Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, January 14, 1994, Page 15, Image 15

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    PICKS
Continued from Page 14
Jimmy Anderson could fall vic
tim to the infamous 'Don Mon
son Dis." where he tries to make
the host of an injury-riddled team
but has a terrible season and los
es his job at the end of the year,
especially in Corvallis, where
Ralph Miller raised expectations
of the Oregon State basketball
program so high that no coach at
that school will ever be able to
satisfy Beaver fans again
The Beavers will have their
worst season in recent history; of
course. I had the luxury of seeing
the Beavers get humiliated by
UCLA last weekend. Hope to s*-e
more of the same
So sad I hope Brent Bam play
ing with a bunch of stiffs doesn't
hurt his chances of making it in
the NBA Daddy wouldn't he too
pleased.
Simonson's Forecast — Are the
Beavers lietter than the Ducks this
year? The answer Not really
They're both had However. Ore
gon State will finish at least two
games better than Oregon in the
conference standings this year for
two reasons.
One; Defense. The Beavers
can't shoot straight, but realize
it's possible to win by creating
easy baskets off turnovers and
frustrating opponents.
Two: They always do. Oregon
State finds ways to win games
they have no business winning
and of playing opponents tough
when they should be getting
blown out. Oregon seems to have
forgotten how to do this.
Stanford: 2-0, 9-2 — 1 no c.ar
dinal is one of the
teams that has been
a big surprise so far
tiiis season.
BMW Much of the Car
dinal's early success fias lieen the
play of freshman point guard
Brovin Knight. Knight is averag
ing six assists and throe steals this
season (third and fourth in the
c onference) and has tieen a pleas
ant surprise fort oach Mike Mont
gomery. but Montgomery also
realizes it's going to take more
than that if the Cardinal are going
to have a shot at postseason.
"If you have to roly on a fresh
man. you're in trouble," he said.
"The position is so loaded in the
conference, it will be interesting
to see how (Knight) will handle
it."
Stanford has a detent front line
with forwards Andy Poppink and
Brent Williams both pulling
down nearly seven boards a
game, but the Cardinal will need
to rely heavily on contributions
from the younger guys.
"We have the ability to con
tend for postseason. Mont
gomery said "We have to get
(letter, and to do that we have five
sophomores and freshmen that
we need to contribute."
Mims' Forecast — The alarm
ckx k s ringing, and it's time for
the Cardinal to awake from its
dreams There is no way this
team contends for postseason
play. There is not enough depth
anywhere on this roster, most
notably up front.
Knight has lieen more than any
one expected, hut no freshman
guard (except )ason Kidd) will tie
enough to improve this team dra
matically The Cardinal will take
its lumps through the Pac -10. but
Williams and Knight should be
fun How bad were expectations
in Palo Alto this year? The most
exciting thing they could think of
for the media guide was a picture
of their eighth-year head coach
Dave's Forecast — Stanford got
iin important win last weekend
over Washington State, but the
win was at home, as were seven
of its other eight wins this season
The Cardinal did a hell of a job
mapping out its non-conference
games, fai mg teams like San Jose
State, Cal-Riverside. Cal State
Northridge and McNeese State all
at home Of its three road games.
Stanford dropped two and man
aged to boat Santa Clara in over
time
The Cardinal lark a proven
scorer, and Montgomery 's right,
counting on a freshman to carry
you is pushing it Once Knight
starts fat ing the J’ai 10 terrors at
the point position, he may find
it a little more difficult than the
Division II players he has fin nd so
far this season
No tourney this y ear guys
Lame: Come on. put the "s"
back at the end of Cardinal. What
is this, soccer1’
Simonson's Forecast — Who
has Stanford beat this year'
McNeese State' Yeah. I think I had
a cousin who went there to leant
to fix tractors Manhattan? Is that
a university or a borough with a
YMCA?
Yes. Stanford heat Santa Clara
and Washington State They're not
bad. but it won't be long before
they stop sneaking up on the rest
of the conference They've got
decent talent and a docent coach
They have a good shot at being,
tun, decent this year, but .500 is
out of the question.
UC1.A: 2-0, !M) — Hoad
coach Jim Harriet is
doing his Imst I/m Holtz CaT hy
impersonation in rrj/O M/wl
record to his sixth- {IjyCd LJ^
ranked Bruins.
"We’re not a top-10 team yet."
he said 'We need to work on our
execution, hut overall. I'm pleased
with our start "
Truth he told, he's right.
Although the Bruins have by far
the Ix-st starting lineup in the con
ference. their depth is just a tad
suspect, especially at the guard
position Shun Tarver and Tyus
Kdney are both unstoppable at
times, and w ith players like them,
the Bruins don't really need back
ups to play more than five or six
minutes a game. But if an injury
hits either one {especially Kdney),
UCLA may struggle.
