Dorsey’s shots fall at right time for Oregon
Oregon coach Dana Altman had a question for Tyler Dorsey on Sunday after the sophomore guard made nine of 10 shots from the floor in Oregon’s 75-72 victory against Rhode Island.
“How in the heck did you miss that one shot?” Altman joked.
No joke: Dorsey, usually overshadowed by teammate Dillon Brooks, is the main reason Oregon has overcome the loss of star forward Chris Boucher and is headed back to the Sweet 16.
After averaging 12.4 points per game during the season, Dorsey has scored 20 or more in the last five games, including a game-high 27 Sunday that propelled third-seeded Oregon into a Sweet 16 matchup Thursday against seventh-seeded Michigan in Kansas City, Mo., and prompted an obvious question.
What in the heck’s gotten into you, Tyler Dorsey?
“It’s just my teammates,” he said with a sheepish grin. “They’ve been finding me, and all I’ve been doing is spotting up and making the simple play and the right play, the right basketball play.”
Despite what the tactful Dorsey would lead you to believe, the answer is not that simple.
“We weren’t getting him the ball enough for a period in the season, and that was my fault,” Altman said.
That seems surprising, but Dorsey needed to learn that he was more than a shooter and that playing basketball at Oregon would require a few other duties.
Like playing defense and rebounding. Which is why Altman sounded as delighted with Dorsey’s five rebounds and three assists as he was with the 27 points.
“That scorer mentality I want him to have,” Altman said. “But defense and rebounding, when he focuses on those two, he becomes a special player.”
He was unique before he ever stepped on the court for Oregon. His mother was born to a Greek father and an Israeli mother.
“My whole life growing up I always eat Greek food,” said Dorsey, who has dual citizenship and played for the Greek national teams in each of the last two summers.
With the scored 72-72 and 40 seconds left, the Ducks got the ball to Dorsey, who drilled a three-pointer. Game over. “Like Coach always says, keep my focus first on defense and rebounding, and the offense, let it come,” Dorsey said. “That’s all I’ve been doing these last couple games, and my teammates have been having confidence in me and I’ve been knocking down the shots.”
One after another, after another, after another …