Before I get started, I want to first have a link here to @Scavenger's very thorough look at this impending matchup, which he posted the other day. Lot of great stuff — analysis, player v. player matchups and more.
Building off of that, I wanted to share how Tad Boyle and McKinley Wright IV are looking at this game with some supplementary stats and thoughts.
Here's Wright IV's opening thoughts on this game tonight: “We’ve been prepping for this all year long. We knew the Pac-12 was going to be really good this year. We (and Oregon) were picked (to finish) No. 1 and No. 2 in the conference for a reason. They’re a good team and we’re a good team. They’re going to put five dudes on the floor and try to beat us for the first time in history here. We’re going to do the best to not allow that to happen. We’re locked in. It’s going to be a battle and we’re ready for it.”
The last time these two teams met in early February of 2019, the Buffs stomped on the Ducks, 73-51. Tyler Bey had 27 points and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the field while the Ducks shot just 18-of-58 (31%) from the floor. It was one of Oregon's worst performances during an otherwise impressive campaign that saw the Ducks win the Pac-12 Tournament and advance to the Sweet 16.
This time around is likely going to be different. Senior PG Payton Pritchard, who went 3-of-8 and scored 10 last time around against the Buffaloes, is averaging 18.5 points per game while hitting over 51% of his shots from the floor.
Wright IV looks forward to being responsible for him.
“I’m going to do the best I can to limit his touches and keep him from hitting his average," Wright IV said. "He’s their leading scorer and he’s their dude. I take pride in my defense — I always like to guard the (opposing) best player, especially if it’s a point guard. I’m looking forward to the matchup. He averages (around) 19 points (per game), so I’m going to do my job on him.”
Another person of interest Colorado will no doubt be paying attention to is grad transfer addition Anthony Mattis. CU fans should no doubt remember him. Mattis comes to Oregon via the New Mexico Lobos, where on Dec. 11 of 2018, he gave the Buffaloes a hell of a lot of trouble in Colorado.
Mattis dropped 23 points, all but a long FG came via three-pointers. Thankfully, the Buffs, down 43-34 at halftime, rallied in the final 20 minutes and won, 78-75.
“He was 7-of-10 from three on us at New Mexico (last season), so his eyes are probably lighting up a little bit (getting to face us again)," Boyle said. "He likes playing against the Buffs, even though he’s wearing a different uniform this year. He’s a guy that we have to take away threes and understand that he’s got the ability to take and make some tough ones. We’ve just got to make him look for everything."
Mattis this year has stayed true to form, as he's hitting 50% (36-of-72) from long range and averaging 10.8 points per game in general.
Moving on, I was intrigued by the language used by both Wright IV and Boyle when it came to identifying potential chinks in the armor with respect to the Ducks. I certainly wasn't surprised to see them express confidence in being able to beat Oregon, not whatsoever, but rather, the specifics they pointed to in terms of flaws that have stuck out.
Wright IV's take: “There’s a lot of gaps and I think some of the teams, from watching film, that (Oregon) played against let them speed themselves up and get them out of their rhythm. My job as a point guard is to take control of the game, slow everything down, make sure that my guys don’t get sped up and just find seams in the gap. (The Ducks are) a good defensive team but they don’t guard for 30 seconds or the whole shot clock. They allow 12 offensive rebounds (per game) and we’ve got the best offensive rebounder in the Pac-12 (in Tyler Bey)."
Boyle's thoughts: "They play a little bit of a match up zone, they play some man-to-man — they will get confused (and) they’ll miss assignments, so there will shots to be had but we have to be ready to move the ball quickly and understand that as the ball is in the air, if I’m a shooter, I’ve got to be ready to catch and shoot quickly."
Again, interesting. From what I gather, the Buffaloes are planning to get as much ball movement as possible going against Oregon. To Wright IV's point about finding seams in the gap and exposing them, he has been able to do that arguably most effectively in Colorado's last two games.
If that's a key to beating Oregon, rest assured Colorado has performed well in that respect as of late.
The way Boyle put it, limiting second chances and offensive zone rebounding will also be an area in which the Buffs need to be stingy.
They feed off of turnovers and they feed off of second shots," he said. "They get a lot of those off of offensive rebounds and then kick outs. (Sophomore forward Francis) Okoro gets a lot of those rebounds himself. He gets offensive rebounds and he’s looking to kick it out to those guys. They load up and they shoot the ball. Limiting them to one shot is a huge, huge part of this game.”
“Battle of the boards — it’s going to be critical. Defensive rebounding is not one of their strengths but offensive rebounding is. I think the battle of the boards is going to be critical in this game."
Boyle's final thoughts: “It’s a new season. We’re 0-0. Oregon is going to come in here with the eye of the tiger and they are going to be loaded to bear and ready to go. We’ve got to be ready to meet the challenge...We’ve got to play within ourselves, at our pace, and understand that it’s about winning each possession. Don’t think about winning the game, think about winning the possession."
Anytime this year Oregon has played an elite opponent (Memphis, Seton Hall, Gonzaga, UNC) the Ducks have more than played well. This is a battle tested unit fully capable of repeating last year's success in the postseason, and then perhaps some.
Right now, I'm seeing Colorado as a 1.5-point favorite tonight. Losing at Kansas the way Colorado did I was able to excuse. Losing to Oregon tonight at home in similar fashion I won't. Even playing the Ducks well and losing ain't going to cut it. Time to strap in and get a tough, resume-building W tonight.
