PICKS
Continued from Page 13
recruiter. bad with Xs and Os
That 's the rap on Frieder He may
tiiivn unknowns on his team, but
tie always finds a way to draw tal
ent.
If the Sun Devils want to finish
any higher than sixth, though,
they hotter get their m t together
I hey lost to Northeastern Illinois
and Saint l-ouis in the preseason
It •» not talent that's questionable
on this team, it's character
(California: 2-1), !)-2 — (ill coach
l odd Ho/eman did
a phenomenal job
last year after the
controversial firing
of conch l.ou (j»m
panelli in February
Bozeman led his
team to a o-i meord during the last
month of the regular season, and
then picked up wins over I.SU
and two-time defending i hainpi
on Duke in the NCAA tourna
ment.
After opuning the 1003 season
L-l, the Golden Hoars have put
together a seven game winning
streak and are off to a 2-0 start in
the conference. The Hoars' leader
is sophomore jnson Kidd, who has
lived up to the incredible expec
tations put upon him in high
school.
"jnson is more aware of situa
tions on the floor and is control
ling the floor a lot better and
shooting the ball (letter." Ho/enian
said.
There is a lot of talent alongside
Kidd ill Berkeley, particularly for
ward l.amond Murray, who
scored more than to points in
cmisis utive gomes last wifk Mur
ray leads the i onference in si tir
ing (2-t Tl) and is seventh m
rebounding (lit)) Alfred Grigsby
and Rvan Jamison odd depth up
front, along w ith Monty Buckley
and Kandy Duck in the backcourt
Mims’ Forecast — T he Bears
have the top scorer and playtnak
er in the conference in the dead
ly combination of Murray and
Kidd. More importantly, this team
has the kind of confidence a
fUE PMOTO
California guard Jaaon Kidd has
shown no signs of a sophomore
Jinx, loading the Pac-10 In
assists (9.1) and steals (3.5) par
game
young team can only get from
winning m the big show
This team is batter than last
year, and the only question is, are
past problems put away ' A lot of
turmoil and criticism hit Berkeley
last year when Cam panel I i was
fired, but Bozeman put that aside
in the best manner possible by
winning Bozeman quickly
pushed aside any talk of recurring
problems during the preseason
teleconference, but to prove it they
must continue to win I'm a heliev
er.
Charbonneau's Forecast
Knough about Kidd already! Yeah.
■COOKIE CO.
he's a good player, but this team
will live and die In how Murray
perform*. Murray is the most com*
plote front-line player in the con
ference. anti if he plays the way
he did during the second half of
last season, Clal could t hallenge
for at least the No l position in
the conference
Hut then there's the other prob
lem with this team it seems as
though Bowman is |ust a little tot)
lackadaisical in his approach
toward the team that got their
coach fired last year Once a team
of troublemakers, always a team
of troublemakers This team did
remarkable things when Bowman
took over last season, but Boze
man is no longer a savior He's the
coach, and how well the Oil play •
ers deal with that will have a lot
to do with how well this team |**r
forms
Wishful thinking: I fie high and
mighty Jason Kidd will do an
interview that isn't after a game
Simonson's Forecast — Forget
about last year's performance in
the tournament It was the kind of
run fueled by emotion (SFF loy
ola-Murymount, Gathers, Hank:
I'**)) and a coaching change (SMI:
Michigan; Fisher. Steve. 1<I89) that
happens occasionally hut c an
rarely be duplicated.
Kidd isn't the second coming of
Kenny Anderson or Tim Hard
away. He isn't the athlete those
players are. hut he's a smart play
er whose bnsketlwll instincts and
floor awareness are sec ond to
none Is he a lender' Does Kidd
make everyone around him l>et
ter7 Sometimes Does he make
them good enough to win the con
ference7 Not this year
(ill and t'GLA may end up in a
tie for second place if Gal comes
lo play night in and night out
against quality opponents The
Golden Bears will win a game in
the NCAA tournament if they get
a break from the selection com
mittee*
Oregon: 0-2, 4-7 — The Due ks
have been inconsis
tent, to put it mild
<35^ ly* through the first
V|) month of the sea
son Oregon
opened the year 1-4
liefon* improving at the Far West
Classic: in Portland, followed by
wins against St Mary's and Alas
ka-Fairbanks Although the Ducks
0|>ened the Poc-10 season with a
pair of losses, they looked
respectable against Fifth-ranked
l JCLA and grabbed a mi ond-hnlf
lead at USC
Oregon's six newcomers have
all had their moments, but fresh
man point guard Kenya Wilkins
has looked the most comfortable
on the floor, scoring VI ft points j*<r
game to go along w ith four assists,
lunior guard Orlando Williams
has struggled with his shot hut
still leads the team in si onng at
17 4 points |*>r game, and forward
Jeff Potter has recovered from an
elbow injury to contribute
Mims' Forecast — Oregon
showed its improvement in its
recent losses to UC1.A and USC.
