CJ's Big Shot at His NBA Future
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ELEGANCE ON WHEELS EDITION Forest Grove’s Concours d’Elegance shines Sunday — SEE LIFE, B1 GREATER PORTLAND PortlandPTUESDAY, JULYo 15, 2014r • TWICEt CHOSENl THEa NATION’Sn BEST NONDAILY PAPER Tribune• PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHED TUESDAY AND THURSDAY Honk if n Blazers see second-year guard as a creator as well as a sharpshooter you think traffi c sucks ODOT rolls out new smart signs to help drivers avoid trouble By SHASTA KEARNS MOORE The Tribune If you’re like many people, you’ve noticed that traffi c is worse this summer. That’s not just a matter of perception, says Oregon De- partment of Transportation spokesperson Dave Thompson. Traffi c volume has been “Every one creeping up this year and minute of last. From 2012 blockage to 2013 it was up about 2.3 creates an percent along average of Interstate 5 at fi ve minutes Wilsonville and points of back up.” along Inter- — Dave state 205 show COURTESY OF MIKALAN MOISO Thompson, similar in- Back-up point guard CJ McCollum plans to use his time at this year’s NBA Summer League in Las ODOT creases. In part to Vegas to improve his game. McCollum’s focus also is on writing and TV, where he hopes to someday combat this work as a journalist. problem, ODOT is rolling out new digital signs with real-time SUMMER LEAGUE SPOTLIGHT traffi c information designed to help motorists stay safe and use alternate routes. “We recognize that we will never build our way out of con- gestion,” Thompson says. “There isn’t room, there isn’t money, there isn’t political will CJ’s big shot at to do that.” Instead, Thompson says the department is focusing on ways to smooth traffic flows. Much like how rice clogs a funnel if poured too fast, the counter-in- his NBA future tuitive approach to traffi c is to slow folks down so that every- LAS VEGAS — route to the NBA from the mid-major Patriot body continues to move instead he panoramic view of the valley League, much the same path traveled as of getting stuck. from the 35th fl oor of the Four Sea- teammate Damian Lillard from the Big Sky’s There are three new types of sons is striking. The plush luxury Weber State. signs to be rolled out this sum- Thotel isn’t bad itself, with all the McCollum, who turns 23 in September, has mer. amenities a fi rst-class traveler — such as an one thing most of his peers don’t have: a col- The first, launched July 10 NBA player — could want. lege degree. He graduat- throughout the Portland area, CJ McCollum doesn’t ed from Lehigh — a will display travel times to major take such indulgences Story by Kerry Eggers strong academic school of interchanges. The idea is that if lightly. 4,900 located in Bethle- motorists see that their 15-min- “We get treated very well by putting us in hem, Pa. — in mass communications, with a top-notch hotels, both in summer league and minor in sociology. See TRAFFIC / Page 2 throughout the season,” the Trail Blazers’ The 6-3, 195-pound McCollum is a media second-year guard says. “I’m thankful and dream, well-spoken and accommodating. Are you driving grateful for everything that goes into the life But it goes beyond that. He’s a journalist of an NBA player.” himself, for two years sports editor of the too politely? It’s what an NBA player is supposed to say. “Brown and White,” the campus newspaper ODOT spokesperson Dave TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO: JAIME VALDEZ There’s a sense of authenticity in McCollum, at Lehigh, while also spending some time Thompson says Portland drivers, CJ McCollum of the Trail Blazers goes up for a jump ball against though, who seems far from the spoiled, en- working with the student television station. in contrast to those in bigger cities Jarrett Jack of the Cleveland Cavaliers in a January 2014 game. titled star athlete who too often fi nds his McCollum wrote an article in The Sport- like Los Angeles or Boston, are too McCollum played sparingly in 38 games last season. “I can be a real way onto a roster. polite for their own good. good NBA player,” he says. Perhaps there is humility born from a See McCOLLUM / Page 2 “In Oregon we are exceedingly polite,” he says. When we use turn signals “It’s a: ‘Please, may I?’ Every other place it’s: ‘Hey, I just gave you notice.’” When local drivers use their turn signal as a request, they often drive slower. The oncoming driver either has to slow down to allow them in or choose to deny them access and dangerously speed up Fair’s past tumbles with old barn around them. safe after six inches of snow The holy grail is the “zipper CANBY merge” — one car from each lane fell in February. taking its turn. Gresham resident Linda “We are very polite and I love Clackamas County Burns, superintendent for the that, but that makes for inef cient Clackamas County 4-H beef driving sometimes,” Thompson ponders fairgrounds’ program, says she will miss says. that old barn. “It’s been a phe- future, new facilities nomenal place for my kids to grow up and the lifelong friend- By SHASTA KEARNS MOORE ships that they’ve built there,” The Tribune Burns says. The 130-by-320-foot barn was The 108th annual Clacka- built in 1924 and has been mas County Fairgrounds maintained and improved upon opens in August and for the for years largely through vol- fi rst time in 90 years, its sig- unteer labor. That has been nature livestock barn with part of the problem, says Coun- the saw-toothed roof won’t ty Commissioner Jim Bernard, Laurie Bothwell, be there. who is the commission’s liaison executive Instead, livestock, and the to the fair board. The saw-tooth director of the families who raise them, will be roof pooled rainwater and Clackamas housed mostly in two large leaked. Support beams were County Fair, tent-like temporary structures, put directly on dirt instead of stands near the which rent for $45,000. The live- concrete, so they just rotted demolished stock barn, beset by mainte- from the bottom. livestock barn. nance problems for at least the TRIBUNE PHOTO: past decade, was deemed un- See COUNTY / Page 6 JAIME VALDEZ “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to Portland Tribune EX-BEAVS VIE FOR deliver balanced news that re ects the stories of our communities. Thank you NBA TIME for reading our newspapers.” Inside — SEE SPORTS, PAGE B1 — DR. ROBERT B. PAMPLIN JR. OWNER & NEIGHBOR A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Tuesday, July 15, 2014 McCollum: Guard seeks consistency on oor my body. It will pay off next n From page 1 season. I’m sacrificing now for long-term gain.” ing News, explaining why he McCollum is a natural shoot- opted to return to Lehigh for ing guard whom the Blazers his senior year. He penned a would love to be able to use at “Point After” piece on his pre- times behind Lillard at the point. draft experience for Sports Il- “The big thing is him feeling lustrated and authored a few confident in everything he blog submissions for NBA.com does,” says assistant coach Na- during his rookie season. te Tibbetts, who ran the Blaz- The electronic media may be ers in their summer league where the future is, however, opener. “He has not played a for McCollum, who was miked ton of basketball over the last by NBA.TV during the Trail two years. Getting in the repeti- Blazers’ Las Vegas Summer tions, getting up and down, as League-opening loss to New much as possible will be good York Saturday at Cox Pavilion. for him. “I did it last year, too,” Mc- “CJ is going to be a ballhand- Collum says. “It’s a little awk- er, a creator for us. He can put ward having (the microphone) himself in position to score. around your waist, but you The thing he is focused on this kind of forget about it at times. summer is creating for others. Throughout a game, emotions He is very good at seeing the run high and you never know floor, and we need that from what will come out of your him here.” mouth. But they filter out McCollum isn’t regarding things pretty well.” summer league as a tryout ses- Since mid-last season, Mc- sion for himself. Collum has hosted a weekly “The coaches know what one-hour talk show on Sirius we’re good at, what we need to XM radio, with guests such as improve on,” McCollum says. Damian Lillard, Rick Fox, Pey- “They know I’m a guy who can ton Siva and Archie Goodwin. knock down 3’s. The most im- “Just trying to keep my re- portant thing is to show im- sume alive in something I enjoy TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO: JAIME VALDEZ provement in your deficiencies. doing,” McCollum says. “You CJ McCollum is preparing for his second NBA season out of Lehigh looking to contribute more to the Blazers than he did as an often-injured rookie. I’ve been working a lot on de- always have to be thinking fense. Every rookie struggles post-career and put yourself in with it, especially when you a position of having a success- after 36 years as a steel worker since he moved to Portland last says. “I just like to relax.” Collum played sparingly after play guard.