“You shoot 50% from two and 40% from three and outrebound somebody by 11, you should win the game, but we had some turnovers and bad fouls (late),” Oregon men’s basketball head coach Dana Altman said.
Coming off an 88-85 overtime loss at Rutgers on Monday night, Altman laid out his team’s most glaring negatives. He focused on his team’s lack of defensive toughness and connection, especially on the perimeter as well as giving an update on point guard Jackson Shelstad’s injury and previewing Thursday’s matchup against Ohio State.
On his team’s lack of defensive toughness:
“A lot of the issues defensively, that’s mental toughness,” Altman said. “Every possession on the ball, being in great position, moving on every pass. And we have not demonstrated that. It’s both mental and physical. You have to be involved in every facet of the game to be a complete player. We got a lot of volunteers on the offensive end.”
Altman was referring to his guards specifically, as Rutgers capitalized on Oregon’s weak perimeter defense and saw four guards score in double-digits, with Tariq Francis leading the way with 30 points on 10/16 shooting.
The coach noted the stress that the lack of solid perimeter defense places on players such as center and leading scorer Nate Bittle, who picked up two early fouls, which prevented him from being aggressive on the interior throughout the game. Because of this, Bittle, who had a combined 14 blocks in the previous three games, did not block a single shot on Monday night.
“Our perimeter players put way too much pressure on Nate. He had a couple bad fouls and then he’s tentative, but a lot of that is the pressure from the guards not taking care of their responsibilities and putting pressure on the basket,” Altman said.
Altman noted the changing of the guard that happened in the offseason as well. He lamented the departure of 2024-25 All Big Ten Defensive guard TJ Bamba and discussed how there isn’t an on-ball perimeter defender like that on the team this season.
Also, Altman talked about the struggles his team has faced injury wise and how that stunted connection between players early on in the season. Defensively, this gets demonstrated by routine breakdowns on defense or loose ball situations that end up going the way of the other team.
Specifically, the Ducks were down three with 17 seconds left in regulation, and a miscue between Bittle and forward Kwame Evans Jr. led to the free throw shooter Lino Mark getting his own rebound. Luckily for Oregon, Mark received a loose ball foul on the play and the Ducks were able to capitalize. Without the foul call, Oregon would have lost the contest there, and the mishap could simply have been avoided by communication.
On the team’s stunted connection:
“Last year, we didn’t have any injuries and they were a connected team, but this year, the lineup’s changed so many times and will probably change again (Thursday). At some point in time, you’d like to get healthy and get all our guys there,” Altman said.
Other than his team’s mistakes, Altman touched on the injury to point guard Jackson Shelstad, mentioning that the junior aggravated his hand injury in the win against Nebraska-Omaha. The X-rays came back negative and it’s just down to pain tolerance for Shelstad.
Previewing Ohio State:
Looking ahead to Ohio State, led by star shooting guard Bruce Thornton, Altman mentioned that the recent performances from perimeter defenders worries him against Thornton and the Buckeyes. The key to success on Thursday night will be to allow Bittle to roam the paint on defense and clean up attempts at the rim.
The Ducks endured a rocky start to conference play, which was only exacerbated by untimely injuries to key players. As Altman and his squad enter the new year, improvement can be the only goal, as any future in March seems far off in the distance.
The Ohio State game will be a test against a similar caliber opponent and the Ducks will be lifted by a home court advantage at 7:30 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena.
