Oregon Basketball: New Faces, Same Challenge For Ducks
Head Coach Dana Altman enters his 11th season with Oregon Basketball. The team welcomes new faces and will look to again find early chemistry to start the season.
The one constant over the last three seasons has been Payton Pritchard, who has added some muscle in the offseason. Two years ago at the conclusion of the season, Altman admitted he had too much on Pritchard’s plate, but entering 2019 there is help to go around so Pritchard can focus on one position.
More from Autzen Zoo
- Oregon football: Ducks and Coach Prime playing it cordial leading up to Saturday
- Oregon Basketball: Non-conference slate features Michigan coming to Eugene
- Oregon football: Ducks find complete game effort in win vs Hawaii
- Oregon Ducks must get run game going against Hawaii
- 8 Pac-12 teams represented in Associated Press Top 25 after Week 2
Former high school teammate to Pritchard, Anthony Mathis is part of that help. The two have won High School Championships together and the two should regain their chemistry pretty quickly on the court. Following the team scrimmage on Wednesday, Altman was not pleased with the effort. Oregon enters the 2019 season as they have in the past, as a somewhat work in progress. There is only one position on the floor with an established starter, Payton Pritchard.
As Altman has done in the past, the first part of the season will likely feature a mixed bag that should include Mathis and Will Richardson being the focal point for the Ducks, “I’m not sure, November will be a real interesting month for us. We’ve got a real tough schedule and a lot of new guys. To be real honest, we’re not ready for it. I’m hoping that we can tighten a lot of things up between now and Tuesday and play a real experienced Fresno team but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Oregon opens the season ranked 15th in a conference that seems to be fairly weak to open the regular season Arizona is the only other ranked team. Talent will clearly shift the narrative over the first month of the season as UCLA will likely make an appearance in the polls along with a few other teams in the Conference of Champions.
The Oregon Ducks open the regular season on Tuesday hosting a talented Fresno State team. Tipoff is set for 6 pm Pacific Time from Matthew Knight Arena. The game will be broadcast on Pac-12 Network.