By Don Smalley
DSN Contributor
Oregon begins the Pac-10 schedule tonight when they enter Wells Fargo Arena to face Arizona State. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. PST. No live television.
The Sun Devils are a team that almost nobody is talking about, but ASU went through the non-conference season with a 10-2 mark. That’s significant considering the Sun Devils only claimed eight victories last season.
Arizona State usually starts two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior. They are led by freshman James Harden, a 6-4 guard that is averaging 16.9 points a game and 5.3 rebounds. Junior forward Jeff Pendergraph is the elder statesman of the team with his 13.1 scoring average and his seven boards per contest. He is also shooting at a 65 percent clip from the field.
This game could be a battle of wills, as Oregon likes to score as much as possible and play very little defense. While the Sun Devils like to play defense, and get the game in the 60’s. Oregon leads the conference in scoring at nearly 86 points a game, but the Ducks are last in points allowed at 74.8. On the flip side, Arizona State scores just 72 points a game, but the young Devils have bought into coach Herb Sendek’s defensive philosophy by allowing just 57 points a game.
In the two games they did lose, ASU’s defense fell off in just one with a 77-54 loss to Illinois in the Maui Classic. In their other loss, the Devils couldn’t shoot the ball in a 62-47 loss at Nebraska. Although the competition hasn’t been too good, the Sun Devils are on a six-game win streak. All of the wins are at home. The Oregon game is their seventh game of a nine-game home stand, so to speak.
As for the Ducks, an 81-73 win over Mount St. Mary’s last week made them feel a bit better about themselves, but Oregon still has plenty to work on, namely defense and putting inferior teams away.
The Ducks also found out that they will be missing Joevan Catron for nearly the entire first half of the Pac-10 schedule due to a tear of a ligament in his foot. Oregon will have to go to a bench that hasn’t been that productive in the early going, but they will need to.
Oregon will probably start freshman Kamyron Brown at point guard and go with a small lineup with Frantz Dorsainvil the first one off the bench and then Mitch Platt.
But with Churchill Odia not providing much and Drew Viney and Ray Schafer hurt, that means the Big 4 of Bryce Taylor, Malik Hairston, Maarty Leunen and Tajuan Porter will have to log in some serious minutes and be productive for Oregon to win this game or any game in the Pac-10.
Tags: ASU, Basketball, Don Smalley, oregon