Oregon Ducks head coach Ernie Kent wouldn’t say Wednesday exactly what his starting lineup will be for Friday’s regular-season opener (8 p.m., McArthur Court) against the Northern Colorado Bears, but he did offer some hints.
“We’re going to play the guys that practiced well that week, who have played the hardest and who we feel like we’re confident and ready to go with,” he said. “And that could be two freshmen in the starting lineup as well.”
Based on that and the fact that he said he really liked the lineup that started the final exhibition, one can surmise that the starting lineup will consist of juniors Tajuan Porter and Joevan Catron, sophomore LeKendric Longmire and freshmen Michael Dunigan and Matthew Humphrey.
The rest of the rotation is yet to be determined, as Kent said that minutes will depend on production and matchups game to game. No one will remain in the rotation unless he produces, he said.
“Rotations are really dictated by production on the floor, who’s on their game,” he said. “You can put a guy in the rotation and he could be in the game for a minute and if he’s going to shoot three air-balls and make three defensive mistakes, he’ll be out in the second minute and somebody else will be in there.”
The rest of the rotation decisions, Kent hopes, will come about naturally.
“I’m hoping that will all take care of itself just in terms of fatigue and just bringing guys in and out for depth at different positions,” he said.
Regardless of who plays how much, one thing is certain: Kent hopes to play as many guys as possible to wear the opposition down with depth.
“We’re going to play a lot of guys in terms of keeping the pressure on people. That’s what we want to do,” he said. “We’ve felt all along that we’d be able to do that, and by all indications at practices it looks like we’re going to be able to do that.”
Friday will be the regular-season opener for North Colorado as well, as the Bears played just one exhibition game against Black Hills State on Nov. 1. They play much the same wide-open style as the teams Oregon faced in its exhibition games, according to Kent, just faster and more skilled.
“Those two teams were pretty good preparation for us, but we’re going to see a whole different opponent coming in here on Friday,” he said.
Perimeter defense will be at a premium, as the Bears’ tallest player is listed at 6-foot-8, and the team would prefer to spread the floor rather than pack the paint.
“They play a lot of perimeter players. They play a motion offense, so they really shoot the ball well, and they get out and run up and down the floor,” Kent said.
Next up for the Ducks following Friday’s opener is Oakland on Monday, 7 p.m. at McArthur Court. Oakland upset the No. 23-ranked Ducks last year in Auburn Hills, Mich., 68-62, dropping the Ducks from the polls for the rest of the season.
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