<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/
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