Oregon daily emerald., January 11, 1973, Page 13, Image 13

__ Photo by James Link
DUCK CENTER HITS THE BOARDS
Oregon’s Willett. learns
defense the Harter way
By BOB WELCH
Of the Emerald
That was no error in Saturday morning’s UCLA
Oregon box score. Bill Walton scored but six points.
No, the typist didn’t leave out a one or a two or a
three in front of the six. It’s official. Someone held ■
the king of the court to a measley six points.
His name is Gerald Willett. That’s Gerald with a
soft G and Willett as in will -it-go-in-or -not ? That’s a
question Walton may have been asking himself
Friday night as the Duck center was putting a
clamp on his usual scaring barrage.
And while Willett was soundly outrebounded by
the Bruin’s star center, 13-4, and couldn’t hit a shot
all night, he proved that he can play defense, the
essence of Dick Harter’s basketball program.
The sophomore’s sudden emergence as a strong
defensive player is a result of time. It’s a result of a
year’s maturity, more experience and simply
surviving three months of Harter’s drills, an
achievement in itself.
After a high school career that saw him gain all
state honors at Eugene’s Churchill High School,
Willett led the frosh in scoring (16.6 avg.) and
rebounding (11.1) last year. And the 6-8, 216-pound
admits he’s come a long way since then.
“I’m quite a bit stronger this year,” Willett says.
“I do alot of things better, like rebounding and
blocking out. I’m probably a bit smarter, too.”
You’ve got to be smart to defend some of the
players Willett has had to lately. You’ve also got to
have a bunch of other qualities, including the ability
to cope with some centers who match grizzly bears
in physicalness.
As a result of this stiff competition, though,
Willett, despite a few bumps and bruises, finds he’s
more sure of himself on the court.
“I’ve got alot more confidence in myself than I
had at the start of the season.”
Willett is shooting .481 from the field, tops among
r\ _ . i.
the regulars, but far below his sizzling .610 frosh
percentage. Still, he’s leading the team in rebounds
(7.9 avg.) and is third in scoring with a 10.3 mark.
Harter is impressed with Willett in his first
varsity season.
“I’m very pleased with him,” the head coach
says. “He’s developing very well. Very con
sistently. Gerald’s improving everyday.
“Like any sophomore, the main thing he has to
work on is his whole game. He has no glaring
weaknesses. He’s been playing defense and
rebounding very well. And he’s shooting in
telligently on offense.”
Teamwise, Willett feels the Ducks, 7-5, have done
as well as he expected.
“Our only problem is turnovers. We’ve got to
improve on the smaller aspects of the game. We’ve
got to concentrate on avoiding the stupid mistakes.”
And as to the return of Walton' Willett isn’t
worrying about it, though he admits the Bruin star
will “be coming up here to score.”
In the meantime. Willett has more important
things to think about. Like guarding Washington’s
Reggie Ball on Friday night and WSU’s leading
scorer, Mike Dolven, on Saturday.
Harter has called these two games the most
important of the season. Willett isn’t disagreeing.
“If we play up to our potential, we’ll be right up
there by the end of the season,” he says. “I think we
can win our next four or five games. The USC loss
has made everyone want to work harder so we don’t
lose those one-pointers anymore.”
It all depends on defense, according to Willett.
“If you can play defense, you can always play
basketball,” he says.
In that case, Gerald Willett may be around for a
long time.
/ \
JV Basketball
Catchings leads
Bob Catchings leads the Oregon JV basketballers in three
different departments, according to statistics released earlier
this week.
Catchings, the 6-6 freshman from Joliet, 111., is on tops in
storing with a 28.3 average in three games, field goal accuracy
with a .513 mark and rebounds with a 14.0 average per game. He
poured in 37 of his total 85 points in the season’s opener against
the Portland JV’s.
Center Jeff Nelson, another freshman, is second in
rebounding with a 10.2 average and also follows Catchings in
scoring with a 10.2 mark.
Kevin Cuiiigan has blistered the nets at the free throw line
for a .904 mark to lead the JV’s team in that area.
The Duck JV’s 4-1 on the season, meet the Washington JV’s
Friday night and Claudia’s AAU Saturday night in action this
weekend.
Swimming
Stanford invades
After dominating the Far Western Intercollegiate Relays at
Leighton Pool Saturday, the University of Oregon swimming
team opens its 1973 dual meet schedule against imposing
Stanford and Alaska on consecutive days.
The Cardinals invade Leighton Pool Friday afternoon at 4
p.m. for a meet with Don Van Rossen’s Ducks. They are led by
Olympic breaststroker Brian Job, who holds the NCAA meet
records in the 100 (56.833) and 200 (2:02.592) yard breaststroke
events.
Alaska comes to Eugene on Saturday for a 10 a.m. meet. In
a dual meet at Fairbanks last year, Van Rossen’s team stopped
the Totems, 91-48.
The Ducks won eight of the ten events in Saturday’s relays,
and Pat McComack qualified for this year’s NCAA cham
pionships at Tennessee with a 458.50 effort in the 3-meter dive.
Puget Sound swept all ten events in the college division.
The Ducks piled up 142 points to 122 for Oregon State, and 72
for Washington State. Puget Sound scored 154 points in the
college division against 88 for Highline CC of Seattle, 60 for
Lewis and Clark, 52 for Portland State, and 24 for Humboldt
State.
Gymnastics
Ducks hit road
After a sunny holiday in Hawaii, the Oregon Flying Ducks
embark on a long series of road meets that will encompass the
entire month of January.
They face Portland State in the Viking gym in Portland
Friday night at 8 p.m., go to Chico, Calif, for a meet with Chico
State on Jan. 20, and invade the midwest to tackle some of the
biggest gymnastics powers in the country Jan. 26.
The Vikings, with a young gymnastics program, will not be
the caliber of the midwestem teams, but one individual will
present a problem.
“They have one kid named Ron Nissen who is a threat to
beat all three of my all-around men,” says Bill Ballester, coach.
In their trip to Hawaii, the Ducks faced a makeup team
from Hawaii in a dual meet and won handily.
^ - ^
GERALD WILLETT