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SPORTS TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS MLS Timbers hire Giovanni Savarese as new coach Spent last fi ve seasons coaching New York Cosmos of NWSL By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press PORTLAND — Giovanni Savarese has been named coach of the Portland Timbers Savarese, 46, has been coach of the North American Soccer League’s New York Cosmos since 2012. He led the team to honored and grateful three Soccer Bowl cham- for this opportunity to pionships in fi ve seasons. lead it on the pitch and The Venezuelan to build on the club’s forward played for 18 history of success for seasons in Europe and the community and the in the United States, incredible supporters of including stints with the Portland Timbers,” Major League Soccer’s Savarese said in a state- MetroStars (Red Bulls), ment Monday. New England Revolution Savarese Under Savarese, the and San Jose Earth- Cosmos were 65-26-44 quakes. in 135 regular-season games. The “The passion, ambition and team went 20-7-5 in 2016 and had support surrounding this club is an undefeated spring season the truly inspiring, and I am sincerely year before. Savarese replaces Caleb Porter, who parted ways with the Timbers last month after fi ve seasons with the team. Porter compiled a 68-50-52 record and guided the team to an MLS Cup champion- ship in 2015. This past season, the Timbers fi nished atop the Western Conference. Porter, 42, was named the MLS Coach of the Year after his fi rst season with the team in 2013. He signed a long-term contract extension with the team in January 2016. “Gio is an intelligent, attack- minded coach and is a driven indi- vidual who is both a great fi t with us on and off the fi eld,” Timbers owner Merritt Paulson said. The Timbers fi nished this season as the top seed in the Western Conference but fell in the conference semifi nals 2-1 on aggregate to the Houston Dynamo. The Timbers were hampered by injuries in the semis, including to midfi elder Diego Chara, who broke a bone in his foot. The Timbers plan to introduce Savarese at a news conference in early January. Pro Basketball College Football Blazers’ win streak snapped Oregon’s Taggart era: a season of what-ifs Ducks season ended Saturday with a 38-28 loss to Boise State By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press AP Photo/Hannah Foslien Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jimmy Butler (23) shoots against Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic (27) during the second quarter of Monday’s game in Minneapolis. Butler’s late free throws help Timberwolves slip past Trail Blazers By DAVE CAMPBELL Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS — Jimmy Butler powered through a recent bout of back spasms to score 37 points, sinking two free throws that gave the Minnesota Timber- wolves the lead with 2.5 seconds left in a 108-107 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night. Jamal Crawford pitched in a season-high 23 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter to spur a rally from 10 points down with 7½ minutes remaining. The Wolves completed their third comeback win this season from a double- digit defi cit. C.J. McCollum scored 20 points for the Blazers, whose three- game winning streak ended when Damian Lillard’s 3-point heave at the buzzer fell short. Jusuf Nurkic had 20 points and Lillard added 17 points and 13 assists, among six Blazers in double digits. Portland’s Al-Farouq Aminu, left, drives against Minne- sota’s Taj Gibson during Monday’s game in Minneap- olis. NBA Portland Minnesota 107 108 Crawford’s three-point play with 2:49 left brought the Wolves within 105-104, and McCollum missed his next two shots. Defense has been a signifi cant problem for Minnesota this season, but Andrew Wiggins stuffed a shot by Al-Farouq Aminu along the baseline with 1:06 left to produce a critical turnover. Butler made two foul shots on the other end to put the Wolves in front again at 106-105, with the fans at Target Center chanting “MVP! MVP!” McCollum’s pull-up jumper gave the Blazers the lead back. After misses by Butler and Lillard, Aminu fouled Butler at the end of his drive to the basket to put him at the line. Butler went 12 for 21 from the AP Photo/Han- nah Foslien fl oor and 11 for 12 from the line, fi nishing one point off his season high and injecting a boost of energy into a squad that could use a jolt with just one set of consecu- tive wins over the last month. Aminu added 13 points for the Blazers, who shot a season-best 54.8 percent from the fi eld. They fi nished their second fi ve-game road trip of the season 3-2, after going 4-1 on the fi rst one. The Wolves wrapped up their fi ve-game homestand with a 3-2 record. UP NEXT Blazers: Return home to face