SPORTS
Saturday, June 22, 2019
East Oregonian
B3
Portland selects Nassir Little with 25th pick
By ERIK GARCÍA
GUNDERSEN
Associated Press
AP Photo/Christophe Ena
United States’ Kelley O Hara, left, and Sweden’s Fridolina Rolfo
fi ght for the ball during the Group F soccer match Thursday.
World’s top teams enter
knockout stage on a roll
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
While it may be tempting
to look ahead to the quarter-
fi nals and a possible clash
with France, the defending
champion U.S. has thrived
at the Women’s World Cup
by keeping its focus on the
present.
The Americans will
face Spain in the round of
16 on Monday in Reims
as the tournament enters
the win-or-go-home phase.
Games begin Saturday
with Germany facing Nige-
ria in Grenoble followed
by Norway’s match against
Australia.
The U.S. had emphatic
wins in the group stage,
routing Thailand 13-0 in the
opener before more clini-
cal victories over Chile and
Sweden. The team had three
shutouts while also collect-
ing a World Cup group-
stage record 18 goals.
Coach Jill Ellis said
the three-time World Cup
champions accomplished
their early-round goals.
“When you come out of
the group stage, a lot of what
we talk about is mentality
and being healthy,” she said.
“I think they’re in a really
good place.”
The
United
States
has performed largely as
expected in France, though
the team faced criticism
after the game against Thai-
land for celebrating every
goal. The Americans set
World Cup records for most
goals and margin of victory
in the game.
The team toned it down
ROUND OF 16
United States
Spain
(3-0)
(1-1-1)
Monday, 9 a.m., at Stade
Auguste-Delaune, Reims,
France TV: FOX
GOLDEN BOOT
American Alex Mor-
gan and Australian Sam
Kerr both have fi ve goals
to lead the fi eld.
Morgan matched a U.S.
record by scoring fi ve
goals in the team’s big
win over Thailand.
Kerr got four in Austra-
lia’s fi nal group match, a
4-1 victory over Jamaica.
It was the most goals for
an Australian — male or
female — in a World Cup
game, and the fi nal goal
ensured the Matildas
fi nished second in their
group to avoid France in
the round of 16.
TUALATIN — The
Portland Trail Blazers
selected North Carolina
forward Nassir Little with
the 25th pick in the NBA
draft on Thursday night.
Little prides himself on
carving his own path and
while he was admittedly
anxious after falling out
of the lottery, the moni-
ker of Trail Blazer fi ts for a
player who refused to play
on the Nike AAU circuit
and chose to go to boarding
schools away from his fam-
ily for his fi nal two years of
high school.
“I’ve always done things
a little bit differently,” Lit-
tle said. “I didn’t play on the
Nike circuit. That was big.
Boarding schools. I always
carved my own path and
paved my own way.”
By having teams pass on
him with the fi rst 24 picks
of the draft, it was reminis-
cent of his path to the NBA.
“I mean, somebody told
me the only way I could be
successful in my life was
if I was a top player on the
Nike circuit,” Little said on
WHOA, CANADA!
AP Photo/ Julio Cortez
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, left, poses for photo-
graphs with North Carolina’s Nassir Little after the Port-
land Trail Blazers selected him with the 25th pick overall.
a conference call Thursday.
“But I wanted to show peo-
ple I could be a top player
no matter where I played
at.”
In Little, the Blazers
added wing depth to their
team with the 6-foot-7
wing. Little was one of
the fi nal players left in the
Green Room, but he even-
tually found his way to a
playoff team. Little believes
he was fortunate, after the
anxiety of not going in the
lottery passed.
“Man I think it’s a bless-
ing in disguise,” Little said.
“Slipping down to 25 ini-
tially I was kind of con-
fused. But when I looked
at the roster and remember
how they played in the play-
offs, I thought it was a great
fi t for me.”
Little was also surprised
that the Blazers targeted
him, as he never came to
Portland for a workout nor
did he interview with the
team at the NBA combine.
“I was expecting to go in
the lottery,” Little said. “I
was surprised the Blazers
drafted me because I didn’t
really have a lot of conver-
Six Canadians were
drafted Thursday, setting
the record for a country
other than the U.S.
A week after the
Toronto Raptors won
the nation’s fi rst NBA
championship, Canadi-
ans RJ Barrett, Nickeil
Alexander-Walker,
Brandon Clarke, Mfi on-
du Kabengele, Ignas
Brazdeikis and Marial
Shayok were drafted.
France had fi ve players
selected in 2016.
sations with them. I didn’t
work out with them. I didn’t
know they had much inter-
est in me. I didn’t work out
with them even at the com-
bine. I’m just happy they
saw something in me that I
didn’t see. “
Little averaged 9.8 points
and 4.6 rebounds in his lone
season at North Carolina.
He also took home the MVP
trophy at the 2018 McDon-
ald’s All-American Game.
He excited to team up with
second-year Blazers guard
Anfernee Simons, who also
is from Orlando, Florida.
Miami stops Bol Bol’s slide, trades him to Denver
NEW YORK (AP) —
Bol Bol started the night
high-fi ving children as he
walked across the stage as
part of the festivities, being
introduced with Zion Wil-
liamson, Ja Morant, RJ Bar-
rett and others expecting
to hear their names called
early in the NBA draft.
The other players were
long gone by the time Bol
heard his name called.
It was an uncomfortably
long wait for the 7-foot-2
Oregon freshman as NBA
Commissioner Adam Sil-
ver rattled off the names of
Bol’s peers and the green
room emptied out. The fi rst
round had come to an end
and Bol — who was pro-
jected as a possible lottery
pick — was still undrafted.
The agony ended when
Miami ended picked him
with the 44th overall pick.
Not that Bol is heading
to South Beach. Nope, the
Heat traded his draft rights
to the Denver Nuggets in
exchange for a future sec-
ond-round pick and fi nan-
cial considerations.
Bol averaged 21 points,
9.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks
while shooting 56% from
the fi eld and 52% from
3-point range with a rangy
game and an unusual skill-
set, though there were con-
cerns after he played just
nine college games due to a
foot injury.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
Oregon’s Bol Bol before the
NBA draft Thursday.
“I just want to prove
everyone wrong and just
come out and be the best
player I can be,” Bol said on
ESPN’s draft broadcast.
The wait was a big fall
for the son of late NBA
player Manute Bol.
He found himself sit-
ting in the green room as
the last player there as the
draft moved into the second
round.
While it probably wasn’t
how Bol envisioned being
drafted, his selection drew
loud cheers from the fans
who stuck around to watch
the second round. They
seemed to be happy for him
that the awkwardness was
ending.
The reaction prompted
Bol to say: “It feels pretty
good, I didn’t know I had
that many fans until right
now.”
against Chile. Ellis made
seven lineup changes to
keep her team fresh and
Carli Lloyd — the hat trick
hero of the World Cup fi nal
four years ago in Canada —
scored a pair of goals.
Facing their toughest
challenge of the group in
ninth-ranked Sweden, the
United States pounced early
with Lindsey Horan’s goal
within the fi rst three min-
utes and emerged with a 2-0
victory on Thursday night.
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