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10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com AHS Discount Cards on sale USA Men’s Basketball The Daily Astorian Astoria High School stu- dent-athletes will be “blitzing” the community today from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. selling their annual AHS Discount Cards. Cards cost $10. Over 40 local businesses are offering savings on the card. After Thursday evening, cards may be purchased at Gimre Shoes, Englund Marine & Indus- trial Supply, or at the AHS Main Offi ce. All proceeds go directly to help the athletic and activity programs at Astoria High School. RED, WHITE AND WHO? Falls sports night Astoria High School’s annual Fall Sports Preview Night is set for Friday at CMH Field, with scrimmages in football and soc- cer, and team photos of all Fisher- men fall sports teams. Team photos begin at 5 p.m., with a performance by the Astoria Dance Team scheduled for 6:30 p.m., followed by scrimmages for girls soccer, boys soccer, fresh- men/sophomore football, and var- sity football. AP Photo/Tony Dejak The jerseys say USA, though that’s about all that will be recognizable for Jeff Van Gundy’s team. The Americans are cautiously entering a whole new basketball world, one in which not only are the best U.S. players not available, but neither are any in the NBA. USA basketball enters a new world — without its stars By BRIAN MAHONEY Associated Press T he jerseys say USA, though that’s about all that will be recognizable. When the U.S. men’s basket- ball team returns to action later this month, fans might be left wondering, “the red, white and who?” The Americans are cautiously entering a whole new basketball world, one in which not only are the best U.S. players not avail- able, but neither are any in the NBA. LeB- ron James, Kevin Durant and the stars might show up in a few years for the Basketball World Cup and Olympics, but only if a group of minor leaguers can get them there. It’s all part of FIBA’s new qualifying for- mat and the road starts at the AmeriCup 2017. It’s a tournament the Americans don’t need to win — and aren’t sure they can — but one they have to play to make themselves eligible for the events that will matter. “It’s going to be really interesting,” USA Basketball men’s national team director Sean Ford said. “We don’t know. We’re fl ying blind a little bit.” Even the Americans’ best-known com- modity is a bit of an unknown now. Jeff Van Gundy coached in the NBA Finals and is analyst for them every year on ABC, but he’s leading the U.S. team as an interna- tional basketball rookie. He is busy brush- ing up on the nuances of a game that can be played and offi ciated completely differently than in the U.S. He begins Thursday in Houston for train- ing camp, where he will seek the 12 play- ers who will travel to Uruguay and possibly Argentina for the AmeriCup and the poten- AP Photo/Elaine Thompson Mariners’ Jean Segura slides safely into home in the fifth in- ning Wednesday in Seattle. Seattle edges Baltimore 7-6 Associated Press SEATTLE — Yonder Alonso was acquired by the Seattle Mar- iners to provide power for a play- off push. After a slow start with his new team, he delivered. Alonso hit his fi rst homer for Seattle and drove in three runs, and Marc Rzepczynski struck out Chris Davis with the bases loaded to end the Mariners’ 7-6 win over the Bal- timore Orioles on Wednesday. Alonso, traded from Oakland on Aug. 6, hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, his 23rd of the season. An All-Star this year with the A’s, he added an RBI single during a three-run fi fth and also singled in the seventh. “I think he’s been swinging the bat great the last three, four days,” said Mariners manager Scott Ser- vais, who was ejected in the ninth inning. “It’s really been much bet- ter. He’s been much more aggres- sive, it looks like the guy we saw early in the year when he was with Oakland.” Leonys Martin opened the sixth with his third home run to put Seat- tle up 7-4. Seattle closer Edwin Diaz came on in the ninth and walked the fi rst three hitters. Manny Machado fol- lowed with a sacrifi ce fl y to make it 7-5, but Martin prevented an extra- base hit with a sensational diving catch in right fi eld. Diaz struck out Jonathan Schoop, but then hit both Trey Mancini and Mark Trumbo to force in another run. Rzepczynski relieved and fanned Davis on three pitches for his fi rst save, and just the second in his career. “I’ve come in with the bases loaded, two outs plenty of times, but never in the ninth with the game on the line,” said Rzepczynski, whose only other save in 466 appearances was with Cleveland in 2014. “One other career save, and it was a four- out save, so it was a little different. But, I’ve come in plenty of times with the bases loaded, so I kind of just treated it like that.” Tony Zych (6-3) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief. Ubaldo Jimenez (5-8) allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings. AP Photo/Aaron Gash Philadelphia 76ers’ Kendall Marshall (5) drives against Milwaukee Bucks’ O.J. Mayo during an NBA basketball game in Milwaukee in 2015. tially better-prepared opponents who wait. “What we have to do is match and exceed their passion, how hard we play, how together we are as a group,” Van Gundy said, “because when the U.S. has not succeeded in interna- tional competitions, it’s because there wasn’t as much