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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1982)
Portland Observer, November 3, 1982 Page 9 FOR SALES • SERVICE Sport Talk Las, w a r beiore the season began there was considerable optim ism throughout the Pacific Division. All six teams that make up what is gen erally regarded as the toughest divi sion in a ll o f basketball, were primed and ready to go. This year is no exception. You hear the same talk as before. Jack Ramsay is say ing. “ I feel extremely comfortable with this te a m .” Same as last year when the team finished 42-40 and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since D r. Jack arrived in Portland some six years ago. The P acific D ivision w ill once again be tough, but only the Seattle Super Sonics offer to have any kind o f chance to make a run at the World Champion Los Angeles Lak ers. The following is how we see the Pacific: 1. Loa Angelas Lakers Coach Pat Kiley’s 81/82 record of 57-25 could be in trouble. L-o-a-d- e-d. L .A . was generally recognized as the team with the most depth in the league last year. So what hap pens in this year’s draft: The Lakers only gel the best player, James W orthy, coming out o f college. Re member power forward Mitch Kup- chak? Kupchak at 6-10 was o ff to a fine start as L .A .’s power forward until shelved by an in ju ry last sea son. He probably w on’t be ready this year either, but as good as he is he w on’ t even be missed. The Lakers return Kurt Kambis, last year's sen sation, and the sensational Bob M cA d o o to more than ably fill in. R ookie James W o rth y has been starting at the power forward posi tion and doing extremely well. W orthy, from North Carolina, is a big. strong, fast player who will fit perfectly with the fast breaking Lak ers. At guard they have the lig h t ning quick Norm Nixon. Nixon can do it all. (But then that could be said of all the Laker Starters and most of the subs for that matter.) Nixon scored 17.6 ppg and dished o ff over 600 assists for the fourth year in a row. Norm sets the tempo for the L .A . show. At the big guard position there’s Magic Johnson, the league's M V P . Earvin is truly irre pressible. At 6-9 he poses problems everyw here he goes on the cou rt. M agic is the first player to garner over 700 assists and grab over 700 rebounds. It's u nbelievable that Johnson led the team in rebound ing, while playing guard. The small forw ard position is again manned by the steady, re lia b le Jam aal Wilkes. Jamaal can still get up and down the court better than any small forw ard in the league and is deadly from the corners. The Lakers have the speed, shoot ing, defense, passing, bench and then there’s Kareem Abdul Jabbar. The Lakers will finish first. 2. Seattle Super Sonlca The pow erful Sonics fought the might Lakers for the divisional title and only lost out the last week of the season. The Seattle crew will again fight for the title and it will be an in teresting fight. Seattle, like the Lak ers, were already strong and during the o f f season, instead o f sitting aro u n d , went out and bargained for, and got, David Thompson, one o f the tru ly great guards in the game. Thom pson can operate at either guard or small forward. The in cred ib ly quick Gus W il liams w ill team up with the “ Sky- w a lk e r” to form one o f the more form idable backcourts in the busi ness. T he Sonics, like the Lakers, are loaded. Seattle d id n ’ t get any help in the d ra ft, but then they didn't need any. Lonnie Shelton, 6- 7, from Oregon State, is back and ready at power fo rw a rd . Form er first round pick D anny Vranes is ready to perform in the small fo r ward slot. A ll-Star center Jack Sik- ma, 6-11, will team with 7-2 James Donaldson in the front court. Donaldson has shown steady im provement and by the middle o f the season could become the starter at center. •’D owntown" Freddie Brown will supply his usual explosiveness o ff the bench. Greg Reiser, ex-M ichigan STate A ll-A m erican, will battle for play ing tim e at sm all fo rw a rd . Keiser had a fantastic pre-season, averag ing 16.5 ppg and 7 boards. Keiser also shot .665 from the field. The Sonics are blessed with both offense and defense. It is this bal ance that will allow them to finish second in the Pacific Division. Coach Lennic W ilken s w ill be hard pressed to im p ro ve on last year’s 52-30 record. 