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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 1997)
Wednesday, November 5, 1997 Blazers begin season with new look ADAM CRUM Staff Writer It was a busy off-season for the Portland Trailblazers. The Blazers made numerous changes once again, beginning with the hiring of Head Coach Mike Dunleavy. General Manager Bob Whitsitt hired Dunleavy on May 13, replacing P.J. Carlesimo. Dunleavy had previously been a coach and general manager for Milwaukee. The big free-agent pickup for Portland was forward Brian Grant, a fourth-year pro who played with Sacramento his first three years in the league. Whitsitt also brought in four veterans to mix with the young talent the Blazers have. Point guard John Crotty will serve as a valuable backup to Kenny Anderson. Swingman Vincent Askew is a solid defensive player who will get mini mal playing time. Also signed were guard Sean Higgins and center Alton Lister. In the draft, Portland selected center Chris Anstey in the first round and guard Alvin Williams in the second round. Whitsitt made yet another deal on draft day, trad ing the rights to Anstey to Dallas for the rights to center Kelvin Cato and cash. The last trade the Blazer^ made was sending Chris Dudley to New York in a three-way trade and re ceiving the Knicks’ first.round pick in 1998 and a future second round draft choice from Toronto. The Blazers’ starting backcourt will be Kenny Anderson at the point and Isaiah Rider at shooting guard. Rasheed Wallace and Grant will team up to make a big starting frontcourt, along with Arvydas Sabonis at center. Gary Trent, currently on the injured list, and Stacey Augmon will be two important players coming off the bench. Second-year youngster Jermaine O’Neal looks to get a little more playing time this year with the departure of Dudley. Cato could see some good minutes behind Sabonis, who is prone to injury and fatigue. Dontonio Wingfield and Alton Lister are also on the injury list, but will see some minutes when they return. Portland opened the season at home against Seattle on Oct. 31. The Blazers played much of the game without Kenny Anderson, who was hampered by an ankle in jury. The score was close through out the game, with both teams struggling to score from the field. Seattle pulled away in the late stages of the game, defeating Port land 91-83. Grant led the Blazers with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Wallace and Sabonis each added 14 points and eight rebounds in the losing cause. Portland traveled to Los Angeles to face the L.A. Clippers the following day. Once again, the game re mained close throughout. The Blazers maintained a lead for the majority of the game and recorded an 82- 74 win. Anderson led the Blazers with 20 points, despite com ing off the bendh and play ing only 26 minutes. Grant finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds and Wallace scored 14 while pulling down eight boards. The Blazers hosted Minnesota ‘ yesterday but the game had not been played at press time. The team plays at Houston on Friday and at Dallas on Saturday. Trailblazer Rasheed Wallace's aggressive play leads Portland against the best in the world this 1997-98 season Upcoming Blazer Home Games November: December: 11-10 Detroit 11-14 Phoenix All home games areggtô 17 Dall ne played at thefeM Dallas Rose Garden 11-28 Houston 12-2 12-5 ||||| 12-10 Orlando Utah L.A. Laker's Atlanta I Promising spring in store for baseball team JOHNTHORBURN Sports Editor The Clackamas baseball team re cently closed out their schedule of scrimmages going 5-0 in the fall league, ending the first phase in a long drive for a Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges [NWAACC] title. The Cougars started off the 1997 school year with a doubleheader against the Japanese Junior College National Team. After English Instructor Tim Schell interpreted the foreign language and an exchange of gifts were made, Clackamas rolled past the Japanese squad in a 10-3 victory in the opening game. Clackamas escaped with a 6-5 win to conclude the day’s festivities. The Cougars faced league rival Chemeketa in a triple-header that saw Clackamas put up 42 runs on the scoreboard. Head Coach Robin Robinson’s team won all three games against the Chiefs 9-1,18-8 and 15-12. A strong group of players returns from last year’s squad. “We returned enough quality play ers that we didn’t have to go out and do a lot of recruiting,” said Coach Robinson. “We returned enough guys to fill a team and with the top recruits that we did get, I think we’re going to be right in the middle of the hunt for a championship.” Jeff Williamson returns as the Cou gars’ leading pitcher after posting a 6-1 record with a 1.90 ERA last spring. Williamson was given All- NWAACC honors for the 1997 sea son. Ryan Suyama [.450 batting aver age] and Adam Edwards [.419] return as Clackamas’ power hitters and will be joined by Southwest Texas trans fer Chet Burns to drive in some runs for the Cougars. Suyama and Edwards were awarded All- NWAACC and second team All- NWAACC honors respectively. “This is one of the best teams that we’ve had as far as bodies right now,” said Robinson. “Who will be around in the spring we don’t know. We have three or four players return ing that had grade problems last year but if we can keep everyone eligible and healthy then this will be one of the best Cougar teams we’ve ever had. That was one of our big down falls last year, los ing guys to grades. But we expect pretty good things from this group of players. We should be one of the better teams in the NWAACC.” Clackamas made renovations to the field during the offseason. New green fencing surrounds the outfield while a new $18,000 scoreboard that was donated by the Pepsi Corpora tion was finally raised in right field. “It would be great for fans to come out to the ballpark and see the new sights and watch some great baseball this spring,” added Robinson. Clackamas opens its season on March 20 at Treasure Valley Community College. >4 Clackamas Softball Look for a Fall Softball recap in The Print's next issue, November 19. Oùtancial 6oop»>iai¿u» Clackamas Federal Credit Union Jlai 9ti. AdwntiatfÆA. All Staff & Full-Time Students are Eligible to Join. Clackamas added a number of top recruits and transfer students to an already strong core of returning sophomores for the 1998 season. <^> Dividend Bearing Checking; No Minimum Balance» Monthly Fee or Per Cheek Charge, VISA Debit/Check Card. <^> Free Notary, Free Travelers Checks & Free 24-hour PC & Telephone Access to Your Account 2k 2' >> ' <^> Money Markets, Certificates, IRA’s, VISA’S, Loans & Lines of Credit. JOHN THORBURN / Clackamas Print Volume XXXI, Issue 5 Oregon City 656-0671 Join Today Milwaukie 653-7788 Wednesday, Novembers, 1997
