The season should be viewed as a success because the end result on the outside was a birth back the NCAA tournament and placed with a game that Oregon should win or should be in contention to win the game based on the seed they got. However, looking more in-depth at the talent and the players returning from an elite 8 run which ended in a loss to eventual national champs, Florida, Oregon’s season will be viewed as a disappointment. Yes Oregon got back to the NCAA’s after going the year before and it being one in only a handful of seasons where the Ducks make it back to back, but there should have been more to the season than 18 wins, a tie for 5th place in the Pac-10 with a 9-9 record, and a loss in the first round of the dance. Many were expecting the Ducks to finish with a top four seed in the tournament as Oregon entered the season ranked 12th and 13th in the AP and ESPN polls and bringing four out of five starters from last years team with three seniors starting. What led to this lack of success and an early exit in the NCAA tournament? Lack of in game coaching, lack of clutch plays, no go to scorer, lack of senior leadership, and injuries all played an equal role none more important than the others. When a team wins the coach is given the full credit of leading his team to victory and success and when that team losses the coach takes on the same credit in the loss. Sadly, on paper that’s all there is to blame or credit, the coach, when in reality there are a lot of other factors into the final outcome. That’s not the case; however so this lack of success must fall onto someone’s shoulders and that has to be Head Coach Ernie Kent.
Player Evaluations:
Maarty Leunen Grade: A
Clearly the most improved player from last season as Maarty Leunen finished the season first in rebounding (9.2pg), minutes played (34.7pg), steals (0.9pg), and 3-Point shooting percentage (49%). He finished second on the team in points (15.2), assists (2.8), and free throw percentage (79%). Leunen also finished the season with the second highest points per shot at 1.73, and trailed only Ray Schafer who played in six games all season long. Leunen improved in almost every category on the stat sheet every season and finished with his best season at Oregon with his last as he made the 2nd team all Pac-10 and was the only Duck to make such a team for All-Pac-10. Matching up against players grossly heavier and taller than himself, Leunen took it upon himself to hold the fort down low and not only get by but to excel while playing out of position almost every game. Leunen’s best games came against some of the best players in the nation. Leunen scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds with six coming on offense, while adding four assists and one blocked shot against Kansas State and All American and Freshmen of the Year Michael Beasley on November 29th on the road. In the Pac-10 Home Opener for the Ducks against Cal, Leunen scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, three assists, and one steal while facing 1st team All Pac-10 forward Sophomore Ryan Anderson on January 10th. Amid a four game losing streak you can find another gem put in by Leunen when he put up 20 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, one steal while playing 37 minutes on January 20th. His best performance came when he shot the ball the least out of all his best games yet played an almost perfect game of basketball as Leunen scored 12 points, 15 rebounds with 13 on defense alone, four assists, and shooting four of seven from the field and two of three from the 3-Point shot in a must win game in the last game of the regulars season against Arizona on March 8th. In his last season as a Duck, Leunen moved himself deeper into the Oregon record books in Scoring, Steals, Rebounds, 3 Point Shooting Percentage top 10. Luenen capped the season off winning the team’s Most Valuable Player award at the end of season awards. Leunen entered the season with little to no chance to getting drafted by an NBA team and most likely being forced to play overseas or in the NBDL if he wished to play pro ball. After his senior season Leunen showed he had more to his game many scouts and fans knew about and given workouts with the right team he should find himself getting drafted in the middle to late second round of the upcoming draft.
