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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1982)
Portland Observer, January 7,1982 Page 9 Welcome to the NBA TENNIS TRIVIA by Ultyues Tucker, Jr. National Basketball Association critics and scouts labeled form er Oregon State University basketball star Steve Johnson as slow, a mod ern day axe man since he fouled out so much in college, and not aggres sive. Six clubs selected players before the Kansas C ity Kings made the 6-10W 235-pounder th e ir firs t- round pick in the 1981 college draft. Johnson missed the K in g ’ s rookie camp because o f contract hassles and came to work camp a few pounds overweight. A ccording to C o tto n F itzs im mons, head coach o f the Kings, Johnson, a Sporting News A ll-A m erican last season and a tw o-tim e N C A A field goal percentage leader has really been a blessing to his or ganization this season. A fte r the Kings dropped a 127- 116 game to the P o rtla n d T r a il blazers in which Johnson scored an N B A career high o f 33 points and grabbed 18 rebounds before fouling out, Fitzsimmons made the follow ing comment about his big center’s progress as a pro. “ Steve is really learning the game. He must stop m aking the stupid fouls and the simple mistakes. He played a good game but Steve can block shots belter, rebound better, think belter, and block shots better. He is a good person also. “ We drafted him as our center of the futu re and we w ill be patient with him. He's going to be a great player w ith tim e and people are going to have an awfully tough time checking him inside. I like him be cause he is smart and he listens well,’’ he said. Johnson, who sported a 17.5 point career scoring average at Ore gon State under the d irectio n o f Ralph M ille r agreed with what his coach had to say about him. “ Yeah. I ’ m really learning the game o f basketball all over again,” he said. “ I ’ ve been w o rkin g very hard and I ’ m happy w ith my p ro gress. Tonight was by far my best game as a professional and I look forward to some more o f them.” W hat has been your biggest ad justm ent fro m college to the NBA? “ In the beginning, I had a tough time because the coach had me play ing w ith my face to the basket. I wasn’t used to it and I had little con fidence in my game out there. Once he put me back down low where I felt c o m fo rta b le , I got my c o n fi dence back and I started to play bet ter basketball. C an ’ t nobody stop my hook once I get it going— i t ’ s to u g h ,” he smiled. " I like it more down around the basket." When questioned about (he warm reception that the Portland crowd gave h im , Johnson laughed and wondered why they stopped cheer ing for him a fte r scoring Kansas C ity ’s first six points. “ Oregon has been good to m e,” he said. “ I still consider it my home and I always will. With all the cities I see around the country, it's d iffi cult to get up for every game but it wasn’ t hard here. I felt like I was home. I could tell that some people wanted to cheer me on but I was playing against their team.” Johnson received that special ac knowledgement from the Portland crowd, but not before he fouled out during the overtime and laying face down on the flo o r out o f fru stra STEVE JOHNSON tion. He picked himself up o ff the floor and walked slowly toward the used to playing that many minutes Ford) have forced me to play. I ’ m bench to a standing ovation. (37) but the injuries ( C l if f R o b in gonna have to get used to it— life is " I was tire d ,” he said. “ I'm not son, H aw keye W h itn e y , and P h il tough in this league, believe m e.” Final College Top 2 0 Eight o f the smallest players in bald o f the Boston Celtics, and the the National Basketball Association littlcst player in the N B A : 5 ' 8 ’ are featured in the January issue o f Charley Criss o f the Atlanta Hawks. Ebony. Eight little men (six feet and un der) will tell you that height is not the only thing that makes a good basketball player. Survival, in the j ’ | N B A , for these men has depended on their speed, quickness, endur ance, and brains. No matter how smart or quick he is the short player still has a rough way to go. In the last NBA draft o f college players less than ten small men were chosen. M ost o f those draft picks were dropped before the OPPONENTS Rank Team 1 O o m o on 2 P a n n tl 1 Rtttabwgh S 11.1-0 4 Nooraako h 9 8 M. U. 9 10-1-0 • T m m e 10-1-1 s 10-2-0 9 3 -0 A m kAvntei or Victory 184 17 4 1 68 •• 18 9 20 7 AaOng 1000 980 956 '-8 3 8 .837 • Michigan • Miami. Fionda 10 ArtionaBtata 12 10 • 0-3-0 9-2-0 9-2-0 8 7 208 18 t • 1 18 3 t i Aieeetvts r 9-2-1 18 10-2-0 19 10-2-0 11 0 -3 0 1« 9 3 -0 12 1 92 188 10 3 112 809 809 807 .801 123 88 88 82 98 770 738 734 728 r Oaorgta 12 12 N. CaroOna 14 U t. c. IS Ohio Stata 1« Oklahoma 17 U C L A ia lows i t Mtea Bt 20 Mtetourt — 13 14 — — 7-4-1 7-4-1 8-4-0 8-4-0 8-4-0 PERFomtANcea Avg. Margin •Racord of Victory 68-84-1 26 83-39-2 62 76-46-1 1 8 -1 2 .919 .917 898 979 982 70-90-9 88-57-1 68-58-1 71-42-2 58-53-4 28 -0 3 -0 9 40 1.0 MB 88-54-3 56-65-3 82-59-2 88-55-3 62-81-0 -0 7 -1 .8 -1.8 14 -1 .8 73-62-2 73-52-0 89-84-2 83-59-4 87-88-3 0 3 4 3 0 7 -o e -0 3 770 WENDELL BROWN ALAN MOLDEN Sates Représentative Sales Representative Expert consultation on your transportation needs on both new and used cars. 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