Post by chaseinmanhattan on Dec 30, 2016 10:46:04 GMT -5
UCLA may still be the current pick to win the conference, but Oregon entered the season as the favorite.
No matter how one slices it, this game tonight -- on paper -- is our toughest of the season: a road game in Eugene against a potential Final Four team.
This is what I wrote about Oregon last month:
Here are the general developments that have affected Oregon's season thus far:
#1 Dillon Brooks missed several months of basketball in a highly precautionary move to rest a stress fracture in his foot; so far, he hasn't played as well as last season; but then he hit that huge shot against UCLA on Wednesday.
#2 Chris Boucher has majorly stepped up his game and had become Oregon's scoring leader ... that is, unless he rolled an ankle a couple weeks back. He played against UCLA, but didn't have the same spring he was showing earlier in the season.
#3 Jordan Bell and freshman Payton Pritchard have been the pleasant surprises for Oregon's offense. Bell has developed a legit post game, and Pritchard hit huge shots down the stretch against UCLA.
#4 Tyler Dorsey and Dylan Ennis (finally playing again after two full seasons off) have been mildly disappointing; Ennis has actually played well, and adapted to his role as a wing nicely; but he isn't as much of a distributor as Oregon may have hoped.
#5 Newcomers Kavell Bigby-Williams and Keith Smith have not contributed much.
Oregon has a 34 game winning streak at Matthew Knight Arena.
In case you were wondering, this is how the UCLA-Oregon game looked:
Playing stronger teams will often bring out the best in good players. The video above is a great example of that in terms of offense.
Oregon is a 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 point favorite depending on where you place the bet.
KenPom:
USC 43
Oregon 24
Sagarin:
USC 43
Oregon 24
RPI:
USC 16
Oregon 14
No matter how one slices it, this game tonight -- on paper -- is our toughest of the season: a road game in Eugene against a potential Final Four team.
This is what I wrote about Oregon last month:
The least surprising projection is putting defending Pac-12 regular season and conference tournament champion in the No. 1 spot preseason. While the Ducks have lost one of the chief cogs in the Quack machine, in Elgin Cook, along with key rotation player Dwayne Benjamin, everyone else is back and the Ducks even add a few key players who should more than make up for the loss of Cook and Benjamin.
It all starts with Dillon Brooks, the Ducks' MVP in 2015-16. Brooks hasn't played in early games this season, as he recovers from a foot injury; that has caused Oregon to lose a road game at Baylor. But the Ducks have plenty of talent outside of Brooks, including Tyler Dorsey, Chris Boucher, and Jordan Bell.
Dana Altman has demonstrated year after year that he is capable of putting together teams that contend for Pac-12 titles and for NCAA Tournament berths. This team should be crowned jewel. Once Dillon Brooks gets back, it's unclear who is good enough to beat them.
It all starts with Dillon Brooks, the Ducks' MVP in 2015-16. Brooks hasn't played in early games this season, as he recovers from a foot injury; that has caused Oregon to lose a road game at Baylor. But the Ducks have plenty of talent outside of Brooks, including Tyler Dorsey, Chris Boucher, and Jordan Bell.
Dana Altman has demonstrated year after year that he is capable of putting together teams that contend for Pac-12 titles and for NCAA Tournament berths. This team should be crowned jewel. Once Dillon Brooks gets back, it's unclear who is good enough to beat them.
Here are the general developments that have affected Oregon's season thus far:
#1 Dillon Brooks missed several months of basketball in a highly precautionary move to rest a stress fracture in his foot; so far, he hasn't played as well as last season; but then he hit that huge shot against UCLA on Wednesday.
#2 Chris Boucher has majorly stepped up his game and had become Oregon's scoring leader ... that is, unless he rolled an ankle a couple weeks back. He played against UCLA, but didn't have the same spring he was showing earlier in the season.
#3 Jordan Bell and freshman Payton Pritchard have been the pleasant surprises for Oregon's offense. Bell has developed a legit post game, and Pritchard hit huge shots down the stretch against UCLA.
#4 Tyler Dorsey and Dylan Ennis (finally playing again after two full seasons off) have been mildly disappointing; Ennis has actually played well, and adapted to his role as a wing nicely; but he isn't as much of a distributor as Oregon may have hoped.
#5 Newcomers Kavell Bigby-Williams and Keith Smith have not contributed much.
Oregon has a 34 game winning streak at Matthew Knight Arena.
In case you were wondering, this is how the UCLA-Oregon game looked:
Playing stronger teams will often bring out the best in good players. The video above is a great example of that in terms of offense.
Oregon is a 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 point favorite depending on where you place the bet.
KenPom:
USC 43
Oregon 24
Sagarin:
USC 43
Oregon 24
RPI:
USC 16
Oregon 14
