In just two days, the Ducks appeared to go from the West’s No. 1 or No. 2 seed to the No. 3 in the Midwest, casting doubt on their ability to exceed or at least match their Elite Eight run of last season.
First, springy big man Chris Boucher tore his ACL in a Pac-12 Tournament semifinal win over Cal and then the Ducks lost to Arizona in the final. Both appeared to hurt their seeding.
While Oregon still had enough without Boucher to cut Arizona’s 14-point second-half lead all the way down to two points in Saturday’s final, the long-term effect of Boucher’s loss could be significant.
Oregon has another shot-blocker to plug into Boucher’s place, Englishman Kavell Bigby-Williams, but it can’t replace the kind of matchup nightmares Boucher created for the Oregon’s opponents. Boucher is surprisingly athletic at 6-foot-10 and has been hitting his nearly unguardable 3-pointers at a 35 percent rate.
But Miller said he believes the Ducks will get better this week once they have more time to reorganize themselves without Boucher.
And, of course, the Ducks still have Dillon Brooks.
The Pac-12 Player of the Year is known for athletic ability, shooting and intuition that can foil bigger and smaller players alike, a matchup nightmare so bad that the Wildcats started reserve forward Keanu Pinder on Saturday for the sole reason avoiding the potential fouls Lauri Markkanen might pick up if he tried to guard Brooks.
Oregon also proved in the semifinals against Cal that when Brooks has a rough night, they also still have some other guys to turn to. Brooks played only 21 minutes in that game because of foul trouble, but Tyler Dorsey had 23 points, Ennis shot 9 of 9 free throws en route to 16 points, and center Jordan Bell had 15 rebounds and five blocks.
“A lot of reporters and analysts say ‘the Ducks ain’t nothing without Dillon,’ and we show every time that we can play without me,” Brooks said. “Even if we’re having a bad game or I’m having a tough game, guys can pick it up.
“It’s the next man up. It’s a team game.”
