Mid-Valley Sports

We had a story on A.C. Green in Tuesday’s Democrat-Herald leading up to Green’s speech here in Albany on Nov. 21 at a YMCA fundraiser. I had the opportunity to speak by phone with Green in preparation for the story and, as always, the conversation branched off in a lot of directions that I wasn’t able to use in the newspaper because of space restrictions.

On Oregon State basketball, a topic near and dear to Green’s heart, he is in position to say “I told you so” when it comes to the hiring of coach Craig Robinson. If you can remember back to the time of Robinson’s hiring, there was quite a bit of criticism of his selection.

Green was on the small selection committee, a group that now looks pretty smart.

“Everything was on the line last year with our vote of confidence for coach Rob to come. Last year answered a lot of questions,” Green said. “I think the team is on the uprise, a lot of enthusiasm.

“A good recruiting class came in. It will take time for the team to gell.”

Green also said he plans to attend the Oregon State game on the 21st before coming over to Albany for the benefit dinner. The Beavers host Sacramento State at noon that day.

“We need everyone to come out and get the wave going again.”

On the NBA, Green is confident that Ron Artest can fit in with his old team, the Los Angeles Lakers. Artest is known as a highly talented, but emotional, player and he is best known in the general public as one of the figures involved in the fight in the stands in Detroit a few seasons back.

For Artest, he said success in Los Angeles is simply a question of “how bad do you want to win?”

“That’s always been the question when you have multiple egos on a team. Ron has to try and fit in and the guys have to welcome him in. We know he can play defense. It’s the offensive end that will be the difference in this system.

“I think it will be fine. If they can stay healthy, they can be a contender to repeat.”

On the Trail Blazers, Green expected coach Nate McMillan would find a way to work new arrival Andre Miller into a lineup that was fairly set.

“Nate knows what he’s doing. He’s been there. He knows from a player’s perspective what is expected.

“Andre is a veteran. There’s no situation he hasn’t dealth with before.

“They have a great deal of talent. In any environment winning cures all ills. They just have to get out of the blocks and they’ll be fine.”

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