At any level of basketball, it’s vital one knows their role on a team.

There’s a certain comfort in the day-to-day challenge of trying to master specific tasks that translate to winning. A beautiful coalescence occurs when teammates complete those individual assignments in unison.

Roles can certainly morph and change. At times, players must adapt on a whim, in the middle of a season when injuries to their teammates occur.

That’s been the story of this iteration of Oregon basketball.

A “coachable” bunch, according to head coach Dana Altman, they’ve put aside their egos as injuries piled up, stepping up while roles have fallen into place as the rotation shrank.

“We’re playing a certain way and guys have settled in,” Altman said at Tuesday’s practice, as center N’Faly Dante — who should return in the next week — shot free throws in the background.

After injuries to Dante in the Ducks opener against Georgia, and center Nate Bittle later that month, Oregon had no choice but to play small.

Now, with Dante on the brink of return, the Ducks can bring what they learned from a stretch without him — flourishing with definitive roles and discovering a heightened moxie in those who earned more minutes — and apply it to life back with him in the lineup.

“To be real honest, I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Altman said, looking back on his initial thoughts following Dante’s injury.

What did happen was Oregon became a team heavily reliant on its guards.

The team went as Jermaine Couisnard and — once he recovered from his pre-season knee injury — Jackson Shelstad did. Seldom did a game go by without Couisnard and Shelstad leading the Ducks offensively, and if one floundered, the other stepped up.

For example, the pair combined for 42 of the Ducks’ 84 points in their win over Kent State, 35 of their 64 in a comeback effort against UCLA, and 33 last Thursday against Washington.

Their hefty scoring efforts also give their teammates the confidence to trust them in the final moments.

In his first start — his third career game — Shelstad knocked down the game-winning shot in overtime against Michigan. Then facing Washington, it was Shelstad’s reputation that opened a driving lane for Couisnard to clinch the victory.

"You either got a little bit of the ‘It Factor’ or you don’t,” Altman said about Shelstad. “Jackson’s got a little bit of ‘it.’ He thinks he’s a player.”

Then after Couisnard’s clutch moment last week, he said: “We wanted him to drive to the basket and make a play. He went all the way and made a tough shot. … When he was on the floor we were a much better team.”

So, there’s no question where the primary perimeter shot creation will continue to come from.

Couisnard and Shelstad’s effectiveness takes the pressure and the defense’s attention off of secondary creators like Brennan Rigsby and Kario Oquendo. Rigsby’s paced the Ducks in scoring on three different occasions this season, scoring a season-high 19 points in that significant non-conference win against Michigan.

He’s shooting a team-high 48% from 3 on 3.3 attempts per game, feeding off of Couisnard and Shelstad’s drive-and-kicks. Rigsby garners attention credit to his athletic prowess, but it’s his shooting that has lifted the Ducks.

Oquendo, who shot 27% from deep during his two seasons at Georgia, is second on the team, knocking down 43.8% of his 3s. He scored 11 points in the final 7:30 of Oregon’s win over Washington State. Oquendo’s calling card is his ability to attack closeouts, get downhill, slash and put pressure on the rim.

“We all know we can score,” Rigsby said. “Everybody’s a good playmaker. We’re just trying to play basketball and whoever has the hot hand, they got it that night. Just play off each other.”

Added Altman: “We can really spread the floor with shooters.”

That’s been one of the greatest contrasts between this year’s team and last season when Keeshawn Barthelemy shot a team-high 35.8% from deep.

As the shots have fallen at a greater clip, the space down low has opened up for guys like Kwame Evans and Mohamed Diawara to pick up the slack for Dante and Bittle.

Diawara has flashed as a rebounder and a passer at the top of the key. Altman said he’ll remain a part of the rotation — playing “3-4 minute spurts depending on the foul trouble” — once Dante and Bittle return.

Evans, a freshman, has come along quicker than Altman predicted, thriving both on the perimeter and inside. He’ll offer length in bigger lineups and size in smaller ones as the Ducks become healthier.

“To be where we need to be, we can’t play small-ball the rest of the year,” Altman said.

It’s been an enjoyable stretch, but to challenge teams such as Arizona, Utah and Colorado, it’s crucial to match up in size. That being said, playing small-ball won’t just be a minimal wrinkle the Ducks turn to in desperation. In fact, it may be even more effective to deploy it around Dante or Bittle.

“You got to play different ways against different teams,” Altman said. “That ability is important. Playing small ball around Dante is different than playing small ball around KJ. It gives us an inside threat and you can really spread the floor with shooters.”

As Oregon (12-3, 4-0 in the Pac-12) tries to build its resume, it’ll seek a balance of the roles they’ve grown comfortable with and the style that they know they’ll need to play to be successful down the road.