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Trail Blazers fire head coach
during team's recent slump
BY ANNE M. PETERSON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND — After falling quick
ly out of playoff contention for the
second straight year, the Portland
TYail Blazers fired coach Maurice
Cheeks on Wednesday.
Kevin Pritchard, the team’s direc
tor of player personnel, was named
interim head coach, the Tirail Blazers
announced at a news conference.
“It’s a sad day. Maurice Cheeks is
a very, very good coach; he’s an
equally good person,” TYail Blazers
general manager John Nash said.
Nash said when he had met with
Cheeks earlier Wednesday, Cheeks
“was very professional, but also
seemed very disappointed, as anyone
would be in this type of situation.”
Cheeks was near the end of a four
year contract worth an estimated
$12 million.
He was popular among the players
and fans alike. But when the losses
mounted this season, speculation
swirled that Cheeks was on the
way out.
The TYail Blazers have lost seven
out of their last nine games, including
a 103-93 loss to the defending
NBA champion Detroit Pistons on
Tliesday night.
The TYail Blazers (22-33) are in
12th place in the Western Confer
ence, six games back of the Los An
geles Lakers for the eighth and final
playoff spot. They went 41-41 last
season, missing the playoffs for the
first time in 22 years.
Cheeks leaves the Trail Blazers
with a 162-139 career record.
Cheeks, who played in the NBA
for 15 seasons, was hired by Port
land in 2001 to replace Mike Dun
leavy. He was the TYail Blazers’ 10th
head coach.
Over the course of his tenure,
Cheeks has had his share of trouble
with players both on and off the court.
Several players were cited for mari
juana possession, and an incident
earlier this season involved forward
Qyntel Woods and allegations of
dog fighting.
Cheeks butted heads with former
Ti-ail Blazers guard Bonzi Wells and
also got into a shouting match with
forward Darius Miles during a film ses
sion earlier this year. Both players
served suspensions for their actions.
Team President Steve Patterson,
who also met with Cheeks early
Wednesday, said the Trail Blazers
would focus on their young talent,
although he didn’t come right out
and say the team had given up on
the playoffs.
“I’m not going to mislead anybody.
It’s a long uphill battle to get to the
playoffs from where we’re at — 11
games under .500,” Patterson said.
Taylor: Ducks' defense continues to improve
Continued from page 13
or (Salim) Stoudamire, I’m going to
give them a run for their money.”
Defense continues to excel
While Oregon’s offense has been
inconsistent and streaky, its defense
has proved to be a pleasant surprise.
The Ducks have held teams to
43.1 percent shooting this season,
good for fourth in the Pacific-10 Con
ference. They rank in the middle of
the conference in points allowed with
70.4 points per game.
“Our defense has been pretty good
for a young team,” Oregon guard
Aaron Brooks said. “We’ve been
grasping the other team’s offense and
trying to control the game.”
But Oregon’s offense is also aver
aging 70.4 points per game, giving it
the fourth worst scoring margin in
the Pac-10.
clay tonjones@ daily emerald, com
Nicole Barker | Photographer
Freshman Bryce Taylor returns home for the first time in a Duck uniform when Oregon travels
to California to face USC tonight. Taylor is third on the team in scoring, averaging 11.2 points.
Women: Oregon confident in inside presence
Continued from page 13
Every team has suffered some wear
and tear over 27 games, but Oregon
head coach Bev Smith said her team is
prepared for the final stretch.
“Everybody is healthy — knock on
wood — and ready to go,” Smith said.
With the exception of the loss of its
primary shooting guard, Chelsea
Wagner, Oregon is at full strength,
especially in the paint.
“Our greatest strength is inside,”
Smith said. “In the second half of the
Pac-10 season, teams did a great job
trying to limit that. Once teams fight
to stop that, then our outside game
opens up and we have a tremendous
outside game.”
The Ducks have succeeded with
clutch outside shooting from
Kraayeveld and guard Brandi Davis,
with occasional contributions from
sophomore Kaela Chapdelaine and
freshmen Gabrielle Richards and
Kristen Forristall.
In addition, Mizusawa leads the
Pac-10 and ranks No. 2 in the nation in
assists with just over seven per game.
“We have older players,” Bills said.
"Just the abilities and skills that every
body brings is a complete package. ”
stephenmiller@ daily emerald, com
Men: USC's trio of young shooters a threat to Ducks
Continued from page 13
three teams finish with the same
record, Oregon would be assured of
no less than a No. 8 seed in the
Pac-10 Tournament.
The Ducks will have another
chance to qualify on Saturday at
UCLA if everything doesn’t go their
way tonight, but they know their
chances improve greatly with a win
against USC.
“(Losing is) really not an option
for us,” Oregon swingman Malik
Hairston said. “We’ve been through
a lot this season, and we’ve got
a game to win coming up on Thurs
day, and that’s the only thing on
our mind.”
Like Oregon, USC is a young team
that shoots a lot of perimeter
jumpers. The TYojans have attempted
590 three-pointers — 113 more than
their opponents — knocking them
down at a 37 percent clip.
The Trojans’ best perimeter players
are sophomore guard Lodrick Stew
art, freshman guard Gabriel Pruitt
and freshman swingman Nick
Young. The trio combines to average
more than 36 points per game and is
always looking for open shots.
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent
stressed the importance of defending
the perimeter after one out of every
three shot attempts he saw the Ttojans
put up on film was a three-pointer.
“They shoot the ball better (than
earlier in the season), and they’re
shooting it a lot more from (three
point range),” Kent said. “We have to
defend those shooters. We’ve been a
pretty good defensive team for the
majority of our games. ”
On the offensive end, Aaron
Brooks will likely play a big role for
Oregon. The sophomore point guard
has had several big games in his
young career against the Trojans, in
cluding a 34-point performance in
the Ducks’ win over USC earlier this
season at Mac Court.
Brooks and the rest of the Ducks
have been in an offensive funk of
late, failing to reach the 70-point
mark in their last five games.
“Our defense has been pretty good
for a young team, but we have to
pick it up on offense and score some
points,” Brooks said. “You can’t win
if you don’t score points.
“Our Pac-10 Tournament starts
(tonight) against USC, and we need
to win that game to break us out of
the pack.”
jon roetman @ dailyemerald.com