Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hank hager@dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, February 18,2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
NCAA basketball:
Duke vs. Wake Forest
6 p.m., ESPN
UO focus falls on final six games
Duck players say the team must win its final six to
be NCAA Tournament comfortable come March
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Six games are left in the Pacific-10 Conference season, and Ore
gon knows the importance of each one.
No, the Ducks can't win four and they can't win five. To feel comfort
able enough to get into the NCAA Tournament
regardless of their Pac-10 Tournament showing,
the Ducks know six wins in six games is impor
tant
_ "I think every game for us is a must-win,"
Oregon forward Luke Jackson said. "That's
how we're looking at it and that's how we'll approach every game.
We've got to have all the games; we're going to try and go out and
take them."
MEN'S
BASKETBALL
Tied for third in conference play with California, the Ducks (12-7
overall, 7-5 Pac-10) are not in a solid position. With the conference laud
ed for its parity this season — and in turn, a lack of NCAA Tournament
caliber teams — third may not be good enough.
As it stands right now, the Ducks would probably be one of the
last few teams to be left out of the Big Dance, according to Joe Lu
nardi on ESPN.corn's Bracketology, although RPI rankings also
support that prediction.
Oregon's six-game stretch begins Thursday with Arizona, a team
that beat the Ducks by 24 in January. The Wildcats swept the
Ducks last season, but have been decimated to an unaccustomed
five Pac-10 losses this season. Injuries and a lack of playing depth
have left Arizona further down the Pac-10 food chain this season.
Perfect chance for the Ducks to make it two wins in a row?
Maybe, but it will take some effort.
"If we can get this victory, it will help us out," Oregon guard An
dre Joseph said. "I definitely feel that we need to beat Arizona or
Stanford. It's the best-case scenario (right now). We're at home and
we have the crowd behind us. The team really needs to pull to
gether on Thursday."
Lose one more game, and the Ducks' NCAA chances lessen.
Lose two, and the National Invitation Tournament looks like a
sure thing.
"Like coach (Ernie Kent) says, the margin of error is getting
smaller every game," Oregon forward Mitch Platt said. "We need
to win the rest of these."
Leftovers
Final thoughts on the Nate Robinson game-ending dunk flap?
"Coach (Lorenzo Romar) will probably make me run," Robin
son told The (Tacoma) News Tribune after the game. "But it's
worth it. I'll run all day if I get a little extra dessert for the team."
And this came from Oregon's Ian Crosswhite after the game.
"Nate wanted to prove a point and he proved it," Crosswhite
said. "He knows what he did."
Imagine what will happen if the Ducks and Huskies meet in the
Pac-10 Tournament in March.
Or even next year at McArthur Court.
Injury check
Kent said Tuesday that freshman guard Aaron Brooks proba
bly will not play Thursday against Arizona, but that it is not a fi
nal decision.
Kent said Brooks could play Saturday, although it might be
more likely that Brooks will see his first game action since Jan. 2
when the Ducks visit California next week.
Kent also said guard Jordan Kent was upgraded to probable for
Thursday. The younger Kent injured his right ankle in Oregon's loss to
Washington and did not play Saturday against Washington State
Turn to FOCUS, page 6
Adam Amato Senior Photographer
Andre Joseph and the Ducks say they must win their next six games if they want to go
to the NCAA Tournament. Oregon plays against Arizona Thursday at McArthur Court.
Trojans, No. 10 Stanford headline week
The winner of Stanford and USC
Thursday takes over first place in
the Pac-10 with one week remaining
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
First place in the Pacific-10 Conference will be
up for grabs Thursday
when No. 10 Stanford
and Southern California
battle at Maples Pavilion.
Two weeks ago, the
Cardinal (18-5 overall,.
WOMEN’S
BASKETBALL
11-3 Pac-10) sat atop the conference at 10-1 and
appeared to be on its way to a fourth consecutive
Pac-10 title. Since then, Stanford has lost two of
its last three games and leads the Trojans (14-9,
11 -4) by only a half game in the standings.
Arizona (18-7, 10-4) is also in the hunt, sit
ting a game behind the Cardinal.
Stanford has relied on All-American forward
Nicole Powell to carry the offensive load for
most of the season. The 6-foot-2 senior is aver
aging a double double — 20.7 points and 11.1
rebounds per game — but her teammates were
starting to depended on her a little too much.
That changed Saturday when the Cardinal
ran a more team-oriented attack in a 61-53 win
over California.
"We can't depend on one person to carry us,"
Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer told the
Stanford Daily after the game. "And that's what
everyone said. TNae (Thiel) said 'I'll help out,'
and Susan (Borchardt) pushed it, and I
thought Kelley (Suminski) and Azella (Perry
man) played well."
USC has its own star in All-American candi
date Ebony Hoffman. The 6-foot-2 senior is av
eraging 15.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game
while leading the Trojans to what many would
consider an overachieving season.
Hoffman has been the beneficiary of strong
performances from her supporting cast. Rometra
Turn to PAG-10, page 8
UO heads
north for
last chance
at victory
The Ducks travel to Portland
State tonight looking for their
first Pac-10 victory in their last
regular season match
By Scott Archer
Freelance Reporter
It's come down to this one final oppor
tunity for the Ducks.
Oregon is traveling north to Portland to
_ day in a dual match
n n wLf with Portland State
PV starting at 7 p.m.
WRESTLING If the Ducks
- wish to have one
Pacific-10 Confer
ence win, it must come tonight.
If they fail to win, they will set the pro
gram record for fewest victories in a sea
son, held by the 1953-54 team that won
only two matches. The Ducks could also
set the school record for most consecutive
losses with eight.
However, Oregon is not alone in this
endeavor. The Vikings also have yet to
Turn to LAST CHANCE, page 8
Jesse Thomas
Go the distance
NBA dunk
contest
missing
its luster
Winning by default is still winning, right?
It feels about as good as getting
kicked in the groin. It ranks on the pride
scale along with when you cut yourself
shaving and others snicker when you
forget to take the pieces of toilet paper
off your face.
Indiana reserve Fred Jones won the
2004 NBA dunk contest by default, did
n't he? (Note: I love how he now goes by
Fred instead of Freddie.)
Both Jones and two-time dunk contest
champion Jason Richardson missed
their final dunks. It made the champi
onship round of the contest about as ex
citing as a history lecture.
Freddie didn't win by default because
Richardson missed his final dunk,
though. He won by default from the
competition.
My ideal dunk contestants would have
been I^Bron James, Kobe Bryant,
Turn to THOMAS, page 6