Blazers too reliant on complacency
If I had a penny for every
headline I’ve seen about the
Portland Trail Blazers that
contains the phrase “back on
track” or
“out of con
trol,” I’d
have deep
er pockets
than Paul
Allen him
self.
The Blaz
ers have
had worse
than an up
and-down
season.
Rather, it’s
been more
like up,
down and
out. And if beating the Jazz Mon
day night in what was one of the
most rag-tag games I’ve seen all
season means anything at all, it’s
simply that Portland may have
clawed its way from out to down.
Scott
Pesznecker
Really though, the only thing
anywhere close to being “up” for
Portland is their chance of cap
turing the title this season.
Yes, I know, everything starts
over in the playoffs. Yes, I know,
the Blazers have been injured.
Yes, I know, bla bla bla [insert
third excuse here].
But they are completely com
placent right now. They are also
one of the highest-paid teams in
the history of professional sports.
And those two things shouldn’t
be happening simultaneously.
On Wednesday night, with
time winding down in Portland’s
loss to Houston, those unfortu
nate enough to witness the
game’s final minutes on televi
sion saw the Blazers watching
shots fall out of bounds. Not only
were the shots within reach, but
at that point, so was the game.
So what’s the deal?
It’s just funny if you stop and
think about it. Last season, the
Blazers tore through the lockout
shortened 50-game schedule, fi
nally getting closed out in the
Western Conference Finals.
And it wasn’t just another year.
It was the first full season when
the core group of Isaiah Rider,
Arvydas Sabonis, Brian Grant,
Rasheed Wallace, Damon
Stoudamire and Greg Anthony
got to play together. Learning to.
play together usually takes time,
but not for that group — if it had
n’t been for Sean Elliot’s second
game miracle of the conference
finals, Portland undoubtably
would have gone all the way.
Yet when the offseason hit,
“Trader Bob” Whitsitt wasted no
time in getting rid of Rider, who
many around the league thought
to be a distraction.
Granted, Rider was fired by the
Hawks this season. But last sea
son, his only “distraction” was a
speeding ticket for racing be
tween stoplights in downtown
Portland.
Immature, yes — but who has
n’t done it?
The Blazers’ reasoning for trad
ing the offensive heartbeat of
their team was that an often com
placent player like Rider couldn’t
lead his team to an NBA Champi
onship.
Following that logic, I wonder
if Whitsitt is thinking about trad
ing half the team for maybe Tim
Duncan? At least then, Portland
would have one player who actu
ally cares about winning.
It doesn’t stop there, because
complacency isn’t the Blazers’
only problem.
Portland is one of the most pre
dictable teams in the NBA.
The only thing that is remotely
unpredictable about them is who
the leading scorer will be in each
game. However, it doesn’t take a
basketball theorist to figure out
where Stoudamire is going to
dish the ball.
Usually “The Mouse” gives
away his strategy when he picks
up his dribble at the top of the
key, pauses, points to the guy he
wants to pass it to, points to the
spot on the floor where he wants
the guy to stand, pumps the ball
a couple of times to make sure
the lane is clear, and finally,
when he lobs it into the guy on
the inside. Oh yeah, the guy’s
name is usually Rasheed.
That just about sums up Port
land’s offense.
Every time I watch the Utah
Jazz play, I can’t help but notice
the way they move without the
ball. They know how to execute.
They can make plays like nobody
else can, and that’s almost an un
beatable strength. The Jazz’s start
ing five has four players age 35 or
older, and they still win because
they can execute their offense.
Are you listening, Blazers?
For those who aren’t im
pressed by Utah, why not check
out the team that’s probably go
ing to win the NBA title for years
to come.
The Lakers win because they
have Shaquille O’Neal, but he
dominates because his team sets
him up. They execute. And they
do it because of Phil Jackson.
Mike Dunleavy deserves major
props for his ability to juggle
playing time between players in
an all-star lineup, but if any per
son on Portland’s roster is the
problem, it’s the coach.
Complacency is a terrible
thing. When players don’t care,
it’s almost impossible to win
with consistency. I don’t think
anyone but the players them
selves can make themselves want
a championship.
