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E AST O REGONIAN Tuesday, augusT 6, 2019 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS | FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS B1 Smith, Lynch locked in competition to back up Wilson By TIM BOOTH Associated Press ReNTON, Wash. — In the grand scheme of things, serving as the backup to seahawks quar- terback Russell Wilson is mostly meaningless. a year ago, Wilson took every snap in the regular season and the playoffs. In 2017, backup aus- tin Davis took five snaps. In 2016, Trevone Boykin took 53 snaps, the most of any QB to have served as Wilson’s backup in seattle. But it’s still an important posi- tion and one the seahawks will begin to get a better feel for when they open the preseason hosting denver on Thursday night. The competition between geno smith and Paxton Lynch has provided flashes of promise as well as a few cringe-worthy moments. “They understand it’s going to be a tough competition. That goes a long way,” offensive coordinator Brian schottenheimer said. “ulti- mately, it’s going to come down to who can move the team and who can score points for us in the preseason.” smith would appear to be the leader just based on his experi- ence. smith spent last season as a backup with the Los angeles Chargers after the majority of his career was spent in New york with the Jets and Giants. He’s five sea- sons removed from being a full- time starter with the Jets, but he has played in 40 career games — eight times more than Lynch. “I got a lot of confidence in myself. I know that I can do a lot of things on the field,” Smith said. “I believe that I am a starter, I just need another opportunity.” Lynch was a disappointment in denver after being taken in the first round of the 2016 draft. He was released before the start of the 2018 season. He’s started just four games in his career, with the Broncos winning only one. seat- tle has been intrigued by Lynch’s combination of size and running ability, but his passing has been See Seahawks, Page B2 67TH EAST-WEST SHRINE GAME West ends 4-game skid with win over East AP Photo/John Locher, File Head coach Gregg Popovich speaks with the media during a training camp for USA Basketball July 26, 2018, in Las Vegas. USA Basketball opened training camp Monday for the FIBA World Cup, which starts Aug. 31 in China. Popovich, finally, gets his turn at leading USA Basketball By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer Las Vegas — gregg Popo- vich walked into usa Basketball’s first team meeting in advance of World Cup training camp, and it seemed to some in the room that he was having a little difficulty keep- ing his emotions in check. He talked about tradition, about what it means to play for your coun- try, about expectations, about sac- rifice, about playing the right way, about respect for opponents. The only downside was that when he was done speaking, the first practice was still about 18 hours away. “shoot, from the get-go, I think everybody was ready to play a game or run through a brick wall for him after that talk,” Brooklyn guard Joe Harris said. With that, Camp Pop had arrived. Popovich’s first training camp practice as coach of the u.s. men’s national team went into the books Monday, less than a month before the americans will begin play at the FIBa World Cup in China. The u.s. has won the last two World Cup gold medals, both won under now-former coach Mike Krzyze- wski, and now it’s Popovich’s turn to lead the red, white and blue. “It’s been on my mind every day, what I want to do and what needs to be done,” said Popovich, the long- time san antonio spurs coach who was picked as Krzyzewski’s succes- sor nearly four years ago. “It’s been like thinking about two teams at the same time for that period. But Coach K did that for 12 years. so I think I can probably try to do the same.” Popovich was all over the floor in his first practice, pulling some guys aside for 1-on-1 chats during a scrimmage and other times gath- ering the entire team around him to discuss the nuance of proper box- out technique. “you can’t help but teach here and there,” Popovich said. Popovich calls it “a huge respon- sibility” to both represent the coun- try and continue the program’s long tradition of winning. He and his assistants have been meeting for weeks, going over every possible detail. “He is so passionate about this project and he’s so well-prepared,” See Basketball, Page B2 EO Media Group Photo/Kathy Orr Weston-McEwen’s Patton Wright (27) blocks the West’s Noah White on Saturday during the 67th annual East-West Shrine Game in Baker City. Heppner’s Tyler Carter records safety for east EO Media Group B aKeR CITy — The West took advantage of six east turnovers on saturday to break a four-game losing streak at the 67th annual east-West shrine all-star game at Bulldog Memorial stadium. The West had three inter- ceptions and recovered three fumbles on the way to a 43-10 win. The east still leads the overall series 33-31-3. Weston-Mcewen’s Pat- ton Wright, Josh gray of Ione, and Tyler Carter of Heppner played for the east. all three are linemen. “It was a lot of fun,” said Wright who played defen- sive tackle. “I wish we would have won; in a perfect world. It was a great experi- ence. I would 100 times over do it again.” The West totaled 456 yards, 319 on the arm of quarterback Hayden Van- dehey (Banks). He fin- ished 20-of-34 with four touchdowns. EO Media Group Photo/Kathy Orr Heppner’s Tyler Carter tackles West quarterback Hayden Vandehey on Saturday during the 67th annual East-West Shrine Game in Baker City. East teammate Baler Mann (66) watches the action. Vandehey’s favorite tar- get was Banks teammate Blake Markham, who had nine catches for 107 yards. That duo opened the scoring with 1:59 left in the first quarter on a 27-yard completion. Victor Torress added the conversion kick for a 7-0 West lead. The West then broke the game open in the sec- ond period, scoring three times for a 30-0 halftime advantage. “They were pretty good,” Wright said of the West. “They had a lot of skill.” Vandehey and dax Ben- nett (Harrisburg) scored on runs, and Vandehey found sean Bodi (stayton) for a Td pass. Then, after a scoreless third quarter, the East finally scored on a safety. On the play, the West punter bobbled the snap and had the kick blocked in the end zone. The West punter recovered the ball but was tackled by Carter in the end zone for the two points. Following the ensuing kickoff the east needed just four plays to score again. gus Ramsden (Wallowa) found Tanner Hamilton (Vale) from three yards out to cut the deficit to 30-10. Vandehey then closed the door on the east, connect- ing with Markham and Joey Tripp (Rainier) for the final two scores. Baker’s Justin Miller recovered a West fumble in the fourth quarter from his defensive secondary slot. Miller also could have had an interception on the opening pass play of the game, but had the ball fall through his hands. according to shriners International, the game is the largest fundraiser in Oregon for the shriners Hospital and is considered the second-largest athletic money-maker for shriners Hospitals in North america.
