Head Coach Dana Altman previews the 2023 season at Oregon Basketball media day.
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00:00 I'm going for it.
00:01 >> You guys go ahead.
00:03 >> All right, what do we got?
00:06 >> Now, let's go.
00:08 >> Somebody spent some money on some shoes, so.
00:11 >> [LAUGH]
00:12 >> Glad you told us.
00:13 >> No, no, it's fine.
00:16 >> Let's go reach out.
00:17 How do you feel about where you guys are at right now?
00:19 >> Well, it's a little hard.
00:20 We kind of banged up.
00:23 Dante hasn't practiced much, so
00:27 that has really slowed our progress.
00:31 Jermaine's been out since last Thursday.
00:35 So hopefully they'll be ready to go a little bit on Monday.
00:38 But two leading scorers have been out here for a while.
00:42 Buki's been out the whole time with his ankles.
00:44 So our numbers aren't what they should be.
00:49 So I think it's slowed our progress a little bit.
00:52 But the guys who have been healthy, they're working at it.
00:56 We've made progress, but we got a long way to go.
00:59 And we got a lot of things to get ready here in the next four practices to get
01:05 ready for Georgia.
01:06 >> Jackson in the short term, coach?
01:08 >> I hope so.
01:10 We're doing some checking tomorrow.
01:13 But he just yesterday didn't feel right.
01:16 So doing some checking and we'll see here in a day or two.
01:20 >> Is surgery recent?
01:22 Because initially you'd say hopefully sometime in November.
01:25 >> Yeah, no, we hoped that we wouldn't have to have surgery.
01:29 And we saw a few specialists and the consensus was to have surgery.
01:36 So I'm not sure how many weeks ago it was, four or five weeks ago, I think.
01:42 And so we're looking probably at mid-December, somewhere.
01:49 >> What are your thoughts on the offense and
01:54 the players, a little bit about their system?
01:58 >> Well, they got a lot of new guys.
02:00 I think they got five freshmen, five transfers.
02:03 So I think they only got three guys back and ten new guys.
02:07 So they did score 99 yesterday against Eastern Kentucky in an exhibition game.
02:15 So and Eastern Kentucky is supposed to be pretty good.
02:18 So that's a lot of points.
02:20 I'm not sure we can score 99.
02:23 We're playing a 60 minute game.
02:24 So we're gonna have to really get defensively back and put our defense together.
02:30 Obviously their transition must have been pretty good to score 99.
02:34 So we have to put some things together before Monday.
02:37 >> What does the makeup of an ideal defensive game for this team look like for
02:41 you guys?
02:42 It seems like you have a lot of smaller guards and a couple bigger guys.
02:46 >> Yeah, well, it just depends.
02:49 Our numbers last year when Dante was on the floor were better.
02:53 Then he clogs up the middle a little bit, gives us some presence.
02:57 When Nate's out there, he can block a few shots.
03:00 We don't really have any other shot blockers to protect the rim.
03:03 So we gotta have those two guys out there.
03:05 I think we're gonna have to change up defenses.
03:09 But our wings aren't as big and
03:12 physical as some of the previous years that we've had.
03:15 So they're gonna have to use their quickness and get after some people and
03:18 hopefully get some hands on some balls, make some plays.
03:21 >> Is there a trade off for you guys on that on offense?
03:23 Is this gonna be a fast-paced team for you guys?
03:26 >> Well, we do need to push the ball.
03:29 Jackson is quick, he's quick, Jesse can handle it some.
03:34 So we do need to push the ball.
03:36 We don't wanna get set up too much without Dante,
03:40 especially in the half court.
03:43 We'd like to get it pushed a little bit better.
03:45 Dante changes things when he's in the game, but
03:48 we do need to push it with all those little guards.
03:52 >> Has Jackson embraced the point guard role?
03:56 >> No, he's been doing okay, he's been doing okay.
03:59 He's used to having the ball in his hands all the time.
04:03 And he's gotta learn to give it up, get it back a little bit more.
04:09 But no, he's trying to guard, he's trying to rebound.
04:12 He's done a good job, he's played hard.
04:16 Like I said, he's gotta learn to play without the ball in his hands.
04:20 For his high school team, he's dribbling around all the time.
04:23 And that's something we've gotta move the ball a little differently than that.
04:28 >> Is that pretty common for a high school player, really?
04:30 >> Yeah, a lot of times it is.
04:34 They're used to just dribbling around and trying to get a shot.
04:37 And we're gonna need a lot more ball movement than that.
04:41 And so it takes a little bit of an adjustment.
04:45 >> You said last month that you thought this could be a better three-point
04:47 shooting team.
04:48 Have you seen evidence of that this past month?
04:50 >> It's been inconsistent.
