A6 — BAKER CITY HERALD
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2021
SPORTS
Lillard has faith Blazers
will be better this season
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
If this summer taught
Damian Lillard anything, it’s
that he’s dedicated.
The Trail Blazers guard
married his longtime
girlfriend and the mother of
his three kids, played in the
Olympics despite withdraw-
ing his name from consider-
ation from the national team
a few years ago, and worked
on his second career in music.
He said the busy offseason
centered him, because he
acted on his convictions.
“All of those things that
I stuck with is what has me
here,” Lillard said Monday,
Sept. 27, at the team’s media
day. “What keeps me so
invested here is I want to see
it through. I want to see it
happen. I mean what I say.”
There was speculation at
the end of last season that
Lillard might be looking to
move on from the Blazers.
Lillard fueled rumors
about his future in Portland
following the team’s fi rst-
round elimination from the
playoffs. He posted a photo
of himself in street clothes at
the Moda Center, and quoted
the late rapper and activist
Nipsey Hussle.
“How long should I stay
dedicated?” he wrote. “How
long til opportunity meet
preparation?”
But in the offseason the
Blazers dismissed longtime
coach Terry Stotts and hired
Chauncey Billups to take
over. The team also added
players including forward
Larry Nance Jr., center Cody
Zeller and Ben McLemore.
While Portland didn’t
end up making making a
blockbuster deal that some
fans wanted, the Blazers
have solid depth.
“We’ve established so
much as a team and as an
organization, we don’t want
to just go do something to
just to say, ‘I made a change.’
You want it to be in line with
something that could actu-
ally make us better, some-
thing that could send us to
the level that we’re trying to
get to,” Lillard said. “We’ve
done some things that I like.
I didn’t expect us to go out
there and get Kevin Durant
all of the sudden.”
Portland fi nished the
regular season 42-30 and
earned the sixth seed in the
Western Conference. The
team was riding momentum,
having won 10 of its fi nal
12 regular-season games.
But the playoffs were brief
as Portland was eliminated
in the opening round by
Denver.
Lillard averaged 28.8
points and 7.5 assists during
the regular season.
“Everybody knows the
affi nity he has for the city,
for the fan base. He’s really
excited,” Billups said. “At the
end of the day, Dame wants
exactly what we all want,
BAKER VOLLEYBALL
4th-ranked Baker
sweeps Vale
Bulldogs win eighth straight match
By JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Sean Meagher/The Oregonian-TNS
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard holds
up his gold medal won with USA Basketball during
the Tokyo Summer Olympics during media day on
Monday, Sept. 27, 2021 at Moda Center.
and that’s to be successful
and win. I think he’s happy
with what’s happened this
summer, with our roster
being a lot deeper. A little
less pressure for him to be
absolutely amazing every
single night.”
The Blazers announced
Monday that the team is
100% vaccinated.
Lillard said the decision
to get the vaccination was an
easy one.
“I have a lot of people
in my family who I’m tight
with and spend a lot of time
around, and I’m just not
going to put their health or
their lives in danger because
I have to go do research,” Lil-
lard said. “As a kid, I had to
get shots my whole life, be-
fore I went to college, I had
to get shots. And I couldn’t
tell you one thing about any
of them.”
Lillard is entering his
10th NBA season. The closest
he’s come to a title was a trip
to the Western Conference
fi nals in 2019.
Perhaps this is the season
the Blazers take the next
step.
“I think over the years
we’ve always had a com-
petitive team, I think we’ll be
competitive again,” Lillard
said. “Obviously, at the end
of last season I wanted to see
our roster improve. I wanted
us to have a better chance to
win. And we had our conver-
sations throughout the sum-
mer about what that looked
like, and how we could take
steps in that direction. I come
into this season with faith
that that’s going to happen.”
Baker’s volleyball team
continued its September win
streak Tuesday, Sept. 28 at Vale
with what coach Ali Albrego
called a “perfect” match.
The Bulldogs won their
eighth straight match with a
25-22, 25-13, 25-18 sweep of the
Vikings.
“The kids had a break-
through,” Abrego said. “They
played perfect for the fi rst time
this season. It was really fun
to see them recognizing their
own success.”
Baker, ranked fourth in
the Class 4A standings by the
Oregon School Activities As-
sociation, improved to 10-2.
The Bulldogs haven’t lost
since a 3-0 sweep by Weiser in
the Baker gym on Sept. 8.
Abrego said Baker’s stand-
out performance Tuesday at
Vale was especially impressive
because it was the Bulldogs’
fi rst match in eight days.