Malik Hairston Grade A-
Arguably the most highly touted recruit to ever come to Oregon in modern day basketball Malik finished his last season playing at the level many were expecting him to play in his entire career at Oregon let alone his last season at Oregon. Clearly marked with too much hype coming into college Hairston will go down as one of the greatest players to put on the green and yellow for Oregon. Having graduated before the season even started Hairston’s mind was on basketball and basketball only for his final season where he played the small forward position along with time at the power forward position for Oregon. Hairston was in the same situation as Leunen where he was forced to play at times out of his position due to the lack of big men on the Oregon roster and was matched up at times in every game against a player taller and stronger than Hairston. However, Hairston was able to use his agility and quickness mixed with his inside toughness to create match up problems for opposing coaches and players. Hairston led the Ducks in scoring (16.3ppg) and Blocks (0.8pg). Hairston finished second on the team in three point percentage (43%) and points per shot (1.51) while placing third in rebounds (4.8), fourth in minutes played (31.5) and steals (0.6). Malik’s best games of the season came against Arizona in an early must win situation on the road in early January to avoid the sweep as he recorded 29 points on 11 for 14 shooting, six rebounds, one steal, and one assist. His next great game came at the expense to UCLA in a loss in which Malik Hairston was unstoppable for UCLA defenders until he suffered cramps early in the second half and limited him to playing only 25 minutes, yet Hairston recorded 18 points, three rebounds while going 8-13 from the field. The loss of Malik in the second to cramps is the stem of the Oregon collapse and eventual loss to UCLA. Down in L.A. against USC Hairston again showed his ability to become unstoppable ending the game with 17 points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block, all while shooting six of nine from the field. A common trait of the season Malik couldn’t get help from his teammates and the team let a big lead slip away in the 2nd half to lose to USC. Entering his final home stand in Eugene, Malik showed up big against ASU as he guided Oregon to a win with 19 points, five rebounds, two assists, and two blocks while shooting seven of nine from the field in the must win game for the Ducks. Malik ended his career as a Duck with a bang in the NCAA tournament as he went up against Mississippi’s heralded big men that were clearly bigger and stronger than he was. Against tough defense from the Bulldog front line Malik finished the game with 22 points, seven rebounds, and one steal before he fouled out as he tried to carry the Ducks on his back at the end of the game. Hairston’s senior season was one many wont forget for a long time due to himself being healthy for almost the entire season and finally playing at a high level many were hoping he would show earlier in his career. Hairston finished his senior season and career deeper into Oregon All Time records in Scoring, Blocks, and Shooting Percentage. Malik Hairston, like his senior teammates will go down in Oregon Duck history as the recruits that raised expectations of the program simply by signing with Oregon and then with their play on the court, and ending with the huge roles in signing the next big recruiting class for Oregon. Malik’s draft stock most likely will take a hit from where he was at after the end of his junior season, but a healthy Hairston given a chance to workout for NBA teams in the spring will surely find himself getting drafted somewhere in the mid to early second round of the draft.
Bryce Taylor Grade B
Midway through his freshmen year at Oregon many fans were wondering if Taylor was the better freshmen when compared with Hairston. With a terrible sophomore slump that Duck fans saw Taylor struggle in all areas of his game he bounced back big time with a very good junior year that propelled him back into the 1st round of the NBA draft going into his senior season where Taylor looked to improve his draft stock and move into the middle of the first round or become a late lottery pick. However with a late injury compounded with a very inconsistent and sub-par senior season Taylor’s draft stock took a huge nose dive and Taylor might not be a 1st round draft pick anymore, and instead be a middle 2nd round pick. The loss of Aaron Brooks at point guard might have had the biggest impact on Taylor due to shaky guard play and lack of penetration that provided good match ups for Taylor on the wing. Taylor was forced to create more shots on his own all while still garnishing the responsibility of guarding the other team’s best scorer on the outside. With an increase in talent for the Pac-10 it’s fair to say his focus on defense against players like Derek Low, OJ Mayo, Josh Shipp, and Jerryd Bayless forced Taylor to let his offensive game to slip in order to play better defense throughout the entire Pac-10 season. Still Oregon was expecting more from this senior leader and it played a role in the lack of success for the entire team. Taylor was first in Free Throw Percentage (82%), second on the team in minutes played (33.1), steals (0.7), third Three Point Percentage (38%), Points Per Shot (1.31), and Blocks (0.4BPG). Across the stat sheet Taylor saw almost all his stats take a drop