Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (March 14, 2001)
io____________ : Sports TI-IE ClACkAMAS P rìnt WEdNEsdAy, MARch 14, 2001 Cougar men place 6th at NW A ACC DARREL HOBSON Staff Writer After an almost perfect sea son, Clackamas went to the NWAACC tournament to see if they could compete with the best teams in the Northwest. In the first round, the Cougars remained confident even though their MVP point guard, Mark Campbell was out with an injury. The final score was 87-66 as Clackamas steamrolled the Co lumbia Basin Hawks. The Cougars advanced to the next round to face the Highline Thunderbirds. Highline had one of the best team defenses in the NWAACC while Clackamas had one of the best offenses. Clacka mas played very well, outscoring the Thunderbirds in the first half, and shot a better percent age from the field and free throw line overall. However, Highline, who went on to win the tourna ment, controlled the offensive boards 21-7 and had only nine turnovers to Clackamas’ 18. The Cougars lost 78-74, but still could have placed high in the tournament and broken CCC’s record for the most wins in a sea son. Next up were the division-rival Saints from Mt. Hood Commu nity College. The Cougars won both of the regular season match ups and had no problem taking care of them at the tournament. had 11 points, five rebounds and Clackamas beat the Saints 85-77. four assists. Nate Block scored 11 points, four rebounds and four Finis Bussey led the team in scor blocked shots. Michael ing with 19 points and Kuebler, who received seven rebounds. , second team all Sunday’s game tournament, had was a battle for "I am very 25 points, five re fourth place against the Big hard our 1 bounds, six as- l sists and seven Bend Runnin’ | kids .. i steals. Despite Vikes. The Cou-1 I the huge effort gars wanted it proud ofihow worked C||ff Wegner. bad and played Head Coach'/ by the whole team, the Cougars harder than they could not over had all tournament. come Big Bend’s hot Chris Lohrey had 16 shooting, where they were points, 13 rebounds and 12 of 24 from the three-point line. three blocked shots. Lawson Struve played well all weekend Clackamas lost 90-85 and took in the absence of Campbell, and home sixth-place honors for the He’s an enigma wrapped in a riddle I can’t figure him out. He’s one of the best players on the planet. He’s got 3 1/2 years left on a contract worth $80 million. He’s in Nike commercials and he’s got his own website. On the court, he’s having the best sea- son of his career - scoring, rebounding, blocks, steals, min utes, free throw per centage, and assists are all better than they’ve ever been. So what is Rasheed Wallace so angry about? Like many basketball fans, I watch the games and am rou tinely astounded by what Wallace can do on the court. Turn-around jumper over Garnett? No problem. Vicious block, sending the ball six rows deep? No prob lem. Finish the break with an al ley-oop, two-handed stuff? No problem. Bury a jumper from behind the arch? No problem. Called for a blocking foul by Javie or Gerritson? BIG PROB LEM. At every level, all coaches and some players lobby officials for calls. They ask them to watch a point guard that’s carrying the ball or to watch number so-and-so who’s handchecking. They beg and plead, but can any of you rec ollect a time when you were at an NBA game and after hearing a player say something like, “No f@#$A&’ way that was af@#$A&’ foul,” and hear a ref say, “Well since you put it that way, I guess you’re right - my bad!” Has this ever happened? I haven’t seen it. Many say that Wallace is just intense and you want that “fire” in a player. I. agree. In fact, I thought at one point that Rasheed’s emotions were a Think You're Pregnant? IVe can help you work through your choices. PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTERS www.portlandprc.org good thing, “pumping up” what is, at times, an incredibly apa thetic team. I was wrong. Rasheed’s constant grumbling towards officials has only caught on. Every game I watch, the num ber of Blazers that I see “tak ing plays off’ to argue with officials increases. Bonzi Wells does it, Steve Smith does it, Pippen's done it for years. Maybe after they’re here for a while, Dale Davis and Shawn Kemp will make it a habit as well. But Wallace is in a class of his own. It seems as though he’s intent on being the MVP (Most Volatile Player). He’s set to shat ter his record of 38 technical fouls in one season! think the league should honor Rasheed by nam ing the act of being ejected after him, “So-and-so got Wallace’d in the game last night.” Not only has the frequency of Wallace’s tantrums increased, but also the intensity. His vul gar assaults on referees are be coming downright scary. I hate to think of what would he do if his teammates didn’t hold him back. Of course, the sad part of all of this is that Rasheed’s bril liance as a basketball player is overshadowed by his pattern of bad behavior. It’s truly a tragic thing. I’d love to write about Wallace turning the other cheek. I’d love to write about how he’s changed and proved everyone wrong. I’d love to write about seeing Wallace shake the hand of an official at the end of a game. But I don’t think any of that is ever going to happen. On a team where the only sign of unity is everybody wearing headbands or getting cornrows, I think the Blazers have got to realize something: Rasheed is not going to change. The technicals and ejections will most certainly continue. It’s unfortunate, but Wallace’s temper is going to be the thing that defines him - not Dunleavy, the NBA, the media or even winning a champion- sh^canchangelhat^^^^^ 2001 tournament. “Most teams figured we would take an early exit, but instead we decided early on that we would not make any excuses (because of Campbell’s injury). I am very proud of how hard our kids worked in the tournament and in the regular season,” said Head Coach Cliff Wegner. The final event for men’s bas ketball is the all-star game. Cou gar Coach Cliff Wegner will be coaching the southern division all-stars, which includes Nate Block and Chris Lohrey from Clackamas. The game is being played at noon this Sunday at Clark College in Vancouver Washington. March 2001 Baseball Schedule March 16-18 Bellevue Tournament 3 p.m. Bellevue, WA March 22-25 Yakima Tournament TBA March 26 Green River CC 1 p.m. Home March 31 Southwestern Oregor CC Coos Bay COUGAR CAFE Milwaukie........ .......................5H3.659.3336 A New Dining Experience Lloyd Center Area....................503.284.1977 Gresham........... ...................... 503.666.6527 Lake Grove........................ 503.968.6780 Beaverton......... ...................... 503.643.4503 SE Portland..............................503.777.7097 Hrs: Mon. - Thurs. 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri. 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. 8:30 a.m.-l:30 p.m. FREE Pregnancy Tests Confidential Counseling Come Visit the espresso bar today Wednesday, March 14 Breakfast: British Sausage Rolls + Hash Browns Grill Special: French Dip Entree: British Bangers + Mashed Potatoes Budget Entree: Cheese Tomato Pie Thursday, March 15 Breakfast: Ham Scramble w/ Hash Browns Grill Special: BBQ Smoked Chicken Sand. Entree: Lasagna Budget Entree: Chicken Caesar Salad Friday, March 16 Check out our website at www.ClackamasPrint.com Breakfast: Chocolate Banana Pancakes Grill Special: Shrimp Melt Entree: Corned Beef + Cabbage Budget Entree: Mushroom + Swiss Macaroni + Cheese T Picture of the win ner and the prize of the Name The Caf eteria Contest on page two. FINE HOST CORPORATION Daily and weekly specials also available by dialing extension 2675
