Uo Readjusts Its Focus

This year, the Pac-10 has been full of some of the best heart-stopping, palm-sweating finishes in recent memory.

In fact, 10 of the 18 conference games played to date have been decided by three points or less. And Oregon, which will take on Washington State at Friel Court tonight at 7, has been involved in three of the best.

In three of their four Pac-10 games, the Ducks (9-4, 1-3) have either won or lost in the last seconds.

First, there was the last-second tip-in at Cal for a 71-69 Ducks win. Then came Adam Spanich’s two 3-pointers in the final 2.8 seconds in the Ducks’ 85-84 home loss to USC. And finally there was the two-point loss to No. 7 UCLA.

“It’s disappointing,” A.D. Smith told The Oregonian following the UCLA loss. “We’ve dug ourselves a hole in the Pac-10.”

Now, the problem is trying to climb out of that hole.

Following the UCLA loss, the team admitted it was still thinking about the improbable loss to USC. And why not? The Ducks led by as many as 16 and had a seven-point lead with 27 seconds left.

So, Oregon coach Ernie Kent has had to repair psyches, reconstruct game plans and figure out how to put a positive spin on the last two heartbreaking losses. He seems to have succeeded.

“It makes you focused and more determined to get as much of a little advantage as you can, knowing that all the games are going to be that close and knowing that a good majority of them are going to go that way,” he said.

In other words, every turnover, every missed free throw, every trip down the court counts.

Opposing coaches agree.

“You never have full energy and enthusiasm every single night of the college basketball season,” said WSU coach Kevin Eastman. “But you need to be a team that finds a way to win when they don’t.”

“The players themselves quickly have to realize the margin of error is very, very small for everyone,” said Washington’s Bob Bender, whose team was predicted to finish among the top four but is at the bottom of the league after an 0-3 start.

But while all this parity makes for a lot of excitement, there may be a drawback.

“My only fear is that perception around the country, people may say `How can these teams get beat by those teams? Does that mean the league is down?”’ said Bender.

“No, that means the league is up,” he added. “There really is no bottom of the league. The middle is getting bigger and bigger.”

Missing big men

The two most formidable centers in the conference, Stanford’s Tim Young and Washington’s Todd MacCulloch, combined for three baskets Saturday.

While it may not be time to push the panic button just yet, there has been a trend in the conference toward more physical play in the post, therefore limiting what post players are able to accomplish.

“People are getting better at taking advantage of the rules,” said Stanford coach Mike Montgomery. “It has gotten way more physical down inside.

“Some people are going out and trying to get the biggest player they can get to play defense in the post.”

“Tim and Todd, people focus in on,” added Bender. “The time of getting position and being open is smaller than in the past.

“Trying to get position and hold it, they tend to give up on it a little bit because they don’t want to pick up a foul.”

Freshmen impact

Arizona’s Michael Wright is scoring 13.3 points per game and pulling down 7.4 rebounds. Teammate Richard Jefferson is scoring 13.1. UCLA’s Jerome Moiso is averaging 12.8 points and 6.5 rebounds. All are just freshmen. All are just going to get better as the season continues.

“The inexperienced players are just going to get more experience,” said Cal coach Ben Braun. And when they do some teams are going to have to hold on to remain competitive in the conference.”

“There are eight schools that have a pretty close talent,” said Oregon State’s Eddie Payne. “Ourselves and Washington State are lagging a little bit.”

But the problem may be that WSU and OSU do not have impact freshmen like UCLA, Arizona, Oregon or even Arizona State with Kenny Crandell. The Cougars do have Mike Bush (7.8 ppg and 3.0 rebounds) but his offense has been hit or miss and plagued by turnovers.