One play during Sunday night’s 82-61 win over Cal Poly encapsulated the success the Oregon men’s basketball team has enjoyed in their first seven games this season.
The Ducks (7-0) were up 50-37 with 16:05 left in the game. Johnathan Loyd passed the ball to Mike Moser on the left elbow. Moser turned toward the hoop and rose to take a mid-range jumper, only he didn’t take the shot. Instead, he whipped a pass to Richard Amardi, who layed the ball in and drew a foul on the Mustangs’ Maliik Love (Amardi made the subsequent free throw.)
“One thing coach Altman always stresses every day in practice is making the extra pass,” assistant coach Tony Stubblefield said after the game. “That’s one thing we did tonight.”
Stubblefield (replacing Altman in the post-game press conference) said the key thing Sunday night for the Ducks was making the easy pass, not trying to make the incredible one. It showed in the results, too. The Ducks compiled 14 assists while turning the ball over just four times. They averaged nearly 15 turnovers in the first two games of the Global Sports Hardwood Challenge, including 20 give-aways against North Dakota on Saturday.
“I think we got a little too excited yesterday of trying to make the spectacular play,” Stubblefield said, “whereas today I think we were making the right play, the simple play.”
Another example of Oregon’s deft passing came with 8:32 left in the game. Oregon’s leading scorer this season Joseph Young had a good look for a jumper but decided to dish it to Jason Calliste. Calliste pump-faked, got defender Kyle Odister to jump, drew a foul and sunk the three-pointer. Calliste completed the four-point play to put the Ducks up 69-45.
“Everybody’s just dropping the ball off at the right times, not being selfish with it, finding the open man, and we’re just knocking down shots right now,” forward Damyean Dotson said.
The 14 assists were actually the lowest total for Oregon in the three-game tournament over the weekend. The assist figure was just one more than Loyd’s assist total in Oregon’s 85-62 win over Pacific on Friday.
Loyd led the team in assists again on Sunday, albeit with a total of five. The senior guard contributed more as a scorer against Cal Poly (2-5), going 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-5 from three for 13 points. He was one of five players in double figures.
“I kind of felt good in warm-ups, and when I put the first one down, just aggressive and stepped into it like I wanted it,” Loyd said. “Guys were finding me and I was just making shots.”
Loyd, Dotson and Stubblefield all mentioned the depth of scorers on their team. At least six players are capable of scoring in double figures each night, according to those three, partly because they’re a talented group but also because they’re all unselfish. Loyd can score 13 points one night and dish out 13 assists another because the key is finding the open man, no matter how many minutes he plays each game.
The Ducks don’t have an Andrew Wiggins or Aaron Gordon, so spreading the ball around is essential for them to succeed this season. So far, they’ve spread it around extremely well, and they have a 7-0 record and No. 14 national ranking to show for it.
“A good part of our team is sharing the ball, making the extra pass, and when we have capable five or six double-digit scorers, I think that really helps,” Stubblefield said. “I think it makes us harder to prepare for.”
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