©resonSR^meraUi
Thursday
March 4,1999
Best Bet
NCAA basketball
Cincinnati vs. South Florida
6:30 p.m., ESPN
Pac-10 king aims to dismiss hopeful Ducks
Oregon is
hoping to
bolster its
postseason
chances
tonight, while
No. 6 Stanford
wants to prove
it is worthy of a
No. 1 seed after
locking up the
Pac-10 title
By Tim Pyle
Oregon Daily Emerald
For Oregon fans, March Madness is com
ing in like a lion.
The highly anticipated visit of No. 6
Stanford, a Final Four team last season and
Sports Illustrated's preseason pick to win
the national title this season, becomes real
ity tonight when the Cardinal invades
McArthur Court at 7:35 p.m.
Adding to the drama, the Oregon men’s
basketball team’s season may hang in the
balance.
The Ducks (15-10 overall, 7-9 Pacific-10
Conference) must win their final two
games — the last coming Saturday against
California at McArthur Court — if they
plan to waltz into the NCAA Tournament
with an at-large bid.
They might need the same to host a Na
tional Invitation Tournament game, and
one win may be necessary for an NIT bid —
period.
What does Stanford (24-5, 14-2) have to
play for?
The Cardinal already wrapped up its
first Pac-10 title, and the accompanying
automatic bid to the
NCAAs, last weekend.
But it still needs to per
suade the selection com
mittee that it is worthy
of a No. 1 seed.
The last time these
two teams met, Jan. 4 in
Palo Alto, Calif., Stanford sent an 8-1
Oregon team home with a 77-59 loss.
That defeat began an ignominious streak
in which the Ducks lost eight of nine
games.
Foremost in Oregon head coach Ernie
Kent’s mind from that loss — the Ducks’
worst of the season — is the Cardinal’s
dominance in the low post.
"We've got to do a better job against their
big people, neutralizing them, doing a little
bit better job defensively and hopefully
scoring a little bit better ourselves,” Kent
said. “I think we’ll be able to do that be
cause our big guys have gotten better since
then.”
Mark Madsen and Tim Young, Stan
ford’s starting big men, outscored Oregon’s
frontcourt 40-13. Young, a senior who has
had numerous deadly performances
against the Ducks, scored a game-high 23
points on eight-of-11 shooting from the
field and grabbed a game-high 12 re
bounds.
Alex Scales led Oregon with 16 points
and six assists, but he was just four for 14
from the floor.
Before the Ducks can beat the Cardinal,
Kent feels they must overcome the intimi
dating aura that now surrounds the Stan
Turn to MEN, Page 10
On Tap
WHAT: Men's
basketball
WHO: Oregon (15
10,7-9) vs. Stan
ford (24-5.14-2)
WHERE:
McArthur Court
WHEN: 7:35 p.m.
Stanford Basketball
Oregon native hopes to cut down Ducks
Lindsey Yamasaki says she
has something to prove
against Oregon tonight
By Allison Ross
Oregon Daily Emerald
The decision looms like a thick fog. It can
consume high school seniors and can rattle
their parents. There are infinite options. Col
leges are like horizons, they are everywhere.
Lindsey Yamasaki had choices. As USA
Today’s Player of the Year from the state of
Oregon in 1998, she was recruited by
schools all over the nation. Not only could
she play basketball, but she was also a
On Tap
WHAT: Women’s
basketball
WHO: No. 15
Oregon vs. Stan
ford
WHERE: Maples
Pavilion,
Palo Alto, Calif.
WHEN:
7:30 p.m.
TV: KVAL (Chan
nel 8)
standout volleyball
player. Colleges were
eager to bring her on
board.
During Yamasaki’s
senior year at Oregon
City High School, the
6-foot-1 guard aver
aged 25 points and 11
rebounds per game.
She had the option to
stay close to home, as
Oregon was one of the
schools recruiting her.
But the Pacific-10
Conference’s most
dominant women s program was also re
cruiting Yamasaki. Stanford, which has
won the conference title eight times over
the last 12 years, including a current
streak of four in a row, eventually added
Yamasaki to its roster.
This season, Stanford (16-11 overall, 14-2
in the Pac-10) has not been the conference
bully it has previously been. Although it is
still mathematically capable of winning the
championship, Stanford will likely finish
third, behind UCLA and Oregon.
Surprisingly, Yamasaki seems to have
severed her Oregon roots with the move
to California.
“I don’t want Oregon to win the cham
pionship,” Yamasaki said. “I want to
prove to the people in my home state that I
made the right decision. I’m more compet
itive knowing that they recruited me, but I
felt like I was choosing the right program. ”
Yamasaki’s starry career at Oregon City
— four consecutive 4A championships
Turn to WOMEN, Page 12
bumjora Daily
Stanford freshman guard Lindsey Yamasaki feeds a pass down low to a teammate. Yamasaki, a native of
Oregon City, chose the Cardinal over a large group of national powerhouses, including Oregon.
Have you been
watching closely,
Mr. Jaynes?
OPEN letter to Dwight Jaynes:
Good golly, Dwight ... you’ve
sure been silent lately.
I’ve read your columns in The
Oregonian for a long time. Born and raised
in the Rip City, 1 still have some random
flashbacks of certain things you’ve written
about the Portland Trailblazers in the past.
You are an extremely talented writer and
probably a better columnist
than I’ll ever be. Usually, 1 ——
even agree with what you Opinion
say.
But I ve noticed since the
start of the shortened NBA
season that you haven’t
been writing as many
columns about the Blazers
as you used to, and I think I
Know wny.
Being a loyal reader of Scott
your columns, I know that PeSZllBCker
one of your favorite things _^_
to do is verbally beat on
Blazer bad boy Isaiah Rider. His shady his
tory and emotional outbursts have made
him an easy target since the day he set foot
in Portland.
You’ve said just about everything that
could be said about Rider. Your columns
have taken shots at his life both on and off
the court. Whenever something happens to
him that could be used to show he does not
belong in Portland, you always seem to be
among the first to get in on the action.
So I can understand why you must be so
disappointed right now.
Rider may be having his best season as a
Trailblazer this season. He is averaging
33.3 minutes, 17.9 points and 5.3 rebounds
per game.
But let’s set those numbers aside,
Dwight, because it’s not the statistics that
you’ve always complained about.
No, when it comes to his life on the
court, you’re usually more concerned with
the way he burdens the team simply with
his presence.
Take Tuesday night’s double-overtime
victory over Utah, for example. Rider's
presence —18 points and six rebounds —
was such a huge obstacle for Portland to
overcome, wasn’t it?
Turn to PESZNECKER, Page 12