04:52 There's been times we've shot the heck out of it in practice.
04:56 Been times where we haven't shot it well.
04:59 So consistency is a big concern with that.
05:04 We're probably not gonna shoot it as well as we did in 1920 with Peyton and
05:08 Mathis and those guys.
05:09 But I think we have an opportunity to shoot it better than we did a year ago.
05:14 Guys have put time in, and so I sure hope we do anyway.
05:20 >> Who is your most consistent shooter?
05:23 >> Brennan's probably been our best in practice.
05:26 Hopefully he can stay healthy this year.
05:28 He missed a lot of games last year, biting those ankles.
05:31 So hopefully he can stay healthy, but he shot it well.
05:36 Jackson shot it okay.
05:39 Jesse shot it okay.
05:40 Cario's been a little inconsistent.
05:43 Bam's been a little inconsistent.
05:45 But KJ can shoot a little bit, Nate can shoot a little bit.
05:49 So we got a couple bigs who can spread the floor.
05:51 But they all need to keep working.
05:54 I mean, shooting's one of those things,
05:58 you can never shoot the ball too much working out.
06:00 I mean, I don't ever heard the coach say, well,
06:04 you're spending too much time extra shooting the ball.
06:07 You gotta get in there and shoot it.
06:09 >> Do you guys change anything about the work you're doing shooting since last
06:12 season, or is it as simple as the guys just getting shots at it?
06:16 >> I think pretty simple.
06:17 You gotta spend time at it.
06:19 There's no magic wand, there's no shortcut.
06:21 Footwork, balance, those things, the fundamentals, are still gotta be there.
06:27 But you gotta get in the gym.
06:30 Confidence is preparation.
06:33 If you're not prepared, you're not gonna be confident no matter what.
06:36 If you're prepared, you put the time in,
06:39 that's usually a pretty confident ball player.
06:41 And so preparation is confidence, and if they're putting the time in,
06:46 they'll shoot it with confidence.
06:48 If they don't, then they're hoping it goes in.
06:51 >> How do you set the tone that way?
06:53 >> I mean, we've had a number of guys.
06:56 Jermaine's been in the gym a lot shooting it.
07:00 He's done better.
07:01 Jackson's in there shooting it.
07:03 So no, as a group, they've done a better job.
07:06 They've done a better job.
07:08 I haven't had to kick anybody out for shooting too much, but
07:12 we have had a group of guys that have worked much more
07:17 diligently through the spring, summer, and fall than we have.
07:22 So I'm optimistic there.
07:24 >> You guys have a few lessons, big wings and some other years.
07:28 What does a guy like Bommie have to do early on in this kind of stretch to show
07:32 you that he deserved a playing time early?
07:34 >> Well, like a lot of freshmen, you just gotta be a lot more physical than what he
07:40 is, and we'll play him some at the wing, but mostly he's gonna be a forward for
07:48 us until he gets a lot more comfortable on the perimeter.
07:52 Smaller players are getting under him, making it awfully difficult.
07:56 So we'll probably play him a lot more at the four,
08:00 maybe even to the five, depending on how Dante comes along.
08:04 >> The big picture thing I like about the fall movement, health,
08:07 obviously those things help winning games.
08:09 But the big picture, what do you think it's gonna take for
08:11 this team to get this program back to the tournament come March?
08:14 >> A degree of toughness, competitiveness that for
08:21 whatever reason I don't think we've shown the last couple years.
08:24 We blame it on health and that was part of it, but
08:29 we just gotta get more competitive, we gotta get tougher.
08:35 We do have to stay healthy, we're not so
08:39 deep in experience that we can afford to lose the guys.
08:44 Dante was our leading scorer last year, he's an all conference player.
08:49 Last year he's been preseason, this year we've got a chance to be player of the year.
08:53 We need him.
08:53 We need Jermaine healthy, he was our second leading scorer last year.
08:59 And so we need him healthy.
09:02 Keyshawn's got a lot of experience, Brennan's got experience,
09:05 Nate has got experience.
09:07 So we need those guys to be healthy.
09:09 And the other guys coming in, I think they're competitive.
09:17 We're not as big at certain spots as we've been in previous years that we've
09:22 had good ball teams, so they're gonna have to make up with a little grind and
09:27 a little grit.
09:28 And again, just a competitiveness, a chemistry with the team
09:34 that some of our other teams have really benefited from and
09:38 used to advance, not only in the conference but in the tournament.
09:43 And if we're gonna get back, there's gotta be a camaraderie,
09:46 there's gotta be a cohesiveness and a toughness that gets us back there.
09:52 >> Do you see the signs of that?
09:53 >> It's been there, but it's been inconsistent.
09:59 And I told the guys that, heck, it's not about tricking them,
10:03 it's about, fellas, this is where we're at, this is what we gotta do.