3. Phonix Suns Coach John M acLeod will once again field a strong defensive unit. O ffe n s iv e ly , they can rely on 6-6 scoring machine W alter Davis. Da vis was ham pered by in ju ries last year but came back to average 18.1 ppg during the playoffs. The Suns w ill get strong support from Kyle M acy in a backup role at point guard. Top scorer and all defensive guard Dennis Johnson, who re quested to be traded during the o ff season, now seems ready to move in alongside Davis as guard. D avid T h ird k ill o f B radley, the Sun’s first round draft pick, will un- doubedly see playing time as both big guard and small forw ard. The Suns added some much needed re bounding strength when they ac- quired the much needed M au rice Lucas from the New Y ork Knicks. Lucas led New Y o rk w ith an eye popping 903 rebounds while aver aging a good 15.8 ppg. Lucas brings w ith him a re p u ta tio n o f being a tough rugged player, something the Suns have lacked in the past. A weekness at the center position will keep Phoenix from playing with the better teams in the N B A . It did not help any when the 6-7 Kevin Magee opted for Italy. Charles Pittm an, a 6-6 wins man from M aryland and 6-8 power fo r ward Rory White o f South Alabama appear to have the best chance o f making the squad as rookies. Phoe nix, as always, will rely on defense. 4. Golden State Warriors The W arriors were recognized as one o f the youngest teams in the NBA last year. Coach A l Attles will ask his y o u th fu l W a rrio rs to im prove on a 45-37 record from last year. The Warriors were weakened with the loss o f a ll-p ro sm all fo rw ard Bernard King to free agency. King signed a lucrative contract with the New York Knicks. The 6-7 King is a super talented player who will surely be missed. W ith a healthy W orld Free oper ating around the perim ieter and a strong fro n t court o f 6 -1 0 , R icky Brown, 7-foot Joe Barry Carroll op erating in the middle, the W arriors will give most teams strong compe tition on any given night. Coach Al Attles used his top draft pick to select Lester Connor of Ore gon State, the Pac-10 player o f the year. A fte r selecting C o n n o r, the W arriors have made little effort to sign him, which left an empty spot in the back court. G olden State should be in the thick o f the Pacific Division race. 5. San Diego Clippers If this article had been written one m onth ago San Diego would have been chosen for sixth. Since then the Clippers have acquired former all- pro defensive guard Lionel Hollins from the Sixers and acquired the fleet-footed Randy Smith to further strengthen a fo rm e rly weak back court. 6-9 Tom Chambers, who led the C lippers w ith a 17.2 ppg average and knocked down 561 rebounds, will team with Michael Brooks, an excellent all around performer in the fro n t c o u rt. Brooks averaged a strong 15.6 ppg and pulled down 624 rebounds from the small fo r ward position. R ookie A l W o o d showed great promise las, year in a back up posi tion. And top this o ff with a healthy B ill W a lto n and the C lip p ers are ready to make some waves in the Pacific Division. 6. 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He ob viously disdains w o rkin g o u t, he • loves to party and therefore he’s no, in the league. 56 NE Broadway 288-5211 TIRE RANCH II HOME Of Ducks outfought And the beat goes on for the hap less Oregon Ducks. D o n ’ t ge, me wrong, nobody expected this team to beat the nationally ranked Bruins, especially at home. But wha, was ex pected was a better showing. Oregon led 3-0, after taking the opening kickoff and marching down field on some nifty play by starting quarterback M ike Jorgenson. Jor genson again ran the offense like he wants the job for good. But again he suffered an in ju ry that sidelined him, later diagnosed as a mild con cussion, and brought on young Dana H ill. The Ducks, behind H ill, made many mistakes, and the young QB was probably the biggest offen der. The Ducks were simply out- muscled by the Bruins. Tires NEW USED & RECAPPED AS LITTl - * S $ 3 0 ° ° A PAIR B atfsnss M A ii w h h i S - SrtOCKS UNION P u r lljiii, OPfN MON ' AVE N. E . 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From this point on the experienced B urnet, picked Leon apart. He hi, him with jabs tha, sen, curl activator flying into the far reaches o f the cabaret. B u rn ett had Spinks hurt in the fourth, sixth and practically out on his feet in the 12th and final round. Spinks came in at the 195 pound cruiseweight lim it, while his oppon ent, Burnett, weighed in at 178Vi. Y e t, it was the sm aller B urnet, that landed the big blow s. Leon Spinks didn’t win this fight, but was somehow awarded the decision by the judges. Decisions o f this kind can only hurt the credibility o f box ing. When a decision like this one is rendered one can hardly keep from wondering why. We believe the o ffi cials ruled in favor o f the younger FUEGO TURBO. ITS ESSENCE IS PERFORMANCE. 181 Sportwagon $8855 40 SS. 27 ÎS’ MPG THE AFFORDABLE MASTERPIECE. RENAULT 18i. 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