DuckTales: Why the Wildcats struggle against Nike University

If the Arizona Wildcats are to regain their dominance in the Pac-12, it will start with their performance against an old foe.

Since the beginning of the 2015–2016 season, the Wildcats have struggled mightily against the Oregon Ducks on the hardwood.

Regardless of the talent on Arizona’s roster, Oregon’s ball movement on shooting on offense routinely takes advantage of Arizona’s flaws.

Defensively, the Ducks love to overload the strong side of the court and force Arizona away from its non-shooting big.

That way, Oregon can place one of its big men on two of Arizona’s weak-side players and play four-on-three on the strongside.

After Arizona dominated the Pac-12 in 2014 and 2015, the Ducks have figured out how to hang with Arizona.

January 28, 2016 (23) Oregon 83 (18) Arizona 75

Despite the Wildcats shooting 62% from the field and 42% from beyond the arc, sloppy play did them in.

Arizona turned the ball over 19 times and could not stay in a rhythm against Oregon’s athletic defense.

Without Allonzo Trier due to injury, Arizona lacked the versatility it needed to win.

Ducks power forward Dillon Brooks was a matchup nightmare for Arizona and scored 24 points on 10–19 shooting.

Every Ducks player save for Jordan Bell (more on him later) attempted a three and while Oregon was only 7–20, it afforded them the space to attack Arizona’s defense.

While Arizona’s players were locked into limited roles, Oregon was loaded with wings it could move up and down the lineup.

Both Oregon guards Casey Benson and Tyler Dorsey possessed the vision and ball-handling to run point and the shooting touch to play off-ball.

Ducks forwards Elgin Cook and Dillon Brooks could stretch defenses from beyond the arc and had enough size to play down low.

While Kaleb Tarczewski was a solid post defender, the Ducks negate it by putting forwards Dwayne Benjamin and Roman Sorkin in the pick and roll.

Benjamin rises up and nails the jumper but with four capable shooters around him in Brooks, Sorkin, Benson and Chris Boucher, the Wildcats defense has to pick its poison.

Here, Gabe York operate out of horns formation with PJC and Kadeem on the wings and Mark Tollefson and Dusan Ristic at the extended free throw line.

As the play progresses, Benjamin leaves PJC on the wing to take Tollefson while three Ducks stifle the lane.

With Benjamin playing free safety, York cannot hit hit Ristic or Tollefson for easy passes and York also risks turning it over if he tries to hit PJC.

The Wildcats try to counter the Ducks aggression by having Tollefson screen off two Ducks but Ristic negates the advantage by sliding through the paint.

As Ristic shifts to the left block, it allows Benjamin the ability to contest PJC, wall off York’s penetration, guard Tollefson if he were to roll and pester Ristic inside.

Arizona falls into Oregon’s trap figuratively and literally as the five-ten PJC is immediately pressured by the six-seven Benjamin.

If PJC passes back to York, Dorsey leaves Tollefson to force York left, if PJC hits Ristic down low, Benjamin then doubles Ristic while Cook takes Tollefson and cuts off the passing lane.

Ristic scores on this possession but Arizona’s lack of spacing does him no favors.

March 11, 2016 (8) Oregon 95 (15) Arizona 89

When the Ducks and Wildcats squared off again on a neutral floor, the Wildcats still had no answers for Oregon at first. The Wildcats turned the ball over 15 times against 13 assists as Oregon jumped out to a 44–29 halftime lead.

Here, a York-Zeus pick-and-roll leads to a Wildcat turnover. With both Zeus and Anderson on the floor, Oregon’s press shrinks the court and leads to a layup on the other end.

While Allen scores here, he has to navigate Benson, Benjamin, Brooks and Boucher at the rim. Benson might not be the strongest on-ball defender but he can play much more aggressively with Benjamin roaming and Boucher as the last line of defense. Brooks’ ability to contain Anderson makes Oregon that much more lethal on defense.

In this play Zeus inadvertently cuts off Allen’s driving lane and helps funnel Allen right to Benjamin.

Allen finds Zeus for the tough finish in traffic but Arizona’s insistence on two-big lineups does the Wildcats no favors.

In this play, York and Anderson run the pick and roll but with Chance Comanche in the paint, the Wildcats have a limited space to maneuver.

Due to Oregon’s versatility, the Ducks can have Brooks fight over the screen knowing Cook is quick enough to contain York.

Cook pester’s York while Benson comes over from the weak-side, leading to a York turnover.

February 4, 2017 (13) Oregon 85 (5) Arizona 58

While the Wildcats had lost two Oregon in their last two matchups, Arizona at least showed flashes of competency.

That did not happen when Arizona traveled to Eugene.

Despite a starting lineup featuring four future NBA players and a freshly reinstated Trier off the bench, the Wildcats could not get anything going.