and at times nose dive in production compared to his stellar junior season. Taylor’s scoring dipped almost two points from last season along with his rebounds, steals, assists, and blocks. Taylor’s shooter percentages also all dropped significant numbers compared to last year. Taylor had a very good season with his best games coming against Cal for the season. In the first match up at home in early January Taylor finished the game with 20 points, four rebounds, two blocks, and one assist on the night. In the second go around Taylor responded with a season high in points scoring 28 and adding three rebounds, two assists, and one steal while shooting 10 of 13 from the field. Taylor’s production went down and most noticeably was his scoring. In out of conference games Taylor averaged 13.8 points in 10 games. Once conference play started, Taylor’s scoring dropped down to 12.35 a game, and slid even more in the final 12 games of the season as he finished scoring 11.43 points per game in the last 12. Taylor still had a productive year for most players in the conference and nation; just not the type of season Oregon was expecting and needing to have from Taylor in order to finish the season off strong. Taylor will go down as one of Oregon’s best lock down defenders and purest shooters in Oregon history. He was in the records for points scored and steals. With a couple of months for Taylor to rest his injuries and prep for NBA draft camps Taylor should he perform to the level he played at the start of this past season and the end of his Junior year he should still land an early second to middle second round draft selection, and most likely be the third Duck drafted in the second round of this years draft.
Tajuan Porter Grade B
Porter excelled as a off guard last season with senior Aaron Brooks running the point freeing up the freshmen sniper to rain bombs against defenses from outside on way to an Elite 8 finish for the Ducks. With Brooks graduated and a freshmen point guard coming into the program head coach Ernie Kent was forced to move sophomore Porter to the point even if it wasn’t Porter’s best position on the team and run the offense for the Ducks this season. It was expected his scoring would drop off but with three senior starters back from last years squad scoring would not be an issue for the Ducks. Porter’s scoring did drop but not that much as expected as Porter was Oregon’s third leading scorer as he averaged 13.9 a game and only 0.7 points below last years average while also shooting less threes than he did the year before. Porter brought more assists this year at 2.4 a game, which was third on the team and actually 0.4 up from where he was at last year as a freshmen. He cut his Turnovers as a PG down 13 from last year as he turned the ball over 75 times this year for a tie with Freshman Kamyron Brown at 2.4 a game. Porter’s shooting percentage was way down from last year’s high mark as Porter shot the ball 39% from the field is sophomore year but it was clear he was focused on more by opposing team’s defenses instead of having the ability to feed off of Brooks last year as a freshmen. Porter still shot free throws well and was third on the team as he made 79% of his attempts. Porter was at his best this season in both Non-Conference games and Conference games. In the first game of the year against Pepperdine Porter finished the blow out win with 17 points, nine assists, five rebounds, two blocks, and one steal. Against UCLA at home Porter recorded one of his best games as a point guard against one of the best defensive guards in the conference against Collison when Porter went for 13 points, six assists to one turnover, and one rebound. He backed that game up against USC and their athletic and taller guards with another great game at the point when he chipped in 17 points, six assists and one turnover, five rebounds, and one steal. He finished the regular season on fire in the big win against Arizona when he scored 24 points and at one point taking over the game and going on one of his famous back to back to back scoring runs from deep. He added two assists and one steal in that game. Porter clearly struggled and succeeded at the point this season as he and the rest of the Ducks tried to adjust to him running the offense. At times it didn’t seem like he would ever get it, which led to him being benched and regulated to coming off the bench. Other times it looked as if he played great and if he could play like that every game Oregon would be a top ten team again. However the experiment at PG has been canceled per the head coach, Kent, unless freshmen Brown or someone else can’t run the point. Instead Porter will slide back over to his natural off guard position in which he was let loose and able to thrive coming off screens and roaming the parameter to nail the open jump shots. Porter has shown he can run the point when the starter needs rest or is in foul trouble, but he shouldn’t be counted on to be the primary point for this team coming back next season as a junior. Porter is only 48 points shy of joining the 1,000 point club in Oregon history and if Porter can again score in the 400 range he has a great shot at being a top 10 scorer all time and putting himself in a situation for a senior season that Oregon fans might see him become Oregon’s All Time Leading Scorer. Porter will be expected to lead an unusual very young squad for Oregon in recent times as a team leader on and off the floor next season.
