FanPost

OREGON’S PRESENT LOOKS GREAT, AND ITS FUTURE PROMISING.

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Oregon basketball has been on a tear, winning 13 games in a row and starting conference play 4-0. After a thriller against at the time #2 UCLA, the Ducks waxed their next three opponents, USC, Washington, and Washington State, by a combined 64 points.

But perhaps mottled by the brilliance of players like Dillon Brooks and Chris Boucher, a rising star has also made his mark, freshman Point Guard Payton Pritchard. While obviously still getting the feel for college ball, Pritchard has shown several flashes of the player, and perhaps more importantly, leader he could end up being.

In Pritchard, the Ducks had managed for the first time in over a decade to procure the top in-state prospect, and there was already plenty of hype surrounding the record-breaking kid from West Linn. However, when the season began, Pritchard initially assumed a bench role, with head coach Dana Altman electing to start last year’s starter and cemented veteran junior Casey Benson. It was an understandable move, considering Benson’s familiarity with the team, the system, and his outstanding assist to turnover ratio. But by the time the Ducks headed to the South Pacific for the Maui Invitational, Altman had seen enough of a spark from Pritchard off the bench to award him the starting role. While Benson was, and remains, a consistent passer, excellent ball-handler, and reliable outside shooter, he lacked a few of the elements that make Pritchard the choice for starter and the brightest spot so far for future seasons. While parts of his game remain raw and unrefined, Pritchard has displayed something Oregon has been lacking the last couple of seasons; that being a lightning-quick point guard who in addition to setting up teammates, can create offense for himself. This was something former Oregon star point guards Aaron Brooks and Luke Ridnour had mastered by their final seasons at Oregon, both of which ended with conference tournament championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. To start the 2013 season, the Ducks seemed to have found that same magic in freshman point guard Dominic Artis, who helped energize a senior-laden team to a blistering start in conference play. However, Artis was out for several games at midseason and was never quite the same player after his return, due partially to the sudden emergence of Jonathan Lloyd in his absence. Artis never truly reached the potential he displayed early on and was later dismissed from the University following claims of sexual harassment.

Pritchard has thus far shown the kind of speed, explosiveness, and court vision that helps mold some of the top-notch point guards in college basketball. His coming-out party occurred as conference play opened against the undefeated and 2nd ranked Bruins. Pritchard scored 15 points and dished 9 assists, but perhaps lost among the delirium following Brooks’ heroic buzzer-beater was Pritchard’s play in the clutch. With under a minute to go and trailing by four Pritchard knifed into the lane and wove his way between two defenders for a layup to cut the lead to two. Then, with Oregon again trailing by four in the final 30 seconds Pritchard splashed home a deep, contested 3 to bring Oregon within one. After UCLA’s Bryce Alford inexplicably missed the front end of a one and one the ball again ended up in Pritchard’s hands. Having just completed two clutch plays in the last minute it may well have been understandable for Pritchard to try and get the final basket himself, but perhaps realizing the finality of the situation, he deferred to the veteran Brooks, who obviously did not disappoint. But against a top-tier team like the Bruins one thing became plain: this kid could play.

Pritchard’s stats in the following blowouts weren’t as impressive but the potential of what he could become still showed at various points of the game. Against USC Pritchard only notched one basket but handed out 7 assists, including a picture-perfect lob to Jordan Bell that would lead one to believe the two had been playing together for years. Then, against Washington, Pritchard rifled a thread-the-needle pass under the basket to Boucher which should have resulted in an easy slam. Boucher, however, didn’t seemed to be quite ready for it and after fumbling the ball for an instant, passed back to Pritchard who, instead of resetting the offense, simply stepped back and drained a 3. And throughout he continued to work the court with a smoothness and energy not seen from an Oregon point guard in several years.

Playing with a group of veterans who have already ventured deep into the NCAA tournament is a great training wheel for Pritchard in his first season, and one that will bode well for him once he assumes a lot more responsibility next season with the departures of Boucher and Dylan Ennis and the probable departures of Brooks and Tyler Dorsey.

Pritchard will have plenty of incoming firepower to work with however as Altman once again brings in a top notch 2017 class that includes 5 star guard/forward Troy Brown Jr., 4 star guard/forward Abu Kigab, and 4 star guard Victor Bailey.

Stars and class rankings are all well and nice, but a player’s true potential is never really known until it’s proven on the courts of college basketball. The nice thing about Pritchard is, so far, he’s done just that.

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