Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, March 10, 1992, Page 14, Image 14

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    There’s no leaitimate reason to fire Monson
FROM THE
SIDELINES
BY JAYSON JACOBY
Tin’ bigg.-M question mrmith fating
the Ore gon men's bciskettiall team in
no longer whether .1 suerc'ssful sea
son (.nil In salvaged In terms of w in Ions
records, 1 O'11 in already in the looks
as one of tile Din ks worst seasons ni'l
regardless of what happens in lln fin.if
I WO g.lllll'S
Now I he unknown is ihe future of
couch Don Munson (oven Oregon's in
jury woes .iml the lineup w ith wlufh tin
Dm ks f.11 e<! the I’.k die If) < order, m e
who h ini hides four .Ml win te.iuis
athletic director Hill Hvrne could h.irdlv
pistifv firing Munson on the h.r.o. id niu
season
()f ( nurse numerous f.u tors, espci labs
fin.mi in 1. mov fon e Hyrne to tire Mon
son .invw.iy \\ 11h iittend.ini e .it .1 HI
year low. tin- program may lose 11n.no
Considering the multimilllon dollar nth
letu department deficits at Oregon and
the states other N( A A schools. Hvrm
mas not he aide to afford to keep Mon
soli
Still, if thf political { Uinttlf alifW's nr
paper tin- future of Oregon liaskclball ran
only hemlit from Munson's presence
The group Munson has assembled ba
the potential to he an up and c oming
team 111 the- I’ai HI. and Munson deserve-,
to finish out the two sears on hi-- eon
trac t. the only true proof of his abihts as
both a mat h and ret ruder
first, this season ram only !«■ seen a-,
an anomaly True, Munson has never
won more than ft. games at Oregon, hut
he real fled that mark three times and
also won I r< games twice file real slurs
this \ ear hasn't Iscn Ivlin has pias t d. he!
w l.o hasn’t
The Duck-, have played every l’a< 10
game Without starters fads I shell and
Andre l adlii 1. and the last .i\ al i loss
1". without another -.tarter, Clsde or
dan
fh.it represents three of Oregon ■ top
four scorers. and 'Is tup rrlmundrr hi lor
d.m The three i otnbtned lor ;% ' v
points ami 1 r> rebounds pur game or
inof ill.in half the teams point average
iind m irly half its p« r game rcliounds
The I- .'.lit' : . f i I \ hs O VS.I.' VS .! I eV
(Inn and Collier out of the lineup and
norm- since Jordan joined thi- injury pa
rodi* shouldn't r.uiiio «is *i surj>ri
Antoine Stoudamlri- lias }■ n • i up
some of lh< slack, scoring morn that . "
point* per game But hi inis lion ! ti < «t
lo i arry aninordinate portion of On
grin's snoring load In tin' Ducks omy
svtn situ i- the c onferenc e opener i in ‘i
against ( al .1 M <1 i vs In mu < begun
State I 1-h It Sloiidatutt'’ had hi of Dr
rgon s points
In fad, Stoud.uiiin lias 'a orrd more
than one third of Oregon's points in I'ar
50 games Teams with that i.u k of si or
mg halam '• don't vs in many games
The Ijuestlim IS vsh\ lias there hern
guilt'll laris of support lor Sioudamite'
Tiie .msss i r is simply tii.d the Hut ks
have had lo rely on players most of
whom are Iri shmen vsiiii no college
haskeilsill experience hi h.u k llllli Up
(Iregon has start. I at least Isso fresh
men in every league' game, anil for the
past three weeks first year players and
true freshmen Jeff Putter and Johnnie
K, ,-t ,■ along vs ith r. dshirt freshman Wd
I nuns, hay e started
Again. the Ducks i iirreilt seven game
losing streak shouldn't come as a sur
prise It’s no shin k that the league s
y oungest and most inexperienced team is
in last plac e
So lar 11 looks like ail the evidenc e is
ag.nrisl keeping Munson However, one
season does mil a c arerr make
l or example. Du k Harter who was re
plac i d hy Moiimm s pm In essor, Jim Ha
m y, in 1*l7H. v\ is just <■ .10 his first sea
son Harter Hi nt on to h ad tile Dm ks lo
six straight winning seasons
C.rallied (Ills 1st! ! Munson's lirsl sea
son. hut llie same logic applies You have
to give .1 i i i.u h the nec ess.irv time to de
yelnp hi- program \t the present time
M nson - progr im Is made up mostly of
Don Monson
young players I hr most experienced of
whom imxc been injurii! A te]<) record
under the t nnditions of this season don't
warrant Munson s dismissal
As disappointing as tins season 'Inis
lio n, it is likely to pav substantial divi
dends down the road
'I-hose dividends will likely start up
p- .i[ini; nest \ ear I lie Dinks, who this
Veal have appeared .it times like hoys
playing against nu n, will boast the
league s most ex per lem i'll i rop of young
players next season liven better, all