Who shall I see at the CEC this evening?
Oregon team/individual stats
Colorado team/individual stats
Building off of that, I wanted to share how Tad Boyle and McKinley Wright IV are looking at this game with some supplementary stats and thoughts.
Here's Wright IV's opening thoughts on this game tonight: “We’ve been prepping for this all year long. We knew the Pac-12 was going to be really good this year. We (and Oregon) were picked (to finish) No. 1 and No. 2 in the conference for a reason. They’re a good team and we’re a good team. They’re going to put five dudes on the floor and try to beat us for the first time in history here. We’re going to do the best to not allow that to happen. We’re locked in. It’s going to be a battle and we’re ready for it.”
The last time these two teams met in early February of 2019, the Buffs stomped on the Ducks, 73-51. Tyler Bey had 27 points and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the field while the Ducks shot just 18-of-58 (31%) from the floor. It was one of Oregon's worst performances during an otherwise impressive campaign that saw the Ducks win the Pac-12 Tournament and advance to the Sweet 16.
This time around is likely going to be different. Senior PG Payton Pritchard, who went 3-of-8 and scored 10 last time around against the Buffaloes, is averaging 18.5 points per game while hitting over 51% of his shots from the floor.
Wright IV looks forward to being responsible for him.
“I’m going to do the best I can to limit his touches and keep him from hitting his average," Wright IV said. "He’s their leading scorer and he’s their dude. I take pride in my defense — I always like to guard the (opposing) best player, especially if it’s a point guard. I’m looking forward to the matchup. He averages (around) 19 points (per game), so I’m going to do my job on him.”
Another person of interest Colorado will no doubt be paying attention to is grad transfer addition Anthony Mattis. CU fans should no doubt remember him. Mattis comes to Oregon via the New Mexico Lobos, where on Dec. 11 of 2018, he gave the Buffaloes a hell of a lot of trouble in Colorado.
Mattis dropped 23 points, all but a long FG came via three-pointers. Thankfully, the Buffs, down 43-34 at halftime, rallied in the final 20 minutes and won, 78-75.
“He was 7-of-10 from three on us at New Mexico (last season), so his eyes are probably lighting up a little bit (getting to face us again)," Boyle said. "He likes playing against the Buffs, even though he’s wearing a different uniform this year. He’s a guy that we have to take away threes and understand that he’s got the ability to take and make some tough ones. We’ve just got to make him look for everything."
Mattis this year has stayed true to form, as he's hitting 50% (36-of-72) from long range and averaging 10.8 points per game in general.
Moving on, I was intrigued by the language used by both Wright IV and Boyle when it came to identifying potential chinks in the armor with respect to the Ducks. I certainly wasn't surprised to see them express confidence in being able to beat Oregon, not whatsoever, but rather, the specifics they pointed to in terms of flaws that have stuck out.
Wright IV's take: “There’s a lot of gaps and I think some of the teams, from watching film, that (Oregon) played against let them speed themselves up and get them out of their rhythm. My job as a point guard is to take control of the game, slow everything down, make sure that my guys don’t get sped up and just find seams in the gap. (The Ducks are) a good defensive team but they don’t guard for 30 seconds or the whole shot clock. They allow 12 offensive rebounds (per game) and we’ve got the best offensive rebounder in the Pac-12 (in Tyler Bey)."
Boyle's thoughts: "They play a little bit of a match up zone, they play some man-to-man — they will get confused (and) they’ll miss assignments, so there will shots to be had but we have to be ready to move the ball quickly and understand that as the ball is in the air, if I’m a shooter, I’ve got to be ready to catch and shoot quickly."
Again, interesting. From what I gather, the Buffaloes are planning to get as much ball movement as possible going against Oregon. To Wright IV's point about finding seams in the gap and exposing them, he has been able to do that arguably most effectively in Colorado's last two games.
If that's a key to beating Oregon, rest assured Colorado has performed well in that respect as of late.
The way Boyle put it, limiting second chances and offensive zone rebounding will also be an area in which the Buffs need to be stingy.
They feed off of turnovers and they feed off of second shots," he said. "They get a lot of those off of offensive rebounds and then kick outs. (Sophomore forward Francis) Okoro gets a lot of those rebounds himself. He gets offensive rebounds and he’s looking to kick it out to those guys. They load up and they shoot the ball. Limiting them to one shot is a huge, huge part of this game.”
“Battle of the boards — it’s going to be critical. Defensive rebounding is not one of their strengths but offensive rebounding is. I think the battle of the boards is going to be critical in this game."
Boyle's final thoughts: “It’s a new season. We’re 0-0. Oregon is going to come in here with the eye of the tiger and they are going to be loaded to bear and ready to go. We’ve got to be ready to meet the challenge...We’ve got to play within ourselves, at our pace, and understand that it’s about winning each possession. Don’t think about winning the game, think about winning the possession."
Anytime this year Oregon has played an elite opponent (Memphis, Seton Hall, Gonzaga, UNC) the Ducks have more than played well. This is a battle tested unit fully capable of repeating last year's success in the postseason, and then perhaps some.
Right now, I'm seeing Colorado as a 1.5-point favorite tonight. Losing at Kansas the way Colorado did I was able to excuse. Losing to Oregon tonight at home in similar fashion I won't. Even playing the Ducks well and losing ain't going to cut it. Time to strap in and get a tough, resume-building W tonight.
Who shall I see at the CEC this evening?
Oregon team/individual stats
Colorado team/individual stats