Yet it’s the coach’s job to create
the offense, and Dunleavy’s of
fensive strategy is well known —
give it to whoever’s on fire and
let him work.
That’s not an offense; that’s
called street ball. Why pay mil
lions of dollars for an aging group
of finesse rat-ballers?
Dunleavy’s offense is too pre
dictable. After dominating the
first half of the season, the Blaz
ers are losing because their oppo
nents finally caught on.
The pieces are there, and so is
the potential. A Portland champi
onship could still happen this
season — if they can find it in
their hearts to care about win
ning.
But things being the way they
are, the Blazers will only win if
the Lakers beat themselves, and I
don’t think that will happen.
Their execution is just too good
to allow anyone to beat them four
times.
The Blazers have won their
last two, but they’re still out of
control, and they’re miles away
from being back on track.
And that’s my own two cents.
Scott Pesznecker is a sports reporter for
the Emerald. His views do not necessari
ly represent those of the paper. He can
be reached at jflak1@aol.com.
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Softball
continued from page 7
“This is a huge game, it always
is — it’s Civil War,” sophomore
pitcher Connie McMurren said.
“Especially with [the way] the
Pac-10 standings [are] right now.”
Despite the lack of offense by
the Ducks over the weekend, Ore
gon showed signs of coming out
of its collective slump. Freshman
Andrea Vidlund hit her first home
run Saturday, and Holly Ray
knocked a shot to the base of the
left-center field wall for her third
double of the year.
“They’ll be ready, they’ll put
this weekend behind them and
get ready for Tuesday,” Gamez
said. “I thought we got better from
Friday all the way up to [Sunday],
and that’s something that we want
to strive for. We don’t want to roll
over and die.”
However, Gamez needs his
whole lineup to produce today if
the Ducks are going to turn their
fortunes. Junior Triawn Custer is
boasting a .400 batting average
and hit a couple of balls during
the weekend that fell just short of
clearing the fence, showing signs
that she will rebound. Jill Robin
son, a senior from Winton, Calif.,
will be needed to provide some
leadership with her team-high 10
homers and 33 runs batted in.
One thing the coach does not fault
is his team’s aggressiveness at the
plate.
“We want to be aggressive and
attack the ball. Unfortunately, we
were a little undisciplined and
chased balls out of the zone,”
Gamez said. “I’d rather have that
than sitting up there taking pitch
es and called strikes.”
McMurren feels the Ducks are
hitting the ball well, just not in
the right places.
“We’re too good of a hitting
team for this to go on,” McMurren
said. “We’ve just got to stay confi
dent that we’ll hit the ball when
we need to.”
On the mound Oregon received
some of its best pitching perform
ances of the year. McMurren (9
11) was a tough-luck loser when
she threw a three-hit, 1-0 defeat in
what she called “the best game
she’s thrown,” and Vidlund (12-4)
pitched 3 1/3 innings of one-hit
ball in relief on Saturday. In spite
of her sub-.500 winning percent
age, McMurren feels she is pitch
ing at a high level. Her coach
agrees.
“She’s threw to the majority of
the tough opponents, and she’s
kept us in all of them,” Gamez
said. “That’s the thing we’ve
asked her to do. She’s a battler.”
McMurren knows a win can
come at anytime.
“It’s very frustrating, but at the
same time I just have to keep it in
mind that it’s going to happen for
only so long ,” McMurren said.
“It’s bound to happen sometime.”
Performances like those will
need to be repeated against the in
terstate rivals today because there
are some bats in the Beavers line
up that showed some life in Sun
day’s contest. Steph Adams
knocked a three-run homer and
Jenni Jodoin contributed a double
and an RBI during a late-inning
rally.
Oregon returns to action tomor
row as the team heads to Portland
for a double-header against Port
land State. The games were origi
nally scheduled to be played on
Tuesday, April 11th, but were
postponed because of rain.
YOUR SOLES
The Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program has arrived on campus to
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Reuse-A-Shoe collection bins around campus now. Then, look
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REUSE
WS HO E)
Check out www.nikebiz.com and click on responsibility and
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For collection sites on campus, email your
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