guards of Oregon. But the most important area could be the post, where Christoffersen will face the kind of pesky, athletic big men that have needled him all season.
“It’s a challenge for me to play against the quicker big men,”
Christoffersen said. “But it’s not about a one-on-one matchup that I might have, it’s more about our team against their team. There are certain things that the rest of the team can do to help out with those guys.”
Texas lost a big-time big man in Owens, but 6-foot-8 center James Thomas
has filled in admirably. Thomas averages 10.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, and led the Longhorns with 17 boards in Texas’ first two tournament contests.
For the Ducks to win, they will likely need more points from big men
like Christoffersen, who faded into the background of Oregon’s win over Wake Forest in the Round of 32. In that game, the Ducks got 81 of 92 points from three players: Luke Jackson, Luke Ridnour and Freddie Jones.
“When a guy’s in rhythm and scoring well we’re going to try and get them the ball,” Jackson said of Saturday’s game. “But we’re confident in our big guys. They played really well on defense, and they don’t get as much credit for the win.”
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent stressed that defense, not offense, will be
key the Ducks’ game on Friday.
“Our offense is so entertaining, people lose sight of the fact that
we’re such a good defensive team,” Kent said.
As for those stakes, they’ve now gone higher than a game of poker.
Oregon has survived one weekend, survive another and it will head to Atlanta for the Final Four. But lurking around the corner is top-seeded Kansas, if the Ducks beat the Longhorns and the Jayhawks beat the Illini of Illinois,who will be playing close to home.
Oregon and Texas will tip off at 4:55 p.m. P.S.T. on Friday.
Email sports reporter Peter Hockaday at [email protected].