Dana Altman Says Jamari Phillips Serving Three-Game Suspension

Oregon men’s basketball head coach Dana Altman met with media Tuesday to discuss his 2-0 squad. The Ducks have squeaked out a couple of early season wins and will host South Dakota State on Wednesday.

The return of Jackson Shelstad has helped this team but there is work to be done.

Additionally, the big story is Jamari Phillips is serving a three-game NCAA suspension for selling some of his shoes. Altman commented on that and more in his conference.

On Practices Since Friday:

“On all ends, but other things. We worked really hard the last couple days. Probably have to back off a little bit today. We went really hard over the weekend just to try to get a little conditioning, a little tempo.
We’re playing way too slow. We’re just nothing sharp, crisp. So we’ve worked really hard the last couple of days, just getting the pace where we want it, you know, and gone really long both days.

So like I said, we’ll have to back off a little today and hopefully be ready tomorrow night.”

On Shooting Slump:

“Well, we’ve got to take better shots. That’s the first thing. The ball movement’s got to get better, so we get some better shots. You know, right now everybody’s kind of searching, you know, for where they fit in offensively and, you know, where their shots are going to come from. But obviously our guard’s going to have to shoot it better, you know, 4-27 the other night, you know.

So, and we know Jackson can, you know, we’ve seen TK shoot it better and Wei’s just trying to find his way right now. But he’ll come along. He shoots it really good in practice. He just puts so much pressure on himself during games that it hasn’t gone well for him. But no, I think we’ll find a rhythm. We know the guys can shoot it better than what we’ve been showing. So just got to keep working at it. And like like I said try to find the pace and try to get some better shots and transition I think there’s a lot of ways we can get better shots.”

On Jackson’s Return Improving Shot Selections:

“Oh absolutely absolutely you saw our turnovers cut down and not that we got into stuff. As I said before, I said the five weeks off I think hurt our team more than it hurt Jackson just because we didn’t have a flow and we weren’t getting into things. So I think Jackson will bounce back pretty quick here. His conditioning is pretty good. He got tired the other night. But, you know, it’s a lot different going up and down than just going out and running a little bit. You know, when you’re changing directions and getting hit, you know, and knees are bent, you know, it wears you out a little quicker than just running.”

On the Inside Game:

“Well, our inside-out percentages are really good. When the ball hits the paint, our percentages are pretty good. When it hits three sides, we’re pretty good. We’re just really impatient, take way too many shots without getting it in and getting the defense to collapse a little bit. So, you know, you’d like to say some of that’s just, you know, guys trying to find their way in inexperience, but they’ve got to have better basketball savvy than that.

You know, we’ve got to get better shots, and a little patience will help us in that regard. But also, you know, we got to get some more in transition. You know, we’re just not getting the ball up the floor quick enough at all.”

On Sean Stewart:

“Oh, absolutely. No, his effort, practice, games. He plays hard. He’s starting to get a feel for what we want him to do. No, I couldn’t be any more pleased with him. He’s graded out as high or higher than anybody in our scrimmages and our games.”

On Jamari Phillips:

“Jamari is on an NCAA three-game suspension for selling shoes. And so I wasn’t going to bring it up unless you asked, but you asked. So he got suspended three games for selling his shoes. That’s still a thing they care about? I guess.”

On Kwame Evans’ Development:

“I think he’s trying to make more plays. He’s getting some hands on some balls. There’s still a lot more to his game. He’s got to run that floor harder. I think he can do a better job on the boards. But, you know, he’s got a feel for what we want to do. And, you know, we need him to, you know, be more physical and continue to get better, you know, on the boards and on the defensive end.”