February IS, 2012____________________
P o rtlan d O b serv er
B I a c k
H is to ry M o n th
Page II
Aldridge Makes NBA All-Star Team
Blazer enters
game fifth in
league scoring
P ortland T rail B lazers forw ard/
c e n te r L a M a rc u s A ld rid g e w as
nam ed a 2012 N B A A ll-S tar reserve
by a vote o f W estern C onference
head coaches; it w as announced
T hursday by the league.
It is A ldridge's first trip to the
N B A A ll-S tar G am e in six seasons
w ith the Trail B lazers. H e is the 15th
player in franchise history to be
selected an A ll-Star.
"L aM arcu s has d is tin g u is h e d
h im se lf as one o f the top players in
the N B A , and this is an honor w ell-
deserved," said T rail B lazers P resi­
dent Larry M iller. "I'll speak for the
organization and our fans to say w e
are thrilled to have L aM arcus rep re­
sent P ortland at A ll-S tar W eekend
Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge has earned his
first NBA All-Star selection and will represent Portland in the NBA
All-Star game on Sunday, Feb. 2 6 in Orlando, Fla.
in O rlando and couldn't be pro u d er
o f w hat he's done fo r the team ."
A ldridge, 26, ranks fifth in the
N B A in scoring, w ith a career-best
23.3 points to go w ith 8.5 rebounds,
2.8 assists and 1.12 steals in 26 gam es
(all starts) w ith the Trail B lazers this
season. At 50.9 percent (245-for-
481), he is one o f three players in the
league w ith his scoring average or
better shooting at least 50 percent
from the floor.
"L aM arcus is a prem ier player in
this league, and I'm very happy to
see him be recognized for his efforts
as a player and a leader," said T rail
Blazers H eadC oach Nate M cM illan.
"He im proves every season and this
is validation for all the hard w ork
he's put in to becom e an A ll-Star."
A ldridge leads the team w ith six
double-doubles and becam e the first
player in franchise history to notch
33 points and 23 rebounds in a gam e
w hen he did so Jan. 20 at Toronto.
The Texas product and D allas na­
tive has scored double figures in all
26 gam es, including 19 gam es o f 20-
plus points and three gam es w ith
30-plus.
Last m onth, A ldridge w as nam ed
Woods Struggles in Final Round
T iger W oods' long and w inding
jo u rn e y back to the gam e's pinnacle
suffered another setback on S u n ­
day w hen he battled his w ay to a
final round 75 at the P ebble B each
N ational Pro-A m .
S eem ing w ell placed fo r a last-
day after shooting a six-birdie 67 in
the third round, the form er w orld
num ber one struggled on the greens
W orld n u m b er 18 W oods, w ho
has not w on a full-field event since
the 2009 A ustralian M asters, re ­
To Place Your Classified Advertisement
Contact:
Phone: 503-288-0033 Fax: 503-288-0015
e-mail: classifieds@portlandobserver.com
corded three consecutive bogeys
from the seventh and failed to gain
any m om entum after the turn.
*
Sat., Feb. 2 5
2pm & 7pm
Tiger Woods
as his playing partner Phil M ickelson
beat him by 11 shots.
W h ile
f e llo w
A m e r ic a n
M ickelson signed o ff w ith a flaw ­
less 64 to seal a tw o-shot victory,
W oods totalled 31 putts to post his
w orst score o f the w eek by seven
strokes.
"W h at's fru stra tin g is I h ad a
c h a n c e (to w in ) ," a s u b d u e d
W o o d s to ld re p o rte rs a fte r fa ilin g
in his b id to e n d a P G A T o u r v ic ­
to ry d ro u g h t o f m o re th a n tw o
y e ars. "A ll I h ad to do w as g et o ff
to a g o o d so lid sta rt to d a y , an d I
d id n 't do th at.
"I thought I could get it goirfg in
the m iddle part o f the round but
instead I w ent the other w ay."
feOSEtoEN'
Purchase tickets at the Rose Quarter Box Office, by calling
877.789.ROSE (7673) or online at ComcastTIX.com
c o m c a s t^ J.com
/•w n iM b w r
a finalist for US A Basketball's O lym ­
pic team roster that will com pete this
sum m er in London.
T he starting five in the W estern
C onference, decided by fan b allot­
ing, consists o f B lake G riffin (L.A.
C lippers), Kevin D urant (O klahom a
C ity), A ndrew B ynum (L.A. L ak­
ers), Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers) and
C hris Paul (L.A . C lippers). R ound­
ing out the W est reserves from the
coaches' vote are K evin Love (M in­
nesota), Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas), Marc
G a so l (M e m p h is ), S te v e N ash
(P hoenix), T ony P arker (San A nto­
nio) and R ussell W estbrook (O kla­
hom a City).
The 2012 NBA A ll-StarG am e will
tip-off at 5 p.m. (Pacific) on Sunday,
Feb. 26, from A m w ay C en ter in O r­
lando, Fla. The gam e w ill air live on
T N T and ESPN R adio in the U.S.,
and reach fans in m ore than 200
countries and territories in m ore than
40 languages.
SPWJ'IM,