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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1999)
Pacers prove to be vulnerable NEED MONEY? Plasma donations earn around $140 every month. $15 on 1 st donation - $30 on 2nd donation! Bring in this ad for an additional $2.00 We need your help! A (j) Seramed Biocenter—Eugene (formerly J-Mar Biological) 1 Block east off 8th and Garffield 1901 West 8th Ave., Eugene 683-9430 also at 225 B Main St. In Springflald oy nans mwenurun The Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS — This is a confused and frustrated team. The Indiana Pacers, a team with championship aspirations, are proving to be a club that loses close games when it can least af ford to. The Pacers practiced together daily for months during the NBA lockout, anticipating a payoff once the season began. Home court advantage throughout the playoffs was one goal, but that’s now mathematically impossible. Homecourt advantage through out the Eastern Conference play offs is a long shot. The Pacers en ter their final four games of the regular season struggling to hold 'first place in the Central Division. Indiana’s lead over second place Atlanta was* cut to a half game with Tuesday’s 88-87 loss to Orlando, and the Hawks could tie the Pacers on Wednesday by beat ing the New York Knicks. Three of Indiana’s final four games are at home, but that appar ent edge seems minimal since the Pacers have lost three of their last six home games. “Last year when we needed to win at home, we won,” Antonio Davis said. “This year we can’t put together a bucket, a stop, a win when we really need it. It’s scary Decause we just can t get it done and we don’t know why.” Indiana is 1-6 in games decided by one point and four of the losses have been at Market Square Are na. Failure to protect leads late in the game and an inability to make game-saving stops have become common. “This was a very tough loss with the same story on a different day and the same ending,” Jalen Rose said after the loss to Orlan do, which cost the Pacers home court advantage with Orlando if the teams finish the regular sea son in a tie. “We must stop this. I think we’re thinking about it too much and just haven’t gotten into the rhythm to pull out these games when we need to be.” Coach Larry Bird has stressed the importance of home-court ad vantage in the playoffs since the lockout ended. But the team is now in danger of not having home advantage past the first round. Miami, the Atlantic Division leader, holds a 2 1/2-game lead over Indiana and would likely win the tiebreaker if the two teams finished the season with identical records. The teams split their four games this season, and the second tiebreaker would be conference record. Miami has a three-game lead over Indiana in conference games. ine nrsi ueDreaiter in aeter mining home-court advantage is head-to-head games and Pacers have lost the season series to Or lando and Atlanta. “As far as winning the East, catching Miami is probably out of reach,” Dale Davis said. “You have to put it behind us ... and keep pecking away.” Indiana is 6-8 in games decided by three or fewer points and is only 12-14 against teams with winning records. “A majority of these games, we shouldn’t have been in this posi tion ... where it’s so tight,” Dale Davis said. “As a team, we have to step it up and put teams away.” The time to do that starts Thursday when Charlotte comes to town. Indiana makes its last road stop of the regular season on Friday at Atlanta and Finishes at -home with New York on Sunday and Cleveland on Tuesday. “Just being in that position is a little bit discouraging for a team like us,” Davis said. “It’s still not over. We still have time to correct some things, and make this a championship squad.” “If we don’t watch out, we won’t have any home court,” Bird said. “Losing like this is tough on everybody and it’s tough to bounce back, but somehow we have to find a way.” ’ Continued from Page 11 And as the expectations have risen, so have Driessen’s perfor mances. In his debut season three years ago, Driessen placed fourth in the 400 hurdles at the Pepsi Team Invite and qualified for the Pacific-10 Conference Champi onships. The following season was Driessen’s breakthrough at Ore gon — he ran three personal records in the 400 hurdles, won the event twice and concluded the season with a fifth-place fin ish at the Pac-10 meet. With all the success Driessen enjoyed, he still failed to qualify for the NCAA Championships, but by less than one second. Last season, the improvements continued. He was one of just two Ducks to score points for Oregon in two events at the Pac-10 meet. But still