And although Abrego
said Baker had a few “slow”
practices during the break, she
wasn’t overly surprised that the
Bulldogs played so well at Vale.
“It can be hard to maintain
that competitive mindset dur-
ing such a long break, but we
have a really competitive group,
and they’re pretty self-driven,”
Abrego said. “It was awesome to
see them put it all together.”
The sweep of Vale was a
true team effort, Abrego said,
but she said several Bulldogs
excelled in particular areas.
Rylee Elms had multiple
key blocks, Abrego said, and
fellow junior Jozie Ramos,
who plays both as setter and
outside hitter, had an “out-
standing” match.
Lacy Churchfi eld, Baker’s
lone senior, played well in the
back row, as did junior Taylor
Dalton, Abrego said.
Another junior, Macey
Moore, “scored several points
just by being smart with the
ball,” Abrego said.
Sweeping Vale is no small
accomplishment, Abrego said.
The Class 3A Vikings are “a
solid program,” she said, and
they’ve already swept Greater
Oregon League teams Ontario
and La Grande this season.
During the abbreviated
season this past spring,
Baker’s two matches against
Vale both went to fi ve sets,
with each team winning on its
home court.
Baker will try to keep its
winning streak intact as it
moves into the heart of its
league schedule, starting this
evening, Sept. 30, by playing
host to Mac-Hi at 6:30 p.m.
“I feel good about how we
are playing,” Abrego said. “But
it’s one game at a time. You
can never be too comfortable
with where you’re at. That’s
how mistakes happen.”
Beavers’ offensive line honored
By NICK DASCHEL
oregonlive.com
More Coverage
CORVALLIS — There
isn’t a position group in the
Pac-12 getting more kudos
and love this week than
Oregon State’s offensive line
following their beatdown of
USC’s defense last Saturday,
Sept. 25.
It was effective, dominant
and breathtaking to watch,
particularly when OSU
turned to the running game,
which was often. The easiest
call come Monday was that
the Pac-12’s offensive line
player of the week would
come from Oregon State.
“I think any one of our
guys could have gotten that
award,” Oregon State center
Nathan Eldridge said.
Why Eldridge?
“I don’t know. Maybe be-
cause I’m old and got a bald
head,” said the seventh-year
senior.
The praise is deserved,
but the offensive line wasn’t
alone in opening holes for
running back B.J. Baylor and
others. Oregon State’s tight
ends are quietly becoming
one of the Pac-12’s best at
their position.
• Washington (2-2) at
Oregon State (3-1)
• Saturday, Oct. 2,
6 p.m.
• TV on Pac-12 Network
Tight ends are often
judged by outsiders for
their ability to enhance the
passing game. The Beavers
have that ability, as 6-foot-6
Teagan Quitoriano and Luke
Musgrave are big, mobile
targets. Through four games,
though, their pass catching
isn’t game changing. Quitori-
ano and Musgrave combined
have 14 catches for 168 yards
and two touchdowns.
But in the Jonathan
Smith/Brian Lindgren of-
fense, the value of a tight end
is primarily judged on their
ability to block. And block
this pair does. Against USC,
Oregon State often used Qui-
toriano and Musgrave in two
tight end sets, many times on
the same side.
Adding two proven
run-blocking tight ends to a
veteran offensive line gives
Oregon State’s running
game versatility.
“It makes it tough for
people to defend. We can
motion them a little bit,”
said Lindgren, OSU’s offen-
sive coordinator. “Just hav-
ing that physicality on the
edge, and that size on the
edge has really helped us.”
Quitoriano, a fourth-year
junior, earned early playing
time as a true freshman
because of his run blocking
ability. Musgrave’s strength
early in his career was
receiving, but Lindgren said
he’s blossomed as a run
blocker in 2021. But by sea-
son’s end, Lindgren thinks
Musgrave will become the
complete package. Lindgren
said defensive coverage and
play calls have contributed
to Musgrave’s low total of
fi ve receptions through four
games.
“It’ll end up evening out
as we keep going through
the season,” Lindgren said.
If tight ends wanted
to become run blockers,
most of them would bulk
up and become offensive
linemen. Lindgren said
he hears about the routes
they’ll run and touchdowns
they’ll score on the tight
end recruiting trail. But ul-
timately the tight ends the
Beavers offer and eventu-
ally sign know the drill at
Oregon State.
“The guys we’re trying to
recruit and want in our pro-
gram are guys who want to
excel at both. The guys who
want to play at the high-
est level have to do both,”
Lindgren said.
“You’ll love the work we do. I guarantee it.” - JR
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