Dana Altman staying in Oregon

What Altman needs to do is take the next step as a coach and develop his talent. Tony Woods is making the jump from a rugged defensive player to a dangerous big with a new-found offensive game to add to his great work on the defensive end. Altman will need to develop Artis into a starting point guard, but he doesn’t have to be as good as Aaron Brooks or Luke Ridnour. He will, however, have to be an improvement from Jonathan Loyd. Now, I’m a fan of Loyd as a passer and high-energy guy off the bench, but Artis has the potential to be an All-Conference PG, if Dana Altman can properly develop him.

Now, I’m not naive enough to think that Altman is the perfect coach, because he has some fatal flaws. He isn’t a player’s coach, and it’s obvious that he doesn’t quite develop the players who aren’t touted talents (Jonathan Loyd). He also doesn’t bring in those touted recruits, and he never has. With Creighton, he relied on JC transfers (sound familiar?) and never got that team fully out of the hump. They made it to quite a few NCAA Tournaments, but they were winning in a terrible conference and always got bounced out of the tourney in the first or second round.

I love Altman’s discipline, and I think he’s an above-average coach. However, he’s the guy who can bring and average or subpar program to a “solid”, fringe NCAA tourney status and nothing more. As the basketball program grows under Altman, it will only grow as far Altman grows. Which is to say, that Dana Altman needs to become a better recruiter, a better motivator, and better at developing his own talent in order for him to help the program grow and flourish. The university obviously has the resources, and this team can become a powerhouse with some work.