Oregon Daily Emerald
Monday, November 29, 2004
“Yes it was unanimous; 1 -0, and I won. ” -
NBA commissioner David Stern after being asked whether the vote to suspend
Ron Artest for the season was unanimous
■ In my opinion
CLAYTON JONES
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH
NFL games
fail to meet
Turkey Day
expectations
I used to love to watch Turkey Day foot
ball.
I used to love watching the Dallas Cow
boys and Detroit Lions play against other
teams in what were usually good ball games
to at least get my mind off eating way too
much turkey, stuffing and having to mingle
with distant relatives.
I sat in my apartment (this year was a
stay-at-home Thanksgiving for me), eager to
view some spectacular football with our
own Joey Harrington playing against the
touchdown-passing machine that is Peyton
Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.
Even the Cowboys playing the Chicago
Bears interested me with two brothers,
Julius and Thomas Jones, each running
backs, playing against each other on this day
of thanks.
Well thanks for nothing, NFL.
The most excitement I got was from see
ing whether Manning was going to throw for
10 touchdowns in one game against the Li
ons’ terrible defense.
The Lions got torched all game and
Manning looked as though he could tell
what the defense was going to do before
the defense knew.
My train of thought as a defensive coach
after a quarterback has tossed four first-half
touchdown passes: Maybe they’re going to
keep throwing the ball in the second half. I
guess that didn’t cross the mind of the De
troit defense.
Something looked all too familiar during
this game as well. An Oregon quarterback
not being able to succeed due to bad protec
tion, with the weapons around him being in
jured most of the season.
Hmmm... where have I seen this before?
Oh right, this year’s Oregon football team
and Kellen Clemens.
Harrington has battled through the in
juries of wide receiver Demetrius ... uh I
mean Roy Williams and was without the
services of running back Kevin Jones most
of this season. He also lost Charles Rogers
(again) for the season.
It’s something Clemens dealt with all sea
son — something Harrington never had to
deal with in such a dramatic fashion while
at Oregon — with nagging injuries to
Demetrius Williams and Tim Day that crip
pled the passing attack.
Enough grumbling about Oregon football;
back to bashing the Thanksgiving football
that was shoved on my plate like an over
cooked turkey with burned stuffing, heals of
bread and lumpy mashed potatoes.
While the first game at least gave me
something to watch with Manning and Har
rington (before he got pulled), the second
game quite honestly might have been the
most boring NFL contest I have ever seen.
Dallas and Chicago were both offensively
challenged, and that’s being nice about it.
Watching Dallas quarterback Drew Henson,
who hadn’t played in a game for about four
years, was terrible. The Chicago offense
JONES, page 8
■ Women's basketball
Oregon wins tourney in Brooklyn
Danielle Hickey | Photo editor
Oregon senior forward Cathrine Kraayeveld, seen here earlier this season, scored 28
points during two games in the Long Island University Turkey Classic.
The Ducks edged Miami and routed hosting LIU
to win the Long Island University Turkey Classic
BY BRIAN SMITH
SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon women’s basket
ball team made its first-ever trip
to New York during the weekend
and came away with two victo
ries and a tournament title to
show for the journey.
Oregon outlasted Miami 79-73
on Friday and dominated Long Is
land 68-50 on Saturday to claim
the trophy at the Long Island Uni
versity Turkey Classic, held at the
Schwartz Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Ducks remain unbeaten
early in the 2004-05 season, im
proving their record to 4-0.
More importantly, Oregon
proved they can win on the road,
something they struggled with last
year, compiling a 3-9 record away
from McArthur Court.
Oregon forward Cathrine
Kraayeveld was named the tourna
ment’s MVP. For the two games,
Kraayeveld scored 28 points and
collected 18 rebounds.
For Kraayeveld, it was her fifth
straight MVP honor, starting with
the 2002 Women’s NIT, which Ore
gon won.
