Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / July 6, 2006, edition 1 / Page 14
Part of The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
2C 000 SPORTSAE^e Charlotte $o«t Thursday, July 6, 2006 Top diaR pickliis moH for Bodcats Continued from page 1C “The fans have been coming out, it’s kind of hard not to support the way these young men play basketball,” Bickerstaff said. “I think (Morrison) is a positive addi tion to what we do and what we’re trying to do in building this franchise and we’re mak ing progress.” Morrison was the NCAA’s leading scorer last season, averaging 28.1 points per game. Morrison shared NABC and USBWA National Player of the Year honors with Duke’s J.J. Redick and was named Chevrolet Player ofthe Yeai' as selected by CBS Sports as a junior. He fin ished second to Redick in vot- ir^ for the Wooden Award and was a top four finalist for PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON Charlotte point guard Helen Darling has struggled with injuries and inconsistency during the Sting’s 3-13 start. Darling averages 5.2 points, 1.9 assists and 3.18 turnovers per game. Her backup, rookie LaToya Bond, averages 7.3 points, 2.3 assists and 3.25 turnovers. Sting struggles at midseason Continued from page 1C at the season’s halfway mark, an admission that very little has gone right. BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT Bogues wants to run, but this group isn’t suited for that stjie. Three of the top four scorers are in the frontcourt: Tangela Smith (12 points per game), Tammy Sutton-Brown (11.1) and Sheri Sam (10.1), which indicates Charlotte has too many plodders and not enou^ sprinters. BOARD TO DEATH: Of course, to run, you’ve got to rebound, and the Sting doesn’t do that well enough to trigger the fast break. Charlotte averages 30.8 boards a game, com pared to opponents’ 37.4. There’s no dominant inside presCTce on either end of the floor, and opponents are taking advantage. THE ROOKIES: The draft, class has been solid if not spectacular. Tbp pick Monique Currie is that rarity in Sting history a No. 1 with a real future in Charlotte. The guard is third in scoring at 10.9 points per game and fourth in reboxmding with an average of 4.38. Currie is a scorer because she’s not afraid to go to the basket, something more of the Sting coiild benefit from. A 32.4 percent shooter, Currie needs to improve her acciiracy, especial ly fixim the perimeter. Point guard LaTbya Bond has struggled with decision-making, averaging more turnovers (3.25 per game) than assists (2.3). SOMETHING LEFT IN THE TANK: Center/forward Tangela Smith has been Charlotte’s most consistent player. She leads the Sting in scoring (12 per game) and reboimds (6.5), and has proven to be a good acquisition. In the absence of improving the runnir^ game, the Sting would be better served by getting the ball inside to her more. SLOW RETURN: When Allison Feaster went on maternity leave last season, she was the Sting’s best asset. That’s not the case now. Reduced to cameo roles, Feaster averages 1.1 points per game and she’s a step slower. This recovery is going to take some time. MISSING THE POINT: Charlotte might have given Dawn Staley a going away gift by trading her to Houston last year, but the Sting still hasn't begun to fill her sneakers. Helen Darling has stru^ed with injuries and has yet to master floor management (3.17 turnovers a game compared to 1.9 assists) Bond is raw, but has potential. You’d think Bogues, a brOhant floor general during his NBA playing days, would be able to coach these two up a notch. PROGNOSIS: The Sting hasn’t' played a complete game yet this year. The defense is lacking and the uptempo offense Bogues has preached is' nowhere to be found. Is it the coaching or the players? Both, which means it’s the coaching. U.S. soccer needs more flash Continued from page 1C ter with a style of its own, especially if it resembles the improvisational approach adopted by most teams in the New World. Besides, as any Wall Street denizen will tell you, iisk-tal±ig is and always has been the American way Tb pull it off, the team would need more African- Americans and Latinos, including immigrants Thei« aren’t enou^ players finm either minority group on the current team. A Latin American coach would be a good idea, too. The 2006 squad recalls memories of the NBA in its formative decades, when players on all-White teams ambled up the court and passed the ball arxnmd until someone took a set shot or eventually got open for a layup. The arrival of BiU Russell, "TOlt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Oscar' Robertson and other Black players transformed pro bas ketball into a faster, more creative game hterally played at a higher level. Other soccer-playing nations have figured out the value of Black players. Pele, the Afix»-Brazihan, is regard ed as the best player ever, and Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, his most talent ed successors on Brazil’s 2006 team, obviously have some African ancestry So too do two -top players for France, which plajs with more finesse than most European teams. Even Sweden and Japan, neither known for social diversity, get it. The Swedes started a Black player of Cape 'Verdean ancestry and the Japanese squad featm-ed a Brazilian who appears to have some Afiican blood in his racial mix. Ecuador’s Holsey wins Upstate Birdies title FROM SrAFF REPORTS Tim Hosley won the Upstate Birdies tourna ment July 1 at Bonnie Brae Golf Club in Greenville, S.C. Hosley fii'ed a round of 72, one shot ahead of Mike Wallace and four ahead of Reginald Epps. • Gregg Renfro won the Elite Golf Association tournament Jime 24-25 in Greenville, S.C. Renfio’s