SAN FRANCISCO – For a second consecutive year, Oregon was revealed as the media’s selection to win the Pac-12 men’s basketball title this upcoming season during the conference’s media day festivities.
Which left exactly zero impression on Ducks senior guard Payton Pritchard.
“We really don’t look at that stuff,” Pritchard said. “If you look at last year, we were the favorite, too, and we ended up sixth.”
Oregon State, coming off a fourth-place finish in league play, was picked to finish seventh of 12. Beavers coach Wayne Tinkle said someone asked him this summer about a predicted finish, and he thought somewhere between No. 5 and 8.
“So we’re in the range. But it doesn’t matter and our guys know that,” Tinkle said. “Our goal is to be better than that and there’s no sense talking about it. We have talent and experience, but it all has to be proven on the court.”
Like a year ago, Oregon has a loaded roster that was turned over from the previous year. The Ducks return only three core players, including Pritchard, the most outstanding player in last year’s conference tournament. But a collection of standout freshmen and transfers pushed Oregon into the favorite’s role.
Coach Dana Altman can play the aw-shucks role as well as any coach in deflecting expectations, but he didn’t push back on team’s preseason prognostication. Altman is high on grad transfers Anthony Mathis and Shakur Juiston, and freshmen/JC transfers such as C.J. Walker, Chris Duarte and N’Faly Dante.
“I like the guys,” Altman said. “The adjustment to Division I basketball … they’re going to have to make the adjustment quickly.”
For Pritchard, the motivation isn’t upholding the media prediction, but improving on the sixth-place regular season finishes of the past two years.
“Definitely didn’t play how we wanted to, and didn’t finish how we wanted,” Pritchard said. “We want to kind of make a statement and change the narrative.”
To do that, Altman says key returnees Will Richardson, Francis Okoro and Pritchard have to impress urgency on the newcomers.
“We need to start right away, our communication defensively and the effort that goes into it,” Altman said. “Everybody wants to score, and their families, their girlfriends, everybody claps, and they do like that. I understand that, it’s human nature.
“But over the course of time, it’s proven that if you’re going to make a long run throughout the season, your defense better be pretty solid because you’re not going to shoot it well every night.”
Meanwhile, Tinkle believes Oregon State has a roster that could produce better results than last year’s fourth-place Beavers. OSU has as much experience as any starting unit in the Pac-12 in the fifth-year Tres Tinkle, junior guard Ethan Thompson and senior post Kylor Kelley. The Beavers have what Tinkle believes is an underrated recruiting class, particularly at the perimeter.
From what he’s seen so far, Tinkle says what sets this team apart is attitude. He felt there some players on last year’s team had a “a level of expectation that weren’t realistic as far as playing time and opportunity.” Tinkle believes this year’s team is hungry and competitive, but of a mindset that they need to prove they’re worthy of a chance.
“We haven’t played one second, but they seem to understand that they’re going to give everything they have, and they’ll be patient and be able to contribute when we need them to,” Tinkle said.
--Nick Daschel | ndaschel@oregonian.com | @nickdaschel
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