Oregon and Conference Play

[northbeachsf]

I think Oregon is in for a big surprise when they enter conference play. I don't believe that this team can win more than 9 conference games. I know there is a lot of optimism because of the UNLV win, but I think that if you look at the overall body of work in non-conference play, Oregon just caught UNLV on the right night. Overall there are some major issues that are going to get exposed, as Oregon plays more talented teams in conference play:
1) Oregon is turning the ball over at an alarming rate. They are almost at 6 more turnovers per game compared to last year, and that is BEFORE entering conference play. The team assist to turnover ratio is below 1 against mostly inferior competition.
2) The half court offense is just not very good. While this is not much of an issue against Houston Baptist College because of the difference in talent, this will be a major issue against the upper conference teams. Transition baskets will be more difficult to come by in conference play and this team is going to struggle to score the ball.
3) This team has major depth issues. After Woods, Emory, Singler, Artis, Dotson, and Kazemi, I don't see a lot of depth and Singler and Kazemi are clearly not 100% right now. Singler is probably going to be hampered all season with his knees. I think Carter and Loyd are possibly capable, if they are able to step up.
4) All freshman backcourt with very little experience. Talented back courts with leadership typically produce results in the PAC-12. While Artis and Dotson are very talented, they lack experience and they will have stretches where they don't play well. In addition, freshman tend to hit a wall mid way through their first season of college ball.
5) This team, while playing decent defense this year, lacks the ability to score the basketball in the half court. Last years team had players that could create shots in critical moments of key games (guys like Olu and Joseph and a healthy Singler) when the offense got stagnant. I just don't see a go-to scorer right now that can fill Joseph or Olu's or a healthy Singler's shoes in that role. dotson has potential, but he just lacks experience and consistency to fill that role.

[oregontrack]

i think it's still too early to make a ton of declarative statements. i share your concerns regarding turnovers (see the nevada thread), but i wouldn't go as far as you on your other points. this time last year, we certainly didn't look like we could score in the halfcourt, either. in fact, we looked ass backwards terrible offensively for most, if not all, the non-conference season. altman's teams have thus far proven to turn on a switch during pac-12 play. recent precedent forces me to stay cautiously optimistic.

every team but arizona has just as many, if not more questions, than you just posed. you just watch more oregon basketball than the other schools, and are able to nitpick more. i do it, too. we all do.

[TheMaehlMan]

I definitely agree that it could be an up-and-down conference slate. Altman put it best last night when he said too many players were trying to make the "big play" rather than the simple and right play. I think Oregon is very talented, but you can't turn the ball over 20-plus times in Pac-12 play versus quality competition. We really need Singler to step up and be more consistent as well. When Oregon had to make something out of nothing late in shot-clocks last season we had Devoe, this season we don't have anyone making those types of plays. I thought Singler could step up and be that guy, but something isn't right with him...

[UOducksTK1]

I definitely agree that it could be an up-and-down conference slate. Altman put it best last night when he said too many players were trying to make the "big play" rather than the simple and right play. I think Oregon is very talented, but you can't turn the ball over 20-plus times in Pac-12 play versus quality competition. We really need Singler to step up and be more consistent as well. When Oregon had to make something out of nothing late in shot-clocks last season we had Devoe, this season we don't have anyone making those types of plays. I thought Singler could step up and be that guy, but something isn't right with him...

It really is tough not to have a senior like Singler contributing offensively more. Our offense needs a boost, and last year it was all our seniors.

Pac-12 has its issues though, so if Oregon can get it together offensively, I don't see why they couldn't finish about 3rd and sneak into the NCAA tournament.

[UOducksTK1]

I also think beating Arizona could be the difference between an NCAA bid and a NIT one.