Everyone's attention is on Bol Bol, the 7'2" freshman with handles, a sick fadeaway jump shot, blocks everything and can step out and hit the 3 like his dad. But Oregon's best players are 6'2" junior point guard Payton Pritchard and 6'8" forward Paul White.
Bol only had 12 pts and 12 rbs (and 4 personal fouls, likely why he only played 23 min) against Portland State who has 1 player 6'10" and four other 6'7 - 6'9 guys. (Portland State, who shot 35 (!) three pointers but only made 5 of them at 14.3%, actually outrebounded Oregon 41 to 37 - although Oregon won by 27). Pritchard torched the pressing Portland State defense for 22 points (including 9 FTs) while White added 15.
In his latest game vs. Eastern Washington, Bol Bol had a DAY going for 23 and 12 and multiple blocks. BUT Eastern Washington plays a 4 guard lineup with a 6'7" forward as their "center" (and they played only one other player over 6'7" the entire game, 6'9" freshman Tanner Groves, for 14 minutes). Eastern Washington shot 45 three pointers (hitting only 13). Despite having a clear size advantage, and despite only shooting 7 three pointers against Portland St., againts Eastern Washington Oregon shot 25 threes and hit 10 (for a 40% clip). Pritchard had 10 pts 8 assists and White had 11 points and 6 rbs (incl. 3-5 from three point range).
What does this mean?
Well, I'm cautiously optimistic.
Oregon can put together huge scoring runs where multiple players contribute and they can shoot lights out from distance. That said, Pritchard isn't one of those lightning quick guards that is going to athletically overwhelm JBo or Connor - he's a white, local Oregon kid who shot 45% from 3 and he loves to throw alley-oops, more of an Aaron Craft with a jump shot. That said, the backcourt had some turnover problems early against Portland State.
Bol Bol hasn't been challenged physically in college yet. He got in early foul trouble against Portland State, who, while not terrible like Eastern Washington (who, in fairness, had 4 players out), did not the horses inside. (Portland State's tallest player, 6'10" Rumel, is a 240 lb sophomore - not a banger like Garza or Kriener).
Like Iowa, Oregon hasn't really played anyone. I would argue Oregon has been challenged even less than Iowa. Yes, Connecticut blew out UMKC, a team Iowa struggled with, but UMKC still scored 66 points on Connecticut (vs 63 points vs Iowa). We just couldn't score for some reason - if our 3 point shooting returns to even 35% vs the 28% we've shown so far - I think we've got a puncher's chance of pulling an upset and possibly even winning comfortably.
Of course, we are going to get slaughtered vs Cuse or Connecticut. But I think Oregon is a gettable game.
Bol only had 12 pts and 12 rbs (and 4 personal fouls, likely why he only played 23 min) against Portland State who has 1 player 6'10" and four other 6'7 - 6'9 guys. (Portland State, who shot 35 (!) three pointers but only made 5 of them at 14.3%, actually outrebounded Oregon 41 to 37 - although Oregon won by 27). Pritchard torched the pressing Portland State defense for 22 points (including 9 FTs) while White added 15.
In his latest game vs. Eastern Washington, Bol Bol had a DAY going for 23 and 12 and multiple blocks. BUT Eastern Washington plays a 4 guard lineup with a 6'7" forward as their "center" (and they played only one other player over 6'7" the entire game, 6'9" freshman Tanner Groves, for 14 minutes). Eastern Washington shot 45 three pointers (hitting only 13). Despite having a clear size advantage, and despite only shooting 7 three pointers against Portland St., againts Eastern Washington Oregon shot 25 threes and hit 10 (for a 40% clip). Pritchard had 10 pts 8 assists and White had 11 points and 6 rbs (incl. 3-5 from three point range).
What does this mean?
Well, I'm cautiously optimistic.
Oregon can put together huge scoring runs where multiple players contribute and they can shoot lights out from distance. That said, Pritchard isn't one of those lightning quick guards that is going to athletically overwhelm JBo or Connor - he's a white, local Oregon kid who shot 45% from 3 and he loves to throw alley-oops, more of an Aaron Craft with a jump shot. That said, the backcourt had some turnover problems early against Portland State.
Bol Bol hasn't been challenged physically in college yet. He got in early foul trouble against Portland State, who, while not terrible like Eastern Washington (who, in fairness, had 4 players out), did not the horses inside. (Portland State's tallest player, 6'10" Rumel, is a 240 lb sophomore - not a banger like Garza or Kriener).
Like Iowa, Oregon hasn't really played anyone. I would argue Oregon has been challenged even less than Iowa. Yes, Connecticut blew out UMKC, a team Iowa struggled with, but UMKC still scored 66 points on Connecticut (vs 63 points vs Iowa). We just couldn't score for some reason - if our 3 point shooting returns to even 35% vs the 28% we've shown so far - I think we've got a puncher's chance of pulling an upset and possibly even winning comfortably.
Of course, we are going to get slaughtered vs Cuse or Connecticut. But I think Oregon is a gettable game.