Joevan Catron Grade B-
Catron came on late in the season of his freshmen year to start providing an instant spark off the bench for the Ducks and looked to continue that same role, doing all the dirty work, for the Ducks as a sophomore that was inserted into the starting lineup for the first time. Catron responded well as a starter for the Ducks as a sophomore giving Oregon a big man that gave the Ducks a sense of an inside threat with his footwork and quickness inside against bigger defenders. Catron saw almost double the amount of minutes per game as a sophomore compared to his freshmen season and in result saw all his stats skyrocket up and he become a solid player for Oregon. Catron finished the season averaging 8.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists a game while shooting 51% from the field and 36% from three points. Catron suffered an injury that was similar to the type of injury that Hairston suffered the year before on the foot and required Catron to miss the first six games of the Pac-10 season. Before the injury Catron was averaging nearly 11 points, eight rebounds, and two assists a game before the injury with a high of 20 points in one game. After the injury Catron had struggles to get back into shape that he was in before the season started and then he ran into a playing rotation that saw freshmen Drew Viney get back into the lineup and was seeing some of his minutes go to him as well. After the injury Catron averaged seven points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2 assists a game. His rebounding and scoring took a hit with his injury and was compounded by falling out of shape and not being able to keep up anymore. Catron was a still very solid for Oregon but nowhere near his level of play prior to injury. Because of his injury Oregon’s coaching staff and fans haven’t seen the best from Catron yet. Another off-season dedicated towards losing weight and becoming more lean muscular wise with more attention to his low post game and footwork with added time towards rebounding on both ends and Catron could develop into our next go to scorer and leader of this team as a junior. The off-season following this season will be crucial for Catron as Oregon is bringing in a McDonald’s All-American center in Michael Dunigan and another bruiser and friend of Catron in Josh Crittle who both will be battling along with current teammate Franz Dorsainvil for playing time at the four and five spots for Oregon next year.
LeKendric Longmire Grade B-
Longmire quickly came onto the scene for Oregon as he scored 12 points in his first game for Oregon. However, like a freshmen, Longmire experienced the highs and lows of a freshmen season. One game Longmire played great defense and gave hustle and grit on offense and got some points that resulted from him simply out hustling his defender and then the next game Longmire would commit the freshmen mistakes every freshmen would make. He demanded more minutes early on than he got and his development hindered from the lack of playing time, however Oregon was quickly in a dog fight all season to stay in contention for an NCAA tournament birth and Ernie Kent wasn’t blessed with games on the schedule where he could risk playing Longmire many minutes until he showed in practice and games he deserved more minutes. Ah, the life of a freshmen. Had Oregon’s season gone as many experts predicted and Oregon was always a lock to make the dance and Oregon was able to get more blowout wins Longmire most certainly would have seen the floor in less pressure packed situations and his development would have come along quicker. Longmire’s best games came late in the year when he seemed to have found his niche for the team, hustle on offense, play smart, and be a lock down defender that his athleticism allowed him to be. With Longmire finding his role and more importantly the desire to be the best defender on the team, Longmire started seeing more minutes and his production skyrocketed. In his last seven games Longmire averaged 17 minutes a game and gave Oregon 6.2 points and many more plays that didn’t land on the stat sheet. He averaged a few clips above his averages for steals, field goal percentage, and he rebounding. His best game of the year came in the last of the regular season against Arizona. Longmire drew the assignment of being the spark plug off the bench and to play lights out defense on Jerryd Bayless. Not only did he hustle and make plays on offense but he got into the head of the freshmen sensation and caused Bayless to get into early foul trouble and he knocked him off his game and Bayless wasn’t the same player after getting into foul trouble. Longmire provided Ernie Kent and staff a glimpse of what he could turn into at the end of the year with an off-season dedicated towards getting better on his jump shot and continuing to improve on his defense on ball and off ball. Kent has already labeled Longmire as a potential player that could become a team leader for the Ducks and to garnish such an assignment for a player with limited experience bodes well for his character and his potential. Longmire will enter next season as the team’s best defender on ball and will most likely be the leading candidate going into camp as one of the replacements for one of the departing seniors.