San Antonio on Wednesday. Wolves: Play at Denver on Wednesday, starting a stretch of fi ve out of six games on the road to fi nish 2017. Willie Taggart’s lone season at Oregon may well be remembered for what-ifs. The most prominent among them: What if quarterback Justin Herbert had been healthy? But also: What if Taggart had decided to stay? What’s known is that Oregon’s 2017 season was disrupted by Herbert’s broken collarbone that kept him sidelined for fi ve games, during which the Ducks went 1-4. The sophomore quarterback returned for the fi nal two regu- lar-season games, which the Ducks won to become bowl eligible. Then, another disruption: Taggart’s dream job at Florida State came open. Taggart bolted for the other coast after just one year in charge of the Ducks. He was hired as a rebuilder from South Florida after the Ducks fi nished the 2016 season 4-8 and in the basement of the Pac-12 North standings. Oregon acted quickly after Taggart left to name a new coach, promoting Mario Cristobal, the team’s co-offensive coordinator. The Ducks’ players had rallied for Cristobal with a petition delivered to athletic director Rob Mullens and a social media campaign using the hashtag #cristobALLIN. But the team faltered in Cristob- al’s debut as coach, the Las Vegas Bowl, falling to Boise State 38-28. The Ducks fi nished the season 7-6. Cristobal said afterward there were tears in Oregon’s locker room. “Guys, the entire season, just fought hard, trusted each other. (Taggart) did a great job getting us to this point right here, but we shot ourselves in the foot a bunch tonight. We saw the negative plays and turnovers, but these guys, I want to say, they never stopped fi ghting. They always competed, because that’s what they are, competitors,” Cristobal said. “I told them I wish I would have done a better job for them. I’m going to take that upon myself, and our coaching staff.” Safety Tyree Robinson, who See DUCKS/3B Sports shorts Panthers name Tina Becker COO, replacing disgraced owner CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers have announced Tina Becker has been promoted to Chief Operating Offi cer with full control of the day-to-day management of the organization. The move comes after the NFL launched an investigation into alleged sexual and racist misconduct by longtime owner Jerry Richardson. The 81-year-old is stepping from the daily operation and will focus on the pending sale of Becker the franchise. Team president Danny Morrison had resigned earlier in the year, and there was no COO before, or after, his resignation. Becker has served in a variety of roles during her career with the Panthers, including directing the organization’s business and administrative priorities, as well as dealing with league affairs. “He’s everything in this city. To play his entire career for one organization, in modern sports, it really doesn’t happen very often anymore. To go through two different championship runs, I think the Lakers are such a huge part of this city that people feel connected to him. ... They feel as if they were on that journey with him, with us, and I think that’s why there’s such a connection.” —Luke Walton The Los Angeles Lakers coach said regarding Kobe Bryant. On Monday, the Lakers organization retired both Bryant’s No. 8 and No. 24 Lakers jerseys. Kimzey wraps up 4th straight bull riding world title at NFR LAS VEGAS — For the fourth consecutive year, Strong City, Oklahoma’s Sage Kimzey won the bull riding world title at the National Finals Rodeo on Saturday evening. Kimzey, 23, won his fourth title in his fourth trip to the NFR, the only rider to do that in the history of the sport, according to ProRodeo.com. Kimzey scored an 88 point ride in Round 10 on Saturday to secure the title. He Kimzey also became the fi rst bull rider ever to earn more than $400,000 in a single season, fi nishing with $436,479. Other world champions included Ryder Wright (saddle bronc), Tim O’Connell (bareback), Marcos Costa (calf roping), Erich Rogers and Cory Petska (team roping), Tyler Pearson (steer wrestling), Nellie Miller (barrel racing) and Tuf Cooper (All-Around). THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1984 — In his 632nd NHL game, Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers scores the 1,000th point of his career with an assist in a 7-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. 1990 — Los Angeles Raiders running back Bo Jackson is named to the AFC team, as a reserve, becoming the fi rst athlete chosen for All-Star games in two sports. 2009 — Michael Phelps helps his American team trounce a group of European all-stars in the Duel in the Pool, anchoring a relay to one of the eight world records the U.S. sets over the two-day meet in Manchester, England. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
