Thursday
February 25,1999
©regoriWJJEmeralti
Best Bet
NCAA Basketball
Arizona vs. California
7:30 pm, FSNW (23)
R Driving in
everse
Perhaps
Oregon’s
most
talented
recruit ever,
Gresham
native
Frederick
Jones has
had a
turbulent
freshman
season, full
of twists,
turns —
and reverses
Freddie’s
Freshman
Season:
■ Points per
game: 9.5
■ Rebounds per
game: 3.2
■Assists per
game: 1.8
■ Steals: 17
■ Blocks: 15
■ Field-goal
percentage: 51.6
■ Three-point
percentage: 42.0
■ Free-throw
percentage: 61.8
By Rob Moseley
Oregon Daily Emerald
The prettiest move seen from an Oregon men’s
basketball player this season usually begins on the
other end of the floor.
Most likely the opposition has just missed a
shot, and the Ducks are beginning to disperse
throughout the court.
The two post players are positioning themselves
for the rebound, wrestling underneath the hoop for
the opportunity to push the ball to the point guard.
Darius Wright, that point guard, is drifting back
to the three-point line and beyond to midcourt,
waiting for the opportunity to receive a pass and
kick it up-court to one of the two wings streaking
down the sidelines.
Down the left wing runs Alex Scales, Terik
Brown or maybe Yasir Rosemond. On the right
sideline is a true freshman, the kid with quite pos
sibly more potential than any other Oregon recruit.
Ever.
The freshman is looking back to half court in an
ticipation of a pass and at the same time sizing up
the hoop, which is growing closer with each long
stride. All the while, he watches a defender or two
mn back to man the post, and the freshman begins
to consider his options.
The Oregon crowd notices all of this beginning
to unfold and a quiet rumble ensues as a few of the
fans rise to their feet.
That crowd is thinking only one thing:
Freddie Jones is coming.
Freddie, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound native of Gre
sham, Ore., was one of those Kenny Anderson or
Stephon Marbury types — people had been talk
ing about his game since before he entered Barlow
High School.
Although Freddie’s game was polished around
Portland against people his own age, it was initial
ly honed in ragged pick-up games that often in
cluded people much older than he.
Driving on men older and bigger than he was,
Freddie began to perfect the athleticism that makes
him the player he is today.
“It’s just instinct,” Freddie says of those games.
“If you don’t create, if you can’t come up with
something and get your shot off, they’re going to
block your shot.”
By no means is Freddie just a street-ball player.
He wasn’t voted one of the Best in the West by the
Long Beach Press-Telegram for dunking on adults.
He wasn’t named two-time 4A player of the year
in Oregon by being a great H-O-R-S-E player.
No, Freddie was the Gatorade state player of
the year his senior season because he averaged
29.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, four assists, 3.4
Nick Metiley/Hnurahl
((To me,
he’s not a
freshman.
He doesn't
do many
things like
freshmen do.
He doesn 7
go out there
and throw
the ball
away, he
doesn 7 take
had shots
and he’s
really
improved
defensively
.... ”
A.D. Smith
UO forward
Jones shows oft his
signature move,
gliding pasta UCLA
defender in the
Ducks'65-63 loss to
the Bruins earlier
this season
Diocxea snots ana even a couple ot steals per
game.
It was those numbers that helped Freddie’s leg
end grow as word spread south to Eugene. It was
those numbers that had Oregon fans not just ex
pecting the teenager to drive down 1-5, but perhaps
to fly, for he was to be the angel that shepherded
the Ducks into the national spotlight.
As long as he actually signed with Oregon.
The prettiest move seen from an Oregon men’s
basketball player this season has actually hap
pened five or six times.
Wright gets the ball and decides which wing has
a better chance of scoring, then he flings it over the
Turn to FREDDIE, Page 12
J
UO golfers back on green after enduring rough start
Oregon finished strong, advancing
to fifth place in the final round
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon women’s golf team needed a shot of
confidence.
And on Wednesday afternoon, the Ducks got just
what the doctor ordered.
After moving from seventh to sixth place in the
second round of the three-day Bruin Invitational in
Menifee, Calif., Oregon shot 306 in Wednesday’s
final round to finish in fifth place overall with a
three-round score of 924.
Oklahoma State won the invitational with a
team score of 894, and Pepperdine finished in sec
ond with a score of 912. UCLA finished third with
919, followed closely by Texas Christian’s score of
920.
Maria Bowden of Oklahoma State won the indi
vidual title, shooting 217 for the tournament.
USC’s Jennifer Rosales finished in second with
233.
Head coach Renee Baumgartner was pleased by
the Ducks’ effort.
“It was a tournament that
helped us build our confidence a
little bit more," she said in a re
leased statement. “We beat USC,
who is ranked in the top five in
the country, so that will definitely
help our ranking and our confi
dence.
We re headed in the right direction. It was a dif
ficult course, and we played pretty well over all.”
Oregon’s Jerilyn White led the Ducks for the sec
ond consecutive day, shooting an even-par 72 in
each of the final two rounds. White finished in
sixth place individually with a score of 225.
Also matching her second-round performance
was Karen Bristow, who shot a 76 in the final
round to finish 15th with a score of 229. Dawn
Berry also finished in the top 20, shooting a three
round score of 232 to finish in 20th place.
Pam Sowden and Claire Hunter struggled in the
final round. Sowden shot an 81 to finish with a to
tal of 240 for 42nd place, and Hunter tied for 55th
after shooting an 86 in the third to finish with 249.
Kimi Cunningham, who shot a lowly 94-89 in
the first two rounds, came back in the third, shoot
ing 76. Cunningham finished tied for 62nd.
Playing as an individual during the tournament
was Oregon’s Angie Rizzo. Rizzo shot 81-77-72 to
finish tied for 17th with a score of 230.
The Ducks will take a month off before compet
ing in the Colby Invitational in Carmel, Calif., on
March 22-33.
Bruin
Invitational
Leaderboard
1. Oklahoma State:
894
2. Pepperdine: 912
3. UCLA: 919
4. Texas Christian:
920
5. Oregon: 924
6. San Diego State:
927
7. TexasTech: 928
8. Southern Cal: 932
9. Brigham Young:
944
10. Nevada: 947