Oregon’s ball movement and synergy shredded Arizona’s defense with 16–25 three-point shooting and 26 assists.

Though the Ducks lost Benjamin and Cook to graduation, a bigger role for Jordan Bell along with the addition of point guard Payton Pritchard eased the pain.

With Dorsey and Brooks’ ability to play three positons, the Ducks could bring Boucher off the bench to feast on bench units.

In this play an Allen-Comanche pick and roll is countered with Pritchard jumping out at Allen. If Allen goes right, Dorsey will leave PJC to attack Allen’s right hand so Allen reverses and is picked up by Dillon Brooks.

With Comanche being a below-average shooter, the Ducks leave him entirely as Bell leaves Lauri Markkanen to contest Allen while Dylan Ennis takes Lauri from the weak-side.

Bell blocks Allen and it leads to a basket for the Ducks.

Here, the Ducks attack PJC off-ball as Jordan Bell sets a screen to free up Dorsey while Dylan Ennis runs point.

Comanche is late to contest and Dorsey ends up hitting a three.

On this play Pritchard forces Allen to the middle of the court during the pick and roll while Brooks abandons Markkanen to hinder Allen’s progress.

Dorsey can hinder Allen if he goes left but Markkanen is wide open if he curls to the wing instead of rolling.

Brooks starts the possession on Lauri before switching onto Allen and then leaving Allen to contest Trier at the rim.

Due to Arizona having two bigs on the floor, Oregon can get away with Pritchard guarding Lauri and contesting the passing lanes while Trier drives.

Trier ends up hoisting an ill-advised shot at the rim and the Ducks regain possession.

In this possession, Oregon has Pritchard on Markkanen and Benson on Comanche while Bell handles Trier in the corner.

Bell’s lateral quickness allows Oregon to put their guards on Arizona’s bigs as Bell can stay in front of Trier and contest shots from the weak-side.

Whenever Arizona called a side pick and roll, Oregon would overload the strongside and switch their man. Brooks is ready to pester PJC from the left, Benson fronts PJC, and Bell has Trier on the wing and Comanche from the weak-side.

If Allen goes right, Benson will double him if he drives past Pritchard, If Allen goes left Pritchard and Dorsey contest while Brooks comes over.

As Allen goes left, he draws Brooks from his left and Benson at the rim while Pritchard switches to Lauri and Bell takes both Wildcats options in Allen’s sight.

Allen ends up getting blocked and the Ducks regain possession.

While Oregon switched pnr’s on the right side, the Ducks went over screens on the left and force a Kadeem Allen missed three from the corner.

With Arizona’s lack of spacing, the Ducks could play four-on-three at times on defense with Jordan Bell guarding two players.

March 11, 2017 (7) Arizona 83 (5) Oregon 80

While Arizona would get revenge over Oregon in the Pac-12 Tourney, two things stood out.

One, the Ducks were without Boucher, who despite being a reserve behind Bell, was still an integral part to the Ducks on both ends of the floor.

Two, the Wildcats started reserve bigman Keanu Pinder in place of Ristic.

Though the Ducks got great contributions from Brooks (25 points) and Dorsey (23 points), the Wildcats did just enough to win.

January 13, 2018 (17) Arizona 90 Oregon 83

The Wildcats duo of Trier and Deandre Ayton combined for 49 points as the Ducks could not stop Arizona in Mckale.

February 24, 2018 Oregon 98 (14) Arizona 93

Despite 28 and 18 from Ayton, the Wildcats fell in overtime thanks to 17 turnovers.

Arizona playing two centers bites them here as Dusan is put in the pick and roll with Ayton tasked with guarding two players. Ayton hesitates on which player to guard, allowing for an Oregon dunk on this end.

Oregon outscored Arizona 42–21 from the three-point line en route to a come-from-behind victory.

January 17, 2019 Oregon 59 Arizona 54

Just like with every Arizona loss to Oregon, turnovers are key. The Wildcats coughed the ball up 14 times to nine assists and shot only 27% from behind the arc.

(Could not locate this game on Youtube.)

March 2, 2019 Oregon 73 Arizona 47

The Wildcats committed 15 turnovers to Oregon’s three and were blown off the court in this 26-point loss.

After starting the second half tied at 31, the Wildcats were outscored 42–16 in what was par for the course in 2019.

When the Ducks were not getting to the rim at will, they were creating three-point opportunities when Wildcat defenders were late to close out.

Whereas Oregon’s shapeshifting defense can often get away with one-on twos, Arizona gets burned here.

For the Wildcats to become national contenders, it must force show they can get past Oregon first.

The Ducks ability to play small and fast has given the bigger Arizona fits despite Arizona having the personnel to counter Oregon.

Arizona must stop carelessly turning the ball over and start putting multiple playmakers and shooters on the floor.

That way, Oregon cannot continue to abandon Arizona’s bigs in the high post, and double Arizona’s bigs in the low post.