1
Page 12 Portland Observer, April 1, 1982
Sport Talk
by Ron Sykes, Sports Editor
Through the years the P ortland
Trailblazers have gained the reputa
tion o f being softies. It has been
widely known throughout the N B A
that all you have to do is give the
Blazers a few hard knocks and they
have a tendency to back away like
Count Dracula at the sign o f a cross.
It is for sure that D r. Jack Ramsay
is not an advocate o f passive resist*
ance. So the question now is why do
the T ra ilb lazers seem to fa ll into
that pattern.
Aggression is a necessary evil in
the wards o f the N B A . W ithout it
you are relegated to the bottom o f
the pack and making the playoffs is
nothing more than a dream.
This current team has obviously
signed a non-aggression pact with
the other members o f the P acific
division. Perhaps Blazer brass
should start thinking o f a wholesale
change in personnel. The feeling
around town is that they (Blazers)
have stayed pat too long. It seems
that this Blazer team is making su
perstars out of the ordinary oppon
ents that they face. A case in point is
Seattle Supersonics’ backup center,
James Donaldson.
When you play Seattle you expect
big plays from allstar Jack Sikma,
but when a James Donaldson comes
and and plays like Kareem Abdul-
Jabbar, then you know v o u ’ re in
trouble.
Donaldson’s play was quoted by
one P o rtlan d player as being 125-
126 per cent better than last year.
One should be reminded that these
are not N B A statistics but only hold
true against Portland.
P o rtla n d ’s fro nt line has a ten
dency, for some strange reason, to
treat loose balls the same as they
would the bubonic plague. They
stay far, far away.
A t six-ten , tw o -h u n d red -an d -
th irty pounds, M ych al Thompson
should be a force fo r the team .
However, Mychal has a tendency to
shy away when the going gets tough.
In prior seasons he was heard asking
fo r rebounding help fro m the six-
eight K erm it W ashington. T o ask
fo r help is n 't bad, but to beg for
help is.
Thom pson seemingly has not
learned that life in the N B A is not as
easygoing and laid back as the is
land he is accustomed to.
Against Portland Donaldson had
sixteen points, eighteen rebounds,
and fo u r blocked shots which
prompted Thompson to say, " H e ’s
a different player and he’s so strong
that there’s not much that you can
do.”
The belief here is that a statement
like that indicates a defeatist a tti
tude and a pessismistic review of an
opponent’s skills.
Donaldson said, " I t was clear in
the beginning that even M yc h al
couldn’t handle me. From then on, I
tried to post him .”
Whereas an optimist never built a
town and a pessimist never tore one
down, it doesn’t take an Einstein to
understand that one will surely pro
gress further w ith the form er than
with the latter.
All the focus, however, shouldn’t
be on the shoulders o f Thompson.
This lack o f aggression is a team
p roblem . L a te ly , due to in ju rie s ,
P ortland has been forced to start
s ev en -fo o t-tw o -in ch Peter G u d
mundsson in the middle. Peter fits
in well w ith the T ra ilb la z e rs laid
back attitude, for he is the epitome
o f non-aggression. Gudmundsson is
everything that you w ouldn’t want
in an N B A center. In fact the only
thing that he has in common with an
N B A player is his height. H e is
neither agile nor mobile. In fact, he
would be hard pressed to beat the
Statue o f L ib e rty in an obstacle
course. It is in cred ib le that the
Blazers could go into a season with
Gudm undsson and even m ore so
that they could fin ish the season
with him as a starter.
Portland will need three years o f
good drafting to gain parity with the
higher echelon o f the N B A . Today’s
pro game dictates that you not only
have a strong starting unit, but also
a strong bench.
To gain a strong bench, one has
to be ready to shell out some bucks.
The good teams, Philadelphia, Bos
ton, Milwaukie, and Los Angeles all
have talent fro m one through
twelve. Los Angeles has players like
Michael Cooper and Bob M cA doo
coming o ff the bench; Philadelphia
has Harvey Catchings and Andrew
Toney; Boston has Larry Bird and
Tiny Archibald; and Milwaukee has
Junior Bridgeman and Brian W in
ters. These are all quality players.
Whereas counters with such house
hold names as Peter Verhoeven and
Jeff Lamp.
In order to have a team o f cham
pionship caliber, the chem istry o f
the team must be rig h t. W ith this
team , it is n ot. C a lv in N a tt, 6 -6 ,
small forw ard is the only positive
force presently bounding a basket
ball for the Portland Trailblazers.
Kelvin Ransey, second year guard
out o f Ohio State, like G udm und-
son and numerous other Blazers is
also a charter member o f this non
aggression pact.
T h at old cliche tells us th a t,
" W h e n the going gets tough, the
tough get going.” That in itself tells
us why these 1981-82 Blazers are go
ing nowhere.
J im Paxto n fires up an o ff-b ala n ce shot la ta In the B lazers' 106 96
w in over H ouston.
