Oregon has lost its last two games. Neither loss came to a Power 5 team. While it is true that both Texas Southern and Houston were NCAA Tournament teams a year ago, neither squad is as deep or talented as the Ducks.

This year's team will need to snap out of its early season funk in a hurry or risk the possibility of digging too deep of a hole to climb out of in March. There are certainly a lot of kinks to work out, and head coach Dana Altman ran through a laundry list of such items on Friday. But, he also told reporters during the press engagement, that ultimately it centers around one thing — trust.

"I hate to say it, but they just don’t trust us," Altman said. "They don’t trust our staff, and they don’t trust what we’re telling them, because we have to do the hard things."

The veteran coach then joked that if he asked each player to hoist up six threes a game and dribble the ball to their heart's content, that they'd be on the same page. But that those aren't the things this team must prioritize. His list of priorities included: defensive effort, playing with greater intensity, better rebounding technique, being more physical and diving on loose balls.

“Those are things that aren’t easy to do, that aren’t fun to do," he said. "Until we get on the same page there, it’s going to be a struggle.

“That too cool to care [attitude] doesn’t usually work too well."

After admitting that he "hates comparing teams', Altman said that this year's team seems to be missing some of the personalities that made his Elite Eight and Final Four squads so special. Those teams featured players like Dillon Brooks, Dylan Ennis and Jordan Bell, who provided leadership and confidence missing now.

"We had a lot of personalities and they weren’t afraid to let people know how important the game was to them," he said. "Those guys were all-in, and they weren’t afraid to show it."

These are characteristics Altman says he identifies and targets in prospective recruits. But, he admits that sometimes it's hard to predict exactly how they'll present themselves at this level.

“Every group dynamic is different," he said. "The way one guy acts with his high school teammates may be total different than how he acts with his college team. Group dynamics are sometimes hard to predict."

Oregon is now 4-3 on the season. They opened with easy wins over Portland State and Eastern Washington. They then dropped a game to Iowa at the 2K Empire Classic in New York City before rebounding for wins over Syracuse and Green Bay. They've lost consecutive games against Texas Southern and Houston over the last 10 days to fall to 4-3 on the season.

“There’s got to be a sense of urgency," Altman said of where the Ducks stand. "Not a sense of panic, but a sense of urgency, because we’ve got to get better."

The Ducks will attempt to rebound once again on Saturday night when they host Nebraska-Omaha at Matthew Knight Arena. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks at 5 PM.