Ducks Injury Woes Continue; Chris Duarte Out For Next Two Weeks, Will Richardson Questionable for CAL Game
N’Faly Dante, the 5-star freshman center, returned back from injury last week and it seemed like for the first time all season the Ducks will have a healthy roster to play with. But it’s yet another case of one step forward and two steps back for the Ducks as head coach Dana Altman announced today that guard Chris Duarte will miss the next two weeks and guard Will Richardson is a game time decision for Thursday nights game against California.
Dana Altman announces Chris Duarte Duarte won’t play this week or in Vegas. Up in the air for the NCAA Tournament.
— Matt Prehm (@MattPrehm) March 4, 2020
Duarte has been dealing with a broken pinkie finger on his shooting hand for the last month and has seen his offensive numbers plummet because of it. When he wasn’t injured, Duarte was a key piece for Oregon as he averaged 12.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. He leads the team in steals with 1.7 per game, and he shoots 33.6 percent on three-pointers.
The Ducks badly need Will Richardson, who rolled his ankle last week, to play this week because without him, Oregon would be down to just three scholarship guards for this weekend.
Injuries have been a thorn in the side for Oregon for years now. Last year 5-star center Bol Bol played just 9 games before suffering a season ending injury, and during the Ducks final four run in 2017, center Chris Boucher tore his ACL in the semi finals of the PAC-12 tournament.
Oregon just can’t seem to catch a break with injuries but nonetheless they still have a shot to wrap up the conference championship this weekend with wins over Cal and Stanford.
