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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 2003)
Page B8 ®l|e J J o rtla n h (Bbaerüer April 09. 2003 S ports Orangemen Beat Kansas (AP) Syracuse is the NCAA men’s champion after beating Kan sas 81-78 Monday night. First-year players Carm elo A n thony and Gerry McNamara helped the Orangemen take a big lead and Hakim Warrick made a huge block at the end to preserve the victory. Leading by three, Warrick missed two free throws that would have sealed the game with 13.5 seconds left. But the 6-foot-8 forward, nick named “The Helicopter" for his 7- foot armspan, made up for it by com ing from now here to swat Michael Lee's 3-point attempt from the comer that would have tied it with 1.5 seconds left. Lee is a former high school bas ketball standout at P o rtlan d 's Jefferson High School and has had an outstanding season at Kansas. “ We played the best first hal f we could play, and then we just hung on," said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, in his 27th year at his alma mater. "I definitely wanted to go out thei e and make a play after missing those free throws,” Warrick said. “I saw a guy open in the com er and I knew they needed to hit a 3, so I just tried to fly at him.” Jayhawks guard Kirk Hinrich, coldall night, followed withanairball at the buzzer and the Orangemen (30-5) ran onto the floor to celebrate the program ’s first title. Boeheim threw his arms in the air and ran to shake hands with Roy Williams, the 15-year Kansas coach who was deprived once again o f the championship. The coach was choked up, not only by the loss, but the knowledge he’ll never again coach Hinrich or fel low senior Nick Collison, who fin ished with I9pointsand2l rebounds. “I’vene ver been one to like moral victories, and I don’t like this one," Williams said. “But I love the com petitiveness o f my kids." Indeed, they had quite a hill to climb, and quite a group o f players to stop. McNamara hit six 3-pointers, all in the first half, to finish with 18 points. Anthony showed he is cer tainly ready for the NBA if he chooses, fighting o ff a bad back to finish with 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. “All my hard work just paid o ff tonight,” Anthony said. “I paid a physical toll the whole night, the whole tournament. The whole sea son, everybody’s been beating me x j up. Coach told me to tough it up.” S yra cu se s Carmelo A nthony sc o re d 2 0 p o in ts a n d h a d 1 0 re b o u n d s to lea d th e O rangem en to a Sixteen years ago, Syracuse lost NCCA ch am p io n sh ip over K a n sa s M onday. A nthony w as n a m e d m o s t valuable player o f th e g a m e . by one to Indiana on Keith Sm art’s (AP photo) game-winner with four seconds left on the same Superdom e floor. Boeheim said he wanted to get the last four seconds right this time, ■Fie and he did -ju st barely. A -4 Coach and Player of Year Named (AP)— Kentucky's Tubby Smith and Xavier’s David West were honored Friday as The Associated Press coach and player o f the year. Smith was a runaway winner, receiving 58 votes from the 72-mem- ber national panel that selects the weekly A PT op25.Skip Prosser o f Wake Forest was second with seven. Smith led the W ildcats to a 32- 4 record and the No. 1 ranking in the final AP poll o f the season. Kentucky lost to M arquette 83- David W est 69 in the M idwest Regional final, ending the W ild cats’ 26-gam e w inning streak. “This team played as a great group,” Smith said. “They func tioned as one. T hat’s the ultimate in coaching, getting everybody on the same page. They did that as well as any team I’ve ever been around. West received 30 votes as player o f the year, ahead o f Texas sopho more guard T.J. Ford (19) and se nior forward Josh Howard o f Wake Forest (10). G.l. JOE'S T Jortl uh (P iis e n i THE S PO R TS & AUTO STORE JOIN THE JAMMIN 9 5 .5 NIKE CHARITY BASKETBALL TEAM SATURDAY APRIL 19TH AT 7PM AT S.E.I. 3 9 2 0 N. KIRBY, PORTLAND not THE JAI NIKE Bli Blazers’ Patterson Has Broken Eye Socket (A P )— Portland Trail Blazers forward Ruben Patterson has a bro ken left eye socket, a result ofbeing p un ch ed by te am m ate Z ach Randolph last week. Patterson did not accompany the team to H ouston for T uesday