Oregon Daily Emerald
Friday, November 5, 2004
“Eddie Robinson is about one word:
winning and losing. ”
Agent Paul Collier after Robinson’s release from the Bulls
■ Men’s basketball
Oregon prepares for 'track meet'
Head coach Ernie Kent expects Sunday's exhibition
opener with Trinity Western to be fast-paced
BY JON ROETMAN
SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER
After a pair of intrasquad scrim
mages, the Oregon men’s basket
ball team is ready to face an oppo
nent outside of the program.
The Ducks open their season
Sunday with an exhibition game
against Ttinity Western at
McArthur Court at 3:30 p.m. The
university from Langley, British
Columbia, which pushed Georgia
to double overtime last week
before falling 75-63, should pro
vide an early challenge for Oregon.
“I’m looking forward to being
in front of the crowd and not
playing against our own team,”
sophomore point guard Aaron
Brooks said.
“It’s going to
be exciting to
finally put on
the uniform.”
Oregon dis
played an up
tempo brand of
basketball dur
ing its two
scrimmages
and doesn’t
plan to change
Sunday. Brooks, who is coming off
a 40-point performance during
Wednesday’s scrimmage, is ex
pected to lead an offense full of
young, athletic players with unlim
ited potential.
Included in the group are the
four freshmen who constitute Ore
gon’s greatest recruiting class ever.
Guards Malik Hairston, Bryce Tay
lor, Chamberlain Oguchi and for
ward Maarty Leunen are expected
to play major roles in how much
the Ducks are able to accomplish
this season.
“Coaches went out and recruit
ed guys who are going to run,”
Brooks said. “That’s the kind of
game we’re going to play. It’s fun
to finally get the pieces in there.”
Head coach Ernie Kent said
Sunday’s exhibition game will be
a good reference point for how far
the young Ducks have come, as
well as a chance for players to
continue getting in shape.
“Sunday, for us, is a track meet
conditioning game,” Kent said.
“We want to really get up and
down (the floor) and use the game
to get our work in, in terms of con
ditioning. We want to see how well
we play in front of a crowd, in
terms of our new guys, and how
we handle things.”
Though the season has yet to
start, the Ducks are already bat
tling injuries. Forwards Ian Cross
white and Mitch Platt were held
out of Wednesday’s scrimmage
“Coaches went out and
recruited guys who are
going to run. That’s the
kind of game we’re going
to play. It’s fun to finally
get the pieces in there. ”
Aaron Brooks | Oregon point guard
with ail
ments. Platt
re-aggravat
ed a left
foot injury
from last
season dur
ing practice
last week,
while
Crosswhite
slipped on
wet steps outside his home Tues
day and suffered a slight injury to
his left ankle. The status of each
player for Sunday’s game is unde
termined.
Oguchi was also held out of
Wednesday’s scrimmage after ex
periencing an abnormally rapid
heartbeat Monday. The Houston
native received medical clear
ance, however, and should be
available to play Sunday barring
any setbacks.
Oregon’s second exhibition
game will be Sunday Nov. 14
against Western Oregon at Mac
Court. The Ducks’ regular season
opener is Nov. 19 against Idaho
State at Mac Court.
jonroetman@ daily emerald, com
Danielle Hickey | Photo editor
Oregon point guard Aaron Brooks scored 40 points in the Ducks' final
scrimmage Wednesday. The sophomore from Seattle earned Pac-10
All-Freshman honors last season.
■ Women's basketball
Ducks host WOU in exhibition opener
Oregon is picked to finish fifth and sixth in the
Pac-10 by the coaches and the media, respectively
BY STEPHEN MILLER
SPORTS REPORTER
Oregon opens the 2004-2005
season at McArthur Court with
an exhibition game against
a team that proved to be a wor
thy opponent in the 1970s —
Western Oregon.
The Wolves possess a 6-6 all
time record against the Ducks,
whose games against each other
took place from 1974-78.
Western Oregon collected
an overall record of 8-18 last
season. It returns four letter
winners and two starters, includ
ing senior forward Shannon
Talbott, who was the Wolves’
second-leading scorer.
The Ducks will be worrying
more about the health of their
returning players. Senior Kedzie
Gunderson’s defensive skills will
be missed due to a season-end
ing tear of her right anterior
cruciate ligament.
