NCAA Basketball: Dayton, Oklahoma State excel and more weekly takeaways
By Brian Rauf
6) Don’t discount Oregon
Speaking of Oregon, they lost both of their games at the Battle 4 Atlantis following their comeback win over Seton Hall to leave with a disappointing 1-2 record.
That said, there is absolutely no reason to panic.
For starters, the Ducks already have great wins over Memphis and now Seton Hall. We know they’re good. They’re also set to get five-star freshman N’Faly Dante, their projected starting center, who was declared eligible by the NCAA this week.
Their two losses also came to top-10 teams in North Carolina and Gonzaga, and they came by a combined five points.
It’s also important to consider the circumstances. Oregon played three games against top 15 teams and, due to poor scheduling, ended up playing all of those games in less than 48 hours. As the tournament went on, the Ducks looked less and less explosive and shot worse and worse from the field. You can easily point to tired legs as the reason for that.
The tournament did provide a number of positives, too. Five-star freshman C.J. Walker emerged as a legitimate force in the rotation for the first time, and they pulled off a pair of huge comebacks against Seton Hall (19 points) and Gonzaga (17 points to force overtime), showing how they’re never out of a game and have a special gear they can go to.
In short, Oregon will be fine. There’s no reason to panic about their potential.