Dana Altman Previews Sweet 16 Matchup with USC
The Oregon Ducks men's basketball team is oozing with confidence after taking down No. 2-seeded Iowa in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Luka Garza was dominant for the Hawkeyes, but the defense was able to minimize the points scored by his supporting cast in a 95-80 win earlier this week.
The Ducks now have a short break before things ramp up again with a matchup against the No. 6-seeded USC Trojans, who thrashed the No. 3-seeded Kansas Jayhawks 85-51 earlier this week. Oregon Head Coach Dana Altman met with the media on Zoom to preview the game.
The coach offered praise on Eugene Omoruyi, who has anchored the Ducks squad the entire season, shouldering much of the scoring burden when starters Chris Duarte and LJ Figueroa were in COVID-19 protocols.
"Eugene plays so hard and he's been such a pleasure to work with. He had a tough year last year--he had knee surgery to repair some injuries that he had at Rutgers. He has meant so much to our program this year. His physicality, his leadership, his mental toughness."
The Ducks didn't fair well the last time they played the Pac-12 power, and Altman knows a big effort will be needed to advance to the Elite 8.
"They kicked us. We got off to a terrible start," he said. "We took some quick bad shots. Very tough matchup for us, their size, athleticism. A very gifted team. We're gonna have to play really well."
The coach is looking forward to having another opportunity to match up against USC.
"I think anybody as a competitor-- when you're not successful you want another opportunity," Altman said. "We didn't play well. We got beat. If you're a competitor you want an opportunity to come back and show what you're capable of doing."
He's no stranger to the NCAA tournament. As such, he has one piece of knowledge that he's shared with all of his teams.
"Every team is different. The only advice I constantly give our team is you gotta focus in on what you do and the sense of urgency has to be there because there's no second chance."
Early enrollee freshman Franck Kepnang has provided a spark off the bench for much of the season. How likely are we to see more minutes for him with a matchup against elite center Evan Mobley?
"It's hard to say. We always tell our players to be prepared to play as many minutes as the game may dictate to us," Altman said. "I've got great confidence in him. For a young man who joined us after Christmas and has only been with us a couple months he's done a tremendous job."
The Pac-12 has enjoyed amazing success in the NCAA tournament, and Altman believes the conference has its share of elite players.
"Every season is different. I thought last year we had a chance to have an outstanding post season and this year we are," the head coach said.
"We are improved. I think the NBA draft has shown that. We've had talented young men in our conference the last couple years and this year's no different. I think a lot of the media doesn't see us play. It's just different."
With the women's basketball team set to face Louisville in the Sweet 16, having multiple teams make it this far is another achievement for Oregon's golden era of sports.
"It's great. They've done really well the past four or five years. Kelly (Graves) has it going," Altman said. "It's another opportunity for both our programs to move forward. I'm not sure there's many schools that have both programs in the Sweet 16. I think it's kind of a sign of Oregon's overall commitment to their programs."
Altman is confident his team will show up against USC, but noted key differences between this year's team and those he's coached before in Eugene.
"Probably the biggest difference is we don't have the rim protection that we did with those teams," he said. "We lost N'faly Dante six games into the season. Franck has provided a little bit of that. Jordan Bell and Chris Boucher were phenomenal shot blockers. That was the biggest difference on defense. Offensively there's a lot of things in common. We can put a lot of shooters on the floor."
Oregon is set to face USC on March 28 at 6:45 p.m. PST on TBS.
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