two-roimd total of 147 was three shots better than Tferrain GiU. and six ahead of the Naismith Award. “The thing I see most is his desire to win? you can't teach that,” Mchad Jordan said to the Associated Press about Morrison. Morrison said he knows many of the Bobcats players “and one of the things I like about the core guys here is that they were aU winners in college.” . But college success that players Hke Emeka Okafor, Sean May and Raymond Felton had before coming to Charlotte hasn’t translated into professional success. May and Okafor battled injuries most of last season and though Felton shined, the Bobcat’s record didn’t reflect it at 26-56. Hornets sign Salisbury’s Jackson By Murray Evans THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OKLAHOMA CITY - The New Orleans Hornets agreed to terms Sunday with free- ^ent guard Bobby Jackson, adding another veteran pres ence to an improving team. Jackson’s agent, Andy Miller, said Jackson had agreed to a multiyear deal with the Hornets but would n’t disclose the terms. NBA teams were allowed to begin negotiating with fi'ee agents on Saturday but can not officially sign players until July 12. Hornets gener al manager Jeff Bower said the team planned to sign Jackson after the moratori um ends but declined further comment, citing league rules. Jackson, a Salisburynative, averaged 11.4 points and 2.7 assists pea* game and shot 39 percent' finm S-point range last season, coining mainly off tile bench for the Memphis Grizzlies. Word of his plans to sign with New Orleans came a day after the Hornets con firmed they had reached agreement with three-time All-Star Peja Stojakovic. Stojakovic’s agent, David Bauman, said that five-year deal would be worth $64 mil lion. Jackson and Stojakovic, who were teammates with the Sacramento Kings for five seeisons, wiLL join a Hornets team that had a 20-wm improvement this past sea son and stayed in the Western Conference playoff race until the season’s final week, finishing 38-44. ‘We want Bobby to be in a position to play in a wide- open stjie and in a very spe cific role,” Miller said. ‘'With the personnel that Jeff has put in. place ... and what they did last year, we felt this was the right time and the right place to put ouroelves in a sit uation where we could have a major impact.” The 6-foot-l Jackson, who won the NBA’s Sixth Man Award in 2003, became a fi'ee agent after one season with Memphis. He made $3,375 million last season, the last in a six-year deal he signed with the Kings in 2000. Sacramento traded Jackson to Memphis last August. Jackson played 71 games for the Grizzlies last yeai’, but missed big portions of his final three seasons with Sacramento because of injuries. He sat out 51 games in 2004-05 because of a,tom ligament in his wrist. Jackson has a 10.2-point career sconng average m nine seasons witiiilie Denver Nuggets, Minnesota TLmberwolves, Sacramento and Memphis. Hornets coach Byron Scott said last month that the team’s top offseason priorities were to add a shot-blocker and rebounder and a shooter or two to open the game up for leading scorers David West (17.1) and Rookie of the Year Chris Paul (16.1). The Hornets used their two first-round draft picks on big men, Hilton Armstrong of Connecticut and Cedric Simmons of Nol'th Carolina State. Jackson plays the same position as fi:'ee-agent guard Speedy Claxton, a sevai-year veteran who both backed up and teamed with Paul last season in the Hornets’ back- court, averaging 12.3 points and 4.8 assists per game. Tbam officials had said re signing Claxton would be a major offseason priority Miller, who also represents Rasual Butler - another of the Hornets’ fi'ee agents - said it’s unlikely tiie 6-foot-7 forward wiQ re-sign with the team. Butler led Hornets regulars in 3-pointers (92) and S-point shooting percentage (38.0) last season. 9ERS LL starting 11 even looked more pepper than ginger, modem evidence of slavery in Spain’s former colony More African-Americans and Latinos on the U.S. squad could create the atii- letic equivalent of the cultur al blend heard in the musical beats of salsa, meringue, reg gae and Afin-Cuban jazz. That’s not to say white players need not apply Anyone can play jazz, and anyone could race up and down the field in tune with, an Afin-Latin rhjfthm that flows and riffs its way into the goal. That style of play could take the world’s only superpower to the next level in the World Cup and, to boot, make the team much more mtei'esting to watch. Kenneth J. Cooper is a Pulitzer Prize-winning jour nalist who lives in Boston. Jamott Duncan. The first roimd was played at Carolina Spring Golf Club, the second at 'Verdae Greens Golf Course. • The Par-Busters Golf Group will host its annual open tournament Av^. 19-20 at Crystal Creek Golf Club in Pineville. ItU be the 34th tournament sponsored by the club, with Chiis Hamilton the 2005 champion. Donald Littlejohn has the most wins in tour nament history with nine. July 30-Aug. 3 INDIVIDUAL BASKETBALL CAMP Also Available: OFFENSIVE SKILLS CLINIC August 4-5 Charlotte 49ers Basketball Academy ♦ Day and Overnight Options Available ♦ Same Household Discounts Available ♦ Halton Arena offers 11 glass backboards with six additional in the practice gym ♦ Camp includes access to university's swimming pool and game room ♦ Academy Grouping ♦ All-Star Youth Dunk Contest OPEN TO BOYS, AGES 8-17 To Reserve Your Spot, Call 704/687-4939 Or log on to charlotte49ers.com to print out an application with complete camp information Play Where the 49ers Play!!! Sign Up Now —
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 6, 2006, edition 1
14
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75