Page 4B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, February 13, 2016
College wrestling
College Football
Rodriguez
continues
resurgence
for Beavers
Hoke: Effort is key to defense
New Oregon
defensive coordinator
meets the press
By RYAN THORBURN
The Register-Guard
East Oregonian
CORVALLIS — Hermiston
graduate Abraham Rodriguez
continued his February turnaround
as a resurgent Oregon State wres-
tling team posted its biggest victory
of the season by stunning No. 7
Oklahoma 22-12 on Thursday
night before a vocal, season-high
crowd of 1,041 at Gill Coliseum.
“They are ranked seventh in the
country and we want people to know
that we are right there with the best
of them to,” said Rodriguez, whose
5-2 decision
over Shayne
Tucker at 157
pounds gave
the Beavers
(9-6,
2-2
Pac-12) a 12-6
advantage at
the midway
point.
“It
was Rodriguez
important to
us. We beat
them,
and
that makes a
statement.”
Rodriguez
lost
seven
matches
in a row at
one
point
this season,
dropping his Delgado
record to 8-13.
But he went 3-0, with three bonus
points and a win over the Pac-12’s
current top seed, in last week’s road
trip to California, and extended
his winning streak to four straight
against the Sooners (9-5).
“During that [tailspin] it was
hard but you just have to keep
believing, keep plugging away,”
he said. “Good things started
happening and it started coming for
me. That’s what I always believed.
“(Thursday) is momentum
for this dual, and for Pac-12s and
nationals coming up,” he said.
Beavers 149-pounder Joey
Delgado of Hermiston lost his match
11-5 to Davion Jeffries. He was
coming off a 2-1 road trip to Cali-
fornia with win by major decision
12-2 win over Cal Poly’s Jacob Leon
and 10-2 over Stanford’s Peter Russo.
The Beavers conclude their
nonconference schedule at 5 p.m.
Sunday against Air Force. OSU
then closes the regular season with
the annual Border War against
Boise State, set for 11 a.m. Feb.
21 at Gill Coliseum. It will be
televised by Pac-12 Networks. The
Pac-12 Championships are Feb.
27, at Arizona State.
———
Information for this report
provided by OSU Sports Information.
That last part is something the
new defensive sheriff won’t tolerate.
“I believe there’s a way you play
defense. There’s a physicalness,”
Hoke said of his philosophy. “You
have to do that about every day, it
just doesn’t happen on Saturdays.
“The effort, if we are playing
with great effort, all 11, if we are
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are going to be OK.”
During spring practice, Hoke
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line, linebackers and secondary to
helping each member of the staff
implement a 4-3 base defense.
When the season kicks off on
Sept. 3 against UC Davis at Autzen
Stadium, Hoke plans to be calling
the defense and also coaching a
position group.
“I can’t tell you which one,”
Hoke said. “It’s where I think I can
be the most valuable.”
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with a 31-20 record over four
seasons, Hoke visited the Oregon
and Oregon State staffs last spring.
He also worked on the other side of
the microphone as part of a college
football show on SiriusXM, which
gave him access to programs such
as Clemson, Georgia, Florida and
Florida State in the fall.
Now the well-traveled coach
hopes to use his experience and
knowledge to make some more
lasting memories with the Ducks.
There will be plenty of work to do
when spring practice begins March
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2015 season ranked 116th in scoring
defense (37.5 ppg) and 117th in total
defense (485.3 ypg).
“There are no excuses,” Hoke
said. “We’re going to be pretty
adamant about who we are and how
we play. If we don’t play as well as
we feel we should, then shame on
us, we’ve got to get better.”
Brady Hoke has moved eight
different times during his 33-year
career as a college assistant and
head coach.
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stay in Corvallis, where Hoke
coached Oregon State’s defensive
line from 1989-94.
So what does Oregon’s new
defensive coordinator remember
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“I don’t,” Hoke said. “Did we
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The Ducks, of course, won
the memorable defensive slugfest
with the Beavers, 17-13 at Parker
Stadium, to clinch the program’s
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It was one of former Oregon
defensive coordinator Nick Aliot-
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“Saw Nick yesterday,” Hoke
said. “He’s one of the good dudes,
a good man.”
Two seasons removed from
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removed from Oregon’s historic
Rose Bowl win over Florida State
in the College Football Playoff,
Hoke was hired by coach Mark
Helfrich to restore some glory to
the Ducks’ defense.
The former Michigan coach met
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in need of decoration after its new
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on the job recruiting and the last
week getting to know his players.
