By DSH basketball columnist Brian Mahuna
This Duck team is talented. So talented that it is frustrating. Throughout the game there were spurts of dominance displayed by the guys in lightning yellow and the purple clad WCU players looked hopelessly over matched during those spurts. The Ducks lived in the lane on offense, scoring easy buckets at the rim, knocking down jump shots on the perimeter, swarming on defense, and finishing defensive possessions with the rebounds.
Then, as if the players were battery powered, their energy on both ends of the floor was drained. >They lacked urgency on offense, playing sloppy with the basketball, turning it over, and then getting pushed around and losing the rebounding battles. Trey Sumler was unguardable most of the night and luckily for the Ducks, he was the only one.
Air Dotson: Damyean Dotson flies to the hoop as the Ducks dive-bomb Western Carolina 107-83 (Michael Shaw, Oregon Daily Emerald photo).
The Good: The Ducks showed flashes of brilliance against Western Carolina.
Mike Moser showed that he is a complete player, hitting shots from a variety of spots on the floor, including beyond the arc. He rebounded the ball well as well. He ended with 26 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. He was 5 of 6 from the charity stripe and was the sole reason the Ducks went into the locker room with a lead at the half. His leadership is showing its effect. After a strong first half by him, the rest of the Ducks followed suit with a stronger second half performance. Blowing the game open with a late run that allowed for the practice players to get some run.
Joe Young showed he very well might be the best scorer in the conference. He can score in so many ways, he’s like the entire Oregon football offense, a mix of deep threats, quick hitters, and a tough inside presence, all wrapped into one player. In only his second game as a Duck Young set a new career high in points with 36. In addition to that scoring outburst, Young led the team in rebounds with 6. He lived at the cup for most of the game, drawing fouls and converting And-1 opportunities. A staggering stat; Joe Young in two games, has 28 free throw attempts and has made 27 of them. He was so effective getting to the rim that the floor was spaced to allow the Ducks to shoot a red hot 57% from three, making 8 of 14 from beyond the arc.
Elgin Cook made his arrival known in a strong showing off the bench for the Duck’s. Cook had a less than stellar performance in South Korea, not making much of an impact in his first game as a Duck. But in the second half of the Duck’s home opener, Cook showed his true form. He finished the game with 16 points and 4 rebounds. His point total could have been in the 20’s if he had converted on his chances at the free throw line. Cook managed to knock down only 8 of his 14 attempts from the stripe, a stat that I’m sure will look bigger to him than the 16 points or 4 rebounds.
Jason Calliste didn’t miss from the field or the line in the win. He scored only 5 points but dished 4 helpers and grabbed two rebounds in a night where his scoring simply wasn’t needed. He played well as a facilitator, not looking to score, but more to make sure the offense and defense were running smoothly.Johnathan Loyd and Damyean Dotson both played well despite not exactly filling the stat sheet. Both totaled 9 points a piece, Loyd handed out three assists, one of which was a rim rattling alley oop to Elgin Cook while Dotson had two rebounds and two assists. Dotson played more aggressively, fighting his way to the rim more than a few times. He struggled from the field yet again but made all three of his free throws and was the only starter without a turnover.
Needs Improvement: The Ducks showed flashes of.. Meh.. against WCU, looking to prove exactly.. Nothing.
Throughout the game I noticed more than a few times the Duck players weren’t boxing out when trying to get rebounds. They tried to rely on their athletic abilities alone, and it led to them losing the rebounding battle after the first half. I expect Coach Altman to harp on that quite a bit in the weeks to come. When your shooting guard is the team’s leading rebounder with 6, things need to change.
Waverly Austin needs to improve. Being almost 7 feet tall isn’t enough at this level. He’s not overly athletic, and his free throw shooting is atrocious. Teams will expose that weakness down low. He’s an important cog in this machine. If the Ducks can get him to give them consistent minutes of being a defensive anchor and rebounding the ball well, they will be a force to be reckoned with when a big inside presence comes to town. He finished the game with 5 rebounds and 5 points in limited minutes and while those a positives, He missed half of his free throws and had a turnover. Overall his game wasn’t bad, adding two steals and an assist, but where he is really going to be valuable is inside, protecting the rim, and grabbing boards.
The UGLY:
Richard Amardi had a game he’d like to forget. When looking back at the season’s highlights at the end of this year, Amardi’s play will be absent from this game’s reel. Three plays in a row Amardi lost the handle on a pass, and three plays in a row, the Duck’s went back the other way after a turnover. One of which was a technical foul on a missed dunk. Everybody knows Amardi is a talented prospect, so I’m not going to blow this out of proportion and crucify him for it. It was just an ugly couple of plays for that guy. But.. Yikes.
In conclusion, the Ducks walk away from Matt Knight Arena with a 24 point win 107-83 but with plenty to improve upon. With 6 days before their next game the Ducks will have plenty of time to correct their mistakes before facing off against Utah Valley in Eugene on November 19th in their pursuit of staying unbeaten. The Ducks showed a many great things tonight against an over matched and outgunned Western Carolina team, things that should resonate inside of that locker room. Those are the things that can make this team special. Those are the things that will blaze a path to a shot at another conference title and ultimately making serious waves in the national perspective.
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