Free throws are supposed to be the easy points.
Just like their season opener against Georgetown, the Ducks attempted at least 44 free throws in a game, all of which greatly contributed to the overall outcome.
Oregon went 35-for-47 (75 percent) from the charity stripe against Western Carolina, good enough for 33 percent of its overall score of 107. In the teams season opener, Oregon scored 82 points and went 36-f0r-44 (82 percent) from the free throw line.
On the season, the Ducks have scored 189 points with 71 of them coming by way of the free throw line, accounting for 38 percent of the teams overall score.
With the new hand checking rule in college basketball this season, officials are required to call a foul anytime a defensive player uses one of his hands to influence where the offensive player goes, putting two hands on the offensive player and using an arm bar to impede the offensive player trying to drive.
“I don’t know if the rules are that much different — just that hand check which became so blatant over the last few years,” Altman said. “They’ve just taken that away.”
Because of the new rule, fouls have increased and the game has dramatically slowed down while free throw shooting is becoming even more of a vital part of the game.
“It opens the game a lot — you can force the drive and if they put their hands on you, it’s a foul,” Joseph Young said. “More attacking, that’s what any coach wants — it’s just (the way) the rule is, attacking to the goal.”
Young, Oregon’s starting shooting guard and transfer from Houston, has greatly benefitted from the rule change. In two games, Young is averaging 30 points per game with 13.5 of his points coming by way of the free throw line.
“From the new rule, if you attack and they put a hand on you, that’s an automatic foul,” Young said. “I took advantage of that, got to the hole and got fouled.”
In comparison with last year, the Ducks shot 56 free throws in the first two games of last year, making 39 of them. In the two games this year, Oregon is 71-for-91 on the year, an increase of 35 more attempts per game equaling 32 more total points.
In the Ducks two games so far, there has been a total of 112 fouls called with 47 of them going against Oregon. Teams with deep benches will be able to substitute their players in and out more to keep from foul trouble but there still has to be an adjustment period where enough is enough and the players and coaches must adapt to the rule change.
The new rule also has a domino effect on every team because the teams with the better free throw shooters and deeper benches will be the beneficiaries of the hand check rule.
“We are going to adjust to it — we are going to get more people to the basket,” Altman said.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka