Oregon daily emerald., May 26, 2005, Image 13

Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, May 26, 2005
“I’ve had to overcome a lot of diversity. ”
Cleveland’s Drew Gooden, discussing his NBA career
■ In my opinion
JON ROETMAN
ROUGHING THE PASSER
Blazers get
yet another
opportunity
to screw up
Portland can’t screw this one up.
Can they?
The Trail Blazers got lucky Tliesday when
they were awarded the No. 3 pick in the
2005 NBA draft lottery. Portland finished with
the fifth-worst record in the league (27-55),
but moved up two spots when its four
number ping pong ball combination was
selected after Milwaukee and Atlanta filled the
first two slots.
A top-three selection seemingly assures
a team of landing a quality player, but
with Portland’s shoddy draft history, nothing
is guaranteed.
Let’s review:
Last time the Blazers drafted in the top 10
was 1995, and they selected Michigan State
guard Shawn Respert with the eighth pick.
Then they quickly sent him to Milwaukee for
muscle-bound forward Gary Tfent.
While TYent averaged double figures in scor
ing for two of the three seasons he was with
the Blazers, he was only a marginal talent in
exchange for a top-10 pick.
Since 2000, the Blazers have also wasted
first-round picks on St. John’s guard Erick
Barkley and Northeast Mississippi Community
College disaster Qyntel Woods. They did man
age to land iiber-talented forward Zach Ran
dolph from Michigan State in 2001, but even
he has come at a price in the form of his in
ability to stay out of trouble.
And let’s not forget the granddaddy of all
draft busts.
In 1984 — the last season the NBA used its
“coin flip” strategy to determine which team
would open the draft — Portland wound up
with the second overall pick after losing the
coin flip to Houston (the coin flip was between
the last-place team from each of the NBA’s
two divisions).
with the tirst pick, the Rockets selected hall
of-fame center Akeem Olajuwon. The Blazers,
in need of a big man after selecting Houston
guard Clyde Drexler the year before, opted to
go with Kentucky center Sam Bowie with the
second pick.
Why is this so bad? Because Chicago select
ed some guard by the name of Michael Jordan
with the third pick.
Ouch.
Adding salt to the wound, Dallas and
Philadelphia selected Sam Perkins and Charles
Barkley, respectively, with the next two picks.
So who will Portland take with the third
pick on June 28?
High school shooting guard Gerald Green?
Wake Forest point guard Chris Paul?
Will North Carolina forward Marvin
Williams or Utah center Andrew Bogut fall
out of the top two? Will the Blazers
package the pick with Nick Van Exel’s expir-.
ing contract for a stud shooting guard through
a blockbuster trade?
My advice: Take a certain former 6-foot-ll
Oregon center and continue the comedy
of errors that has become the
Portland Trail Blazers.
jonroetman@ daily emerald, com
■ Men's tennis
Swinnen advances to round two
Sven Swinnen beat Oklahoma
State's Tomas Bohunicky in the
opening round of the NCAAs
BY ALEX TAM
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
When Sven Swinnen traveled to the NCAA
Men’s Tennis Individual Championships, he re
minded himself that the key to his success has
been sticking to his game plan.
Behind an aggressive style of play in which
he continually attacked the net and put pressure
on his opponent, Swinnen advanced to the sec
ond round of the NCAA Tournament
after defeating Oklahoma State’s Tomas Bohu
nicky, 6-0, 7-6 (3).
“It was a pretty good performance for a first
round match,” Swinnen said. “I feel really good
about it. Getting used to the climate here was re
ally important also because it was hot.”
With temperatures reaching the high 80s in
College Station, Texas, Swinnen was nearly
worn out in the second set when he fell behind,
5- 2. However, he then rallied back to take the
match to a tiebreaker, where he
eventually won.
“In the first set, I had a really good start and
played pretty good,” Swinnen said. “The other
guy just started missing some shots. In the sec
ond set, he started to come back and was mak
ing those shots, and then I had to fight back.”
In the next round, Swinnen battles Florida
State’s Mat Cloer today at noon. The two al
ready faced one another earlier this season
when Oregon and Florida State had a match in
Honolulu on Jan. 15. Swinnen ended up win
ning a close three-set match against Cloer, 7-5,
6- 7,6-4.
Swinnen said he needs to continue playing
the way he has all season to advance to the third
round of the 64-player tournament.
“I just need to stick with my game plan,”
Swinnen said. “Cloer is a solid baseline-to-base
line player. I just need to stay aggressive and
Oregon’s Sven
Swinnen
defeated
Oklahoma
State’s Tomas
Bohunicky,
6-0,7-6 (3), in
the first round
of the NCAA
Tournament
on Wednesday.
Swinnen faces
Florida State’s
Mat Cloer
today at noon
■ in the second
come attack at the net. ”
When asked about his chances of winning
the whole tournament, Swinnen said he wasn’t
going to speculate, but he felt confident about
the way he is playing.
“Anything can happen at this tournament,”
he said. “I just have to take it match by match. ”
This season, Swinnen was one of the lone
bright spots on a struggling Oregon men’s ten
nis team. The 24-year-old recorded a school
record 26 singles victories to add to his career
total of 83. That number also places him first in
Oregon history.
round,
Tim Bobosky | Photographer
On Wednesday, Swinnen was also an
nounced the 2005 Intercollegiate Tennis
Association/Rafael Osuna National Sports
manship award winner, which goes to the
player who displays sportsmanship, charac
ter, excellent academics and outstanding
tennis performances.
“I feel honored to get that award,” he said.
“It’s always good to win awards like this. It
shows that all the hard work is appreciated.”
Swinnen, a three-time most valuable player
for the Ducks, is a pre-business administration
major with a 3.31 GPA.
Tim Bobosky | Photographer
Oregon Club baseball pitcher Jay Tlougan and the rest of the team will begin
their quest for a National Club Baseball Association World Series championship
today against North Carolina State in Bradenton, Fla.
■ Club Sports
Baseball strives to
continue hot play
at World Series
Oregon has won 11 of its last 15 games and is ready
for first-round play against North Carolina State
BY LUKE ANDREWS
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
The Oregon Club baseball team
will attempt to keep its recent
hot streak alive today in the
first round of the National Club
Baseball Association’s World Se
ries from McKechnie Field in
Bradenton, Fla.
The Ducks (12-2, 22-8) have
won 11 of their last 15 games and
will face last year’s runner-up,
North Carolina State (11-1, 30-9),
today at 9:30 a.m. The Wolfpack,
winners of the South East
Atlantic Regional tournament,
fell to Colorado State in the
NCBA’s World Series a year ago.
This season marks North Caroli
na State’s third consecutive
World Series appearance.
“They’ve (NC State) got a lot of
seniors and are a really scrappy
team like we are,” head coach
Bradley Ficek said. “It’s a really
good matchup.”
The Ducks are hoping to ride
their late-season surge, which
helped garner a second consecu
tive Northern Pacific Regional
Tournament championship and a
first-place finish in the Pacific
Mountain Conference.
Oregon will send third team
All-American pitcher Scott Sulli
van (6-0, 1.24 ERA) to the
mound. In his last outing, the
Beaverton native went seven
complete innings in a 13-4 win
against Weber State.
“He is not an overpowering
pitcher,” Ficek said, referring to
Sullivan’s 17 strikeouts on the
season. “But he gets a lot of
ground balls and makes teams
BASEBALL, page 14