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Alex’s Analysis: Oregon Basketball Defeats Boise State

By Alex Weber

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 16: Abu Kigab #24 of the Oregon Ducks celebrates his three point shot in the second half against the Syracuse Orange during the 2K Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2018 in New York City.The Oregon Ducks defeated the Syracuse Orange 80-65. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 16: Abu Kigab #24 of the Oregon Ducks celebrates his three point shot in the second half against the Syracuse Orange during the 2K Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2018 in New York City.The Oregon Ducks defeated the Syracuse Orange 80-65. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Without star freshman Bol Bol, Oregon Basketball was still able to hold serve at home by beating a solid Boise State squad, 66-54.

A win’s a win. This one may have put you to sleep at times (guilty) and there weren’t too many Leap Out of Your Recliner moments, but the Ducks grinded out a win over a non-horrendous opponent and were without the services of their best player and starting center, Bol Bol. I’ll take it. Let’s get to the takeaways:

Victor Bailey

VJ was excellent in 22 minutes off the bench for Dana Altman. His performances are often inconsistent, but, when he has a good one, it goes a long way in aiding Oregon to a win. Saturday night, he contributed 13 points (which were at a premium in Matt Knight) on 4-6 shooting and collected 3 rebounds. If VJ puts together a string of outings with numbers similar to these, that would be HUGE for a Ducks team in need of quality wing play.

Bailey has always been an above average athlete, it’s his inconsistent defensive effort and offensive aggression that lead to those games where you forget he’s even out there. I think he’s about to make the leap.

Speaking of Wing Play…

Louis King, Will Richardson, and Ehab Amin (our other wings) COMBINED so score 9 points on 3-11 shooting. That cannot happen in Pac-12 play. I don’t care if the League’s no better than the WCC, there are teams capable of beating Oregon on any given night. We need to see that elite scoring versatility promised to us by scouts regarding Louis King. We need Will Richardson to provide a spark. We need Amin’s nice midrange and inside game. These guys are good scorers, they just need to show everyone.

Defense

Was very, very good against the Broncos. This may be a non-power conference squad, but they’ve made NCAA tournaments throughout their history. Holding them under 60 is an achievement the boys should be proud of. And considering our 7’3 fly swatter was out with a bum foot, I’d say the performance on that end of the floor was admirable.

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