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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 2016)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2016 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com Oregon aims to rebuild with coach Taggart A news conference to formally intro- duce Taggart was set for today. By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer W illie Taggart has become known for rebuilding pro- grams at Western Kentucky and South Florida. His next endeavor will be much more high pro- fi le, trying to turn around the struggling Oregon Ducks. Oregon announced Wednesday that it had hired Taggart to take over following a disappointing 4-8 season and the dis- missal of coach Mark Helfrich. Taggart has been coach at USF for the past four seasons, guiding the team from a 2-10 record his fi rst year to a 10-2 mark this year and a spot in the Birming- ham Bowl. Before he arrived in Tampa he spent three seasons at his alma mater, Western Kentucky, inheriting a winless program that he turned around with back-to-back winning seasons. “Willie places an emphasis on ensur- ing a positive student-athlete experience and on winning, and his previous stops have proven his success at both,” Ore- gon athletic director Rob Mullens said in a statement. “We have a very bright future under his leadership.” From the outside Taggart, 40, is the fi rst coach Oregon has hired from outside the program since 1976. The Ducks’ previous three coaches, Mike Bellotti, Chip Kelly and Helfrich, were all assistants who were promoted. Taggart will also be the fi rst black head football coach at Oregon. The length and terms of his contract with the Ducks were not immediately released. “Oregon has a strong national pres- ence and a proud recent history of play- ing among the nation’s elite, and I look forward to the challenge of upholding the excellence,” Taggart said in a state- ment. “I can’t wait to get started.” Taggart was 16-20 at Western Ken- tucky, taking over when it was fi rst tran- sitioning to FBS. He went 7-5 in his last two seasons with the Hilltoppers and then moved to USF, not far from where he grew up in Bradenton, Florida. It took two seasons and a change in offensive philosophy from more pro- style, West Coast schemes to a spread, but he now has the 25th-ranked Bulls rolling. They fi nished second in the American Athletic Conference East Division. AP File Photo SPORTS IN BRIEF Bach: Olympic bid process needs to change Associated Press LAUSANNE, Switzerland — IOC President Thomas Bach says he wants to change the Olym- pic host city bidding procedure because it “produces too many losers.” Bach’s comments came on the same day the IOC executive board cleared all three candidate cities for the 2024 Olympics — Paris, Los Angeles and Budapest, Hun- gary — to advance to the next stage of the race. Bach did not categorically rule out the possibility of awarding the hosting rights for two games at once — 2024 and 2028 — when the IOC votes next September in Lima, Peru. Giants trade with Mariners Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Right-hander Chris Heston has been traded from the San Fran- cisco Giants to the Seattle Mari- ners for a player to be named. The Giants did not have a spot for the 28-year-old in their rotation featuring Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, Matt Moore and Matt Cain. Seat- tle’s need for additional rotation depth made the Mariners a perfect partner. Seattle turns to Terrell with Thomas out By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer RENTON, Wash. — Steven Ter- rell is about to lose whatever ano- nymity he had. Since arriving in Seattle before the 2014 season, Terrell has led a fairly quiet and inconspicuous life as a backup safety and key special teams contributor for the Seahawks. He has done his job well, but maybe not to the point where it’s noticed when he is on the fi eld. That’s about to change in a hurry, with Terrell stepping in as the starting free safety after former All-Pro Earl Thomas broke his lower left leg. “He’s got it,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “He’s looked really good when he’s played, so hopefully he’ll just continue to get better and more confi dent and fl ow with the guys bet- ter as we stay together out there.” The expectation is Terrell will be out there for the fi nal four games of the regular season and however far Seattle can advance in the postsea- son. Short of stepping in for Rus- sell Wilson or maybe Richard Sher- man, there may not be a more diffi cult player on Seattle’s roster to replace than Thomas, who was injured in the fi rst half of last Sunday’s win over Carolina. Thomas’ combination of speed, skill and experience as the anchor in the back of Seattle’s defensive scheme makes it tough for anyone to replicate. