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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 4, 2004)
ANSWERS continued from page 11 By Hank Hager Sports Editor A few holes and a few questions about Oregon's offense and defense sprang up at the outset of spring practices. Now, take a peak after the Ducks finished their NCAA-mandated 15 workouts. Little, if anything, has changed. Positions were slotted and filled "I think people don't give us enough credit. ... They see the players that left but they don't see the players behind those guys who were watching great players like Keith Lewis and Steven Moore." Martey Tucker Oregon senior safety while newcomers and walk-ons showed what they had. Very few who were slowed slightly — or completely • — during the 2003 season returned during the spring. Some could call the practices a * wash. Others would call them useful. Either way, very little foundation was laid during the spring. "It's just a springboard to the sum mer," quarterback Kellen Clemens said. "We improved, but there's still a lot of things we need to get better at. The spring game and the spring prac tices only bring that to the forefront." That's an expected answer from one of the offense's eight returning starters. Clemens widened the gap be tween his and the team's backups — Dennis Dixon, Johnny DuRocher and Brady Leaf — even though each of the three improved as the spring wore on. k DuRocher looks to be in the lead for the No. 2 spot, but Dixon, if he doesn't redshirt, could push him once he becomes more familiar with the - offense. "They made progress," Clemens said. "They got better consistently with each practice." Erik R. Bishoff Photographer Johnny DuRocher received some of his snaps during the spring with the No. 1 offense and looks primed to back up Kellen Clemens once the 2004 season starts. Oregon s expected lineup of offen sive players did nothing to change the team's 2004 outlook. Tight end Tim Day and wide receiver Demetrius Williams both missed parts of the spring, but neither seems to have lost any grip on their starting spots. The offensive line was bruised up for most of the workouts, but the one hole — left by center Dan Weaver, nQW working out with the Denver Broncos — was filled by Enoka Lucas. Terrence Whitehead was held out of contact drills because of injury, but he shouldn't be pushed out of his No. 1 spot at running back. And his im mediate backup, Kenny Washington, also missed the spring but should still be the No. 2 come September. Two other youngsters, fullback Dante Rosario and wide receiver Gar ren Strong, made strong SPORTS BRIEF Garnett named NBA MVP MINNEAPOLIS — It was a little more than seven months ago that Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett sat behind a table in the Target Center Skyway concourse, wearing a black suit and grinning from ear to ear between his dia mond-studded earrings while an nouncing his new $ 100 million con tract extension. Monday, Garnett sat in the same concourse, this time in a beige suit and in a pair of Adidas sneakers while accepting the NBA's Most Valuable Player trophy. "I have to thank my teammates," Garnett said in front of teammates and close friends. "Although it's an individual award, it wouldn't be any thing without those knuckleheads. It's a team game, and I've always kept that perspective." Garnett, who last season finished second in MVP voting to San Anto nio's Tim Duncan, won in a landslide. He picked up 120 of a possible 123 first-place votes from sportswriters and broadcasters in the United States and Canada. Duncan finished a dis tant second, and Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal was third. "He's been such a consistent player this season," ESPN analyst Greg An thony said. "He plays on both ends of the court. That's the one thing I re spect most about him: He doesn't take a night off. He deserves so much credit for that because not a lot of players do that." Garnett, scheduled to receive a bonus for winning the award, aver aged a career high in points (24.2) and rebounds (13.9). He finished with 1,987 points and 1,139 re bounds, becoming just the fifth player in league history to lead the league in both categories. He had 71 double doubles, which includes eight games of at least 20 rebounds. For the first time in his career, Gar nett didn't have to shoulder the load. The additions of Sam Cassell and La trell Sprewell in the offseason made things easier. Garnett no longer faces double- and triple-teams every time he touches the ball in the post, and he doesn't have to take every big shot when the game is on the line. The trio earned a nickname, "The Big Three," halfway through a season in which the Wolves won their first Midwest Division title and earned home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs. — Mike Wells Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) arguments to either keep or claim a starting spot. "We need more playmakers on both sides of the ball," Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. "We'll get them eventually. We'll get some guys back healthy." Those playmakers could come in the @ Oklahoma T8A Idaho 12:30 p.m. October Arizona State 12:30 p.m. ©Washington St. 2 p.m. Arizona 12:30 p.m. © Stanford 2 p.m. Washington 12:30 p.m. November @ California 12:30 p.m. UCLA 12:30 p.m. @ Oregon St. 1 p.m. EXPECTED STARTERS RE 92 Devan Long LB 18 RamoneReed IB 52 Jeny Matson LB 84 Anthony Trucks 1 Gatren Strong 72 Mam Snyder 74 NickSteite Hot Time - Cool Courses Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Oregon Summer 8004 Four-week, four-credit courses Art, and Society; Women’s literary artistic and intellectual contributions ■ • n's culture and to dominant cultures.
