Oregon center Nate Bittle could potentially miss remainder of 2023-24 season
The Oregon men’s basketball team could be without one of its top players for the remainder of the season.
Junior center Nate Bittle, who has missed the Ducks’ last four games due to illness, might not return to the court this season according to Oregon head coach Dana Altman.
“Right now we’ve got these eight guys, and then we’ve got (walk-ons Gabe Richle) and James Cooper) I can put it, so we’ve got those 10 guys ready to go,” Altman said during an interview with UO’s in-house radio crew on Tuesday. “It’s kind of what we’ve got the rest of the season. We kind of know that. As a coaching staff, we’ve got to make adjustments now. We kept anticipating Nate was going to be back and I’m not sure he’s going to.
“Then with (Keeshawn Barthelemy) out we’ve got to do a better job of delegating and distributing those minutes, keeping our guys fresh so we can finish games a little stronger.”
Bittle a projected starter for the Ducks this season, was sidelined for nine weeks due to a wrist injury he suffered in November. He returned in late January and started Oregon’s win over Arizona State and loss to Arizona.
But he did not play during UO’s Feb. 1 win over USC or Feb. 3 loss to USC, and did not play in last Thursday’s win over Washington, and was not with the team for last Saturday’s loss to Washington State. Altman said afterward that Bittle was “feeling really bad” and was unable to come to Mathew Knight Arena for the game.
In five games this season, Bittle is averaging 10.0 points and 4.4 rebounds on 48.7% shooting.
The Ducks are also missing senior guard Jesse Zarzuela (foot), senior guard Keeshawn Barthelemy (ankle), and freshman forward Mookie Cook. All three are out for the season.
“For us, at this point in the season, it shouldn’t be this difficult,” Altman said. “But with guys in and out of the lineup, and guys struggling at times, it’s not an exact science. When you have the same starting fie and the same guys coming off the bench, it does make it a lot easier on the coaching staff and the players. They know exactly when they’re going in.
“But with our ups and downs and our lineup, we’ve struggled to get that rotation. You shouldn’t be saying that in February.”
Oregon (16-8, 8-5 Pac-12) will look to get back on track this Saturday when it travels to Corvallis to face rival Oregon State at 7 p.m. PT.