those freshmen v\)h were initialed into
lollegr basketball by a veritable trial In
fire will probably have the luxury of
iaiming off the beneh next season
Stoudnmire. I.vden. ( ollmr. Jordan
and returning (efoot-11 junior Hob lilt
who lias two years of Pat Id expert
elite under Ins belt will likely he tin
starters in 14tC’ ‘It That's a pretty im
pressivts lineup, even ill the I’ai It)
Rente potter arid Williams all id
whom are developing into steady per
formers will likely he miitv successful
turning off the I*-! li, rather than kmiyy
mg that they are the first line of defonst
against the like-. <g ( I.A ami Arizona
Keet e espet tally Weilid seem tti bene
fit Me has shown the skills that made
him the Ki« ky Mountain Region Player
of the Year his senior year in .1 Denver
high sr him! and allowed him to si ore 2B
pole's a! Washington Stale But Reele
has been fori ed In do most of (he Iwll
handling since ( oilier s injury That's
not Reece's strong point, and il has sen
ously hampered his ability to gel open
for good shots
And Potter ii.ts improved consistently
throughout the year, while having lo
bang inside with the opposing team's
renter ( - ruing olf the trench will take
some of that pressure off Potter, and Ins
offense [day espes tolly should improve
Munson loses onlv toot i enter (.hto k
Patterson from this year's squad and his
departure should he more than adequate
lv filled by the return of Fife and the ad
ditions at 1. tool 10. 270 pound junior
college 1,enter Damion Porter and 0 foot
h Aaron Johnson
Neither are proven N't A \ Division I
players, hut the < ombination of the new
i outers with the returners has the look of
being a potent one Of course it is wav
Ion early to make any predictions, hut
next year's team has a lot of strung
points
There is no evidence that Munson's
presence is net essarv for all of these
players to do well. Hut he is responsible
for bringing them to Oregon, and with
two years remaining on his contract lie
deserves to si's the results of Ins rei ruit
ins
['here ire lin.im ial aspects in Mon
son’s favor, as well. The I'niverxity
would still he responsible lor Munson's
s.iluiv for the remainder ol his contrail,
and attrai ting ,1 qualified coat h will like
iv i os! ,1 lot more than 1! did when Mon
son vs as hired nine vears ui?o
But the basic f,ic t remains that this sea
son is not representative of Munson's
stint in Pugene \nd Oregon's dismal re
lord can he direclly related to krv tnju
ries and putting inexperienced players
on the 1 our! Oh v toll si v these are (,i< tors
1 ompleti lv mil of Munson's control, and
he doesn’t deserve to lx' lin'd solely he
cause of them
l,ii son I,unity is ,1 sports rrportrr lor
lht‘ bn 1 eraltl
emerald CLASSIFIEDS C ~
Call 346-4343 Before 1 p.m. Today To Put Us To Work For You Tomorrow!
1QS PERSONALS
//«•% Uimif A km mrn.
your lui man
BOBCAT GOLDTHWAIT
i» comintf
April 10. 8 p m Mac Court Be ready"'
Kul X Then I AS l <), :W! .17:’ I)
CLASSIFIED
POLICIES
O
Placement
\.h may he piatcvi '•*
{Ml iiiuiM oil* < *
o
Pa\ mail
\ u!» iiitiii tv pri j'.t. 1 .nil
billing tu% Keen cu*b!uhcd 1 vi
billing arringcmcitft pluvc v-»l!
'-Jr, |i|i, -r \u y by u
v A ' \ ' . .! ’ ! . ' • ■ { - V
O
Deadline, s
l.inc \vK ! p rn ixv-r tvu*
Jj\ pnoi U»
Ditpiuv \J% I p m
huunest vIj\ < prior to imcrtion
ODE Cl-ASSIFIEDE
1 STOP SHOPPING
nolOSTt FOUND
LOST *.4 f i < »■ ,
* y» .! *v! • ff & ' *■'
•* • "-v
STOLEN
Had HfKi^**iOfv* 1? w **•<**!
«trCall Tvcolt 4tW 46t*>
Or i umi I >.mU ^ int i .il»t
( lassifu cK
f — .
\\ I K t V I ^ <)l K si K \ H I
nsTYPMG SERVICES
I 4 *oi <1 p' «vi
Printed lent to computer files
fS C A NNE R Sj
7474580
344-4510
HI 41 |l 1 «- 'I I I I- -I I
fiO'i t nth
TYPING UNLIMITED
\ [ yiHC. » iNGt MS Typing Mfvtt*
I At! iccunl* prof*»»iona!
SI 00 (xg* up 4IU >>018
JO I Ml TYPING PRO
, ■ • t»». •' M ■ pat t>-«
A. fo• f .1 ' «»
A >4 4 0 ’S9 Mi*UN GHADSCMOOt
APPROVI D »**■’ ' *r \ *
;• !«'— ptl.'*#'-1 «r. -« **»'
Hftrtvft'ft l and
46b 114j
ON CAMPUS'
See Section 115
For all your typing needs
mTYPMG SERVICES
T Ml WOHD SPftlAl ISIS
W »-t i‘ . •• , i . P ' *
. * • •*-»' App- '.wl t
CINDY 4cU V4V4
120 TUTORING
GREEK MATH
TUTOR
Tw»* Thun 7 30 0 00 PM
in 232
12S INSTRUCTION
Pronto 5ip*r*t*h & Poriu^tM
t h v • *> » ' ’Q ' f " A *»vi»
c
4
4
‘4
Dooncsbury
BY GARRY TRUDEAU
-1
i r
« ; v v? v
A * !v • -A » '
. - p 4\
41
\
.V -■
V'*
Of .«<»<*•
ti\K
A
• -
i,
/
»<Vi, Af\AT
rM-,f ■■ AHNejoe
'V .W1
COMPiert- >