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren Seattle Seahawks free safety Steven Terrell (23) runs with Ahtyba Ru- bin (77) and Richard Sherman, right, after he intercepted a Carolina Panthers pass in the second half Sunday, in Seattle. “Just his natural ability. He’s just one of those players that comes along once in however many years,” Terrell said. “He just has a knack, a natural knack and he just has it. He’s really instinctual and has a great feel for everything.” Part of the unknown with Terrell is simply having not gotten much of an opportunity. That’s the price of play- ing behind Thomas, who until two weeks ago had played every game of his professional career. Terrell signed with Seattle at the • Seattle Seahawk (8-3-1) at Green Bay Packers (6-6) • Sunday, 1:25 p.m. TV: FOX start of training camp in 2014 and found a home after spending his fi rst season in the NFL bouncing around between Jacksonville and Houston. Finding stability meant giving up the chance to be a regular contribu- tor on defense. Terrell wasn’t going Antetokounmpo gets second triple-double as Bucks win By DAVE BOEHLER Associated Press SCOREBOARD PREP SCHEDULE TODAY (All games canceled/postponed) FRIDAY Girls Basketball — Astoria at R.A. Long, 7 p.m.; Warrenton at Neah-Kah- Nie, 6 p.m. Boys Basketball — R.A. Long at As- toria, 7 p.m.; Seaside at Corbett, 7 p.m.; Warrenton at Neah-Kah-Nie, 8 p.m. SATURDAY Girls Basketball — Astoria at Ilwaco, 5:45 p.m.; Knappa at Delphian, TBA; Warrenton JV2 at Jewell, 11 a.m. Boys Basketball — Sandy at Astoria, 7 p.m.; Knappa at Delphian, 4 p.m.; Mel- bourne Magic at Jewell, 1 p.m.; Willapa Valley at Ilwaco, 7:30 p.m. Swimming — Andrew Nygaard Invi- tational, Astoria Aquatic Center, 10:15 a.m. Wrestling — Warrenton Tournament, 10 a.m. UP NEXT: SEAHAWKS to beat out Thomas for a starting role, so he made special teams his oppor- tunity to shine. During the 2015 sea- son, Terrell appeared in 12 games but recorded just one tackle. While his playing time was lim- ited, Terrell was continuing to learn from Thomas. “He kind of teaches in his own way,” Terrell said. “For me, I learn more from him just asking questions, his mindset about things and how he sees certain situations and little things in our position like reading the quar- terback, or what is the fi rst thing you do when you watch fi lm. Little things like that, that’s what I’ve gotten the biggest advantage from Earl.” Terrell has gotten more play- ing time in the past three games at safety than maybe his entire career combined. Terrell stepped in when Thomas suffered a hamstring strain midway through Seattle’s win over Philadelphia in Week 12 and played the entire game the following week against Tampa Bay. And he jumped right back into action when Thomas limped off the fi eld last Sunday after injuring his leg. Terrell knows he likely will be picked on, beginning with Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay this weekend. “I would assume they would,” he said. “This defense, it’s kind of hard to single one person out and try to attack them. We have so many weap- ons and the way our style of play is, but I assume they will come after me. I don’t really know.” AP Photo/Morry Gash Trail Blazers’ Allen Crabbe fouls Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo in the second half Wednesday in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 115-107. MILWAUKEE — Giannis Ante- tokounmpo is emerging as a dynamic player and precocious leader — and at 22 years old, he’s already closing in on one of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s franchise records. Antetokounmpo got his second triple-double of the season to lead the Milwaukee Bucks over the Portland Trail Blazers 115-107 on Wednesday. Antetokounmpo had 15 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his seventh career triple-double — sec- ond-most with the franchise behind Abdul-Jabbar’s eight. Antetokoun- mpo is the only NBA player averag- ing at least 20 points, eight rebounds, fi ve assists, two blocks and two steals this season. Jabari Parker added 27 points for Milwaukee, which rebounded from a UP NEXT: BLAZERS • Portland Trail Blazers (12-11) at Memphis Grizzlies (15-8) • Today, 5 p.m. TV: CSNW one-point home loss to San Antonio on Monday to win for the fi fth time in six games. “The team is rolling right now, feeling good,” Antetokounmpo said. The Bucks entered holding oppo- nents to a NBA-best .311 shooting percentage from 3-point range, but Portland drilled 17 of them on 40 attempts — both season highs. Damian Lillard made fi ve and scored a team-high 30 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists. C.J. McCollum added 23 points, including four 3-pointers, as the Blaz- ers continued a nine-game stretch of playing eight times on the road.