maybe sacrifi ce as you need, or maybe you were defi cient in one skill that was important.” It’s the Americans’ fi rst appearance in the former FIBA Americas tournament since 2007. Their starting lineup in that romp to gold — James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd and Dwight Howard — was one of the strongest the U.S. has ever assembled. The 17 players in camp with Van Gundy include Kendall Marshall, Reggie Williams, Darius Morris and Marshall Plumlee, players good enough to play in the NBA but not stick. The Americans haven’t needed to play in their zone championship since because they’ve won every Olympic and world title, exempting them from qualifying. But FIBA has revamped its qualifi cation system to look more like soccer’s, where national teams will play home-and-away games against teams in their pool. But some of the windows are during the NBA season — the opening games are sched- uled for Thanksgiving weekend — and play- ers under NBA contract won’t be permitted to play. So the Americans plan to primarily use players from the NBA G League, with per- haps some who have been playing overseas. “Look, no one’s going to feel sorry for us. But we know that this is different and we’re going to have to fi gure out how to be success- ful in a different model,” Ford said. “There’s always unknowns, but there’s probably more unknowns because No. 1, we don’t know how good we need to be. We don’t know how good we can be.” Ford considers the prospective players a notch below the NBA, calling them “survi- vors, grinders, competitors.” That’s far from the level that suited up for Mike Krzyzewski for a decade or would play for Gregg Popo- vich in 2019 and 2020, but Van Gundy is eager to work with them in his fi rst coach- ing assignment — not counting his daugh- ter’s youth league — since he was fi red by the Rockets in 2007. “There’s very few LeBron James of the world — obviously one — or great players who have it easy. These guys’ careers have not been easy and so I really admire their per- sistence, their grit and their determination,” Van Gundy said. “To get to work with them and coach them, that was part of the pull for me.” With limited time and options, the Amer- icans know the AmeriCup could be a chal- lenge. Ford said they hope to reach the semifi - nals in Argentina and see what happens from there. They will need to start winning come November, when they open their fi rst-round pool that includes Puerto Rico, Mexico and Cuba. ALL IN THE FAMILY Timbers keep former players in the fold By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press P ORTLAND — Even though they retired after last season, three Portland Timbers didn’t ride off into the sunset. They moved from the fi eld to the cubicle, so to speak. Former captain Jack Jewsbury is now Portland’s director of busi- ness development, while fellow mid- fi elder Ned Grabavoy was named director of scouting and recruitment. And defender Nat Borchers joined the Timbers’ broadcast team. The Timbers have a reputation for keeping it in the family — even GM Gavin Wilkinson played for the team from 2001-06. Former players Adin Brown, Cameron Knowles and Sean McAuley are fi rst-team coaches. It’s not unusual in any sport for former players to remain with their teams in a new capacity, and it’s fairly common throughout Major League Soccer: LA Galaxy goalkeeper Dan Kennedy retired in April and moved into a front offi ce role while also helping out on broadcasts. It is kind of unusual to have three high-profi le players make the leap at once. Billy Gates/The Oregonian Portland’s Jack Jewsbury reacts after a 1-0 win over Colorado in a match at Providence Park in 2016. After retiring last season, Jewsbury and two other players stayed with the Timbers in another capacity. Jewsbury retired after a 14-year career, including his fi nal six sea- sons with the Timbers. He is one of just 10 players to have played 350 or more games in Major League Soc- cer’s history. “It’s a place that people want to be. I think you see that in Ned, myself and Nat, all staying here post-play- ing career,” said Jewsbury , who has a business degree. “When you look at the Timbers and keeping us on board, it’s probably relatively rare that three guys with experience in the league, having grown up in the league and building the league all retire at the same time and there’s an opportu- nity to keep them in three different capacities.” Grabavoy played 13 seasons in the league, with prior stops on sev- eral teams before landing in Portland. Borchers spent most of his career in Salt Lake City, but played on the Tim- bers team that won the MLS Cup in 2015. Owner Merritt Paulson said he believes the team’s embrace of for- mer players is something that makes the Timbers unique in the league. “I think, No. 1, players fall in love with the community. They’re embraced by the city and the support- ers in a big way and they love living out here,” Paulson said. “And No. 2, the club treats former players really, really well. We’re proud to have a number of former players working within our organization.” The only problem? Jewsbury said sometimes he misses donning his jersey. “Game days are really hard, espe- cially the fi rst few. It was weird not being out there with the guys,” he said. “You defi nitely miss the locker room, the banter with the guys. I don’t miss the preseason or the two- a-days, but you miss the game that’s for sure.”