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
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