Men’s Pac-10
continued from page 2B
and Gonzaga and with Pac-10
play looming, the talk about the
Ducks in the NCAA Tournament
is in full force.
But in order for Oregon to make
its first tournament appearance
since 1995 — and just its second
since 1961 — the Ducks must im
prove upon the individual consis
tency of many of its players. Most
notable is center Flo Hartenstein,
who has not yet shown that he is
capable of securing the inside
game, and if he doesn’t improve,
expect junior college transfer
Julius Hicks to step into his spot.
The high-flying antics of senior
forward Alex Scales and sopho
more guard Freddie Jones will
again lead the offensive attack but
will be needing the help of guard
David Jackson later on in the sea
son. Jackson, who recently under
went surgery on his knee, will be
sidelined at least two to three
weeks.
4. Oregon State
Head coach: Ed
die Payne
Playerto
watch: DeAun
dra Tanner, PG
Outlook: At
first glance, it might be surprising
to see Oregon State in the top four
in the league, but you must re
member these aren’t the same
Beavers of old. Or are they?
Oregon State returns four
starters from a year ago, and most
have been together for three years.
This experienced bunch, led by
DeAundra Tanner, will vault a
program that has not had a win
ning season since Gary Payton
was a senior in 1990 into postsea
1..... ...
son play. The Beavers are near the
top of the league in every defen
sive category and also lead the
Pac-10 in three-point shooting.
Last year, Gill Coliseum proved
to be a huge factor in Beaver home
wins over UCLA, Oregon, Stanford
and Arizona. The only problem
was that the Beavers went 0-9 on
the road in league play.
Obviously road wins must be a
priority, especially at such places as
Washington State — a site, believe
it or not, the Beavers haven’t won at
since 1990.
5. California
Head Coach:
Ben Braun
Player to
watch: Sean
Lampley, F
Outlook: The California Golden
Bears are fresh off the NIT Cham
pionship that they captured last
March in New York, and it looks
as if the NIT will be the best Cal
can hope for again this season.
A key to the season will be how
well five freshmen and three
sophomores — the youngest
squad in the school’s history —
can adapt to Pac-10 play.
Leading the youngsters will be
junior forward Sean Lampley
who leads Cal in scoring, rebound
ing and minutes played.
The Bears have struggled against
physical teams, but if they can
weather the Arizonas and Stan-,
fords, they should be NIT-bound.
6. UCLA (6-2)
Head coach:
Steve Lavin
Player to
watch: Earl
Watson, PG
Outlook: The Bruins will en
dure their first season without
current Charlotte Hornet Baron
Davis in disappointing fashion.
One reason that the Bruins will
lose games — as they have al
ready against Gonzaga by 16 and
against Colorado St. — is that
teams have figured out that in or
der to beat the Bruins you must
simply control the tempo.
Evidence to this method of
winning can be traced all the way
back to the first round of the 1996
NCAA Tournament when Prince
ton upset the Bruins by dictating
the way the game would be
played..
The Bruins may have six wins
already, but the wins came
against Iona, Fairfield, Morgan
State, DePaul, Maine and South
Florida.
Enough said.
7. Arizona State
(8-3)
KJklHil Head coach: Rob
Evans
Player to watch:
<\\v' Eddie House, G
Outlook: Six
true freshmen. One true star.
Arizona State’s season will be
decided on how far veteran guard
Eddie House can take them,
which will not be very far in the
talent-laden Pac-10.
The six true freshmen on the
team equal the total of Northwest
ern and Duke as the most on an
Division I roster, but with House
and his Pac-10-leading 20.6
points per game, anything is pos
sible.
8. Southern Califor
nia (7-5)
Head coach: Henry
|fj| Bibby
I Player to watch: Bri
ImP an Scalabrine, C
Outlook: Oregon
fans remember Adam Spanich —
he of the famous six points in 2.8
seconds in USC’s 85-84 win over
the Ducks at Mac Court — and are
not sad to hear that he has gradu
ated.
Southern California, however,
is singing a much different tune as
his three-point shooting touch is
sorely missed. Without an outside
game, opponents are focusing on
shutting down Brian Scalabrine
down low and are coming away
victorious.
Scalabrine, last season’s Pac-10
newcomer of the year, will be ex
pected to do much more this year
and will needed to be helped
greatly by point guard Brandon
Granville.
Outlook: Washington State
players are talking about having a
chance to play in March. And in a
9. Washington
State (5-4)
Head coach:
Paul Graham
Player to
watch: Jan
Michael
Thomas, G
r
way, they will be right, sort of.
You see, the Cougars close out
their Pac-10 schedule by playing
three games in March.
Realistically, the best first-year
coach Paul Graham can hope for
is to finish above Washington ...
and they will.
10. Washing
ton (5-7)
Head coach:
Bob Bender
Player to
watch: Deon
Luton, G
Outlook: The only thing profes
sional-like of the Washington
Huskies this season is the arena
they play in — Seattle’s Key Are
na, home of NBA’s Sonics —
while their on-campus arena is
being renovated.
Washington enters conference
play as the only team with a los
ing record, and expect the losing
ways to continue and its streak of
four-straight postseason berths to
come to a crashing halt.
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