Oregon was heavily favored as it entered NCAA tournament play Friday with a game against Iona, and before the Ducks took the court, they enabled a part of their closed-door pregame strategy session with coach Dana Altman to be streamed on Facebook Live.
Fans fired up for the start of the Ducks’ tournament run could watch and listen in live as Altman mentally prepared his players in the moments right before the game with much more than just the usual coachspeak of a defensive emphasis of “no easy baskets.”
The scouting report that Altman provided live fulfills a hoops fan’s fantasy of being right in the locker room before a big game.
Noting that Iona guard Rickey McGill excels at defending inbound passes, Altman told his players, “He’s going to jump and try to take some inbound passes away, so whoever’s throwing it in, you’ve got to be aware.”
Regarding Iona guard John Severe, Altman said, “Break his rhythm. Fifty percent of his attempts (are 3-point shots) at 43 percent. Driver left. He prefers left. He can go right, but he prefers left.”
On Iona guard Sam Cassell Jr., Altman said of the 3-point threat, “He’s going to take the most. Sixty-five percent of his attempts are threes. Two out of three, fellas. He’s 35 percent (from that distance)…They’ll set him ball screens for him over the top…but we shouldn’t be out there. We’re going to set our defense one step above the 3-point line.”
For Iona swingman E.J. Crawford, Altman wanted to exploit a defensive liability.
“We can drive it at him,” Altman said. “His feet aren’t real good. Let’s take it at him.”
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Oregon has been very active on Facebook Live while documenting the Ducks’ NCAA tournament experience. The school streamed the team’s live reaction to the NCAA tournament selection show when it drew a No. 3 seed, locker room session with the media, practice at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, and rally during the short walk from the hotel to the team bus on the day of the game.
But the real treat was in getting access to Altman’s words to the team right before the game. And if it’s any indication of how the team received those words, the Ducks led by 18 points at halftime against No. 14-seeded Iona.