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Basketball continued from page 11 against Stanford. “We held him out of last week end’s game because he wasn’t ready to go, and we felt like he was that much more valuable for us this weekend,” Kent said. “We’re going up to the Northwest for two games that we certainly have the capability to win. But we need to be at full strength to do that.” Reserve center Chris Christof fersen’s play against Stanford was encouraging for the Ducks. Christoffersen — who stands tall in the middle for the Ducks at a towering 7-2 — had four points and two rebounds in 11 minutes. But his defensive presence may have been his biggest contribu tion. “I thought Chris did a very good job,” Kent said. “He has been do ing a very good job in practice as of late, just being more aggressive and feeling a lot more confident. The key thing for him is his confidence and playing hard and aggressive because he certainly has the talent to be a very good player.” Christoffersen said there have been some off-the-court influ ences that have affected his devel opment in recent weeks. “There has been some personal stuff and some school stuff, so it’s going to take a while to get ahead of that,” said Christoffersen. “That comes first, and then basketball comes after that.” Kent said he believes Christof fersen’s mental attitude may be the only thing that is preventing him from being more of a force inside. “With Chris, it’s all what’s going on inside of him right now,” Kent said. “If he can have the courage and confidence the other guys have, he’s going to really be able to help this basketball team. If he continues to do that, then of course his minutes are going to in crease.” Kent emphasized the impor tance of having Christoffersen available if his team falls to in juries. “With Julius out right now, we need Chris to continue to play well because he certainly falls into one of those big man rotating spots,” Kent said. How important is the three point shot? In Oregon’s win against Califor nia, the Ducks went 6-for-18 from three point range, en route to a 83 68 victory. Although not an incred ible performance from behind the arc, it easily outshone Oregon’s 5 of-24 performance from three in its loss to the Cardinal. So what gives? According to Kent, three point ers may have been a staple for the Ducks’ teams in previous years, but he refutes the notion that Oregon needs impressive three-point pro duction to win games this season. “I read somewhere that we live and die by the three, but that’s not true because from the beginning of the year we have led the entire Pac-10 in shooting percentage,” Kent said. “We shoot them, but we don’t rely on them because our post guys are so good right now. And we’re able to get so much done in transition. “The key thing about us shoot ing the basketball is that it opens up more for our post people. There are going to be nights the three doesn’t go, but we don’t have to ‘live and die’ by it, be cause there are other ways we can score now.” The Freddie Factor Oregon’s first two Pac-10 games showed two different sides of guard Freddie Jones. The sopho more torched the Golden Bears with both his shooting and pass ing, finishing with 20 points and six assists. The Stanford game, however, was a different story. Jones was 3 of-6 from the field and never got into the offensive flow. Jones said Stanford’s defense wasn’t as a big of a factor in his low offensive production as his ’ own mind state was. “They played good defense, but it wasn’t so much them,” Jones said. “I just wasn’t on top of my game. I didn’t play well enough that I could step up and give this team a lift. They came out and played pretty tough defense, but mostly it was just myself.” So does Jones need to be more selfish when he has the ball? “I wouldn’t say he needs to be more selfish, but he needs to be more into the games,” Kent said. “He needs to come into the game with the mentality that he wants to play a lot better, because we need him. “We have certainly told him that we need for him to score, and he’s got the green light. I know if someone told me that, I’d really want to go out there and score the ball.” Spend an evening with UO Alumni Stars at Alumni Success Stories A special evening with five UO alumni who have gone on to exceptional careers and are returning to campus to share how they achieved their success. Thursday, January 20 6:00-7:00 p.m. M EMU Fir Room Kristi Wise Assistant Director of Public Relations Portland Trail Blazers Shana Pennington Field Biologist Servietta Wilderness New Mexico Lindsay Knaak Account Assistant Goldberg Moser O'Neill Advertising San Francisco Betty Fletcher Managing Editor, Trade Division Harvest Publishing Eugene Coe Brockmeier Regional Manager Enterprise Rent-A-Car Vancouver, Washington Sponsored by: The UO Career Center, the UO American Marketing Association, Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity and Gamma Phi Beta Sorority. Part of 2000Expoer and Winter Career Fair events. Jeffrey Stockton Emerald Freddie Jones is searching for consistency as the Pac-10 season progresses. 008282 freshman Interest Grnnp leaders Needed Earn upper-division credit and a cash award. Attend the interest session on January 25 in the Metolius and Coquille rooms in the EMU from 4-5. For an application stop by 372 Oregon Hall or call 346-1079. Application deadline is Friday, February 4th. i&r rJSr ducks vs. thursday 7:00pm mat t&vrl huskies WBB T-Shirt Giveaway The 1st 700 fans through the gates will receive a free t-shirt, courtesy of the Pac-10. Be there pregame for the unveiling of the 1999 Pac-10 Championship Banner
