Blazers, Lakers are two big fish in a dry pond
Get ready for the big one.
Tonight at 7:30 p.m.,
the Blazers and Lakers
meet for the fourth and
final time of the regular season.
Los Angeles is winless in its last
seven trips to Portland, while
Rasheed Wallace and company
lead the series 2-1 after winning
at the Staples Center last January.
How about this: The Oregonian
calls tomorrow’s matchup “only
the biggest game of the NBA sea
son.”
Pumped up yet?
No?
I don’t blame you.
Because when all is said and
done in this grudge match, it
won’t matter to anyone. Except
the Blazers and the Lakers.
If there’s one way I hate starting
a sentence, it’s with “Back in the
old days...”
But back in the old days, the
NBA used to be so exciting. Even
while Michael Jordan was contin
ually leading the Bulls to the title,
there always loomed the possibil
ity that another of the league’s top
teams could steal the show and
bump them off.
And the rivalries used to be
much stronger.
I finally made my way to a
Blazers vs. Sonics game in Seattle
— a pilgrimage that, if attempted
six or seven years ago, may have
resulted in death if you showed
signs of being a Blazer fan.
Even with courtside seats,
however, I found it rather boring.
Especially when Portland was up
by 25 in the fourth quarter.
And what ever happened to the
Pacers and Knicks? Maybe some
body needs to wake up Spike Lee.
Or Reggie Miller, for that matter.
And who’s Patrick Ewing? I know
that name from somewhere. I
think he used to be a basketball
player.
Glancing at the headlines on
ESPN.com today, I was happy to
see that Vince Carter scored 51
points on Sunday to lead the Rap
tors past the Suns.
Then, when I looked at the
standings, the incredible weight
of boredom returned to my shoul
ders.
The Raptors are 29-25, and the
Suns are 34-21. Translation: One
of the league’s most fun-to-watch
teams sucks,
and one of
the league’s
best teams
is nowhere
close to be
ing 45-11.
Another
fun team to
watch is the
Kings, 31
24. Or
Kevin Gar
. nett’s Tim
Pesznecker berwoives,
32-23. How
’bout them Bulls?
Surely, the defending NBA
Champions must be playing well,
but sorry Mr. Duncan, 36-20 just
won’t cut it anymore.
Last time I checked—which
was about 30 seconds prior to
writing this line—the NBA has
29 teams. Those teams are split
into four divisions, and those di
visions create the Eastern and
Western Conferences.
East vs. West. That’s the way
it’s supposed to be.
Instead, it’s West vs. West.
Because nobody can hang with
the Blazers or Lakers.
Every once in awhile, an upset
may occur. Obviously they have,
because if upsets didn’t happen,
Portland and L.A.’s only losses
would have came from them
selves.
The Blazers’ Bonzi Wells said it
best after beating Utah on Sun
day: “We still feel we should have
only lost one or two games this
year—total.’’
I believe him.
Last season, nobody predicted
that Isaiah Rider and Brian Grant
would lead the Trailblazers to the
Western Conference Finals. And
they got there, but nobody
thought the Spurs would beat
them.
The same thing can be said
about Shaquille O’Neal and his
Lakers. In the past, people ques
tioned O’Neal’s postseason abili
ties because his teams have a
combined record of 1-24 in their
playoff-exiting rounds. But Shaq
has expanded his game beyond
three-feet from the hoop, and he’s
making more of those free throws.
Portland and Los Angeles —
the only two real teams in the di
luted NBA—have left no ques
tions unanswered. Except for
who will win the title, which, this
season, shall be known as the
Western Conference Champi
onship.
But until then, go ahead and get
excited about today’s matchup.
Just remember one thing:
When it’s all over, and if your
team is the winning team, just re
member how little it means. In a
league where cupcakes are the
competition, the Blazers or Lak
ers could play every game on the
road from here-on-out and still
win.
Big game? No. Not really.
Scott Pesznecker is the assistant sports
editor for the Emerald. He can be
reached at jflak@aol.com.
Arizona’s Richard Jefferson given clearance to play
TUCSON, Ariz. — After a year
full of bad news, No. 4 Arizona fi
nally received some good news
when Richard Jefferson was med
ically cleared to play again this
week.
Jefferson, who fractured his
right foot in the opening minutes
of a Jan. 8 game against No. 1 Stan
ford, is expected to play in Ari
zona’s game at Oregon State on
Thursday.
“He will go as full as his condi
tioning will allow him to go. We
will see how much he will be able
to help us on this trip,” Arizona
coach Lute Olson said Monday.
Jefferson’s return helps soften
the blow of starting center Loren
Woods’ absence for another two
to-four weeks because of a back
injury. Arizona (24-4, 13-1) only
has seven available scholarship
players due to injuries or trans
fers.
Arizona was 11-2 while its start
ing small forward was sidelined.
The Wildcats struggled at times on
the perimeter without him, but
that should change if Jefferson can
quickly get into playing shape.
Jefferson is not only the Wild
cats’ most athletic player but their
best 3-point shooter. Prior to his
injury he was averaging 12.2
points, making 45 percent of his
shots from 3-point range and aver
aging 4.9 rebounds.
Olson said the best the team
might expect irom Jetterson is tour
minute intervals because of his
lack of conditioning.
Jefferson disagrees.
“I think I can play 10 to 15 min
utes if I am not being effective, and
20 to 30 minutes if I am being ef
fective,” Jefferson said.
Luke Walton, who scored a ca
reer-high 23 points Saturday
against Arizona State, has been
starting in Jefferson’s place.
Walton’s development means
Jelterson won t automatically De
placed back in the starting lineup
right away.
“I think we have both earned
the job,” Jefferson said. “Luke def
initely deserves to start. I just want
to help the team. He has been do
ing a good job, and is starting to
play better and better. I think only
a fool would take him out of the
lineup now.”
The Associated Press
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