“It was a great opportunity to focus
Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard via AP
New Oregon defensive coordinator Brady Hoke meets with mem-
bers of the media at the Hatfield-Dowling Complex near Autzen
Stadium in Eugene, Ore., Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016. Hoke is a former
head coach at Michigan.
in on calling defense and coordinating
a defense,” said Hoke, who has never
been a defensive coordinator before.
“Like Mark said, it’s your defense.
Having that opportunity was great.
We’ll see how we do with it.”
Hoke has known Don Pellum,
his predecessor, since they were
young coaches on opposite sides of
the Civil War.
After Helfrich demoted Pellum,
who he had selected as Aliotti’s
successor at defensive coordinator,
the loyal Oregon linebackers
helped persuade Hoke to join
the staff during a lengthy phone
conversation.
“It was all positive,” Hoke said.
“Look, (Pellum) loves this school.
I was fortunate enough to coach at
my alma mater (Ball State). … He
loves the kids on this team, he has
great regard and respect for Mark
and for the other guys on the staff.
“We had a great conversation
about what the vision is and we
agreed on that vision. It’s been
awesome. You talk about a guy
who has done everything he
possibly could to make a new guy
feel comfortable.”
Hoke held a meeting with the
defensive players last Friday and
has since met with all but two of
them individually. He has watched
Oregon’s 47-41 triple-overtime
loss to TCU in the Alamo Bowl,
the high-scoring Civil War and the
Ducks’ win over USC to get a feel
for some of the returning players.
“The one thing I asked the guys
on the staff is, I didn’t want to know
about anybody. I didn’t want any
preconceived (perceptions),” Hoke
said. “I want to see it myself. I want
to make those evaluations myself.”
Hoke couldn’t help but notice
that he just missed out on coaching
a special player in defensive end
DeForest Buckner, who is projected
to be a top-10 NFL draft pick.
The coaches video Hoke
has digested so far shows some
intriguing talent running to the ball,
but also players making mistakes
and not always giving great effort.
NBA
It’s Kobe’s world, at least for 1 more All-Star weekend
starting to wind down, the Los
Angeles Lakers’ star was the center
of attraction at media day Friday —
TORONTO — Kobe Bryant and seemed most appreciative.
“I just feel very blessed to be
answered questions in Spanish
and Italian, raved about Canadian able to play so many years, man,”
hospitality, showed off knowledge Bryant said. “Twenty years is a long
of both Greek basketball and time, so I feel very good about it.”
Bryant was the leading vote-
English soccer. He announced
plans to go to the Philippines and getter in the fan balloting that chose
Taiwan, thanked fans from Japan the starting lineup for Sunday’s
and even asked a reporter how to game, a lifetime achievement
award more than anything related
say a phrase in Mandarin.
to his play this season. At 37 years
It all made perfect sense.
The basketball world belongs old, he’s obviously not the same
to Bryant, at least for one more player he was when he was helping
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weekend.
About 750 million people around though during the season he’s
the globe are expected to follow VKRZQ ÀDVKHV RI ZKDW PDGH KLP
Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game in one of the game’s all-time elite.
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one form or another, and it’s a safe
guess most will do so to keep a keen 10 minutes Sunday.
Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant
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the league’s midseason showcase. isn’t buying that one.
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By TIM REYNOLDS
Associated Press
off on a good note,” Durant said.
“We know he’s going to be super
competitive.”
It is a festive sendoff, for certain.
Dozens of media members
staked out space around Bryant’s
podium long before he started
speaking Friday, though some just
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in the background. Bryant was
a featured panelist at the NBA’s
technology summit earlier in the
morning to share ideas with league
executives and others, and has his
wife and their two daughters in
Toronto so the whole family can
bask in the celebrations.
“This is pretty cool,” Bryant
said. “I’m looking around the
room and I’m seeing guys that I’m
playing with that are tearing the
league up that were like 4 for my
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players can say they played 20 years
and actually have seen the game go
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not sad at all. I’m really happy and
honored to be here and see this.”
So were his All-Star peers.
Cleveland’s LeBron James still
might be the best player in the
world, Miami’s Dwyane Wade
has more championship rings
than any other All-Star this year
besides Bryant, Toronto’s Kyle
Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are
getting the hometown support and
Golden State’s Stephen Curry is the
reigning MVP for a team that won
last year’s title.
But they all know the spotlight is
going to be on No. 24.
“I think it’s going to be
special,” said James, who got
Bryant’s sneakers autographed
after the Lakers visited Cleveland
earlier this week for his own
trophy case. “Not only for myself,
but for the fans here and for all of
Kobe’s fans.”
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