Dana Altman shares importance of USC win for Oregon

Oregon picked up a big win on Thursday night with their 78-60 victory over USC. It was massive considering the Ducks’ current postseason trajectory and, afterward, Dana Altman added another layer to just how much it meant to his team.

Altman shared how much this victory impacted his roster following the win with the media. He said it made them really feel their own depth, which is a key advantage they think they have over their opponents.

“Our guys feel pretty good right now,” said Altman. “They look at each other, feel like we’ve got depth, they know they can rely on each other. I think they all feel pretty good about things.”

This win over the Trojans was Oregon’s fourth one in five games. That sole loss, though, came on the road to a Top-5 Arizona team, one that they had already beaten earlier this season.

With that in mind, this stretch has helped the Ducks a ton. That’s because they’re currently seeded within the First Four Out in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology. If they can keep this run going, it would go a long way in helping them feel better about their position for the NCAA Tournament, even if they remain on the bubble for a bit longer.

That stretch continues this weekend with a very tough challenge inside Matthew Knight Arena against No. 7 UCLA. Even so, Oregon has been able to knock off three of the Pac-12’s top five teams at home already this season. The only one they’re missing as of now is against Bruins which, considering their own depth and health, Altman feels good about being able to get come Saturday night.

“We’ve got a quick turnaround here for a late game for Saturday,” Altman said. “But I like our depth and we just have to keep everybody healthy and swing away on Saturday.”

Altman wants Oregon to ‘prove it’ over the final stretch of their regular season

Oregon Ducks men’s basketball has put together a quality season as we enter into the season’s final leg. Their 13-9 record has them in position to punch their ticket to the big dance. Still, Altman wants his Ducks to “prove” themselves worthy over the final stretch of the regular season with more consistent play.

“You know, it goes week to week. Again, I want them to be more consistent; we’ve practiced more consistent. So, that’s a good indicator,” said Altman. “We had a good day yesterday, focus-wise. Today, we didn’t go real long, but the activity and the focus was good. That usually leads to a little bit better consistency. But we have to prove it. We have to prove it as a team, prove it as a coaching staff that we’re going to be consistent. You’re not gonna prove it in February; you’ve about run out of time. So, we’ve got nine opportunities here in the regular season and hopefully a few in the conference tournament. And so, we just got to prove it here.”