With injuries continuing to chip away at Oregon’s depth, the Ducks are in a familiar position: leaning on youth, reshuffling the rotation, and hoping for internal growth to carry them through the final stretch of the regular season. Head coach Dana Altman has had to get creative with his lineups, and that’s put the spotlight on players who, earlier in the year, weren’t expected to carry this kind of load.
One name that’s starting to emerge in that conversation? Dez Lindsay.
Lindsay, a 6-foot-6 wing, was thrust into a larger role when injuries hit the Ducks’ perimeter group hard. At first, the transition wasn’t smooth.
Over a four-game stretch, Lindsay shot just 23 percent from the field, didn’t get to the free-throw line once, and averaged only 1.5 rebounds in 18 minutes per game. In a rotation that desperately needed someone to step up, those numbers weren’t going to cut it.
But over the last two games, there’s been a noticeable shift. Lindsay has looked more confident, more comfortable, and simply more effective.
He’s averaged 27.5 minutes in that span, scored 10 points against Iowa on an efficient 4-of-7 shooting night, and posted back-to-back games with five or more rebounds. It’s not just a blip-it’s the kind of incremental improvement that could help stabilize Oregon’s rotation down the stretch.
Altman, never one to sugarcoat things, acknowledged both the growth and the areas still in need of polish.
“Well, his defensive awareness has got to get better,” Altman said after the Iowa game. “But he did go get five boards.
I didn’t think he took bad shots today. Had one bad turnover in the first half where we got the ball underneath, and he struggled with it.
But no, I thought Dez did a good job today. Much better than what he’s played in a few ball games.”
It’s a small sample size, but it’s trending in the right direction-and that matters, especially with junior wing Devon Pryor likely sidelined for the rest of the season, or at least a significant chunk of it, after aggravating a groin injury. Pryor and Lindsay were two players Altman specifically pointed to earlier in the year as needing to elevate their play amid the team’s injury challenges. Now, with Pryor out, Lindsay’s development isn’t just a bonus-it’s a necessity.
Oregon’s injury woes haven’t been limited to the perimeter. Freshman forward Efe Vatan, a 6-foot-10 offseason addition from overseas, missed all of training camp and only recently returned to practice. He’s appeared in each of Oregon’s last three games, including an eight-minute stint in the second half against Iowa, where he chipped in three points and a rebound.
Altman, though, made it clear that Vatan is still playing catch-up.
“He hasn’t played, you know, he was out. He didn’t even practice,” Altman said.
“So he’s way behind. The kids from overseas have had trouble adjusting to the pace of the game and the intensity defensively that you need.
They’re all offensive-oriented, and defensively we’ve really struggled with our foreign players.”
That’s not unusual for international freshmen making the leap to the college game, especially without a full preseason under their belt. The speed, the physicality, the defensive demands-it’s a learning curve, and Vatan is still climbing it. But his presence, even in limited minutes, could give Oregon some much-needed frontcourt depth as they navigate the back half of the schedule.
The Ducks will need every bit of that depth on Saturday when they travel to face a Top 25-ranked Purdue team. With the rotation still in flux and the margin for error shrinking, Oregon’s path forward depends heavily on how quickly players like Lindsay and Vatan can grow into their roles. The Ducks aren’t just playing for wins-they’re developing on the fly, and every game is a test of how far they’ve come.