Volleyball
continued from page 13
sixth. Following up the two
California schools are No. 14
Arizona, No. 17 Washington State,
18th ranked UCLA and No. 19
Arizona State.
Also receiving votes were
Washington — which received 86
votes — and California, which
garnered 52.
The Golden Bears, currently 5
6 in conference play, are tied for
fifth in the Pac-10 with UCLA,
Washington, and Washington
State. From there on up, Arizona
State and Arizona are tied for
third at 6-4, while Stanford (9-2)
is second and USC is the last
team undefeated in conference
play at 11-0.
A look ahead
The Ducks get a chance to earn
their first Pac-10 victory of the
season when they take on rival
Oregon State on Friday at Gill
Coliseum in Corvallis.
The match represents the sec
ond and final time the teams will
play this season, with the
Beavers already having swept
Oregon at McArthur Court earli
er this month.
Oregon State represents
Oregon’s first opponent in its
last six matches that will be
unranked heading into the con
test. The Beavers are 7-13 over
all this season and 2-9 in Pac-10
play. Their last victory came
Friday in a sweep of California
in Corvallis.
The match is set to begin at 7
p.m. and will be replayed by Fox
Sports Net on Saturday.
Contact the sports reporter
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
Jeremy Forrest Emerald
Freshman Jodi Bell has taken over the starting setter role this season. Bell said
senior Sydney Chute "has helped out so much."
Yao not so wow
in Rocket debut
Sekou Smith
Indianapolis Star (KRT)
INDIANAPOLIS — The NBA ed
ucation of Yao Ming began long be
fore Wednesday night’s opener be
tween the Indiana Pacers and
Houston Rockets.
It began years ago on the other
side of the world. Now, the workload
accelerates.
The games are for real, the com
petition increases tenfold, the arenas
are fancier and last but certainly not
least, the media throng gets larger.
Yao, the 22-year-old skyscraper
the Rockets made the No. 1 overall
pick in June’s NBA Draft, acknowl
edged being both nervous and ex
cited before Wednesday’s loss to
the Pacers.
His performance — no points and
two rebounds in 10 minutes off the
bench — indicated as much. But
what rookie wouldn’t have butter
flies on opening night? The 7-feet-5
inch Yao is certainly no ordinary
rookie, not with potentially 287 mil
lion households in China alone
watching his debut.
“It’s pretty crazy right now,”
Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich
said of Wednesday’s activity that
included interviews with media
from China, Japan, and daily and
weekly publications from across
the United States.
Someone had the audacity to ask
Tomjanovich if he knew what all the
hype was about. “Look at him,”
Tomjanovich deadpanned. “He’s 7-5
and an athlete. Plus, I think he’s
pretty handsome, too.
“Look, I’ve had high-profile guys
on my team before with Dream (Ha
keem Olajuwon), Clyde (Drexler)
and Charles (Barkley). But I don’t
think it’s ever been this magnitude.
“I know we went to a press confer
ence over in China and there were
two cameras and about five re
porters and it was big news. But no
one can imagine what this guy is go
ing through. We can’t measure it
against anything because it’s never
happened before.”
For his part, Yao seems to be
handling it all rather well. There’s
no fidgeting during the seemingly
endless parade of questions he’s al
ready heard.
When the lights come on in the in
terview room, he handles things
with an easy smile and usually one
sentence answers.
The Pacers went at him as soon as
he hit the floor Wednesday, stealing
the ball from him, testing him near
the basket, making sure the “big fella
gets the proper initiation,” as Ron
Artest said before the game.
Yao’s true initiation will come later
this season, of course, when he bumps
into the man some think he’s destined
to replace someday as the league’s
dominant center.
When asked what he thought of
Los Angeles Lakers star Shaquille
O’Neal, Yao smartly remarked that
he was just trying to make it through
the season-opener.
When asked if he thought O’Neal
was thinking about him, he was just
as quick with his reply. “I don’t think
he’s thought about me yet,” he said.
© 2002, The Indianapolis Star.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
2002-03 Oregon /^y©
MOn^C E9 11 YOUR SRIDENT GOVERNMENT
rlCI I 9 DddlVCLUCl 11 Get Involved! 346-3724
Student Ticket Release Dates
Students enrolled for Fall 2002 classes can pick up one ticket for each game at the ticket offices located in the EMU or
at the Len Casanova Center. Student tickets are funded by the ADFC through student incidental fees. In most cases,
tickets are distributed two games at at time. For men's basketball, a total of2,039 tickets per game are
available for UO students. Students must have a current UO student photo ID card to pick up tickets.
Opponents (Game Dates)*
Exh. - Basketball Travelers/EA Sports All Stars (Nov. 6/14)
John Thompson Classic (Nov. 24-25)
Pacific/Portland(Nov. 30/Dec. 4)
Oregon State (Jan. 18)
Florida A&M/Minnesota (Dec. 20/22)
UC-Riverside, Arizona/Arizona State (Dec. 28, Jan. 2/4)
Washington/Washington State (Jan. 23/25)
Stanford/California (Feb. 6/8)
USC/UCLA (Feb. 27/Mar. 1)
*Pac-10 Conference games and dates in BOLD.
Release Dates
Monday, November 4
Tuesday, November 12
Monday, November 18
Friday, December 6
Monday, December 9
Monday, December 16
Monday, January 13
Monday, January 27
Monday, February 17
For more information, contact the Duck Ticket Office at (541) 346-4461 or the ASUO at (541) 346-3724.