Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1979)
P«a* 8 Portland Obiarver Thursday. March 8. 1979 Sports Talk by Ron Sykes Sports Editor The Ten Commandments of "Moses" Malone by Ullysses Tucker, Jr. 1. Thou shall not give me baseline, for 1 will reverse slam dunk it. 2. Thou shall not forget to check me off the boards, for I lead the lea gue with ,7.0 rebounds per con test. 3. Thou shall not attempt to drive down the lane, for 1 am among the blocked shot leaders in the NBA. 4. Thou shall not try to clog up the middle against me, for Rudy T, Calvin, Mike, and Rick will fire you down with jumpers. 5. Thou shall not try to cut-off our outside shooters, for you will only make them m ad, thus making them pass to me inside with your helpless post-man. 6. Thou shall not attempt to block my left handed dunk, for I will only switch it to my right. 7. Thou shall not hold on to my trunks, and grab me this season, for the refs are watching you clos er this season. 8. Thou shall not forget that I am only a youth in the NBA who is still learning the game. Therefore I will be a terror for years to come. 9. Thou shall not forsake me as a scorer, for I have moved up to sixth in the league at the expense of those guilty of this sin. 10. Thou shall not forget the first nine commandments . . . What else can be printed about the prophet ‘‘Moses” (Malone)? Except that he could retire at the tender age of twenty-three, and become the youngest athlete to enter basketball’s Hall of Fame. Without a doubt, “ Moses” is the greatest rebounder to emerge in the history of basketball. Currently he has 470 offensive rebounds, surpass ing his own NBA record of 437 set back during the 1976-77 season. ‘‘All I do is try to play as hard as possible,” said the 6’,0” native of Petersburg, Virginia. “ If 1 happen to grab twenty boards or score twenty points, it> fine. But if I fail to, life still goes on.” A modest statement for a young supercenter who has rebounded in double figures 32 straight games, and scored in double figures 53 straight times. “ Moses” is first in the league in rebounding by a large margin and sixth in scoring with a 23.0clip. He has also pulled down 20 or more rebounds 24 times this season. Convinced? Listen to Rocket coach Tom Nissalke, “ All he needed was someone who would allow him to play out his wrinkles,” he said. “ The talent was there from the beginning, he just matured and worked hard to be what he is.” In a recent trip to the Pacific North west, “ Moses” scored 65 and gang- stered 36 rebounds against the Sonics and the Blazers. The Rockets came away with a split at the cost of Port land. “ You have to be mentally into the game when Moses is your responsi- bility,” said Blazer center Tom Owens, who was a teammate of “ Moses” in Houston. “ Because if you’re not, he will crash the boards. I must always remember to check him o f f . . . ” According to Rudy Tomjanovich, “ We’ve the best open shooters in the game, guys with unbelievable range. And if we’re missing our shots, we’ve got the best guy close to the basket.” The Rockets who are serious con tenders for the NBA’s champion ship ring came very close last season when they were eliminated by a “ fat lady” from the eastern seaboard. When questioned about his success this season over last year, “ Moses” quickly replied, “ There’s no hand checking now, and that’s given me a great deal of freedom. It makes a big difference when you do not have someone holding you or your trunks all the time.” In a couple of seasons, “ Moses” will be a free agent. He means so much to his team and city that Malone could become the first player to ever sign a contract for a million dollars a year. Moses only smiled at the thought. “ Moses,” after leading Peters burg High School to the Virginia State AAA Championship in 1974- 75, accepted an athletic grant-in-aid at the University of Maryland. How ever, he decided to go hardship three weeks later with the Utah Stars of the old ABA. “ Moses” feels that even though he did not attend college like many prep stars, turning professional was the best thing for him at the time. Would you encourage a young athlete to go hardship? “ It depends on the circumstances on the individual involved, I can only speak for myself,” he said. Moses also said, “ People think that I’m not intelligent because 1 failed to go to college. But if a per son has common sense, he can sur vive in this world.” Can you walk on water? “ Come on,” he smiled, “ Let’s be serious.” It’s a long way from Irving Park to the AAA boys’ State Basketball tourney for Howard “ Sugar Bear” Jenkins. Some will remember Howard for his baseball exploits in the park, which he was one of the most herald ed player ever to don a Pacific North west Bell uniform. Jenkins was a part of probably the best Senior Lea gue team to play at Irving. “ I thought going with that team to California was the biggest thing to happen to me,” Jenkins said. “ But