Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, November 17, 2005
“When I come back, I want to be
reincarnated as a dolphin, or as an F-16. ”
Former professional baseball and football player Bo Jackson
■ In my opinion
_ w .
JEFFREY DRANSFELDT
THREE TO WIN
Ducks still
talented,
still seeking
an identity
Fans confidently walked out of McArthur
Court after the Oregon women’s basketball
team won its season opener 80-30 against an
overwhelmed St. Francis (Pa.) team Friday.
Talk of midseason form and NCAA
postseason berths floated around.
Oregon received a heavy dose of reality
the following night with a 51-46 loss to
No. 21 Temple.
What does this make Oregon — elite or a
middle-of-the-pack team? Oregon showed
flashes against a Temple team that returned
three starters from a 28-4 team in 2004-05.
Center Gabrielle Richards confirmed her
status as Oregon’s inside presence with con
secutive nights setting her career high in
points twice with 19 against St. Francis and
20 against Temple.
I predicted big things two weeks ago
and still do, but after Saturday I have
several questions.
Oregon is a collection of talent without a de
fined go-to scorer, which Richards may well be
come. Saturday Temple negated her presence
the final two minutes and forced Oregon to find
scoring elsewhere. After Richards, a second
scorer never materialized when Temple closed
on an 8-0 run.
Great teams have players to turn to for big
shots in pressure situations. Chelsea Wagner
and Brandi Davis highlight the possibilities for
the Ducks. Will Oregon develop a regular last
second option or rely on a scorer-by-commit
tee approach? Wagner took Oregon’s last shot
against Temple off a pick and role with point
guard Kaela Chapdelaine.
Along that line, when Richards has an off
night, who picks up the slack? Oregon’s 6
foot-6 center Jessie Shetters can rebound and
play defense, but can she finish consistently
on offense? Eleanor Haring can create her
own shot, but will she do it late in games?
Carolyn Ganes returned this season after
redshirting in 2004-05 and has posted positive
results with 15 and 18 points in two exhibi
tion games and 15 points in the season opener
with the smoothest stroke you’ll ever see. De
fensive match-ups kept her off the court
against the quick posts of Temple. The result:
In a physical game, Oregon lost a valuable
scoring option with scoring at a premium.
These questions and others need to be an
swered if Oregon plans to exceed the media
prediction of fifth place in the Pacific-10 Con
ference and surpass last season’s second
appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Oregon must start gelling now with three
winnable home games left (Nevada,
Arkansas, Drake University) before spending
all of December on the road with difficult road
DRANSFELDT page 14
♦
Nicole Barker | Senior photographer
Mira Djuric siams the ball in Oregon's five-game loss to Oregon State last week. Djuric is tied for sixth in
the Pacific-10 Conference in kills with 4.29 per game.
■ Duck volleyball
Djuric still
adjusting
to playing
in the U.S.
The Serbian nearly ended up in
New Orleans before deciding to
test herself against the Pac-10
BY JEFFREY DRANSFELDT
SPORTS REPORTER
Mira Djuric, the powerful hitter in Oregon’s
volleyball lineup, almost never arrived in Eugene.
The exuberant hitter with a strong serve
chose the University of New Orleans before
help from a familiar face and the lure of Pacif
ic-10 Conference competition drew her here.
Oregon landing Djuric, who leads the Pac
10 in service aces, is an important step in be
coming a competitive program, coach Jim
Moore said.
Moore completed a busy travel schedule
this offseason with trips to Las Vegas, Omaha,
Neb., and Australia. Moore expanded his
recruiting to include Belgrade in Serbia and
plans to visit more countries. His trip
to Belgrade helped secure assistant coach
Marko Majstorovic.
Prior to joining Oregon, Moore worked in the
same conference as assistant coach and re
cruiter Nikola Petrovic. Petrovic took a job at
the University of Alabama-Birmingham instead
of Oregon, but told Moore about Majstorovic.
Moore e-mailed Majstorovic on a Monday.
By Wednesday Majstorovic had paperwork
and information necessary to come to the
United States, he said. Majstorovic knew
Djuric from her play with the Serbian Junior
National Team. When she picked New
Orleans, he said he helped persuade her to
DJURIC, page 14
■ Club men's soccer
Ducks seek to score tournament victory
The team believes they have enough talent to return from Alabama
this weekend with the Open Division championship trophy
BY JACOB MAY
FREELANCE REPORTER
The men’s club soccer team recently com
pleted its regular season and is now focused
on competing in the national tournament
this weekend in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The team is carrying plenty of momentum
into the tournament. It has a perfect record
of 4-0 and has beaten its opponents with a
combined score of 21-3, including a 5-0
shutout of rival Oregon State.
Leading scorers on the team include
forwards Jason Modahl and Chris Platt
who have each scored five goals during
the season.
So far the season has exceeded team coor
dinator Patrick Drake’s expectations because
the team has been able to obliterate its oppo
nents. He believes the team has been able to
control ball possession for nearly 75 percent
of each game.
“We expected to dominate, and we have
been,” Drake said.
Although their success has proved they
will be a worthy opponent in the tourna
ment, the team still needs a little fine-tuning
because their previous opponents did not
challenge the team’s minor blemishes.
“The last thing we need to work on is set
plays. That is our biggest weakness right
now — free kicks,” said Drake.
Drake attributes the team’s success to a
variety of different aspects: solid defense,
solid attacking, finishing and all-around
strong play.
Drake believes the team will come out of
its group first in a crowd that includes Geor
gia Tech, Wisconsin and Southeastern
Louisiana. Drake considers the competition
in this group light and he expects to face the
team’s toughest opponents in the semifinals.
The men’s team will be playing in the
Open Division because there is no regional
qualifying tournament in the northwest area.
The academic calendar forces the men’s
team to start competition too late into the
season because most schools start at the end
of August.
The team will not be competing for the na
tional title, but will still face stiff competi
tion. Cal-Berkeley, for instance, was in the
semifinal of the Championship Division, but
this year will play in the Open Division after
not qualifying for the main tournament.
Next year Drake hopes the team can start
practicing earlier in order to go to the region
al qualifying tournament, which will take
place in California.
“There’s really no way for any Northwest
team to qualify because all the qualifying re
gions are in Arizona, Utah and California,”
Drake said.
The best the club can hope for is to win
the Open Division, which consists of 16
teams separate from the championship
bracket. Team members are confident they
can come out as Open Division champions.
“We expect better competition, but we
have enough talent to go far,” Modahl said.
After the tournament the club team will be
gin its indoor soccer season at the beginning of
winter term.