^^2 L A CKA MA SPriflt
January 26, 2005
•11
ougars rout PCC, fall down south
Jeff Sorensen Clackamas Print
[Clackamas women’s basketball team is all smiles during last Wednesday’s win over Portland CC. (Top, from left to right) Beth Rossos, Kayla
man, Kory Waterland, Kasie Elliot, and Lindsey Boekman. The Lady basketbailers were victorious 79-49. LaToya Hill led the way for the
gars with 18 points and nine rebounds; Schmitz added 1 5 points and 11 rebounds. Last Saturday, the Cougars lost a close game down south
hey fell to league leader Lane CC 77-73. Hill lead the way scoring 21 points. Rochelle Reeves busted out with 18 points. (Below, left) Reeves
[looks to her teammate during the win over PCC. (Below, right) Tne PCC defender (50) boxes out Schmitz during the Elliot free throw.
Sad year in Rip City, fans mourn
Nike McCormack
77 k Clackamas Print
.
I A not-so-distant five seasons
ago. Portland was playing for a
Hncc to go the NBA Finals; and
mow they are on the verge of falling
10 games below .500 and missing
¡the playoffs for a second consecu-
tive season.
■As of Monday, the Trail Blazersg
[stood alone in fourth place of
’Northwest Division with a diMai
Hord of 15-24. This is the first
¡season of being a Blazer fan where-
IJan honestly say the|g|»vejlo
shot for the playoffs. OnDec.,22,
Ihl Blazers showed some life toj
■»rove to one game Jer .500. j
■ Then the turn oraanfortunate
Hnts started.
■The team lost Darius Miles
and Shareef Abdur-R®m to injuB
ries and all of a sudden the team
couldn’t buy a win. iBincelthat'
game, the Blazers haviimanaited
Booked like the L.A. Clippers of old
H winning only three of fffeir last
1 «games.
■in their latest loss MondavMhe
Minnesota Timberwolves came to
towi and put the beat-downj|||
Htland. The Blazers had their
^fences on multiple occasions, but
w|re never able to get over the
hump en route to losing their sixth
'straight game.
■There have been some bright
spots during this time of despair for
the Trail Blazers.
In a recent loss to the New
OrleansHometsDamonStoudamire
scored a career high 54 points and
became the first player in NBA
history to score 50 or more points
without a si^CKWebjMKir Thafc
record is proof enough that this
season is going to haw its highs
and lows throughout its entirety.
Nick Van Exel has aMKhown*
some life in his game as oTWe,
showing that three-point range
that the. Blazers originally signed
him for. In a. game against the
Philadelphia 76er&fVan Exel was
able to lead Portland toa victory
by way of hitting eiglH three-point
ers and helping snapp y five game
lostog stgBk. j
When leading scorer Zach
Randolph went down a few games
back, Portland found a diamond in
the rough with former Minnesota
Gopher Joel Przybilla. The 7-foot-,
.1-inch center is quiddy becoming
a fan favorite in the City of Roses
by providing great enthusiasm
and work ethic to anchor the front
court. Last Tuesday, Przybilla had a
career night, scoring 17 points and
adding 22 rebounds, 10 offensive,
in the team’s loss to the Kings.
With all the injuries occurring
as of late, Portland Head Coach
Maurice Cheeks has been able to
use different starting lineups in the
games, but one player has shown
me more effort than anyone.
Taking over at small forward
nearly two weeks ago, Ruben
Patterson has been the igniter to
the effort that has been noticed by
fans all around Portland. Patterson
isn’t the most controlled player on
the court, but with his ADHD-like
efforts, he has shown that there
’d^BMfienMKvers who still come
out and give 100 percent at all
MnggFlove watching Ruben run
the floor after a steal; he dribbles
with his head down and doesn’t
worry about the consequences. If
all the Blazers showed the kind of
¡MiBaasrn Patterson shows, the
team might not be in the hole they
are in heading into the second half
of the season.
With all this losing going on, I
am glad that there are still Blazer
believers out there who notice that
some players still want to win. To
those of you who’ve given up on
the Blazers, 1 don’t want you to be
on the team’s side.
A true fan sticks with their squad
when times are bad. If a team can’t
get support from their fans, where
else can they turn? To all those who
have applauded their recent efforts,
stick with the ‘Zers; they will bring
you happiness again, and when
they do win an NBA championship
you can say you were there through
the rough years. Funny how fast a
fan can turn on a team when things
aren’t going right; it’s too bad that
“fair-weather fandom” is slowly
becoming an epidemic here in the
Pacific Northwest.