Kent teaches Chemistry 101 at Mac Court
TWO MINUTES
FOR CROSS
CHECKING
HOCKADAY
It’s the men’s basketball media
day, but the players could care
less about the media.
There they sit, in the middle
of McArthur Court, with the Eu
gene sports media hovering like
flies around them. Someone cracks
a joke, and the rest of the players
laugh. This is the first time they’ve
been together in their new uni
forms on Mac Court—but you’d
i
trunk they were fraternity brothers,
getting together to shoot the breeze
about basketball and girls.
Believe it or not, this is how head
coach Ernie Kent is going to get his
team to win basketball games.
On the surface of things, it looks
like Oregon could be shoved back
to the middle of the Pacific-10 Con
ference this year, after tasting the
top just a year ago. The Ducks lost
three key players: Point guard Dar
ius Wright, who ran the show even
if he didn’t put up the best numbers
on the team; A.D. Smith, the work
horse and fan favorite; and Alex
Scales, the flashy go-to guy.
At the same time, the rest of the
Pac-10 is only getting older and wis
er. The freshmen—Stanford’s Casey
Jacobsen, UCLA’s Jason Kapono and
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Arizona s Jason Gardner—are soph
omores now. The leaders—South
ern California’s Brian Scalabrine,
Arizona’s Loren Woods and Califor
nia’s Sean Lampley—are ready to
step into their roles even more this
season. Stanford lost their star cen
ter, Mark Madsen, to graduation. Big
deal. Try losing your starting power
forward, your point guard and your
leading scorer.
So how will Kent deal with the
loss?
Junior guard Anthony Norwood
can answer that question.
“We’ve got a lot of good people, ”
Norwood said. “If you get good peo
ple with great character, it’ll come
onto the court also, and I think that’s
what we’ve done. I think it’s going to
be a big year for all of us. A lot of peo
ple are just sleeping on the Ducks
[and] what they’ve lost.
“It’s just a matter of all of us step
ping up.”
Norwood is one of a host of play
ers that will play more minutes
now that Scales, Smith and Wright
are gone. Senior forward Bryan
Bracey, junior guard Freddie Jones,
senior center Flo Hartenstein and
senior guard David Jackson will all
try to fill the gaps that the graduat
ing class left behind.
But right now, it’s not the “who”
Kent is worried about; it’s the
“when.”
“I’m excited about where this
basketball team will eventually
end up when it comes together,”
Kent said. “This will be the best
chemistry that I will have here at
Oregon. It’s going to enable us to
come together a lot quicker. ”
The Duck players are taking a
specific chemistry class with Kent
as their professor making the
demonstration for his students:
Mixing up different chemicals to
get the right combination.
“We had a recruit, and where
most teams would take him out,
show him the town, the players
took him back to the gym, ” Kent
said. “That’s the type of chemistry
that’s brewing here. ”
Even the new recruits them
selves can sense what’s coming,
and they love it.
“Everybody gets along, and we
all hang out off the court,” fresh
man guard Luke Jackson said. “If
you get along off the court, it’s go
ing to be easier for you to put trust
in the other players. Everyone’s
working toward the same goal. ”
So, Oregon’s chemistry is becom
ing a little clearer. Kent has somehow
assembled a team that needed to in
corporate its newcomers as soon as
possible, and has already done that.
He has assembled a team that will be
overlooked, and will play from be
hind, respect-wise, all season. He has
assembled a team that will need to
lean on each other in order to win,
and they are already leaning.
But for all their talk about chem
istry and coming together, the
Ducks seem to think they need a
leader, and everyone wants to vote
himself into the position.
“I just happen to be the guy lead
ing this team,” Kent said.
“I’m going to step it up,” Norwood
said. “I’m going to lead by example.
Once every individual knows what
they’ve got to do, it helps the team
get that much better. ”
“I realize that to help the team
out even more, I need to step up
and play my game,” Jones said.
“I’m working hard to be a
leader,” Bracey said. “I’m leading
by example.”
The fight to determine a leader for
this team could be tougher than the
fight for a Pac-10 Championship.
Will team chemistry be enough to
lift Oregon to another top-three finish
in the Pac-10? Only time, and a few
beakers full of chemicals, will tell.
Peter Hockaday is a sports reporter for the
Emerald. He can be reached at phocka
day@yahoo.com.
Women’s
continued from page 7
Williams tore her anterior cruciate
ligament in her left knee in a pickup
game Sept. 16. Full rehabilitation
could take anywhere from four to
seven more months, according to
team officials.
“This is probably the closest I’ve
been to Mac Court in a few weeks,”
said Williams, who is being allowed
to condition on an EFX machine.
Compounding the gap left by
Williams is the loss of backup point
guard Karen Piers, who returned to
her home of Truro, Nova Scotia, Cana
da, to pursue academic interests.
Then, sophomore forward Court
ney Moore left the team to tend to
her mother, who has cancer, in Reno,
Nev. While Moore wasn’t an integral
part of the offense last season, she
was a promising freshman whose re
sume included 17 points in a come
back road win over Arizona. Guard
Amanda Brown also left the team.
