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- — —> www.dailyemerald.com
Ducks turn reflective after
tough nonconference losses
Oregon is ready to pick
up performance as the
season’s pace increases
Scott Archer
Freelance Reporter
It's not how a team starts a season
but how it finishes a season, according
to Oregon
wrestling head
coach Chuck
Kearney.
That think
mg might ex
plain why Oregon wrestled against two
of the nation's elite teams during the
winter break but is still confident after
being held scoreless in both matches.
Unlike in football, wrestling teams
DUCK
WRESTLING
The UO Bookstore has
everything you’ll need
when you come out of
your cave winter term.
■UNIVERSITY OF OREGON Wg
BOOKSTORE 1
Non-profit bookstore owned by students, faculty a
nd staff of the University of Oregon.
Happy New Year!
Here’s what’s happening in the Oregon Daily Emerald this January:
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS
January 9: Pac-10 Basketball Preview
January 14: Duck Bucks(TM)
January 21: Bridal Guide
January 26: Career Fair Guide
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017922
aren't measured by records and
strength of schedule, but rather by late
season performance in conference play
and conference tournaments.
So it's understandable why Kearney
scheduled No. 1 Oklahoma State and
No. 5 Nebraska so early in the season.
"It's been a baptism by fire," Kearney
said. "There is a reason we are doing
this and it's to expose weaknesses. We
find them, then we get tougher later
and fix them.
"We don't have to carry losses with
us," Kearney said. "We want to wrestle
the toughest schedule. A team can go
.500 and win the national title"
Although a national title isn't in Ore
gon's plans this season, expectations
among the players and coaches are set
to personal standards the coaching staff
and wrestlers have for themselves.
"We focus on performance," Kearney
said. "We can't control our opponent.
Instead, we give ourselves an opportu
nity (to win). If we are better (than the
competition), we win.
"We afe learning how to leam. We
are toughening up. (Prom these match
es) we can start applying the lessons
into other matches."
"All of us get wrapped up in winning
and losing," redshirt sophomore Chet
McBee said. "But it's more important to
have positive performances, the rest will
take care of itself."
While being shut out can make
wrestling every day seem like a chore,
the Ducks are looking at the situation
differently. The Ducks don't believe it
would have been different to lose
44-43, as opposed to the losses of 41-0
to Oklahoma State and 44-0 to Nebras
ka. To Oregon, a loss is a loss where les
sons are learned and areas for improve
ment are noted.
"We are where we need to be and in
what direction we need to be in, (at this
point in the season)," McBee said.
Pride on the line
After being shut out for the second
time in as many weeks, the Ducks got
together immediately after the Ne
braska loss to run more drills, which
turned into some heated exchanges
among teammates.
"(That) practice showed a lot,"
McBee said. "Emotions came out.
(There was) some fighting, which
happens. (There were) some break
downs, which shows it's important
to us to succeed."
It's the intensity Oregon hopes to
bring to the mat this weekend in
matches with Air Force, Army and
Cal State-Fullerton, teams that pos
sess talent but are a break from the
top-tier teams more recently on the
Ducks' slate.
"Army, Air Force and Cal State
Fullerton are tough, but they aren't
near what we've seen already this
year," Kearney said.
Oregon hopes to take its aggressions
out against its competition this week
end, demonstrating that there is more
fight in these Ducks than any winter
break box score might have indicated.
Scott Archer is a freelance reporter
for the Emerald.
ESPN launches
new channel today
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — With
Hispanic television booming, ESPN
Deportes, a Spanish-language version
of the main cable network, launches
Wednesday.
ESPN Depones will telecast a wide
variety of domestic and international
sports programming, including Major
League Baseball, the NBA, the NFL,
UEFA Champions League, Major
Ijeague Soccer, Wimbledon and the IRL
Indy Car Series.
In addition, the network will offer a
selection of Spanish-language shows
featuring sports news and information
shows, including its own SportsCenter,
which originates in Mexico City.
Other featured programs are Gol
ESPN: Fuera de Juego, a round-table
discussion of the world of soccer, and
ESPN's Perfiles, a half-hour interview
show that takes a look at Latin Ameri
can sports stars.
— Jim Sami
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
THOMAS
continued from page 7
weren't supposed to happen.
Oregon is continuing to learn how
to adapt to the many combinations
that Oregon head coach Ernie Kent
puts on the floor. With two freshman
in and out of the starting lineup due
to injuries, it has left the Ducks ques
tionable in games, much like the one
against UCLA.
Oregon is now a team desperately in
need of a point guard. With freshman
Aaron Brooks out, sophomore Bran
don Lincoln will need to do more than
just rise to the occasion.
Although senior James Davis should,
in turn, get more playing time and if he
can continue to be spot-on from three
point range, the Ducks will be fine.
Some Ducks are still finding their
roles on the team, but sophomore Ian
Crosswhite has comfortably found his.
Crosswhite has dramatically improved
from last season as he now shoots near
ly 85 percent from the free-throw line
and is Oregon's second leading scorer
(14.4 ppg).
Redshirt freshman Jordan Kent had
an impressive defensive performance
against the Bruins on Sunday.
Coach Kent is likely to give his son
more playing time at the wing position
with Brooks out and in the event that
Davis plays the point guard spot.
Most important will be if the real
Oregon basketball team shows up to
play rival Oregon State at Gill Coliseum
on Saturday night.
The real Duck team isn't one that will
let the Beavers go on a 20-point run.
The real Oregon team isn't one that will
allow a three-point lead with one
minute left to slip away as it did against
Alabama on national television.
No, the Oregon men are none of
those things.
In the sports world those games are
what we call mulligans, redos, do
overs or best-out-of-threes.
In reality, those are the games that
make coaches pull their hair out
when they review game film. The
games that keep an All-American up
all night long wondering how he
couldn't create plays for his team.
The real Oregon men's team is the
one that is capable of leading the na
tion in three-point shooting percent
age. That's the team that tied the
Chiles Center record against Portland,
hitting 15 from downtown and 14
against USC in the next game.
The real Oregon team is the un
selfish team that will go and get 20
assists a game.
A team that will hit Davis for the
three even when he isn't open and let
him create.
The real Oregon team is the one in
which Jackson and Crosswhite show
up every night and combine for 40
points and 20 plus rebounds.
The real Oregon team will win its
10th straight game in the rivalry
matchup against the Beavers on
Saturday. The real Oregon team
will be 9-1 and 3-0 in conference
after this weekend.
Contact the sports reporter
at jessethomas@dailyemerald.com.