night 's game and is not expected to join the Blazers during their three- game trip, which also includes stops in San Antonio and Memphis. It was not immediately clear if Patterson would be placed on the injured list, or if he would be avail able for S unday’s hom e game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Patterson was injured April 2 when he and rookie Qyntel Woods began arg u in g and R andolph stepped in. T he B la z e rs su sp e n d ed Randolph for two games and fined the second-year player $100,000. He has already served both games o f the suspension. Patterson has been ineffective in the three games since the fight, and Portland has lost two o f the three games. The Blazers lead Min nesota by .003 percentage points for fourth place in the Western Conference. Scottie Pippen, who has been on the injured list while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, said Monday at practice that he is close to returning, which would ease the absence o f Patterson. “ I hoped I could come back (Sun day), but that d id n ’t happen,” '■ ' TwEuiífc«: i. . , I. ■ ffib scrire r CORY COUGARS R uben P atterson Pippen said. “I’m hoping every day that it feels better. “ I’m trying to pick up a little bit in practice. Right now I’ve still got some soreness. As soon as I can get there, where 1 can tolerate it enough to go out and get some minutes on it, I’ll be ready.” Woods is Masters Favorite, Naturally (AP) — Some things about the Masters never change. • As usual. Tiger Woods was first o ff the tee Tuesday morning when the rain relented at Augusta Na tional, the first time he has played the course since he walked away last April wearing his green jacket. And just like always, the ques tion is not so much whether he can win another Masters, but whether anyone can stop him. “I guess I’m still the favorite," W oods said with a wide smile. The odds are even better, con sidering the circumstances. Heavy rains have pounded Au gusta National since Sunday, con ditions similar to last year when Woods walked through muddy fair ways and walked over his com peti tion to win by three shots. Woods also is faced with the kind o f challenge on which he thrives: making history. No one has ever won the Mas ters three years in a row, and only two other players - Jack Nicklaus (!965-66)andNick Faldo( 1989-90) - even had a chance. “ I think it would be huge to win three Masters,” W oods said. "No one has ever done it before. And I’ve been able to do certain things in g olf that no one has ever done 95.5 LLERS $1 Admission Children Under 8 Free Proceeds Will Go To Amateur Athletics and Education Brought to you by The Portland Observer, Gl Joe’s and JAMMIN 95.5 Halftime Entertainment Provided by JAMMIN 95.5 D efending c h a m pion Tiger W oods is fra m ed b y th e pin flag a s h e p u tts on th e 1 0 th hole a t th e A ugusta National G olf Club in A ugusta, Ga., T uesday during a practice round for th e 2 0 0 3 M a sters. (AP photo) before. If you're ever in that posi tion, you want to take advantage o f it, because it doesn't happen all the time." It seems to happen to Woods quite often. The last time he was in this posi tion was two years ago at the Mas ters, when Woods was trying to become the first player in history to hold the four professional majors at the same time. He turned back his top two rivals and won two. He had a chance to become the youngest player to complete the It ’s often easier to pick out the vehicle . . . than the financing! career Grand Slam at age 24 in the 2000 British Open. He won by eight. Trying to become the only man to win three straight U.S. Amateur titles, Woods rallied from five down after the morning round to win on the 38th hole. “H e’s attempting to do some thing that’s never been done, but that's never stopped him before,” Phil Mickelson said. “In fact, it’s been a motivating factor, to do things that have never been done. So, I would be surprised ifhe played less than his best." 4 For an answ er you can tru st, . Iet Y °ur cred it union help! Serving all who live, work, worship or attend school in the Portland communities o f Arbor Lodge. Boise, Bridgeton, Buckman north o f S.E. Hawthorne, Cathedral Park. 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