NCAA Tournament: Breaking Down The Elite Eight
By Nathan Giese
Oregon Ducks vs. Oklahoma Sooners (Saturday)
West Region: No. 1 Seed vs. No. 2 Seed
Synopsis: Both Oklahoma and Oregon had to overcome some tight second round games but found their groove in the Sweet 16, dismantling Texas A&M and Duke, respectively.
Each is highlighted by an array of scorers, but two stand out amongst the rest. Oregon’s Dillon Brooks has totaled 45 points over the last two games, 56 throughout the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma has the national player of the year Buddy Hield doing most of its damage. Hield has totaled 80 points in Oklahoma’s three games in the tournament while hitting 12 of his 27 three-point attempts.
What’s At Stake: Oregon won the first ever national championship in 1939 but has not reached the Final Four since then. Oklahoma is looking to makes first Final Four appearance since 2002.
Key Stat: Each of these two teams feature four players averaging double-digit scoring numbers, making it especially difficult for opposing teams to game plan for them.
The Sooners are led by Hield’s 25.1 points per game while Jordan Woodard (13.0), Isaiah Cousins (12.8) and Ryan Spangler (10.5) help make up the rest of Oklahoma’s offensive attack.
For the Ducks, Brooks’ 17.0 points per game average leads the team, but Elgin Cook contributes 14.6, Tyler Dorsey adds in 13.5 and Chris Boucher provides 12.0 points per game.
In total, Oklahoma’s four combine for 61.4 of the team’s 80.5 points, making up 76 percent of the team’s total points. To contrast, Oregon’s top four total 57.1 of the team’s 79.0 points, or 72 percent of the Ducks’ total offense.
X-Factors: Hield’s going to get most of the attention, as will Brooks. Hield’s shooting makes him lethal all over the court while Brooks can beat a team in a variety of ways.
To counter Hield, Cousins will need to have a better showing that he had against Texas A&M, where he went 1-for-8 from the field for two points. Woodard has been solid (54 points through three games) but it’s Cousins that can take Oklahoma to Houston. Another poor showing could mean the end for the Sooners.
Oregon doesn’t overly rely on Brooks, though he’s their main guy. Dorsey can be a make or break player for the Ducks. He doesn’t need to be the main guy, but having his added scoring can send Oregon over the top, much like it did when he totaled 19 points in Oregon’s 31-point win over Utah in the Pac-12 Tournament title game.
What They’ll Need To Do: Guarding Hield, or rather how they decide to guard Hield, is going to be the biggest key for Oregon.
Teams have tried doing many things to slow down Hield. Texas A&M put its best defender, Alex Caruso, on Hield for most of the game, face guarding him most of the time. It worked at times, but Hield moves so well without the ball and Oklahoma trusts him enough to get him the ball whenever possible.
What the Aggies did, though, is they dedicated one defender on Hield the entire game, making it a four-on-four game for most of the contest. Except with Hield and his movement off the ball, you have to dedicate another defender just to watch him move without the ball to keep him from cutting to the basket and killing you there. That’s where Texas A&M failed and that’s where Oregon can learn.
The Ducks have better overall on-ball defenders than the Aggies had to throw at Hield, so they may be better off just playing straight, physical defense and let the process play out. Don’t overthink it, just play straight up defense.
Hield’s going to score, so saying “keep him from scoring more than 10 points” does nothing. He’s too good and he’s going to get shots and points, but overthinking it is how the Aggies got burnt, allowing the Sooners to essentially play four-on-three and a half. Make it five-on-five and go from there.
Next: Tar Heels-Fighting Irish