no NCAA appearance. As the current season progress es, Driessen has only one goal left to accomplish — making the NCAA cut. “He works really hard at what he does,” said junior Nat Johnson, Mourning sidelined with eye injury MIAMI — Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning will miss at least two more games after being diag nosed Wednesday with a slight fracture of his right eye socket. Surgery won’t be necessary, but Miami’s leading scorer and re bounder will have to wear a pro tective device in the playoffs for the second consecutive season. “Whether it’s a face mask or goggles, we won’t know until af ter he tries some things on,” team spokesman Tim Donovan said. Mourning missed two games last season and played with a protec tive mask for 10 more after break ing his left cheekbone in a late-sea son collision against Boston. Mourning, who mfssed Tues day night’s win at New Jersey, will sit out games Thursday against Boston and Saturday Dnessen * * //e mentality to not run for a year, and then come out and dedicate himself completely. » Na!Johnson UO runner on Wilt Driessen who has occasionally run relay events with Driessen. “He has the mentality to not run for a year, and then come out and dedicate himself completely. He is a legiti mate contender for the NCAAs.” The challenge for Driessen this season has been overcoming a foot injury. Although he has missed just one meet, Driessen’s times have been uncharacteristic. On April 3, Driessen finished sec ond in the 400 hurdles, but his time (54.12 seconds) was nowhere near his personal best of 50.97. Driessen said his foot is about 90 percent and he will finally be ready to run full force Saturday in the Oregon Invitational at Hay ward Field. . “This is going to be my first chance this season to run really fast,” Driessen said. “I’m hoping to go out and bust a good time.” It’s ironic to think that Driessen probably wouldn’t even be watch ing this meet if he had done things his way at Oregon. He probably would have gone to class and read about the results in the newspaper. Now, he’s the only competitor for Oregon in the hurdles and cur rently ranks seventh on the Ducks’ all-time list in the 400 hurdles. His name is in the record books, yet three years ago he thought his track career was finished. However, he wears yellow and green as if he had planned to run for Oregon all along. “I love competing, and it’s fun to race against other people,” Driessen said. “I have little goals that I set each race, but right now, first and foremost, I want to go to theNCAAs.” Arena Theatre Apr it 28- Map 1 > Mmi 6- 8 / U7 Box Office 346-4191 i EMU Tickets against Chicago but could be back Sunday at home against Charlotte. Mourning is having perhaps his best season, averaging 20.3 points and 11.0 rebounds and leading the league in blocked shots with a 4.0 average. He was considered a strong candidate for league MVP. His latest injury came in the first quarter of Monday night’s 90 65 win at Cleveland, when the Cavaliers’ Cedric Henderson hit him in the face. Mourning continued playing, finishing with 23 points, 12 re bounds and four blocks. But he complained of discomfort after ward and was sent home Tuesday for further examination, missing that night’s win at New Jersey. A second facial injury to Mourning caused coach Pat Riley to say that officials need to pay closer attention to what defenders are doing to his star center. — The Associated Press 006160 +-Learn How To Save A Life American Red Cross training in First Aid and Adah CPR $15 Fee Includes 4 Hour Class • Instruction Booklet • Certificate of Instruction April_ 28 Wed 5:00-9:00 First Aid 29 Thur 5:00-9:00 Child/lnfent Hay. 3 Mon 4 Tues 8 Sat ID Mon 5:00-9:00 Adult 5:00-9:00 FirstAid 10:00-2:00 Child/Infant 5:00-9:00 Adult • Health Center Cafeteria • $ 15.00 . • Current CPR card needed for American Red Cross FirstAid Class Register Early 346- 2770 „ Sponsoreaoy the Health Center Health Education Program" MYTH: Collier House food is too expensive for student budgets. FACT: A B.L.T. with a cup of soup is $4.25. A fresh-made (not frozen) falafel burger with soup is $4.25. Chili with garlic-cheese bread is $4.60. Not convinced yet? Come in and look at the menu for even lower-priced lunches. Live music Thursday, April 29th • 6-8pm Peter Wilde & Friends original biuegrass Friday, April 30th • 4-6pm Hep Cats swing music on the deck Collier House Cafe f Lunch 11:00 a.m. - 8.00 p.m.» 13th & University • ON CAMPUS Good Food • Friendly Service • Ouldoor Sealing • Microbrews • Wine • Meals • All Ages • Smoke Free • Student Discount ifi...... The ODE Classified section... much more than a place for the crossword
