Oregon Ducks men’s basketball got off to a skittish start this season. The Ducks are 6-5 through the team’s first 11 games. While they have won four of the last five games, they’ve earned losses to the stiffest of competition in UConn, Houston, and UCLA this year.
Thus far, fan support for Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena has been hard to come by. Less than 5,000 Duck fans attended Oregon’s 71-65 victory over UC Riverside on Wednesday night. Matthew Knight Arena has a capacity of 12,541, the 47th-biggest arena in D1 basketball according to KenPom.com.
Head coach Dana Altman was displeased with how his team played in the game and how they finished, even with the win. He also made some honest comments about himself, the lack of fans, and what they need to do to improve things.
Via On3, Altman said, “You know, our guys are battling. Our record’s not what we want it to be. I’ve been here a long time, they’re tired of me. So, I don’t know what the factors are. Now, I am not the most inspiring guy, so I do understand that. But, I gotta worry about my team. I want them to do good.”
Altman continued, making sure to note he appreciated those who came to the game. “Appreciate the 4,700 that came,” the Oregon coach said. “I appreciate the people who support us and stay with us. And I know our record is not what it should be or what we want it to be.”
So, it sounded like Altman recognized that there’s a myriad of factors at work, one of them being the team’s performance. They have underwhelmed so far, but there’s still a lot of season left for Oregon to fly back to respectability.