Kamyron Brown Grade C+
Brown entered the Oregon program as a freshmen that was expected to be able to contribute from day one for the Ducks and be the 6th man for Oregon off the bench. He however came a year late for what Oregon’s coach, Ernie Kent, wanted from him. It is a shame because in the past Kent hasn’t been able to land that big point guard recruit before his current star leaves the program. Brown was expected to bridge the gap with Porter that Aaron Brooks left as a senior the year before. Understandable if Porter was capable to be the starter full time at Point and allow Brown to be eased into the program and to learn the ins and outs of the offense and defense. However Porter clearly was not the answer and Brown wasn’t up to standards to be relied upon on a nightly basis to play major minutes for Oregon. Thus Oregon got spotty point guard play at times during the season. Like Longmire Brown showed glimpses of being that next great point guard for Oregon and at times he showed Kent and Oregon fans he wasn’t quiet ready for the prime time. Brown really hindered his development when he injured himself playing rec ball and then getting into academic problems with Kent. His lack of play starting in the middle of the season really killed any progress he was making early in the season. Brown would could have used those minutes he was getting earlier in the year during the second half of the season and so could have Oregon. However he didn’t show the maturity off the court and the court awareness to allow Kent to give him more minutes when Oregon needed to focus more so on getting into the NCAA tournament. The lack of playing time would squarely fall onto Brown’s responsibility since it was himself that put him in Kent’s doghouse. The off-season will be big again for this freshmen as Brown looks to be challenged by Kent to assume the leadership role of this team and to run the point and thus push Porter back to his natural spot at the off guard. Brown needs to improve on his jumpshot from the outside, because until he develops the outside J defenses wont honor his shooting and will slack off and prevent him from using his great speed and quickness to blow by his defender. Brown will also need to improve on his decision making as he made many bone headed plays that were too fancy after he just made a great pass the possession earlier.
Mitch Platt Grade C
Coming into Oregon Mitch Platt was expected to provide Oregon an instant post presence and demand defenses to ease up on the attention given to the Oregon guards because of his scoring ability. IN Platt’s first ten games of his Oregon career, Platt was demanding some attention and forcing defenses to focus on an aspect of the game Oregon didn’t have in years past. He injured his foot that year and then re-injured it again a few years down the road and Platt was never the same player he was as he came into the Oregon program. Going into his senior year, Platt wasn’t a player many people would expect to give good minutes off the bench, yet at times Mitch Platt showed glimpses of his old self from his freshmen year and at times even raised question if he should see more minutes on the court. Platt’s highest scoring output of the season was six points, in which he did that twice. However it was the added spark off the bench and the sound defense when in that gave Platt more minutes opposed to years past. His career as a Duck shouldn’t be labeled a total failure when compared to expectations that were placed on him out of high school due to the amount of injuries and the severity that those injuries played on his mobility and conditioning in his game.