Paxton reached a career-high 33 points In Tu esd ay's w in o ver K an
sas C ity . H a h it 13 o f 17 s h o ts fro m th a f ie ld , s c o re d 10 s tr a ig h t
points, and h it 7 o f 7 fre e th ro w s. A good n ig h t fo r P axto n l
(P h o to : J im m y R obinson)
Rating the offense. . .
shoots better than 50 per cent and
has a range somewhere up there in
the stratosphere.
3) Andrew Toney— Philadelphia
7 6 e rs -6 -3 guard. Toney, like Free,
is a great pure shooter. He is great
when he’ s hot but needs im p ro ve
ment in shot selection; however he
will improve as he gains experience.
4) B rian W in te rs — M ilw a u k e e
Bucks— 6-4 g u ard . W in te rs is
strictly an o ffensive player. His
range is unlimited and he can light
them up from any spot on the floor.
5) A lla n D u n lea ve y — H ouston
R ockets— 6-3 g uard. D unleavy
makes no pretense of being anything
other than a shooter. W hen
Houston needs perimeter shooting,
Dunleavy gets the call. He, too, can
It is well known that to win in the
N B A , you can play defense u n til
you're blue in the face. But without
o ff*n se, y o u ’ ll never win a game.
Therefore any team that’s worth its
weight in bears must have a shooter
who can f ill the hole. W e w ill a t
tempt to rate some o f the better o f
fensive players in the NBA:
1) George G ervin — San A ntonio
Spurs— 6-7 guard. George is a pure
shooter who because o f his height
can take opposing guards either in-
aide or out and is capable o f scoring
big numbers whenever he wants.
2) W orld B. Free— Golden State
W a rrio rs — 6-3 guard. Free is per
haps the best pure shooter in the
game to d ay. W o rld consistently
Sw ing into Spring —Spring fever gets under w a y
a t J e ffe rs o n H ig h d u rin g a p re -s e a s o n b a s e b a ll
gam e b etw een the D em ocrats and M adison H igh.
nil the hole.
6) Moses M a lo n e — H o u sto n
R ockets— 6 - 1 1 center.
A -w -e -
s-o-m-e. M alo n e, o ffensively, can
do it all. He currently averages over
thirty points per game. Moses has
emerged as the top offensive center
in the N B A .
7) Kareem A b d u l-J a b b a r— Los
Angeles Lakers— 7-2 center. Abdul-
Jabbar is still the premiere center in
the N B A . A n y tim e he wants to
score, he still has the a b ility to do
so.
8) Gus W illiam s— Seattle Super
sonics— 6-2 guard. Some will w on
der why Gus is rated so lo w . The
answer is strictly because o f his one-
year le ay o ff. G us’ tim ing has suf
fered due to his 1980-81 layoff.
J e ffe rs o n s lu g g e r N a th a n M o s le y c ra c k s a soled
single bagger in th e early innings.
(Photo: J im m y Robinson)
Coming up:
Track and field in the Rose City
•
•
•
•
•
Need
7 bucks
today?
An easy, relaxing way to pic*
up cash— all that 's required
is a plasma donation We
pay S 7 for each donation
& special bonuses enabling
you to earn up to $ 75 a
month Come in today'
B R IN G T H IS A D
FO R N E W
■ mucl - s FIM rwMnMr
QUALITY
SELECTION
N a tio n a l Branda
OPEN SUNDAYS
Treat A Kid
PLASMA CENTERS
427 S .W . 11th
2705 S.E. A n ken y
For More
Information Coll
223 4199
555-2368
«M
GOOD. BETTER. BEST.
To Popeye's Famous Fried Chicken
W e honor all chicken-coupons
DONOR BONUS!
ex Alpha
SOPAS
CHAIRS
DINETTE SETS
BEDS
DRESSERS
N ational Brand»
CREDIT TERMS
AVAILABLE
Open Sunday*
Hil My name is Orlanda. I'm smiling because
my Mom is bringing home some Popeye's
Chicken. I love Popeye's Chicken. Popeye's
has everything I like — corn dogs, pop, french
fries and chicken tacos.
Put A Smile
On Your Kid's Face!
Why should you spend m ore to
say m ore in the Bell System Yellow Pages?
You can see the answ er at a glance.
Impact.
T he Bell System Yellow Pages is
in 96% of all homes and businesses, used
an average of twice a week by 3 out of 4
people. And a bigger ad can give m ore
information, m ore reasons to do business
with you.
3 Locations To Serve You:
5949 N.E. Union Ave.
3120 N.E. Union Ave.
283 9542
281 2628
2320 S.E. 82nd Ave.
774-9861
In short, it can be the best way for
you to sell.
Because 89% of the people that see
your ad follow up with a visit, call or letter
89%. Thats almost 9 out of 10.
And that’s som ething to really
consider when you match your ad budget
against your goals.
An ad in the Bell System Yellow Page
Make the m ost of it.
IT NEVER STOPS SELLING.
Bell System
©19*1 PaaAc N orthwnt KHI
Yellow P a ge s
( 2 ) Pacific Norihw asl I