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2008 Oregon Basketball Predictions & Preview

Written October 29, 2008 by Luke Knight

With the departure of Malik Hairston and Maarty Leunen, the Ducks lose their two top scorers from a season ago. The Ducks return Tajuan Porter, who averaged 13.9 points last season, plus Oregon brings in six freshmen and a junior transfer from LSU, who failed to break into the starting lineup for the Tigers. Three of the incoming freshmen were former AAU teammates from the Chicago area, and the Ducks expect big things from them, but they want to bring them along slowly to avoid putting too much pressure on their young guys. Keep reading to find out if we think the young guys at Oregon will step up and lead their team to a third straight NCAA Tournament. Head over to BetUS where the Oregon Ducks are at +900 odds to win the Pac-10 Conference.

The Ducks will look for freshmen Michael Dunigan and Josh Crittle to fill the frontcourt at some point this season, but since they are being brought along slowly they will probably not start immediately. Early on in the season the frontcourt should be manned by Joevan Catron and Frantz Dorsainvil. Catron has the potential to be a double-double player every night. Dorsainvil is athletically gifted but is just as likely to foul out as to contribute on the low block. Churchill Odia could also play some forward at the beginning of the season until the young guys get up to speed on Pac-10 basketball.

Tajuan Porter and LeKendric Longmire will be the leaders in the backcourt this season with Catron leading the frontcourt. The Ducks will need Porter and Longmire to be successful this season if the Ducks are going to be successful as a team. Porter is already seventh in school history in 3-pointers with 193 entering his junior year. Porter’s 3-point percentage dropped dramatically last season and he needs to improve his ball-handling and defense. Longmire has proven he can defend top guys, as he showed in guarding Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless in the regular season finale last year. Kamyron Brown started eight games last season but scored only 5 points over the final 13 games. Matthew Humphrey and Teondre Willilams are freshman wings who can both shoot the 3-pointer and should help the Ducks lead the Pac-10 in 3-pointers again this season. Brown and Porter will get help at the point position from Ben Voogd, who sat out last season after transferring from LSU. Garrett Sims also should get some minutes at point. Sims was originally a Cal recruit, but he backed out of his letter of intent after the Golden Bears changed coaches.

Final Analysis

The Ducks will start out small until the freshmen come along. For Oregon they need at least a couple of their young guys to become regulars early on and break the starting lineup. The Pac-10 won’t be that big this season with the loss of Kevin Love and the Lopez Twins so the young forwards won’t have as much of a rigorous time as they could have. The Ducks’ coach Ernie Kent has managed to keep expectations low for this young squad, so if their guys come along quickly they could make a third straight NCAA Tournament. With so much unknown though, we have them getting a bid in the NIT. At BetUS the Oregon Ducks are at +10000 odds to win the NCAA Championship so keep an eye on their youngsters because this team could be a great value if they become legitimate Pac-10 players early.

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