Drew Viney Grade C
Drew Viney entered the Oregon program this season amid some off court issues that came up with his high school basketball coach and in result many fans were wondering if Viney would be a head case or a kid placed in a bad situation in high school when you looked back at his coach kicking him off the team. Some fans were a tad disappointed in the fact that Oregon coach Ernie Kent was bringing in such a person to a program that needed to continue to bring in high character guys that were talented. Viney quickly showed it was just a bad situation as he earned the praise from his peers and more importantly Ernie Kent. Kent labeled Viney as the most athletic player on the squad, even over the three highly touted seniors. He came with a hint of lazyness in his work ethic; partially coming from the fact while in high school Viney could rely on pure athleticism to beat is players. At Oregon Viney will need skill and athleticism to excel at the high level. Viney showed his quickness in the front court against bigger defenders and his nice shooting touch from outside. It quickly became clear that Viney was indeed a player Oregon coaches could count on to be a high level player and produce good minutes on the court for the Ducks. An early season injury forced Viney to only get in on 12 games this season, 11 of the 12 coming in the last 11 games of the season. His development as a freshmen clearly was hindered by the injury as Oregon coaches saw his quick progress on the court once he got back. Viney will simply need more minutes on the floor and a continued dedication to working hard in the off season in all aspects of his game as he looks to land a starting spot in next years squad. He will be relied upon heavily to add scoring and rebounding next season as the Ducks lose three out of their four top scorers. An added commitment to the weights will go along way for Viney. If Viney can bulk up and become stronger he will expand his areas of position that he could play for Kent and his high octane offense next season.
Churchill Odia Grade C
Odia once again showed he can be that solid role player off the bench that doesn’t make mistakes and will play good defense. Like last season, Odia wasn’t counted on to score when on the court, but instead to be another point guard along with the current guard and to play good defense. Seeing the floor more his junior season compared to his sophomore year raised the question if Odia could become a starter for Oregon. He ended up starting a couple of games in the middle of the season and as usual provided good defense and sound decision making on offense. If Odia develops a consistent jump shot and can become more of a scorer he will be the leading candidate to land one of the open starting spots next season. With his long frame and solid quickness, Odia would provide Oregon with a threat on offense many defenses would struggle against. However, until Odia develops a better scoring threat he won’t see more playing time than he got this season.
Franz Dorsainvil Grade D+
Dorsainvil was billed as a player who could have played in the short rotation of Oregon’s elite 8 run last year and came into the Oregon program this season billed as the final piece to the Oregon roster in hopes of making another great run in the NCAA Tournament. Dorsainvil however wasn’t up to speed on Oregon’s offense and defense along with being grossly out of shape as he tipped the scale as being over 300 pounds in the summer. He showed decent moves inside on offense but couldn’t keep up on defense and quickly found himself in Coach Kent’s doghouse where he never was able to work himself out of. Dorsainvil needs to improve on his defense, transition game, and add a few more post moves if he wants to see the floor next season. If Franz can do all of these requirements along with getting into better shape Dorsainvil may challenge incoming Freshmen Michael Dunigan for the starting center position.
Ray Schafer D+
Coming into his senior season Schafer was placed with the tough understanding that he wouldn’t see much playing time as a senior if any at all. He got in only six games all year, as he simply wasn’t good enough on both ends of the floor for Oregon to play him major minutes. He however was a valuable asset in the lockeroom and as a player who played minutes against some of the best big men in the nation and was able to give Oregon a look in practice many teams couldn’t give.
Coach Kent Grade B-
Coming into the season Kent knew the loss of Brooks from last year’s team elite 8 team would be a big loss. Kent was counting on the three big seniors to lead the team and bring Oregon back to the Elite 8 for a second year in a row. However, Kent failed to guide the seniors and the rest of the team to develop their own unity and have the new leaders show themselves. He technically had a good season, as the Ducks made the NCAA Tournament back to back seasons, second for Kent, and third time overall for the Ducks History. However, there was more expected from Kent and his Ducks this season and that should be viewed as a failure. Kent struggled to get the Ducks to play the great defense that they played the previous year and he struggled again in developing solid point guard play that is needed to run his high pace high octane offense. Kent is off the hot seat for now but instead is placed on the back burner. Kent cant have teams that under achieve like this past season on a regular basis if he is finally going to have new and improved practice and game facilities.
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