6_________
WcdNEsdAy,
J anurary
24, 2001
Sports
Tin e CI ac I camas P rim
The Portland Trail Blazers are jelling, but
will they come unglued in the playoffs?
one that could contain Kobe. So
when the Lakers waltzed into the
Rose Garden and pounded the
Blazers by 10 points on opening
night, I wasn’t surprised. In fact, I
was ready to give the trophy to LA.
It is roughly halfway through the
season and the Portland Trail Blaz
ers are on top in the West. Most
people would have predicted that
the Lakers would be where the
Blazers are now.
When the Lakers
acquired power for
ward Horace Grant
and shooting guard
J.R. Rider last sum
mer, they had im
proved their front
line and their bench.
With these addi
tions, the champion
ship Lakers filled in
their weak spots and
Well, I
was wrong!
Who could
have predicted
the mess that
the
Lakers
have on their
hands
this
year? Shaq
and
Kobe
bickered pub
licly about
who is the
looked stronger
best player on
than they were last
DARREL HOBSON
the
team.
season. At least
Sports Columnist
Rider
and
they looked better
Grant have yet
on paper.
to make a dif
Then the Blazers
traded' the heart and soul of the ference, and coach Phil Jackson is
teain,' Brian Grant, and got an over
sitting there looking in his empty
weight, out of shape and aging bag of Zen Master tricks for some
Shawn Kemp. I remember thinking
this could be a good thingif Kemp
gets his act together and losses
some weight. He could help the
Blazers. Yeah, right! Then we
traded more of our talented youth
for age and experience. We
shipped Jermaine O’Neil for Dale
Davis. Now this was a trade I liked.
Davis is a lot like Grant. He is a
blue collar, hard working type of
player. He is taller and a better
rebounder than Grant, but he is
older.
So I looked at the new rosters of
both the Lakers and the Blazers to
see who had the best chance of
winning the title. The Blazers still
didn’t have anyone that could
guard Shaq, nor did they have any
thing that will get this team to play
together. The Lakers are losing to
the worst teams in the NBA and
squeaking by the good ones.
In Portland, the Blazers are hot.
Kemp and Davis are almost non
factors because Rasheed Wallace,
Damon Stodamire and Bonzi Wells
have turned their game up another
level from last year. But can they
keep it going through the playoffs
and make it to the finals?
Halfway through the season,
some of the Blazers are playing
better than expected, while others
are struggling. The following is a
report card of how I think the Blaz
ers are doing at this point in the
season.
Steve Smith - C+
Smitty is doing better now that
he is coming off the bench. It’s
good because I was getting tired
of the “Oh he’s just fatigued from
playing in the Olympics,” excuse.
The fact is, Smith is a streaky
player. When he’s on, he can’t miss.
But when he’s off, he can be cold
for a while. Hopefully Steve will get
his shot back before the playoffs.
We need him to win.
improved and he is arguably the
best power forward in the NBA.
Dale Davis-B-
Stacey Augmon - B
Augmon is a proven starter o
other teams. Known mostly for h
suffocating defense, he has show
Double D does what he is sup
posed to do - rebound and defend.
I was hoping he would have more
Greg Anthony-B
of an impact on the team. He has to
work on free throws and find a bet-
ter way to defend Shaq.
is called on. Despite coming bac
from ankle surgery in the off se<
he can also score this year.
Greg is performing well when h
son, he is playing great defensi
He has been working hard on r<
covering and is back to 100%.
Shawn Kemp - F-
When he tries to take the ball t
the hoop, he looks like a ffeigl
Scottie Pippen
A
Wow, Damon is finally living
up to his nickname, “Mighty
Pippen’s stats may be down and
he has been out with an injury, but
he does all the things necessary to
win that don’t show up on the stat
sheet During games, you’ll see him
working the referees, communicat
ing with players as well as diving
for loose balls, playing tough,“D”
Mouse.” All of his numbers are
up from last year. He is the
second leading scorer on the
team and manages to average 3.8
rebound and 5.8 assists per
game, and remember, he is less
than six feet tall.
and calling plays. Scottie is the
coach on the floor, the glue that
Wells is a much-improved playe
this year. He’s doing everythin)
better than last year. The reason
holds this team together. Without
him, the Blazers would be strug
gave him a minus is because I wisl
he would play with more emotion
gling.
If Sheed was an all-star last year,
then he must be a super-star this
year. He’s accepted his role as the
“go-to” guy down the stretch, a
role he seemed to struggle with last
year. All facets of his game have
train that just derailed! TheBla2
ers need- to do him like they di
Derrick Coleman in Charlotte - pi
him on the injured reserve until h
loses 50 lbs.
I have always liked Sabonis. The
occasional Blazer fan might not rec
ognize what an asset he is to the
team. He causes team problems with
his size; he rebounds and passes
like a point guard and has a great
outside shot However, this year, age
and injury are catching up with him.
He hasn’t made a three-pointer all
year and I’ve noticed more turnovers
than usual. We need him to stay
■ mmg up...
■ .'
Thursday Jan 25,5 p.m.
Blazers vs. Pacers
OnNBC
Saturday Jan27 2:30 p.m.
Blazers vs, Timberwolves
OnNBC
healthy when we face big front lines
in the playoffs.
Women go one and one at home
ELENA BORYSKA
Staff Writer
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November 30, Thursday, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
17600 PACIFIC HIGHWAY (HWY. 43)
on Wednesday; was against Umpqua
Community College. The game was
close until the middle of the fourth quar
ter. That’s when Umpqua pulled away.
“We played pretty well for 35-36
minutes,’ ’ commented Head Coach Jun
Martineau. “We just let it slip away ”
The final score of the game was?8-
87. Mercedes Juarez scored Th ’of
Clackamas’ 78 points. Amanda Lee
503.699.6268 OR 800.634.9982, EXTENSION 6268
If you need a Winter 2001 Schedule of Courses or
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game.”
After the tough loss on Wednes
day, the Cougars came back on Satur
day to play South West Oregon Com
munity College (SWOCC). From the
way both teams were playing, it looked
like SWOCC was going to go home
with an easy win. But Clackamas never
gave up. Even when they were down
by 16 with 8 1/2 minutes to go in the
game, the Cougars still played hard.
With the help of some steals and big
plays down the stretch, the Cougars
were able to turn the game around.
Cougar Soccer
“We didn’t play exceptionally well
the majority of the game,” Coach
Martineau said. “But the girls picked it
up and made a game of it”
Down by one with only a few sec
onds left in the game, Kathryn Kettles
made a jumper to put Clackamas ahead
for good.
“This was a big win for us,”
Martineau said.
Mercedes Juarez had another good
offensive game with 24 points. Kayla
Steen contributed with 17 points and
nine assists. Kathryn Kettles finished
with 14points, including the game-win
ning jump shot With that win, the Cou
gars are now 3-1 in league play and 14-
5 overall.
Skate or Die
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F "
MARYIHURST, OREGON - JUST 10 MINUTES SOUTH OF PORTLAND
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“Umpqua is a good team,” said
Martineau. “ In the end we made a
couple of mistakes which cost us the
The Clackamas women’s basketball
team got a split out of the two home
games they played last week.
Their first game, which was played
For more information or to reserve a place, call 503.699.6306
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MARYLHURST UNIVERSITY
scored 13.
4^
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Come join the team.
Practices are held Tuesdays
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