Page 6 Section II Portland Observer, October 27, 1982
R am sey discu sses Blazer p ro s p e c ts
by J e t While
The Portland Trailblazers played
at times last season like a boat with
leaks
Holes kept popping up and the
team had to work at patching many
holes to prevent the vessel from cap
sizing.
W ell, changes were made. Gone
are K elvin Ransey and B illy Ray
Bates. In Ransey's place will be sec
ond year man Darnell Valentine
w ith number one d ra ft choice La-
feyette “ Fat” Lever as his backup.
The a dd itio n o f rebounders
Kenny Carr and Wayne Cooper has
shorn up the physical aspect o f the
team. Old dependable Jim Paxson,
Mychal Thompson and Calvin Natt
are all coming o ff good seasons.
W ith a ll these tangibles, head
coach Jack Ramsay is ready to take
the ship to sea again and battle. “ I
think we’ re going to have a better
team than last year," Ramsay said.
“ We’ ll be a stronger team, a better
rebounding team, a better defensive
team.”
Rebounding was one o f those
leaks last year. It may have been the
largest one. The early season retire
ment o f Kermit Washington left the
team w ith o u t the physical power
forw a rd . Kenny C arr has solved
that problem and adds a dimension
that W ashington d id n ’ t —an o f
fensive threat. Ramsay said,
“ Kenny has a lot o f dimensions to
his game at big forward. Kenny has
a lot o f spread to his game o ffe n
sive ly.” Ramsay explained that
Washington was, “ a good*defender
and rebounder but his offensive
game was limited.”
Cooper w ill play alongside o f
Thompson at times but is mainly the
backup center. The addition o f both
Carr and Cooper pleases Ramsay.
“ They’ ve both done very well for
us,” Ramsay said. Both are good
rebounders, both are physical.
That’s a quality we lacked very bad
ly last year.”
The Blazers chalked up 42 wins
last season but hope that the im
proved defense w ill bring more.
Thompson said his first team goal
was to win 50 games and “ progress
significantly in the playoffs.” Ram
say said, “ I think we will score near
ly as much but our opponents
should score sig n ifica n tly less—
and that 1 think w ill bring us more
victgories.”
How many victories? Ramsay is
unsure becaue, “ I t ’ s too early.
W e’ re too young w ith many new
players. It depends on how well the
team develops, if we can win on the
road.”
Six new players w ill open the
1982-83 season in Blazer uniforms.
O f the three rookies. Lever and Au-
die Norris are “ going to play some
significant minutes for us,” Ramsay
said.
The other rookie is L in to n
Townes and he’ ll be situated at
small forward alongside J e ff Jud
kins and behind Natt. The shooting
a b ility o f Towners and Judkins is
what eventually led to the release o f
M ichael H arper. Ramsay called
Towners and Judkins “ great
shooters” and said. “ We opted for
the shooting quality.”
New players worry Ramsay some
what but the bench strength doesn’ t.
“ The bench w ill be better. We have
good depth on this team,” he said.
“ The biggest concern that 1 have is
that we have so many new players
and so many young players.”
“ W inning a lo t o f games,” is
what Carr expects to do. He said.
“ I ’ m going to go out and p la y .”
The main fu n ctio n o f his play he
agrees is rebounding and “ T h a t’ s
what 1 plan on doing,” he said.
Thom pson wants to set a ll the
way to the semifinals o f the play
offs. “ We can beat teams like Seat
tle and the Lakers,” he said. “ I t ’s
tough thinking about getting out of
the Western C onference.” I f the
JACK RAMSAY
Blazers do get out o f the Pacific D i
vision, Thom pson would like to
“ get to the semifinals and go from
there.”
Valentine w ill pester opposing
guards all season long with his de
fense. Ramsay said, “ Darnell is a
good player. He goes at it 100 per
cent all the time. He’ s an excellent
defender." Ramsay said Valentine is
a “ much more capable defender
than Kelvin Ransey was,” and gives
Ransey an overall edge in perimeter
shooting only.
“ I ’m not sure how positive a fac
to r that is fo r your ball handling
guard,” Ramsay said. “ Your play
making guard should get the ball to
?
the National Highway T raffic Safe
ty Adm inistration feels w ill have a
dramatic impact on American driv
ing habits.
J 1
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CARSON, C A L IF — Actor Paul
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fall to carry a safety message that
on the flo or and makes (he simple
pass.”
Valentine is s till the lead guard
but his understudy will play in every
game according to Ramsay, aver
aging between 15 and 20 minutes a
contest.
As far as the race in the Pacific
Division goes, Ramsay sees the Bla
zers right in the middle o f it. “ We’re
in the thick. We’ re in the fig h t. I
d o n 't know ju st where but we're
competitive with everybody.”
Hopefully the momentum picked
up during a 6-2 pre-season cam
paign will carry into the regular sea
son.
other people then shoot it.”
Many people in the Portland and
Corvallis area were upset when the
Blazers drafted Lever instead o f
Lester Conner o f Oregon State.
Lever could change some minds
with his ball handling. His assist to
turnover ratio during preseason was
5 to I while Valentine’s was 2 to 1.
Ramsay said, “ Fat sees the flo o r
better (than Valentine)." He called
Lever’s ratio, "probably the best ra
tion that anybody is going to have in
the league." Ramsaydoesn’ t see
Lever slacking o ff either. About
Lever, Ramsay said, “ He has great
instincts for finding the open people
CAR
Newman has lent his support to
the National Safety Belt Education
Campaign in combating the declin
ing use o f belts by emphasizing his
“ second career” as a successful pro
fessional automobile racing driver.
The theme o f the 30-second televi
sion and 60-second radio messages
is “ Belt Yourself," as developed by-
Nissan U.S.A., which is sponsoring
the safety program along with local
Datsun dealers, including Jim Fish
er Datsun in Portland.
Newman, a tw o-tim e national
sports car racing champion who cur
rently drives a turbocharged Datsun
28OZX in competition, declares that
race-car d rivin g is actually safer
than driving on the street “ because
the drivers are professionals and
you know what to expect.”
‘•Still 1 wouldn’ t dream o f taking
a lap without belting m yself,” he
says. “ And, when it comes to the
real tricky part—the drive home—
the very first thing I do is buckle-
up.”
The NHTSA estimates that only
11 per cent o f the driving public uses
safety belts.
“ There is evidence that, if worn,
belts could save as many as 15,000
lives each year,” said Tetsuo Araka-
wa, president o f Nissan U.S.A.
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