emerald
An Oregon Daily Emerald Supplement
Wednesday, December 8, 1982
Cagers slow tempo; hope for upbeat year
Oregon's dance card was crammed
full last fall, filled with teams who wanted
to boogie or jitterbug with the worst
defensive basketball team in the Pac-10
Conference
The Ducks were your proverbial ‘easy
pickin's," allowing over 80 points a game
in conference play Oh sure, they scored
a bundle themselves, but not enough to
prevent them from losing 18 of 27 games
But the Ducks have donned new
dancing clothes this year, trading in their
flash-n'-dash for the more sedate world
of the Jim Haney waltz.
They may be the first team in confer
ence history to go from last in scoring
defense to first — in one short,
change-filled year
“I think it is important to re-establish
ourselves as a team that works together,
that believes in one another, that gains
pleasure working as a team, rather than
individual pleasure,” says Haney, in his
fifth year as the Oregon coach "It means
getting back to where we were two years
ago.”
Two years ago, Oregon won six of its
final eight conference games after start
ing the season dismally The type of team
play that ballclub exhibited is what Haney
would like to see this year
“We took a fairly young team then,
somewhat like the group we have this
year, who hadn't really proved anything.
Nobody knew who they were," Haney
says
Oregon isn’t tall on talent this year, but
Haney has stocked his roster with
players who fill roles well and who are
willing to sacrifice individual stardom for
the team's benefit.
The leader this fall has been 6-6 junior
forward David Brantley, who's averaging
11.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game
Haney has used him at power forward,
small forward and even briefly at center
Sophomore Blair Rasmussen has
nailed down the center position, thanks
partially to his height (7-0) and frequent
flashes of seemingly unlimited future
potential. Rasmussen is averaging 4.3
rebounds and 7.0 points per game.
The power forward spot — when
Brantley's not there — has been oc
cupied by sophomore 6-7 transfer Mike
Matheson, who moved north after the
University of San Francisco folded its
basketball program. Only two players on
the Oregon roster have played fewer
minutes than Matheson, but Haney has
stayed with him as a starter, although 6-8
sophomore Jerry Adams has seen a lot of
time on the court lately.
Probably the most accurate barometer
of Haney’s change in style is the promo
tion of a walk-on player from last year —
6-3 Greg Bell — to the starting point
guard spot this fall.
Bell, a junior pre-law student, shoots
rarely — he's three of six from the field —
but provides a steady hand to the Ducks’
ball-control, pass-oriented offense. He is
second on the team in assists.
His backcourt mate is 6-3 junior Gary
Gatewood, who is averaging 8.0 points
and four assists per game.
Off the bench, Haney can call on 6-7
sophomore swingman Bryan Trendell
who has used an unfailing jumper from
the baseline to emerge as the Ducks'
leading scorer (12.0 points per game), or
6-4 senior guard Paul Bain.
Haney is predicting nothing out of the
ordinary for this year's club, but he
seems to like the look and play of this
year’s Ducks much more than last fall.
"Last year at this time everything
looked rosy,” says Haney. "We had high
expectations. We could spiel off players'
names who had fine ability, yet when it
was all said and done, there wasn't much
substance behind the shell that was on
the outside. This year, certainly, people
aren't reeling off names of people who
can play for Oregon basketball.
“The exterior might not be as luxur
ious, and yet within, we’re stronger than
we’ve ever been.”
Story b«
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