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Saturday, July 9, 2022
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B1
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
H
Thompson has left his mark from
Eastern Oregon to the NBA
Assistant coach Mitch Thompson,
far right, works with Los Capitanes NBA G League
players. Thompson, a former Irrigon High School boys
basketball coach, is in his second year with the team.
Los Capitanes/Contributed Photo
ERMISTON — If there
is a basketball involved,
Mitch Thompson wants to
be in the thick of things.
the former Irrigon High School boys coach has
gone from coaching middle school basketball to
landing a job with NBa G league team los Capi-
tanes in Mexico City.
“When I was 5, I wanted to be a basketball
coach,” thompson said. “that side of the game has
always fascinated me. It’s all relationship driven.
It’s out of knowing that I care. It’s the foundation
of everything.”
thompson, 30, is entering his second season
with the los Capitanes, and also is working with
the NBa academy latin america in San luis
Potosi in Mexico.
“When I took this job, Mitch was a perfect fit,”
los Capitanes General Manager Nick lagios said.
“I knew him when he did some work with australia
Basketball about four years ago. We kept in touch.
He already lived in Mexico and he is bilingual.”
lagios also believes the NBa academy job was
a good fit for Thompson.
“He’s a perfect fit for the NBA Academy and
now will do it at the highest level with the top latin
american players,” langios said. “twenty to 23%
percent of NBa players are from latina america.
He is an ambassador for basketball, in Mexico and
for the Capitanes. Mitch is more than a basketball
coach, and he’s critical to the Capitanes. It’s tough
to find coaches like that.”
The NBA Academy offers an elite basketball
training program that provides top high school-
age prospects from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central
america, South america and Canada with a holis-
tic approach to player development.
the program gives prospects the opportunity to
learn the game from outside coaches who the NBa
hires with professional, collegiate and international
coaching experience.
Since opening in 2017, 22 NBa academy latin
america participants — including female players
— have committed to NCaa division I programs.
the NBa academy program globally, has seen
13 players sign professional contracts, including
Josh Giddy (Oklahoma City thunder).
See NBA, Page B2
Bear hunt can yield a bear-sized bounty
GARY
LEWIS
ON THE TRAIL
B
ack behind a screen of
limbs, I saw the legs
of a bear. Hidden by
branches, I could see parts
but not the whole. I knew it
was a boar.
My thumb was on the
safety. I saw nose and head,
then foreleg, then lower half
of the body. In an instant, the
rifle was at my shoulder and I
had the vitals in the cross-
hair.
The trigger broke, the rifle
crashed and the 165-grain
Nosler accuBond took the
bear behind the shoulder.
Spinning, the bear
smashed into an alder that
shivered all the way to the
top of the tree.
When the magazine was
topped up, when the sounds
of the forest returned, when
the birds lit, cautious, in the
treetops again, I counted
steps, pushing the muzzle in
front of me. Eleven paces.
Fifteen paces to the edge of
the clearing. twenty-three
steps to the bear.
a few of my friends are
still grumbling. they didn’t
draw deer or elk tags this
year. I think the best antidote
for the lack of a deer or elk
tag is to go bear hunting.
the season starts aug. 1 and
a hunter who bags a bear is
likely saving a few elk calves
and deer fawns for next year.
Jim Ward/Contributed Photo, File
Oregon’s’ bear hunting season starts Aug. 1, 2022.
In Oregon, a bear hunter
can draw a tag for the
two-month spring hunt
and get a second tag over
the counter for the fall bear
season. My favorite time of
the season is aug. 15 through
the second week of Septem-
ber, when berries are ripe and
apples, pears and plums hang
heavy in forgotten orchards.
Hunt bear for what it
provides. Not only the meat
— the burger, steaks and ribs
— but a hide, a pelt or a rug
and the claws and the skull,
all of which can be preserved
in one way or another to
remember the moment, the
animal.
One of the things we
should preserve is the grease
from the bear.
Put a block of the good,
clean white fat in a pot and
cook it on low till it turns to
oil. Skim the cracklings off
the top and pour the grease
through cheesecloth or clean
game bag fabric. I like to
strain it four times. Now
the fat is ready to freeze for
future use for pie crusts,
biscuits and doughnuts. Be
sure to pick apples or berries
after the bear hunt. there is
nothing better than apple pie
with a bear grease crust.
Bear grease can be used
in healing salves, in hair and
to treat leather. I use it to
lube muzzleloader barrels.
and save the cracklings for
the birds.
See Hunt, Page B2
Gary Lewis/Contributed Photo
When the fruit-laden lowland creek bottoms proved barren of bear, the hunters — Sam Pyke,
standing, and Lucas Simpson — began to glass the high country.