Editors note: AtQ reader everett wrote a great piece on the recent Oregon Basketball exhibition game. It's quite detailed and long, covering the team, as well as all individual players. Check out the whole piece after the jump.

The Ducks played the powerful force known as the Northwest Christian University Beacons in their first exhibition game of the season.  I had the pleasure to be there, and thought I might share my reactions.

The Bad

The ducks came out flat-footed, and clunky.  they made NCU look like Gonzaga in the first half.  At one point the Beacons were up 14-7, and the score was 30-25 in favor of the Ducks at the end of the first half in which the Ducks shot 12/32. Worse, the Ducks were out-rebounded 39-38.  Ouch.

On offense,the Ducks were out of sync at times and just plain atrocious at others. They had trouble executing plays, passes were made for cuts that never happened, and there was maybe three successful screens set all night.  

It is clear that the defensive issues they had last year have not been settled in the off-season; TP didn't have the strength to stop their bigger point guard, and Brown was not quick enough laterally to be effective against their smaller guard.  There is no real center on this team; the Ducks are not a big team, and while that didn't play a big role tonight, no doubt it will in the future as we play teams with aggressive centers who can score.  

Oh yeah... Did I mention that 8 out of the 15 guys ion the bench tonight were Freshman?

The Good

After a 5-0 run by the beacons, to start the second half by tying the game at thirty, the Ducks decided to start playing some basketball.  Now, NCU is no basketball powerhouse, but at this point (I and the rest of Mac Court) was ready for any sign of life; the boys delivered.  

The Ducks shot 20/30 from the floor in the second half which was a relief; there was offensive execution, and more times than not plays ended in points.  Defensively they played much more effectively in the second half, and were able to frustrate the Beacons offense with double teams that often resulted in steals or blocked shots.

Surprisingly the Freshman stole the show.  TP dazzled the crowd with some pretty threes toward the end of the game, but it was the youngins that garnered the most applause. There was not one of them that looked Pac-10 ready, but I was impressed by their athleticism, and willingness to make the game happen.  

Veterans:

Catron:     

The clear leader of the team.  In warmups, Catron appeared to be the only player having fun.  On the floor he played with a confidence and swagger that carried the team at times.  He is still the same old Catron with the ball in his hands: sort of clumsy, but his willingness to take a shot is always nice.

Porter:       

The little guy looked really good once he got his thing going tonight.  He a few stop-and-pop plays tonight that reminded me of 06-07 Porter.  His shot is not going to be a problem.  Defensively Porter is going to have the same difficulties he has had in the past; he is not big enough to really challenge a shot, and he was even getting beat on crossovers tonight.  

Brown:       

Lackluster.  That would be my one word description of browns play tonight.  He didn't look bad, he just didn't look good.  he was not looking to penetrate with the ball in his hand, and was not moving effectively off the ball.  Notably, Brown got the start at point guard while TP was initially in as the 2.  I know he played a lot of PG last year, but I was surprised to see him get the start.

Dorsainnvil:        

My pick for performance of the night. 10 points and 5 rebounds in 11 minutes.  He had trouble with fouls as usual, and he played against a midget, but it was nice to see him show up anyway.  He has gained some moxie in the offseason, and if I'm not mistaken about 15 pounds of muscle as well; he was big last season, but looked outright huge tonight.

Odia:         

Same ol' Odia tonight.  Consistent yet unremarkable, Odia should be a big part of our offense this year, and I'm sure he should average more than 1.8 ppg.

Longmire:

Not what I expected out of Longmire.  I told my wife prior to the game that I thought he would be the leading scorer tonight; perhaps almost completely as a result of my high expectations, Longmire was unimpressive.  That being said he played aggresively, and confidently, so we'll see.

Voogd:        

It was good to see Ben play a little tonight, but I don't see him playing a huge role this season.  

Freshman:

Michael Dunigan:

Earlier I said that there is no real center on this team, and no doubt you will say "how bout Dunigan?"  Well, at 6-10 he's the biggest thing we got; unfortunately he is r-a-w. Dunigan looked like he has the ability to live up to his hype, but he is not there yet.  He was often sloppy on D, picking up wholly unnecessary fouls, but he was also fairly dominant at times blocking one shot about 5 rows up.  Be excited, but patient with this one.

Crittle:

The other "center."  He may have played C in high school, but not at this level; I just don't see it, he's not big enough.  Crittle played a little cleaner than Dunigan, and I think that the two will be a great big combo at some point down the road.  He was fairly effective with the ball in his hand, and defensively he was dominant (again, we were playing midgets).  He is pretty deep on the depth chart for now, but I think he will still get some minutes.

Humphrey:

The third Mean Streets guy, Humphrey was the only player who was notable in the first half.  He showed range and control hitting back to back threes, and I thought for just a minute he was going to take the game over.  He didn't.  Still, Humphrey could see quite a few minutes this season as the fourth or fifth guard.

Williams:

Perhaps the most obvious feature of our team, as evidenced by tonight's game, is that we are really loaded with mid-level talent at the two.  Williams, good as he is, is going to have to play the high post (as he did most of the night) to be a productive part of this team.  He shot the ball well, and showed some toughness slashing with out the ball in his hands. 

Sim:

Of the Freshman getting significant minutes tonight Sim was the least impressive. He was ineffective with the ball in his hands, and had trouble distributing the ball to his team.  

So... Thats it.  I think it is gonna be a fun season.  Thanks for reading.  Goodnight.