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
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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
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ner and the prize of
the Name The Caf
eteria Contest on
page two.
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