The most recent loss to the team
could be only temporary — Lindsey
Dion, a guard/forward who often
takes on the role of emotional
leader, tore meniscus cartilage in
her right knee while performing
running drills at Autzen Stadium.
Dion should be back by the start
of the season, but she could miss
valuable preseason tune-ups.
“ I don’t know what the deal is, but
I’ll live, and it will be over,” Dion
said. “Hopefully it will be a quick
month and I’ll be back on the floor.”
The Ducks’ biggest area of concern
is a lack of depth at both guard posi
tions, especially if Dion is injured.
Dion and guard Jamie Craighead split
time at shooting guard last season,
with guard Kourtney Shreve or Piers
occasionally filling in. But with Piers
gone, Shreve at the point and Dion in
jured, Craighead could spend time at
shooting guard and the point.
Yet Runge said her team should
be fine if it can adjust.
“It’s just college athletics and
[losses] happen,” Runge said. “You
have to be prepared. That is where
your depth really comes into play.
Obviously, on our perimeter, we’re a
little short on depth. ”
Perhaps more than any other
team in the conference, the Ducks’
three senior post players — center
Jenny Mowe, forward Brianne
Meharry and Wolvert — are capable
of putting points on the scoreboard.
Oregon’s ability to deliver the ball
to its post players rests heavily on
Shreve, the newly-appointed start
ing point guard. As a freshman,
Shreve became the Ducks’ preferred
backup point guard down the
stretch of last season.
Wolvert is confident that Shreve
can set up the offense.
“She’s going to grow a lot in the
first preseason,” Wolvert said.
“She’ll learn how to play a fast
paced game and run the offense a lot
more efficiently. I think she’ll defi
nitely bloom before the Pac-lOs
come around.”
Newly recruited Cathrine
Kraayeveld, a 6-foot-3 forward,
should ease the loss of Moore down
low, Rungesaid.
“We’re doing the same things
we’ve always done,” Runge said.
“We’re trying to do a better job de
fensively than we’ve ever done be
fore and to be able to execute on of
fense and get the ball inside. If they
try to take that away from us, [we’ll]
shoot it from the outside. We’re ca
pable of doing both of those things. ”
Men’s
continued from page 7
and will continue to practice
throughout the month in prepara
tion of its first exhibition game Nov.
6 at McArthur Court. Oregon’s sea
son opener is Nov. 17 against Mis
sissippi Valley State at home.
The pessimist is quick to point out
the obvious. That the Pacific-10 Con
ference is loaded with teams who
have superior returning talent and
that Oregon will be hard pressed to
match up due to its inexperience.
But when these Ducks look up
and down the Pac-10, they don’t
feel out of this league.
“I think we’re going to surprise a
lot of people,” said 7-foot-2 junior
center Chris Christoffersen, who,
along with Flo Hartenstein and David
Jackson, had knee surgery over the
off-season. “I like it better that we’re
the underdog and the unknown fac
tor. I think this is better because peo
ple won’t be as prepared for us as they
were last year.”
Obviously, one of the main ingre
dients that needs to develop for the
Ducks is a leader, and while Kent
says he has some,idpas of who that
should be, he’s going to let leader
ship develop amongst the players.
The one player that will be
looked heavily upon is junior guard
Freddie Jones. Jones, who has
shown flashes of brilliance over the
past two years, reported to the team
in terrific shape and wants to be
come the team’s go-to guy.
While he has treated fans to many
spectacular plays, he considers his
first two seasons at Oregon “a waste.”
“It seems like I’ve been out here
just contributing here and there,” said
Jones, who scored 82 points in a sum
mer league game. “I could have been
doing a whole lot more. I have to be
aggressive; that’s what has held me
back. I’ve passed up a lot of shots.”
Another guy that Kent has his eye
on is senior forward Bryan Bracey.
Last year, Bracey only played about
15 minutes a game because Smith
would played 30-35 minutes.
“Bryan Bracey is a very good bas
ketball player and now it’s [his] turn
to step onto that floor and people are
going to be impressed,” Kent said.
There was a certain “newness”
that was evident as players and
coaches walked around Mac Court
talking to reporters. First, there were
new uniforms that the players were
wearing that incorporate some of
the same design as the football team.
There’s a new paint color on the
outside of Mac Court as the ivy
shrubs are gone. And there’s Kent’s
new rounded haircut. Where did
his traditional flat-top go?
“That’s on the barber room floor,”
Kent said. “Didn’t want to look like
[Oregon State coach] Ritchie McKay.”
Most notably, there’s the four
new freshmen that helped Oregon
receive a number one ranking for its
recruiting class. The group includes
McDonald’s All-American point
guard Luke Ridnour, forward Luke
Jackson, guard James Davis and cen
ter Jay Anderson.
“Luke, Luke and James are not
your typical freshmen,” Kent said.
“They have a calm and confidence
that most freshmen don’t have. Jay
may need more adjustment time, but
he certainly has the ability to emerge
also.”
While there is an emphasis on
the new, Kent expects last season’s
overtime loss to Seton Hall in the
first round of the tournament to pay
great dividends.
“Once they’ve experienced March
Madness, it becomes easier to direct
them back there,” Kent said. “We’ve
seen the prize up close.”