Dana Altman addresses challenge of playing long season, playing best in March

The Oregon Ducks added a win over the USC Trojans on Saturday. It was the fifth win in a row for head coach Dana Altman who knows his team is playing urgently despite the many challenges that come with a long basketball season.

Now, in what has been a long season, Altman is hoping his team has a newfound sense of urgency that could carry them into success this March.

“I hope so,” Dana Altman said. “Sense of urgency here. We’re in our last month. It’s been a long season. We started practice October 1, it’s March…that’s five months and we’re starting the sixth one and guys are tired of me. At times, I’m tired of them… we’re starting our sixth month here and you hope the guys have enough to finish. You can get worn out in a five month season. You can lose your focus, you can lose your intensity.”

The win against USC was a convincing one. Oregon won 82-61. In the game, the Ducks shot 47.8 percent from the field and 37 percent from three-point range. They also had four fewer turnovers than USC. Three Ducks scored in double digits.

One group on the team that Dana Altman looked to emphasize was the freshmen. In a long season, especially when they’re not seeing a lot of playing time, being as active as they’ve been is difficult.

“It’s hard for Jamari [Phillips] and Mookie [Cook] and guys who aren’t getting to play,” Altman said. “But they’ve shown a lot of character and staying with it and practice and coming every day and working. I know how hard that is. That was me. So, it’s hard to be a freshman. It’s hard to be a redshirt freshman like Mook when you just haven’t and you’ve got Brandon [Angel] who’s got a lot of experience, [Keeshawn Barthelemy] who’s got a lot of experience, Ra’Heim [Moss] who’s got a lot of experience, TJ [Bamba] who’s got a lot of experience, and you’re playing behind them, it’s tough. They’ve shown a lot of character staying with it.”

In the latest bracketology, Oregon is listed as a seven-seed in the NCAA Tournament. They’re not listed as being on the bubble, but there is still plenty of room for movement, especially based on how the Big Ten Tournament goes. As of now, the Ducks are set to be an eight-seed in the Big Ten Tournament, earning a bye.

“So, I hope we can have a good March here. If the ball movement’s good, if we stay on the defense — I was a little disappointed in our rebounds. At one time, we were down 11-3 or we ended up 13-13 on second-chance points,” Altman said. “But one time it was 9-3 at half, it kind of kept them in the game. We’ve got to do a better job on the boards.”

Oregon has two games remaining in the regular season to build on their resume. First, the Ducks will host Indiana on Tuesday night. After that, they’ll wrap up their season on the road against Washington.