Q&A with Alex Huynh By: Katherine Robinson
Alex Huynh is a University of Oregon student and has been a fan of the Oregon Ducks his entire life. He regularly attends sporting events, and has a particular fondness for Ducks basketball. In his interview, he shared some of his thoughts on Oregon basketball and its relationship with the university and the fans.
How did you become a University of Oregon fan, and which sports do you follow? I’m from Medford, Oregon, so I guess I just became a fan because it is the closest college city to me. When I was in high school, the basketball team was getting pretty good, and I like basketball more than football, but football put them on the map for me. That is kind of how I got introduced into watching the Ducks when I was young. But then in ’07 when we made a deep run in the March Madness is kind of when I was like “Oh this is my team I want to root for.”
How do you think the success of the football team has impacted the basketball teams? I think success of one program allows the success of other programs, it allows us to be noticed more. I mean, we have been pretty good these last few years and had different runs, but I would not say it necessarily pressures the basketball team just from the success of the football team. I guess the new arena kind of pressures the basketball team to become better. In the last decade or so, Oregon has become a sports school, with mostly football being the big sport. But because of that, all of our athletic programs are doing better and growing. We finally have money and status to hire good coaches, get more recruits. But it is harder to get fans and recruits around here for basketball because with the Ducks doing so well in football recently, Oregon is kind of a football state right now.
How do you think all the growth in Oregon athletics has impacted the women’s basketball team specifically? Our women’s team is in a tough situation because our whole division is insanely good. We are playing against teams stacked with the best of the best, future WNBA players. Those are teams that have grown and developed, but our team is still in the process of doing that. We have struggled with injuries and are trying to find our place in the division. I always say that what will help the women’s basketball program the most is if the men’s team starts winning first. That will draw attention, and switch Oregon from being just a football power to being a school that is good in all athletics.
Q&A with Cody Lamb By: Katherine Robinson
Cody Lamb is a Eugene native and a student at Lane Community College. He is also a lifetime Ducks fan, and has worked at Oregon Sports, a shop that sells University of Oregon merchandise, for six years. Because of his experience working at Oregon Sports, and his lifelong ties to the university, Cody offers a unique perspective on fandom here in Eugene.
Please tell us your name and a little bit about yourself and what you do. My name is Cody Lamb, I am a student at Lane Community College, and I grew up in Eugene. I’ve always been a huge Ducks fan, and I have worked at a place called Oregon Sports selling Duck and Beaver gear for the last six years while I was in high school and college.
How have consumer patterns changed in the last six years? There has definitely been an explosion in popularity of the football stuff. There were always dedicated fans who would buy any and all the merchandise they could get their hands on, but recently, obviously due to the fact that the football team has been so good on a national level, football merchandise sales have exploded. We sell a lot of football jerseys and football gloves in addition to all the average other apparel, and we make most of our money during football season.
What about basketball, do you sell a lot of basketball stuff? We sell some basketball jerseys, the ones the players wear, but not as much as the football merchandise. There have always been a small group of really intense basketball fans who have bought the basketball merch just to support the school team. I guess it’s not really even that small, there have always been a group who loved basketball, even when we were really horrible. That was the same case with football, always having a loyal fan base even at bad times, but with football we get a lot more bandwagon fans now that we’re doing so well. Basketball doesn’t have that yet.
Being a Ducks fan, and having lived in Eugene, what do you think this says about Oregon fans interests? Oregon fans are definitely obsessed with football right now, but that makes a lot of sense since the program is known across the country and has led the team to games that are watched by so many people. I think compared to other sports, like basketball that you were asking about, football is definitely the focus. But basketball could be on the rise. I haven’t really seen that translated in sales at all yet, but if the teams keep doing well, and the football team has a rough season or something, that will give basketball a chance to capture more of the fans attention.
Q&A with Jordan Loera By: Casey Brogan
Jordan Loera is a guard for the University of Oregon Women’s basketball team. Her mother, Lori, also played basketball for the Ducks during the 1983 and 84 seasons. A native of Moses Lake, Washington, Loera is redshirting the current 2014 season due to ACL injury and plans to return next year as a Redshirt Junior and graduate with an Art major in the spring of 2016.
Can you talk about what it’s like to be a women’s basketball player for the University of Oregon? I absolutely love it. Especially being in Eugene, such a great fan base and college town. There’s a lot of support from a lot of people. And I love my team, I love my coaches, we get along really well and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Can you talk about your team dynamics last year, strengths, weaknesses, things of that nature? Last year was very difficult. We had about 2 or 3 injuries right off the bat so we were down to 6 or 7 people for one of the games. We took 2 walk-ons. So our weakness was definitely just numbers, we were really low on numbers. I feel like one of our strengths would’ve been we came together more than people thought. We were losing but we all became pretty close. We still lost…But as a team, I feel like we grew a little closer and it definitely made us stronger for this year.
Can you talk about the leadership last season? One, our captain, Laura… She got hurt. She was our only senior so people looked up to her. Ariel Thomas really stepped up. She’s always been really vocal and someone that I’ve always looked up to. And this being her last year, I think she’s developed a lot in that area, she’s done a good job.
