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
FORD
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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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