UO Men
continued from page 7
has coached against.
What the Ducks need to do to
fulfill their promise is rediscov
er that old McArthur Court mag
ic, starting with games Thurs
day and Saturday against
California and No. 3 Stanford,
respectively.
A Pac-10 home start like last
season’s — which began with the
infamous Adam Spanich-spurred
one-point loss to Southern Cali
fornia and progressed into an 0-4
conference start — would be dis
astrous.
Already this season, the Ducks
have allowed a less-talented op
ponent, Cal State-Northridge, to
escape Mac Court with an un
likely victory. That loss, howev
er, did come on Dec. 11, when
many students had left for win
ter vacation and Oregon was still
going through early-season strug
gles.
Ducks head coach Ernie Kent
has often said during this sea
son and last that he believes
his teams play better on the
road, where they can escape
the pressures of home and con
centrate solely on the task at
hand.
But for Oregon to become a
consistent force in the Pac-10
and nationwide, as Kent hopes,
the Ducks have to be dominant
at home. And there is no better
time to start than this week by
sweeping the Bay Area schools,
a feat that would probably get
Oregon into the rankings and
put them well on their way to
the most successful season in re
cent history.
Sensational Smith
Senior forward A.D. Smith has
made a career out of surprising
people, whether they be oppo
nents, fans, the media or even his
own teammates.
He has been called too slow.
He has been called too old
school.
And he has been called too
small — at least by power for
ward standards.
But Smith nevertheless contin
ues to produce.
So far this season, the 6-foot-8,
233-pound graduate of Eugene’s
Churchill High School has been
Oregon’s best, most consistent
player.
After Saturday night’s 22
point performance at Oregon
State, Smith is averaging a team
high 16.3 points per game, up
from his average of 13 points
last season.
More importantly, Smith is
getting his points by taking
good shots, as shown by his
sparkling .566 shooting per
centage.
Smith’s rebounding numbers
may .be down from last season
— from 7.9 to 5.7 per game —
but that is more the result of
new Ducks’ big men Bryan
Bracey and Julius Hicks helping
out than of any shortcoming of
Smith’s own. Besides, he still
leads the team in that category,
as well.
If Smith continues to play at
the level he has so far, he could
end his Oregon career with his
biggest surprise — first-team all
Pac-10 honors.
East 19th Street Cafe
1485 E 19th Street
Higl
Brewer &
1243 High Street
345-4905
Serving Handcrafted Ales & Wines and Pub Fare
11:00am-1:00am, Monday - Saturday & 12:00-12:00 Sunday
All Wavs Travel
Back to School Specials*
San Francisco - $ 78.00*
London -$398.00*
Sydney -$799.00*
Lima, Peru -$575.00*
♦tax not included, restrictions may apply.
Subject to change without notice
Serving the UO since 1990!!!
E-mail: awttfluv21ravel.com
© 1999 VarsityBooks.com Inc.
We realize we
the Internet. Let's
of it. Not only can
also receive them in
that's completely reliable and secure.
site
know?
SAVE UP TO 40% ON TEXTBOOKS.
o
Savings off distributor’s suggested price. Books delivered in no more than three business days.
Some restrictions apply. See site for details.
VarsityBooks.com
A.D. Smith is making the most of his senior season, averaging 16.3 points per game.
UO Women
continued from page 7
we’re at right now.”
Oregon head coach Jody Runge
is not surprised by the unpre
dictable start of the Pac-10 sea
son.
“There’s a lot of parity between
teams on their home courts like
Arizona State, Cal and USC,”
Runge said. “Those are going to be
tough places to play.”
With two Pac-10 games com
pleted for most the conference,
UCLA has survived some rough,
early season team-chemistry
mishaps to find itself tied for first
with Arizona State.
That’s right — Arizona State.
Southern California rounds out
the three-way tie.
The combined scoring margin
UCLA held over Washington and
Washington State was 63 points.
But in terms of playing tough
against tough competition, Ari
zona State leads the way with its
74-68 upset of Stanford last Fri
day in Tempe, Ariz.
Stanford, by the way, was again
left off of the elite top 25
ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll.
“[Stanford’s ranking] is very de
ceiving,” Runge said. “Stanford
has been a pretty good team.
Maybe they haven’t played from
time to time but they haven’t had
[Lindsey] Yamasaki either. So
they get her back, she has 18
points, and that’s a pretty good
shot in the arm.”
Williams echoed that senti
ment.
“Stanford is a very good team,”
she said. “And they lost a few
games early, but you have to keep
in mind that early in the season
they were up on Tennessee all
game, and Tennessee’s the No. 2
ranked team in the country.
They’re always solid, and when
they’re at home they’re even
tougher.”
Putting the Shaqles on Flores
Not many players in the Pac-10
Eire more agile, or as agile, as
Williams. She knows it, and so do
those who watch her.
But Williams also knows about
an athlete named Milena Flores.
She’s a senior guard on the Cardi
nal — who led the conference in
assists last season with 7.3 per
game.
Although her team may be un
ranked, Flores’ production still
makes her one of the best players
in the conference. She had nine
points and 12 assists in Stanford’s
upset of No. 18 Arizona last Satur
day.
Williams is looking forward to
her probable matchup with the 5
6 guard.
“She’s always pretty tough of
fensively and defensively, just
because she’s one of the few
people who are as fast or faster
than I am,” Williams said. “She
really puts a lot of pressure on
me both offensively and defen
sively.
“I kind of use her as a measur
ing stick. She’s two years older,
and she’s one of the best players
in the Pac-10. You always try to
measure yourself against them. ”
Get those boards
Oregon emerged from noncon
ference play with a respectable
H If we want to be .
among the elite teams,
we have to play like [an
elite team] every game.
Shaquala Williams
guard
502-452 edge in rebounds over
its opponents. Much of the
Ducks’ advantage, however,
came from high-scoring home
games.
Against Oregon State last Satur
day, Oregon’s struggles on the
boards became clearer when the
Beavers out rebounded the Ducks
43-31.
“We just need to block out,” for
ward Angelina Wolvert said. “At
the OSU game, they were general
ly a lot taller than we were. We
just didn’t get a butt on anybody
to block them out so they got a lot
of easy rebounds. ”
Rebounding is near the top of
Runge’s list of things to work on,
especially going into Pac-10 play.
California is averaging 37 re
bounds per game and Stanford is
averaging 37.8.
“That’s really ridiculous for this
team not to be a good rebounding
team, but we aren’t right now,”
Runge said. “We’re not doing a
good job at getting to people and
blocking them out. It’s just not a
priority sometimes for us. We
may have four doing it, but we
don’t have all five. It needs to be
come a priority.”