Hie front line is rock solid. The
O'Bannon brothers (Ed and
Charles) con bottle inside and bum
you from the three-point line. Cen
ters Rodney Zimmerman and |iri
Zidek are mammoth individuals
who complement the rest of the
team nicely
Emerald Pac-IO Predictions
Dave
Charbonneau
UCIA
Arizona
California
WSU
use
Arizona St.
Stanford
Oregon
Oregon St.
Washington
16-2
15-3
12-6
11-7
10-8
8-10
6-12
6-12
5-13
1-17
Steve
Mims
UCLA 16-2
Arizona 15-3
California 15-3
USC 11-7
WSU 9-9
Arizona St 7-11
Stanford 6-12
Oregon 5-13
Oregon St. 4-12
Washington 2-16
Scott
Simonson
Arizona 16-2
UCLA 14-4
California 14-4
WSU 11 -7
USC 10-8
Arizona St. 8-10
Stanford 7-11
Oregon St. 5-13
Oregon 3-15
Washington 2-16
Mims' Forecast — What fun
would a conference preview be
without predicting someone to
win the NCAA championship' So
here it is, IJCLA ir. the national
champion. Well, maybe not. hut
they are one of the teams capa
ble of showing up in Charlotte for
the Final Four this year
The O'Hannon brothers will
complement each other great in
the front court, anil the backcourt
of Fdney and Tarver is overshad
owed by all the other good guards
in the conference. Fdney is prob
ably the quickest guard in the con
ference and Tarver has n size
advantage over most of his oppo
nents So meet your HFH Fin -10
champions, the UCI.A Bruins
Charbonncau's Forecast — I
thought the Bruins were the ixlds
on favorite to win the conference
Then 1 saw them plav Oregon, and
I changed my mind Then I saw
them crush Oregon State, and I
changed my mind again It’s nice
to do this preview after a week of
Par.-10 games have already been
played
When the Bruins are playing
their best, no one in the confer
encecan stop them But they will
have a few off-nights and lose at
least a couple Even so, the team
who wins the Pbi 10 will proba
bly have a few losses, and I'm
going with the Bruins
What's that' Jiri 7-idek and ike
Nwankwo make up the weirdest
named duo in the Pac-10 since
Christian Welp and Detlef
Schrempf were at Washington.
Simonson's Forecast — UCLA
is still two O’Bannon brothers
away from winning a national
championship. The Bruin back
itaiaiaiatf
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Arizona will finish in front of
tho Bruins in tho Fat.-10. but
UC1A should have a better post
season One upset and the Bruins
can male it to tho final oixfit
l >S(i 2-0,9-2 — The Trojans are
i n o h s probably the most
| mysterious team in
the conference
Lorenzo Orr. the
team's leading
scorer from last year, is back, Burt
Harris, USC’s leading assist man.
returns at point guard but isn't
starting, and freshman center
Avondre Jones has played well
thus far
But questions remain alxiut pis!
how good I ISC really is Cist sea
son. the Trojans finished lt> 1 I
and made it to the semifinals of
the NIT. The Trojans got a lug
Im>ost with a light non-conference
m hedule, but like so many other
teams m the con fere tun. it remains
to Is' s»vti just how gix*d this team
performs against some valid com
petition
Head coach George Raveling
said he tiles what he's seen so far
this season
Tin pleased with the team.' he
s,ud "We’ve shown growth from
week to wool and month to
month Our freshmen continue to
get better. and limn) individuals.
Mark Boyd. Orr and Damian Pow
all have shown amazing growth."
Mima' Forecast — It nothing
else, this loam should load the
conference in fouls and figlits. The
Trojans are probably the next l**st
team in the conference, next to
the three national powers in the
conference The Trojans will
come in fourth pine e with about
20 wins overall, enough to get
them into the tourney
Mark Man h 10 on your calen
dar. that's the day the Trojans
come to hugene to play the Dm k.s.
then usually go to Guido's after
wards and urinate on the build
ing
Charbonneau's Forecast —
I lore’s another team that has a lot
to prove in the I’ai to lake Stan
ford. the Trojans tmnufited by hav
ing eight of their first 1 1 games
at home against the likes of San
Diego State, Sac ramento State and
1 Inward Their two losses came at
the hands of Pennsylvania and
South Morula, two teams that will
sink your power rating in a sec
one!
Kven so. USC will likely Ik* on
the N( !AA butible at the end of the
season
Met you didn’t know Simonson
says Orr can tom h the top of the
backboard. Oddly enough, so can
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