What did you all do in the offseason to improve? Especially after last season, mentally all of us were ready to just prove people wrong and that we can do a lot better than this. For me, that made me work my ass off a little harder, put in more time. But physically, I think a lot of people came in more on extra days and put up more shots. Overall I think we took it more seriously, because it was the worst feeling to lose. It’s bad to lose, but it’s just bad to lose that many games.
How do you contribute as an injured player this year? I try to not let the injury and my situation affect anyone else. I try to be positive, I am positive. I see things a little differently on the bench and I try to point that out to people when and I can and just being one of their biggest supporters.
Q&A with Jennie Leander By: Casey Brogan
Jennie Leander works at the Jaqua Center as the women’s basketball academic advisor to schedule classes, advise majors, and set up tutoring schedules. She interacts with them on a day-to-day basis. No stranger to basketball, Leander played at the University of California Berkeley, professionally in Europe, and coached at Santa Clara University before spending the last 10 years in Eugene.
How have you seen the basketball team evolve since last season? When you only have 7 healthy players it puts a lot of pressure on different people… I think a lot of the injury situations brought them closer together. This year I think they’ve done a really nice job of coming together as a team, understanding each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and really capitalizing upon the opportunities that have been given to them in game situations and playing towards their strengths. And you can see that through the season too, they’re evolving as the season goes and learning as their chemistry develops what type of team they are, how they’re most successful. So I would say even though last year was a really tough year, I think it really has made them a stronger team this year.
What is a contributing factor to this year’s success? It says a lot about a team when you have people suffer some pretty significant injuries and they can come back together as one unit. Last year there was a lot of support in the training room and that’s carried over to the floor.
Who did you see step up as leaders? I’ve been really impressed with Lexi Petersen. She’s really done a nice job after being injured last year and right now filling in for Ariel Thomas. Ariel Thomas has done a great job as a senior. She had to carry a lot on her shoulders when her teammates got injured and I think that’s translated this year to her being a strong leader. Jillian has improved so much on the floor… she’s become a natural leader…
Have you noticed differences in the players’ attitudes and morale? The system that they run is pretty difficult for anybody to be mentally strong and physically strong through that entire thing. They started off winning a lot of games and winning always helps morale. They struggled a little bit in season, but this past weekend they won two games and you can see their confidence on the floor improving with each victory.
Can you comment on Ariel’s character? AT is one of the toughest, hardest working people that you’ll meet. Last year she was pretty injured too and she came out of an injury situation where maybe she wasn’t necessarily ready to play but she needed to play and she did that.
Q&A with Lexi Petersen By: Yi Yang
Lexi Petersen is a guard for the University of Oregon women’s basketball team. She is a redshirt sophomore. At the beginning of 2012-2013 season, Petersen suffered from a devastating injury: her second torn ACL. After nine months of rehab and recovery, Petersen has returned back to the game for the 2013-2014 season.
What’s your name? Why you want to be a basketball player? My name is Lexi Petersen. I play point guard for the Oregon Ducks.I have played basketball since about third grade. I love play basketball because it’s competitive.
How long have you play for University of Oregon? Do you like your coach and teammates? I am technically a redshirt sophomore because I had a season-ending injury last year. I really like our coach this year…I think this is the fifth season. And I really love my teammates too. This year we get along really well. There is a cohesiveness that we have this year that we didn’t have in the past.
Have you been injured during the game? When it’s happened and what’s your feeling? I tore my ACL three games to my senior season of high school. I was out for nine month right before I got here as a freshman. I played in my whole freshman year, and in the beginning of my sophomore year, I tore it again, so I had to have another knee surgery. This is my first year back from that.
What kind of practice you did during the recovery? During the recovery, I do a lot of strength work, because after surgery, you are pretty immobile for two to four weeks. After that, I can start doing strength work trying to get my quads and hamstrings strong. Then you start running at around four months and progressively adding in more stuff and then cutting around six months.
How can you build your confidence on the recovery road? I can build my confidence just by doing what I’m supposed to do: coming in everyday, working out, doing my treatment and all my rehab. Staying on top of icing after practice or cold tubbing doing the necessary treatment for my knee to stay healthy. During my recovery, my teammate and my coach, they all support me and help me through. I mean this happens a lot in basketball, and they all knew how devastating and crushing this was.
What is your feeling when you come back this season? Coming back this season, I was really excited…Once I started playing the game and practicing full, I was not even thinking about my knee really. I have done all my work and all my rehab as well, as best as I can. There is nothing to really worry about.
Q&A with Lin Ling By: Yi Yang
Lin Ling is a sophomore student at the University of Oregon. She is a UO women’s basketball fan, and she is one of the members in Fast Break Club. She talks about her opinion about the basketball team and the games this season.
What is your name? Why your support University of Oregon women’s basketball? My name is Lin Ling, and I am a sophomore student at the University of Oregon. I am also a UO women’s basketball fan. I like watching basketball games a lot. As we know, UO women’s basketball is a young and strong team with professional coach staff and teamwork.
