Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2011)
<e Clackamas P rint sportsed@ clackam as.edu Wednesday, NTov. 30, 2011 TOURNAMENT: Romens basketball starts off 3-0 jiBSIHIlllh Continued from Page 1 ' M egan Feldman grabs a rebound dur ing the championship o f last weekend's basketball tournam ent a t home. Clackam asdefinitely needed their toughness,3&s things offen sively just weren’t hitting on all cylinders fpr much of the night. With points at a premium, the Cougars turned to their new found grit, heart and energy. “If we shoot halfway decent, it’s probably not even close,” said Martineau. “tUmpqua] is a big, strong -team, and we out rebounded them ... we n t# 'i27< Offensive ' rebounds against a team that, has three or four girls six foot two of bigger.” McCloud, who played all but three minutes of the champion ship game, led the team with 12 rebounds and six steals. She also contributed nine points and was named the tournament MVP. “She plays out of her mind all the time,” said Martineau. “She can play the whole game for 10 games in a row if you want her to. She’s kind of our leader and just goes goes goes. The rest of the girls have her attitude.” Another embodiment of McCloud’s hardworking, aggres sive style is one of the newest and most eye catching additions to the team: a pair of six foot one twins, Jorain and Megan Feldman. “We knew as soon as we saw them that we’d like them,” said Kayla Steen, co-head coach. “[We knew] they’d help us. They’re very physical [and they] like to run the floor.” With Megan usually starting, it’s an odd and slightly bewilder ing sight to see one tall blonde sub out and what seems to be the same player take her place. Megan and Jordin wear the num bers 14 and 15 respectively and were it not for the numbers; they’d be an easy mix up. •W eill figure out some ways to play them at the same time at some point© I’m really looking forward to that,” said Martineau, who commented that haying two interchangeable players is a huge and unusual blessing for a team that typicallypiays much sinaller. This year’s group does n’t s hoot as well, but they work every minute they’re on the court, something that the Feldman sisters.contrib- • ute greatly. “You get 40 minutes of six foot one and athletic,” said Martineau. - Adding to the depth of the team are returning players MaKesha Bizon and Lindsay Kanalz. Bizon already leads the Cougars in three pointers made and attempted, coming off a year in which she averaged a sizzling 45 percent from behind the three oint line. While her percentage as dropped so far, Bizon says that being resilient and forget ting the missed shots is crucial to improving. T m confident. The team, the coaches tell me to keep shoot ing,” said Bizon, who leads the team in total points on nearly all three pointers. “You can keep shooting when they’re behind you ... we trust each other.” Clackamas has a lot to live up to. The last two seasons have a combined record of 49-9 and have brought consecutive Southern Region championships. So far, the Cougars have escaped while not playing their best bas ketball, leaving plenty of room for growth. “We have a lot to work on before the season starts,” said Bizon, “but I think we’ll be fine.” Thanksgiving Invitational Win vs. Portland CC 98-45 Win vs. Linn- Benton 59-54 Win vs. Umpqua 68-58 Tournament Champions! ! Sam M cC loud finishes the fa s t break against Portland CC. M cC loud was nam ed tournam ent M VP. Are community colleges the escape from money driven basketball? By John William Howard Sports Editor A few weeks ago, I stopped by basketball prac tice to get some photos for a preview of the CCC men’s basketball season. I didn’t think much of it. It was just a few photos of practice, quick and easy, in and out. When I got there, I realized that I’d be staying a lot longer than I planned. I’d forgotten exactly how much I loved basket ball. Lately I’ve gotten really into volleyball and I’ve always been a soccer lover, but it wasn’t until I stepped back onto the basketball court that I remembered how much I’ve missed it since the season ended so many months ago. The next few minutes were lost to the squeak of sneakers, the pounding of the ball, the swish of the net and the click of the camera. It’s more than easy to be absorbed in the action, it’s practi cally intoxicating. Then after a few minutes, I came down to earth, I realized that part of the reason I’d missed basketball so much was because there really is less of it now than there Was a year ago. Last November, the Rose. Garden would pack with 20,000 fans a few times a week to watch the Portland, Trailblazers play. While things have been resolved.in time for a Christmas day tip-off, this November the action on ESPN isn’t on the court, it’s IN court. That might just be because the NBA isn’t just basketball anymore. It’s a business. And to be fair, it’s a really good business. They attract millions of fans Worldwide with their talent and the entertainment that it provides and rake in billions of dollars in ticket sales, TV deals and merchandise. For that very reason, many basketball fans shun the' NBA, claiming that it’s too flashy and has gotten away from the pure sport that it used to be. Most of those fans choose to follow the NCAA, where all the athletes (depending on how you see it) are amateurs. At that level, the ath letes are still largely moldable and they depend more on their coach to teach than do the pros. However, even at the NCAA level, the game can still be muddled by money. You don’t have to dig very far before you find a case of a recruit ing scandal. The reason for those? Money. Better players means more success, translating to better attendance and increased revenue for the college that the team is affiliated with. In order to escape that, you might have to go one level down, where money means even less. That’s where small collège basketball comes into play. At Clackamas Community College, for example, the^stands would seat only about 1,000 people if completely full, which they never really are. And that’s only if they open up each ’set of bleachers, something that only happens for graduation. In a situation like; that, the revenue for filling the stands Wouldn’t be a huge difference in the athletic department’s budget. The benefit from having a successful team is simply that they win more. Winning Calls the attention of prospec tive players, feeding the success of the program even further. That’s as it should be. The sport is focused on the players, not the coaches, not the fans and certainly not on money, just basketball. http://http://www.jwhsports.blogspot.com/ For more Sports by Joward visit www.jwhsports.blogspot.coih Follow Clackamas,CC Athletics during winter break on twitter @jwhsports, @Clackamas_CC