hut problems still remain One
problem is inside, where the
bucks have had problems getting
the ball on offense, and rebound
ing it on either side of the court
Compounding this problem is
that scoring is not coming from
the outside either Williams and
junior Jordv I.vden were count
ed on to hit the long shots, hut
have not done that so far. Oregon
is shooting just more than 42 |wr
cent from the floor, and that will
not win many Pac-10 games. The
Ducks showed signs of improving
these percentages late in the pre
season. but will need to do even
more,
Charbonneau's Forecast — Iasi
year I picked the Ducks to go V)-V>
in the Pac-10. Oops.
This season, the Ducks defi
nitely have more talent, but it's
young talent, whereas last season
they had a lot of players that just
didn't lielong in the Pac-10. or the
NCAA for that matter.
flow well Oregon does this sea
son will depend on how the new -
comers adjust to the rigors of
playing consistently tough teams
night m and night out A few play
ers like Kenya Wilkins and Hen
ry Madden have shown the
maturity it takes to hold their own
in the Pa< -10. Others, like Darryl
Parker and Zach Sellers, are just
starting to adjust and contribute
to the team.
This team will not win many
games if they have to rely on
Williams, Runyon. Potter and
Johnson to do ail the work. They
proved that last year More than
any team in the Pac-10. the Ducks
must have a balanced attack if
they want to win some games I'm
a firm believer in Green's system.
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bul this leain is still getting to
know each other The quicker they
do that, the sooner they can start
winning.
One promise Oregon will beat
either Arizona or UCLA at
Mi Arthur Ciourt this season
Simonson's Forecast — The
Out ks are only one player away
from making the NCAA tourna
ment. but that player's name is
Glenn Robinson and he's a little
busy in Indiana right now.
Oregon needs two things to hap
pen in order finish higher than
ninth in the conference this sea
son First, the Ducks need to loam
how to win. The Ducks are capa
ble of Ix'ing in most of the games
they play, but they won't over
whelm anyi>odv with their talent
Oregon needs to prove it's capa
ble of playing smart by keeping its
poise and not beating itself.
Second, Oregon needs to find
some consistency The Ducks do
a good job of taking shots; they
need to do a Ixitter job of making
them Oregon needs to find two or
three players who can shoot the
hall consistently and can he count
ed on to score in double figures
every game.
Oregon Stale: 0-2. 4-7 — The
Beavers suffered a seri
ous blow to their I
chances this year
when one of their
top returnees, tor- U
ward Mustapha HofT, (
and their best new
(AJiitt.'r, iruMUiiun ouiuiy ikjii|«iiiiih,
were both lost for the season
because of injuries. How much
Benjamin would have meant to
the team is unknown, but Hoff
was expected to lx; a team leader
and improve on his 9.5 points and
4.5 rebounds per game of a year
ago.
“(Hoffs injury) was the biggest
blow we had because he was our
best returnee statistically. Ore
gon State coach Jimmy Anderson
said. “His loss will hurt us in all
aspects of our game."
Thu early season got embar
rassing for the Beavers when they
were beaten soundly by NA1A
Oklahoma Baptist. Oregon State
turned it around in time to con
tinue its dominance of the Far
West Classic, but the Pac-10 sea
son got off to a rough start with a
104-71 loss at UCLA.
The Beavers need a big year
from guard Brent Barry to do
much. Barry, a fi-foot-f*. 185
pound junior nicknamed "Bones”
because of bis slim build, lias
tremendous passing and dribbling
skills, but his outside shot is still
suspect.
Mims' Forecast — Oregon
State fans have reason for hope,
the season is over in just more
than two months. That is when
Beaver fans can look forward to
the 1994-95 season, which is
much more promising. Only one
problem, will Anderson Ire
around to see iff
Oregon State will win its share
of games this year, but next year
they return practically the whole
team intact, in addition, Hoff, Ben
jamin and forward J.D. Vetter
should return from injuries. So.
Beaver fans, look for continued
improvement from the young
sters and J.C. transfers, because
with a few additions, the 1994
95 group should repay your loy
alty for wading through this year.
Charbonneau's Forecast — It's
very refreshing to see the Beavers
have as bad of a team as Oregon
and have virtually no chance of
making it into the postseason. But
it took a guggle of injuries to put
Oregon State in that position.
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