10:06 We have had successful teams here.
10:10 These are the areas that we think we need to improve on to be one of those
10:13 successful teams.
10:15 And now it's just a matter of getting it done.
10:19 And again, it's a little tough, like today, we had Jackson out,
10:25 Jermaine out, Dante out.
10:27 Those are three guys we plan on playing.
10:29 Then Nate, he's out.
10:32 So a little hard to finish the practice.
10:38 Got this card where what we're supposed to do all day and
10:41 had to make a few adjustments.
10:42 Just didn't have the guys to do it.
10:44 So that makes it tough on our staff just to make the progress we need to make.
10:49 But basketball's a little different.
10:52 We got 12 guys on scholarship and got some walk-ons that are doing a great job.
10:56 Need those 12 guys, 10 guys to practice.
11:02 >> When the season ended, I asked you about the staff and numbers and something.
11:05 Have you gone about filling, or not filling, either the executive director role or
11:10 I know you're permitted now five assistants.
11:13 I don't think you have all five.
11:15 So just how and why you got to the numbers you got to.
11:19 >> No, no, we can have myself, the three full-time assistants,
11:24 and then two others on.
11:26 So we can have six, and we've got six coaches on staff.
11:29 >> You've got six?
11:30 >> Well, Scott, Scott has been with us.
11:33 So yeah, we got six coaches.
11:34 We got plenty of guys.
11:37 They're just one of the administrative positions.
11:40 I didn't fill for this next six months, so we'll just see how things go.
11:44 But we've got all the full-time coaches, we got everybody on the road, and
11:48 we got the six coaches we can count on for.
11:50 >> How has Mike Menegha grown as a coach for you guys?
11:53 I mean, just the continuity of having him on your staff for so long.
11:57 What's that mean?
11:58 >> No, no, he's done a good job.
12:00 He's enthusiastic, he's really good at individual workouts.
12:03 He's been a big part, I think this is his tenth year going into.
12:09 So he's done a good job, he works hard,
12:13 he's enthusiastic in practice, got a lot of energy.
12:17 So he's done a really good job.
12:19 >> What's kept him in that spot for ten years?
12:22 I mean, you guys have had a lot of assistants come and go.
12:25 Like, what's stuck with him?
12:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]
12:29 >> I don't know.
12:31 Head coaching jobs are hard to get.
12:33 And the guys that have gotten them have been really experienced.
12:38 Most of them got one.
12:39 [BLANK_AUDIO]
12:43 Crutch, so those guys were really experienced.
12:46 And you gotta be a little lucky.
12:48 And so he'll get his opportunity, he's working hard.
12:53 We gotta win, that's a big part of it.
12:57 You don't see many assistants hired from staffs that aren't in the NCAA tournament.
13:02 We haven't been there the last two years.
13:04 So we're doing everything we can to get back.
13:11 And NIL's changed everything, and transfer portal, time of change.
13:17 And now next year we're changing conferences.
13:19 So a lot of moving parts going on.
13:23 >> You'd have at least a draft for that next year's schedule.
13:28 What it might look like, do you have a preference of 20 games?
13:31 And if it's, we'd go to like a 314 where you double up everyone on the west coast
13:35 or not, or?
13:36 >> Do you think they care what I think?
13:38 >> Most include you.
13:39 >> I don't think they'll care what I think.
13:41 I think 20 games is plenty for conference.
13:48 Cuz if they raise it to 21 or 22, that just means another road trip for us.
13:52 So I think 20's fine.
13:56 We'd like to play the six games against the West Coast schools just to save
14:00 a little travel.
14:01 I look at the numbers and we're gonna take five or six cross country trips.
14:08 Maybe seven, depending on the schedule and how they break it down.
14:12 So I don't know what they'll decide,
14:18 but my preference would be 20 games.
14:24 >> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
14:25 And then you still have 14 games, which means seven east.
14:30 So you're looking at three, four road trips there, and
14:33 then the conference tournament, another road trip.
14:35 So you're looking at least five, maybe six trips.
14:39 So, but I think 20 games is enough.
14:43 And I give us still only 11 non-conference games.
14:50 And you play an exempt tournament, either two or three games.
14:53 It does leave you many opportunities for development games.
14:56 Or I wanna play Oregon State and
14:59 still like to play some of the other schools in the conference.
15:03 The fact, well, that they'll play us.
15:05 So we'd like to work out playing one at home, one on the road each year,
15:10 just to keep some of those things going.
15:12 So, but again, we're the new guys on the block.
15:18 I'm not sure our input is gonna be all that much, what you're looking for.
15:24 But that would be my preference.
15:26 So, all right, guys, we'll see you.
15:29 >> See you, Matt.