Duck Fans Get First Look At Dunigan

Its a little unfair to judge his potential and his play based on an All Star game that guards thrive in because of the pro guard shoot first me first type attitude that is seen in most of the players. After watching the first five minutes of the game and waiting for Dunigan to come in I decided to instead not count how many points he had but to see what little things he did well because clearly the guards were not trying to go to their advantage, their bigs, and instead hoisted a ton out wild shots from inside and the outside.


Some things I thought Dunigan did well:

1. Established good post position. Every time down I was screaming in my mind to get him the ball because he pinned his man and had great post position for a nice hook or dunk.

2. Clearly knows how to block shots as I saw him get around 4 or 5 swats against some of the best players in the nation for his class. Thats something we have never had. He will be greatly loved for his blocks alone if he gets even half that each game next season.

3. Soft hands. He caught the ball really well in transition a few times and also on some nice passes down low to him. Thats a must for the Pac-10 and in EK's system.

4. He moves very well in the half court and shows he can get up and down the court. Now I think we saw him lolly gag down a few times but thats due to him being frustrated in how he works hard for position to only see a guard jack up a stupid shot trying to be the man.

5. Knows how to run the pick and roll. Ernie Kent is big on the pick and roll or pick and pop so having him already knowing how to run it right will be a huge plus.

6. Very very wide body, which is something we have not had in a very very very long time. I kept thinking of the Suns and how I still haven't adjusted to watching Shaq play for the suns when I was watching Dunigan. Not saying he will be like Shaq or even close, but its going to be a strange thing to watch us have a guy pin his guy in the paint get the ball down low and throw it down hard on the guys face. Should be a fun 3 years with him.


Now for the things he didn't do well:

1. He didn't seem very interested in trying to get rebounds or even blocking out. Now that might be his conditioning or his lack of desire due to the style of rat ball that was being played, but thats how I saw it.

2. At times he gave up running down the court for defense or offense and seem not interested. Again this could be due to style of play going on.

3. I was expecting a more athletic big man than what I saw. Now I probably just had envisioned him to be better than he is and hopefully I am right but I was expecting him to be more face up and post up game. I still will take just a post up game.


All in all Dunigan had a solid game when he saw the floor. He scored 6 points on 3-3 shooting and added a few rebounds and a couple of blocked shots to go wtih it. He was a force in the paint as he altered a ton of shots when he was in the game, but could never get into the flow of the game as it was clearly a guards game tonight. I won't be basing a ton of stock in the play simply because it was an All-Star Game and in most games the big men of both teams don't represent well due to the sloppy play and me first attitudes of the guards.

Seeing how large and talented Dunigan is down low Duck fans have a very special player coming to Eugene in the summer to man the center spot. A player Oregon hasn't seen in a very long time in that Dunigan's best style of play is with his back to the basket and he pin his defender with his wide body and grab a deep low post presence and demand the ball.