this, playing in two consecutive State Tourneys just has to be my biggest sports thrill.” Howard has been a winner in sports all of his life, and the three sport Jefferson star believes this team possesses the ability to go all the way. “ We’ve practiced hard for this. I spent tny entire summer working to become the lead guard. “ Sugar Bear” has apparently learned his lesson well because this year he has controlled Je ffs control offense in a manner that would make “ Magic” Johnson proud. “ I'm happy playing our control game,” states Jenkins, “ Coach has given me confidence and 1 enjoy penetrating and dishing off. Usually 1 look for Phil Hopson, Je ffs all- state guard, on the wing, and if he isn’t there 1 have the option to take it on in.” Jenkins has great speed, and along with Hopson, has been the most con sistent outside shooter for the Demo crats. Jefferson is in a tough bracket and even if they should get by slightly favored Hillsboro they still must face tourney favorite, McMinnville. “ They’re taller,” Jenkins says, “ but we’re much quicker and they’ll Grant takas the first step toward the AAA boy's basketball championship with a 76 57 win over Estacada. (McMinnville) have to worry about that.” The 5’8” Jefferson backcourt ace is anxious to get underway and not looking past Hillsboro, but looking forward to playing the best . . . Mc Minnville. Maybe, just maybe Chicken Little was right? And perhaps the sky really is falling, and after losing to Oregon and Stanford on the road, then one would have to think that the sky had certainly fallen on the Beavers. But the NIT has seemingly put an umbrella around the Beavers protect ing their heads from the falling sky and giving them a chance to redeem themselves. OSU, a powerful team earlier, has played recently like they no longer care, or maybe they’ve just tried to keep from making mistakes. Ralph Miller, one of the top 10 most winningest coaches in the nation probably has to shoulder much of the blame for the sudden demise of the Beavers. It seems to be Ralph’s policy to pull a player whenever that player makes a turnover or takes a bad shot. Now you can imagine how that could destroy a young players confi dence. And to win the Pac-10 one must play aggressively not passively as the Beavers have in their last outings. Mark Radford, the 6 ’4 ” all stater, from Grant normally u good shooter has been passing up too many shots lately and appears to be playing too carefully. Mark is too good not to be assertive, and that’s bad. Oregon State has drawn a “ tuffy” in Nevada-Reno but the home court Howard Jenkins advantage should be enough to pull them through. The Beuvers by five. Grant 76 - Estacada 57 No surprises here. The much taller and experienced Generals handled the Rangers like the laiollah Koh- meini handles Iranians’ affairs — pretty much as he pleases Kevin McMillan, G rant’s 6 '1 ” , all-state guard selection ran the Grant offense with all the precision ot u well-oiled swiss clock David Lewis, 6’4” forward, came off the bench early to supply the power up front and Grant was now headed on their way to their opening round lead. Ranger ( enter Mark Miller led Estacada with 30 points, but without much help from his friends his effort proved to be one in futility. Darryle Tanner and Gil Flowers also turned in line performances for the Generals. Binge! r Y o u Could W in Up To $ 1 0 0 0 No purchase necessary. Pick up a number each time you visit any of the participating Oregon Safeway Stores (Ontario and Milton-Freewater excluded). Only adults 18 years and over may enter. Join the fun . . . be a winner! Odds Chart Effective Feb «UZI VAtU« NbMlH o» puzis 11.000 100 » 10 5 1 61 272 381 784 7.366 53.151 61.955 totals AA Large Eggs < lucerne. , (Ex. larg e Dz. 00' First 1 Dozen Ea. Dozen OOOS 1 »<«11 1 - 1 » 1 i» 1 « 1 m 1 1 » ooos »3 TKUVS 136.783 37.584 21.900 10.643 1.134 157 136 1 - 10.522 1 « 2.891 1 - 1.685 1 m 817 1 ■« 87 1 « 12 1 tn 10 l.g . »<«t»s 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 « 5.261 w, 1.440 w 842 >n 409 m 44 m 6 M 5 Sea Trader light 6.5-oz. Tin M U I » * Orice) 59* (ChKken ef the Sea. © S o ft Spread © G rap e Juice Sliced Bacon ■ 98< Hygrade Brand Breakfast Sliced 12-oz. pkg. Chunk Tuna Tuna Twist 59 (Addition.! et OOOS Scotch tuy Table Spread . . 16-oz. Tub le l-a ir Premium Quality Frozen Concentrate 12-oz. © 2 lb. Cheddar Cheese © D eterg en t ©Fireplace Logs lucerne Mild White Magic laundry Detergent. . 49-cz. ta x Safeway Multi-flame Cate of 6 *4.69 e*' Round Steak S |8 8 USDA Choice Beef Round Whole Cut Bone-in Steak lb 45 59 $ *8 A $109 79‘ Aspurugus One-Stop Variety Values Hair Spray Truly Fine Regular or Super I3-O I. BHRHIVd g Av Av Toothpaste © Aim with Fluoride ’ » 4.6-01. Tube ©Johnson's Diapers BHF AH > Large Tender Stalks From the Im perial Valley lb. 88 Ad Prices Good thru Tues., March 13 at all Portland Area Safeway Stores Av Extro-abiorbent lo x of I t $^49 dm SA FE W A Y (
