Oregon has started off the season 2-1, with an easy win over San Jose State, an embarrassing loss to South Dakota State, and a win over Marquette. The Marquette game was in Eugene and they didn’t have their top player. Still it was a good win for the very young Ducks. Oregon is a team with only 2 Srs and 8 new players. So they’ll need time to jell, and that may last most of the year.
Recruiting by Oregon continues to consist of foreign players. The Ducks have 3 players from Australia, 2 from Canada and players from Italy, New Zealand and Hungry. That leaves only 4 Americans on the 12 person roster and none from the State of Oregon.
The starting Center is 6-5 Frosh Nicole Canepa from San Francisco. Nicole has scored 27 points in the first two games, but her rebounds have matched her fouls (8) thus far. Australian Ellyce Ironmonger, a 6-4 frosh is the backup Center and scored 12 points against San Jose State.
At the Forward position is starter Ellie Manou, a 6-3 Frosh. She had 17 points and 8 rebounds against SJS. Ellie played on the Australian 19U team this past summer. Back ups include Victoria Kenyon a 6-2 Frosh and Mary Sbrissa a 6-2 Soph. 6-0 Sr Rita Kollo is a transfer from Oklahoma State and will redshirt this season. Kenyon played for the Hungarian 21U team this past summer.
Oregon is using a Three Guard Line up. Starters are 5-6 Soph Taylor Lilley, 5-10 Sr Kaela Chapdelaine and 5-8 Jr Tamika Nurse. Lilley shot 51% from 3 last season to lead the Pac 10. She averaged 8.3 PPG. Chapdelaine averaged 6.5 PPG and 3.5 Assists per Game last season. The starting Point Guard is Nurse who averaged 9.2 PPG and 3.3 Assists per game while playing 34 minutes per game. An aside, Nurse’s aunt is married to FB star Donovan McNabb.
The other two guards, 5-7 Frosh Nia Jackson and 5-8 Soph Micaela Cocks have already played quite a bit. Jackson is the back up PG and was the PG last year for the outstanding Chief Stealth High School of Seattle. Cocks saw a lot of action last season for the Ducks and played for the New Zealand National team during the summer.
Oregon is young but with a number of players with international experience. Their attendance for the Marquette game was 2100 so the interest is there to cheer them on. However they lack a marquee player and being so young appear to be a 2nd division Pac 10 team.
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