Taylor named Pacific 10 Player of the Week
Ducks overcome adversity, turn back Arizona
By Dennis Fernandes
Of lb* Km.r.id
If Santa handed out any adversity for
Christmas, he sure gave a load of it to the
University men’s basketball team
Forward Kenny Sprague’s aching
knees forced him to the sidelines for the
Ducks’ opening Pacific 10 Conference
counters with Stanford University and
University of California at Berkeley. An
thony Taylor was injured and kept out of
the opening round tilt with
Southwestern Louisiana University at
the Fred Meyer Far West Classic in
Portland. Starting guard David Girley
was suspended for the final two games of
the Classic for curfew violations. Reserve
forward and sometime starter Jesse Nash
was held out for one game due to the
same violation.
that three-point shot at the end of the
overtime, but we had a tough time get
ting shots inside.” the coach said.
Taylor's 20-point effort against a com
mendable Wildcat defense, coupled with
25 points against Arizona State Universi
ty last Friday, earned the ft-foot-4 guard
Pac-10 Player of the Week honors. Peo
ple are still singing about his soaring
dunk over ASU’s Rich Carlino late in the
second half of that game.
"1 can't say enough about his playing
and his mental attitude, especially with
all the box-on-one's (defenses) he's been
seeing." Monson said.
Unfortunately. Taylor cannot do it all,
and the Ducks have some problems to
iron out.
Mastering the full-court press defense
is bound to cause Monson and his staff a
‘Only the future will tell how important it (the win) is.
It is important right now in that we could not afford to
lose any more Pac-10 games, particularly at home. ’
— Don Monson
But thanks to the emergence of Rick
Osborn, the strong return of Girley and
Taylor's all-World performances,
Oregon is much better off than the situa
tion would render.
Saturday's 55-54. upset victory over
University of Arizona, a team many pick
ed to be the conference favorite, caps two
weeks of up-and-down, but relatively
successful, basketball. Oregon has won
four of their last five games and is now
8-5 overall and 2-2 in Pac-10 play.
The win over the Wildcats proved to
the Ducks that, yes Virginia. Oregon can
come from behind and win a basketball
game in its waning seconds. In a defen
sive. low-scoring encounter where every
basket was an adventure. Oregon clawed
their way back from a nine-point deficit
with six minutes left and eventually put
the game into overtime.
Coach Don Monson was quick to
disclaim any notion that the victory
might instill any notion that Oregon's
problems are over.
“Only the future will tell how impor
tant it (the win) is. It is important right
now in that we could not afford to lose
any more Pac-10 games, particularly at
home.” he said.
Monson also has not changed his mind
about the new three-point rule, saying he
“still despises the thing." It wasGlrley's
howitzer with three seconds left that put
the Ducks over the hump for the final
margin. "I don't know why we called
few sleepless nights. It proved to be the
difference in a 57-50 loss at the cham
pionship game of the Classic against im
pressive Louisiana Tech. ASU's
quickness and depth on the press let
them back into the game on two
occasions.
“We are trying to be more aggressive
and work on coming to the ball. We
should be attacking it (the press).“ Mon
son said.
Rebounding, or the lack of it, has been
another source of Oregon headaches.
After relatively good success against
nine non-conference opponents, the
Ducks have only outrebounded Arizona
(30-29) in four Pac-10 contests. The
8-foot-6 Sprague and his sore knees are
needed badly in this department, and
look for more aggressiveness from
6-foot-ll Sven Meyer and starting for
ward Keith Ualderston.
The Classic saw Oregon's play
sometimes spotty, but the Ducks
registered two quick victories over
Southeastern Louisiana and San Jose
State University. The opening round
game saw Taylor go down with muscle
spasms in his neck after scoring )ust six
points in 13 minutes. Osborn, who has
been struggling of late and was basically
a no-show in Oregon's scheme of things,
responded wonderfully with a season
high 15 points in leading the Ducks to a
78-73 victory.
The semifinal matchup against San
Photo by Mtchaol Wilholm
Rick Osboni trim to cut through the Louisiana Tech detense in the finals of the
Fred Merer Far West Classic. The Bulldogs prevailed, 57-50.
]ose State had Oregon minus two key
players in Glrley. who had a game-high
19 points the previous night, and Nash.
They apparently violated curfew regula
tions and were suspended for two and
one games, respectively. Taylor came
back with 20 points, the center Meyer
had 11 boards and 17 points, and
Sprague offered up an inspirational 16
points and 11 rebounds in the 69-64 win.
The offense was a no-show the follow
ing night against an impressive Bulldog
squad, Oregon's first appearance in the
Classic finals since the overtime thriller
with Oregon State University in 1983.
Taylor, who made the all-tournament
team, scored 28 of Oregon's SO points.
poppi/
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