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