SPORTS
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017
1B
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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.
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