What is your opinion about this season? This season should be very exciting for both basketball players and our fans. There are a lot of talented teams coming to Eugene this year. And we also have two talented freshmen joined our team, so the team should be more powerful than pervious years. Laura (Stanulis) and Lexi (Petersen), they both missed last season with injuries. But now they return back for the game This is pretty a good news for all of us.
Please talk a little bit more about Laura Stanulis and Lexi Petersen’s injuries. At the beginning of 2012-2013 season, Laura Stanulis and Lexi Petersen both suffered from a devastating injuries. I am happy to see they came back this year. And I remember that Lexi Petersen only played at the beginning of last season because she tore her ACL again. I think she works so hard and runs a lot in the game. We all worried about her recovery before, and I hope she feels better now.
What is your opinion about the coach staff of UO women’s basketball? They have a perfect basketball head coach, Paul Westhead. He has a lot of coaching experience. I think this is his fifth-year working for UO women’s basketball. I also knew Lee joined in the coach staff. Lee is a good and young coach with six years of coaching experience.
Do you know UO Fast Break Club? How they support University of Oregon Women’s basketball? Yes, of course. University of Oregon Fast Break Club invites people to support Duck women’s basketball, it organizes a lot of activities for basketball fans. It works to enhance the communication among the players, coaches and fans. It is important because players can feel they are supported by the their fans, which makes them to feel more confidence. Also, I know that Fast Break Club committed to raising funds for the Women’s Basketball Program to support competition.
Q&A with Shandrika Lee By: Carlyle Garrick
Shandrika Lee is a third year assistant coach for the University of Oregon. Before coming here she coached at both Army and California Polytechnic State University (San Louis Obispo). She is a former guard at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California and a native of Los Angeles, California.
Last year your record was 4-27, can you talk about some of the struggles you guys went through? Well last year was tough, I don’t like to use excuses but we did have a lot of injuries to people that are now starting this year and or playing a lot of minutes. We have Ariel Thomas who played half of the season last year. So if you think about it, she had surgery in the spring, came back in the end of December. So she did not workout for that whole time. Then we have Lexi Petersen who was not playing all of last season and she’s playing thirty plus minutes now and doing very well. We also have Laura Stanulis who also was not playing pretty much all of last season and now she’s playing. So those are three point guards right there who we did not have and if you’re familiar with Paul Westhead’s system it really does start with the point guard.
What do you think is the biggest reason for your teams turn around this year? The injured players are back! But I think we are playing together as a team, the girls are buying into the system; we are running, trying to play up-tempo on both the offensive and defensive end. So I think that has a lot to do with it. You know the buying in and having a bench to actually play up-tempo.
What type of impact does Ariel Thomas have on the team, with her being a senior leader? Ariel brings a bunch of intangible things. She’s a ball of energy, both when she’s on the court and when she isn’t. She’s a vocal leader and she leads by example, which is a great characteristic of a leader… But I think she just brings some things that do not show up on the stat sheet, her work ethic is bar none and she is always trying to get others to come along with her as far as the work ethic and working hard.
At the beginning of the year, did you guys have any team goals that you were looking to accomplish? Absolutely! We are taking it game by game, but we want to have more than 16 wins, so that will be more than .500. We want to get to the tournament; we want to get to the NCAA tournament.
Q&A with Ariel Thomas By: Carlyle Garrick
Ariel Thomas is a senior guard and team captain for the University of Oregon Women’s basketball team. She missed half of last years season while undergoing surgery to fix a stress fracture in her foot. Her return to the court has been major reason for her team’s recent success.
Last season you were out due to injury, can you talk a little about that injury? Last year I had a stress fracture in my foot and I thought I was going to have to redshirt. I had surgery in June, healed quicker than what the doctor’s thought so I ended up playing last year.
How many games did you miss last year? I want to say I missed about 12 games last year.
Talk about the multitude of injuries that your team had last year. We’ve had our share of bad luck when it comes to injuries. We had a couple of ACL tears, a PCL, a meniscus, my stress fracture, Katelyn’s nerve damage in her arm and some concussions. Pretty much those ACL’s really hit us hard.
How did not having those players healthy affect your team last year? Having that many key players out with injuries was definitely hard. Not just because it was missed bodies and we didn’t have enough people to play, but the level of talent that dropped off because we didn’t have those players in the game, that type of energy, that type of speed and skill, it definitely took a toll on the team and it taught that we cant take our opportunities for granted, because we don’t realize how quickly the game can be taken away from us.
What was the hardest part about last year? The hardest part for me personally would have to be not being able to be there for the team when I was injured for the first of the season. Since I was a kid, I’ve never been without basketball, so being out for a long period of time and watching my team struggle was probably the hardest part. As far as the team, besides only winning four games, I think the hardest part was watching other teams succeed around us and we were the joke of Oregon.
With 9 wins already under your belt less than half way through the year, how has doubling your win total from last year affected the team’s spirit? Winning solves everything. Going from only winning 4 games to already winning nine games is big… Some times we lost track of how good we could be and how good we are due to the injuries we had last year, so it was definitely a huge mental boost for us.