Oregon Basketball: Dillon Brooks 'almost certain' to miss start of season

Dillon Brooks is not expected to be in the lineup for Oregon basketball at the start of the regular season.

As we rapidly approach the start of practice, this is not what Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks want to be dealing with.

According to The Register-Guard, junior forward Dillon Brooks, who underwent foot surgery in the off-season and was ruled out indefinitely, will ‘almost certainly’ miss the start of the 2016-17 regular season. The school has yet to give an official timetable or be more specific about the injury, but Altman’s recent comments provided some foreshadowing.

"“That’s up to the doctors and we will be real conservative with it,” Altman said. “As much as we want to win those early games and have him ready to go, the majority of our games are in January, February, and March, hopefully.”“We’re going to have to really adjust some things not knowing exactly when he’s going to be back,” Altman said. “If you think to last year’s team, we had Elgin and Dillon and Dwayne, three guys in the 6-6 range. Now we just have Keith Smith, an unproven freshman, so that is a big void.”"

First, it seems like the Ducks are going to be awfully cautious with their best player. They aren’t going to force him onto the court on November 11 against Army and would rather see him healthy during Pac-12 play than re-injure himself during the non-conference slate.

Oregon has a difficult non-conference schedule though. They play at Baylor, are home against Valparaiso, are a part of the Maui Invitational with UConn, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Oklahoma State and others, play Alabama in Eugene and battle Fresno State at home.

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The Ducks have the depth to withstand most opponents, but they are also going to be down a critical piece to the puzzle. Losing games against high quality teams will ultimately impact their seeding and resume come March.

Secondly, Altman’s second quote is very telling. The Ducks wouldn’t adjust things both offensively and defensively if they were confident that Brooks would be ready sooner rather than later. Maybe part of the reason the Ducks haven’t given an official timetable is because they don’t want to put pressure on Brooks. Maybe they also truly don’t know when he will finish rehab and get back on the court with his teammates.

Also, when the versatile forward returns, will he be 100 percent? Is it possible that he won’t be the ‘old Dillon Brooks’ for the entire 2016-17 campaign?

This is Oregon’s best chance to reach their first Final Four since 1939. They have a complete roster that is talented, experienced, deep and versatile. But Brooks is the engine that makes everything run. They need him in the fold, and they need him to be healthy.

The Toronto native averaged 16.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game last season, while shooting 47 percent overall and 34 percent from downtown. He has the ability to step out to the perimeter and blow past bigger fours, or he can take smaller threes/fours into the paint and score on them on the block.

Brooks is also a passionate competitor, is lethal in the mid-range and can score effectively in transition.

Next: Projecting Syracuse's rotation

Oregon Duck fans are holding their breath while they wait to see how Brooks’ situation turns out.

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Oregon Basketball: Dillon Brooks ‘almost certain’ to miss start of season

By Carmine Carcieri | Sep 7, 2016

Dillon Brooks is not expected to be in the lineup for Oregon basketball at the start of the regular season.

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