“We wanted to come in and get
two wins and just play consistently
and I think we did that,”
Kraayeveld said. “It’s different
coming out to the East Coast... it’s
a little different style than we’re
used to”
Along with her 28 points, the
senior also added seven assists,
five steals and three blocks.
“She’s not just a scorer, but a
player at both ends,” Oregon head
coach Bev Smith said. “That’s the
difference between a good player
who’s one dimensional and a
great player. She gets out on the
lane and runs, she’s good defen
sively and just makes us better on
both ends.”
Ducks shut down
LIU in title game
Defense, something the Ducks
have been preaching all year as the
starting point for the team, helped
Oregon get a big lead early against
the Blackbirds and never look back.
After giving up a three-pointer
to Long Island’s Amber Wirth to
start the game, the Ducks clamped
down on defense, igniting a 19-2
run before the 10-minute mark in
the first half.
“Defensively, we had much
greater intensity for the whole 40
minutes,” Smith said. “We got 12
steals and they turned into transi
tion points for us. I thought we did
that as well as we ever have, as far
as running the floor and taking ad
vantage of turnovers.”
For the game, the Blackbirds
committed 18 turnovers, 12 com
ing off of Oregon steals.
The Ducks also benefited from
hot shooting to begin the game,
connecting on seven of their first
10 shots, and finished the half 17
of 26 (65.4 percent).
Junior guard Chelsea Wagner,
named to the all-tournament team
along with Kraayeveld, drained
two three-pointers early to contin
ue her hot shooting from the day
before. Wagner finished with 11
points on 4 of 9 shooting.
“She had a great tournament,”
Smith said. “Chelsea is very de
fensively solid. She’s got great
ball pressure, she’s great in the
passing lanes and is a smart de
fender. It gives us the opportunity
to start a game well and bring
that defensive intensity.”
The Blackbirds brought the
deficit to within 10 just before the
half but were unable to get any
closer for the rest of the game.
Oregon senior point guard Corrie
WOMEN'S, page 9
■ Men's basketball
Ducks steal Herd's thunder,
trample Marshall 89-69
Oregon jumps out to an early
lead behind Bryce Taylor's stellar
shooting and never looks back
BY JON ROETMAN
SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon men’s basketball team passed its
first road test of the season with flying colors.
The Ducks put on a three-point shooting dis
play Saturday and defeated Marshall 89-69 at
the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, W.Va.
Oregon (3-0) knocked down 13 of 21 from
behind the arc and was in control from the
opening tip. The Ducks led by as many as 25
points, en route to their highest offensive out
put of the season.
“This group has the makings of something spe
cial,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent told 590
KUGN after the game. “They’re young and they’re
playing at such a high level. The key is to keep
them there and to keep their confidence high.”
Freshman guard Bryce Taylor finished with a
team-high 18 points and knocked down 4 of 6
from three-point range. The Encino, Calif., na
tive sparked Oregon to an early 14-3 lead by
connecting on a trio of three-pointers during the
game’s first five minutes.
“People got a chance to see what a fantastic
scorer and offensive player he is,” Kent said.
Taylor was one of five Ducks to reach double
figures in scoring, including Aaron Brooks (16),
Malik Hairston (15), Ian Crosswhite (13) and
Chamberlain Oguchi (11).
Oguchi’s performance was impressive in its
own right. After sitting on the bench for most
of Oregon’s three contests, the freshman from
Houston connected on 3 of 5 three-pointers in
just 12 minutes.
“Chamberlain Oguchi showed just how well
he can shoot,” Kent said.
Along with a balanced scoring attack, Ore
gon showed off its depth as nine Ducks played
double-figure minutes. The Ducks’ ability to
stay fresh was key early in the second half
MEN'S, page 8
Erik R. Bisi ion | Photographer
Freshman guard Bryce Taylor, seen earlier this season,
helped Oregon defeat Marshall 89-69 Saturday in
Charleston, W. Va with his three-point shots