Senior Cathrine Kraayeveld
is recovering from the same
injury, which she sustained
five games into last season. Ore
gon is eagerly anticipating
the return of Kraayeveld, as
well as her abilities from the
perimeter and in the paint under
either basket.
“Cathrine returns with her
tremendous and efficient of
fensive versatility,” Oregon
head coach Bev Smith said.
“Her defensive prowess and
rebounding will return a signifi
cant bite to our defensive sting.
Cat’s ability to make a big
difference at both ends of
the floor gives our team tremen
dous punch offensively, and
a solid presence in the paint
defensively.”
“Cat has a great understand
ing of the game and is healthy
for her final season as a
Duck, and she will make it an
exciting one.”
Smith mentioned that her
squad’s rebounding and defense
were acceptable in last week’s
scrimmage, but there is room for
improvement.
Center Andrea Bills is expected
to be Oregon’s strength on
the boards. The senior was
recognized as a Pacific-10 Con
ference honorable mention
selection last season and led
the Ducks in points, rebounds,
field goal percentage and
blocked shots.
“’Drea is our most consistent
low-post threat and has become
a very experienced, effective
and smart defensive player,”
Smith said. “She has been
our ‘Iron Woman’ for the last
three years.”
Oregon has been ranked this
preseason to finish fifth in the
Pac-10 by coaches and sixth by
the media. The Ducks finished
eighth in the conference last sea
son at 6-12 and 14-15 overall.
stephenmiller@dailyemerald.com
■ Women's soccer
Ducks look
to end winless
streak in final
home stand
Oregon will have its last chance
for a Pac-10 victory this weekend
when they host the Arizona schools
BY BRIAN SMITH
SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon women’s soccer team has the
chance to play spoiler in the final weekend of the
2004 season.
The Ducks (0-6-1 Pacific-10 Conference, 3-12-2
overall) kick off the weekend tonight against Ari
zona State and finish with conference-leading
Arizona on Sunday at Pape Field.
The Wildcats come into the weekend with a
one-game lead in the conference over heavily fa
vored UCLA and need only four points to clinch
at least a share of their first-ever conference
championship.
“A lot of it is confidence,” Oregon head coach
Bill Steffen said of the turnaround. “Another part
of it is that they had talent that had been under
utilized.”
Oregon is still looking for its first conference
victory of the season. The Ducks have not been
held winless in conference play since the pro
gram gained varsity status in 1996. They have
been shutout 10 times this season, matching the
record set in 2000.
Injuries have been by far the biggest
contributing factor for the struggling Ducks.
The team’s offensive weapons have been
hit hardest, with the likes of Nicole Garbin,
Mele French, Andrea Valadez and Caitlin
Gamble all spending significant time on the
injured list.
As a result, the Ducks’ offense has been
almost non-existent. Oregon has scored
13 goals on the season, resulting in a 0.76
goals per game average. They are the only
team in the conference to be averaging less
SOCCER, page 6A
IN BRIEF
Swinnen advances, Panova loses
at national indoor tournament
Oregon senior Sven Swinnen found success
in the first round of the Intercollegiate Tennis
Association National Indoor Championships in
Ann Arbor, Mich., by defeating Mark Van Elden
of Oklahoma State, 2-6, 7-6, 5-3 (ret) Thursday.
With the victory over 13th-ranked Van El
den, Swinnen has improved his fall season
record to 7-2.
"Sven did another outstanding job of battling
back,” Oregon assistant coach Ross Duncan
said. “He wore down Van Elden after the first
set and came away with a huge win.”
In the round of 16, the 12th ranked Swinnen
will face No. 59 Arnaud Lecloerec of Virginia
Commonwealth today.
Last week, Swinnen became the first
Oregon men’s player to win a regional event,
when he won the Wilson/ITA West Regional
in Berkeley, Calif.
On the women’s side, eighth-ranked Daria
Panova fell in the first round of the tournament
to USC’s Nicole Leimbach, 6-4,6-2.
Panova drops to the consolation round today
and will face TCU’s Helena Besovic. Besovic
was defeated by No. 1 seed Audra Cohen of
Northwestern.
It is Panova’s second-consecutive loss after
being bounced from the regional tournament in
the third round by Stanford’s Whitney Deason.
— Clayton Jones