Dana Altman’s Influence

Omar Garibay FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

With about a month left in Pac-12 play for the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team, Dana Altman and the men in green and yellow understand that they must continue to win games in order to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. The Ducks walked away from Tempe, Arizona last Friday night victorious, and although it was gutsy, a victory is what Oregon needed, and Altman couldn’t have been happier.

“It would have been really easy to fold after a bad loss,” Altman said last week.

After suffering a 34-point defeat at the hands of the Arizona Wildcats last Wednesday night, which was also Altman’s most lopsided loss at Oregon, the Ducks’ week could have been a disaster. But the mighty Ducks never gave up, and even though it was only their first conference road win of the season, their victory was just another reminder of the incredible job that Altman has done over the years.

Oregon’s head coach had tough shoes to fill when he first came to Eugene. Prior to Altman’s arrival, Ernest “Ernie” Kent was the program’s headman. From 1997 to 2010, Kent led the Ducks to the NCAA Tournament five times, which included two Elite Eight appearances, as well. There’s no questioning the impact and the legacy that Kent left on the Ducks’ basketball program, but Altman has taken his job in full stride and he’s added his own flavor.

Despite controversy off the basketball floor, and losing multiple players from last season’s roster, you can say that the Ducks have overachieved this season. While many college basketball critics expected the Ducks to be fun to watch, they didn’t believe that Oregon would generate enough wins to make an impact in the Pac-12. Fast-forward to the start of February, and it looks like Oregon will have the last laugh. The Ducks (15-7, 5-4 Pac-12) are currently eight games over .500 and they’re only one game behind the Stanford Cardinal for third place in the Pac-12 standings.

But who has been the leader? Who has helped this team overcome adversity? Two words: Dana Altman. The Ducks’ head coach has consistently found ways to succeed, despite having a depleted roster at times, and he has always figured out a way to get the most out his players.

Oregon has won a lot of basketball games under Altman, 112 to be exact, but you get the sense that he’s not done yet. When Altman was hired nearly five years ago, he mentioned that the team had a lot of work to do, but he also realized that he could create something special in Eugene. His belief in the team is evident every night, and these young Ducks have responded. It should be an interesting finish.

Top Photo by John Sperry

New 2024 FishDuck Publishing Schedule….

During the off-season the FishDuck.com publishing schedule will consist of articles on Mondays and Tuesdays. Do keep checking as new articles could be published during the week when a writer has something to say.

In mid-August of 2024, we will go back to the seven-days-a-week of articles during the football season as we did in the football season of 2023.

The Our Beloved Ducks Forum (OBD) is where we we discuss the article above and many more topics, as it is so much easier in a message board format over there.  At the free OBD forum we will be posting Oregon Sports article links, the daily Press Releases from the Athletic Department and the news coming out every day.

Our 33 rules at the free OBD Forum can be summarized to this: 1) be polite and respectful, 2) do not tell anyone what to think, feel or write, and 3) no reference of any kind to politics. Easy-peasy!

OBD Forum members….we got your back.  No Trolls Allowed!