• 4
Portland Observer, December 15, 1982 Page 9
Cooper: Can he make the difference?
by Jot Whitt
It's up an d o ver fo r WajftJS
Cooper, the man w ho saved the
day for the Blazers in Tuesday's
106-103 win over L.A.
(Photo: Richard Brown)
Sunday night the Portland T ra il
blazers did something they haven't
done much o f this year. They beat a
team with a winning record and did
so u n characteristically by coming
fro m behind to notch a 99-94 win
over the Phoenix Suns.
I f games are used to measure the
progress and developm ent o f this
Blazer squad, Sunday night w ill
rank high on the ladder.
Last week Wayne Cooper said the
Blazers needed to put together a
string o f victories. They have done
so with three straight wins heading
in to Tuesday night's home contest
with Los Angeles. Wins over Utah,
G o ld en State and the Suns have
pushed the Blazers over the .500
mark at 12-11. Cooper has been in
flu e n tia l in the three wins by
grabbing 33 rebounds in the three
games.
This is a team that has been strug
gling on and o ff all season and often
was given up fo r dead. T h a t's not
going to happen though. Jack Ram
say has instituted new combinations
o f players on the court and the
changes are beginning to show im
pressive results.
Crunch time Sunday night found
a combination of Calvin Nalt, Kenny
C a rr, Jim Paxson, Fat Lever and
Cooper on the court and the results
pleased the 238th consecutive sellout
crowd at M em orial Coliseum. This
m arked only the fo u rth win in 13
tries against teams with more wins
than losses.
O n a night when the Blazers shot
a sorry 40 percent from the field, de
fense and rebounding were the de
term in in g fac to rs. A fact that
pleased Ramsay. " T h is was one o f
the games, i f y o u ’ re going to be a
playoff team, you have to w in ," he
said.
" I t was not an especially pretty
gam e, but it was a h ard -fo u g h t
game. It was a credit to this team
t h a t f t was able to gut it out on a
night when we weren’t shooting par
ticularly well,' Ramsay said.
L a fa y e tte " F a t " Lever was put
in to a fry in g pan against Phoenix
and instead o f jum ping into the Tire,
he helped extin g uish the Suns’
charge. Lever scored 16 points in
only 19 minutes but more im p o rt
antly, he guided the team flawlessly.
One question that has continued
Community Calendar
J o in la b o r a c tiv is t C la ra Frasar In a to a s t to h ar v ic to ry fo r fra a
speech on th e job . X p.m , Saturday. Dec. 18. Musicians' Union H all. 32$
N .E . 20th. French buffet, 6:30, toasts 9:30. Live music and poetry. Door
donation $2.50, dinner donation, $5.00
Clara Fraser will join supporters in a celebration o f her victorious 8-year
political ideology and sex discrimination suit against Seattle City Light.
Fraser, fired from Seattle C ity Light in 1975 for alleged budgetary rea
sons. sued claiming she was being victimized for her advocacy o f feminism,
unionism, affirm ative action and her socialist beliefs.
Fraser won decisions in her favor from Seattle’s human rights department
and a City Hearing Examiner. When both decisions were overturned. Fraser
went to King C o u nty Superior C o u rt, where on August 9, 1982 she was
awarded reinstatement, back pay, damages and lost benefits o f SI 35,000
and a clear judgment that political discrimination was the reason for her fir
ing.
C o m m u n ity C h ris tm a s P a rty : 1.000 c h ild re n a x p a c ta d . 6 9 p .m .,
Saturday, December I8 , The King Facility, 48 I5 N .E . 7th Ave. The party is
being sponsored by the Salvation Arm y's M oore Street Corps Com m unity
Center. Entertainment; gifts for all the children; Santa. 234-0825 for more
information
T re e D e c o ra tin g P a rty . I2 noon, Saturday. Dec. 18th, at the Bethel
A M F Church. Children's chorus and a Senior Citizens Chorus will perform
and decorate the tree along with the help o f volunteers.
H o lid ay jazz dan ce w o rk s h o p w ith T rac ey D u rb in Dec. 28-30, from
5:30-7:00 p.m . Call 281-6653 for costs and inform ation.
PERS
& CAR
TELEPHONES
to pop up is about the Blazer point
guard play. Ramsay is m ore than
happy with the play he has been get
ting from Darnell Valentine and Le
ver. H e said he was "e s p e c ia lly
pleased w ith Fat L ever. Between
him and D arnell, we are very solid
at that position.”
When asked who he would rather
have on the court, Ramsay said, “ I
don 't think it matters. Fat sees the
flo o r b etter than D a rn e ll but
D a rn e ll is better defen sively Be
tween them I d o n 't th in k w e 'll
change to the point where Fat w ill
s ta r t." Bui Ramsay rem inded that
Lever will get his minutes.
Lever adm itted he is " s till learn
in g " but said the Ph oenix game
" fe lt good. It's a confidence build
er. It 's a lot easier when you win
than lose."
Lever was one o f many Blazers
who had everything they touch turn
to gold against P h o e n ix. As tim e
was running out on the shot clock
late in the third quarter. Lever was
busy fumbling with the ball. He re
covered in time to throw a prayer up
that fo u n d n oth ing but net fro m
three point range. A boost the Bla
zers needed and brought the crowd
to life.
The front line o f C a rr, N att and
Cooper d id n ’ t seem to miss the flu
b itte n M y c h a l T h o m p so n They
grabbed 38 rebounds between them
and ferociously controlled the back-
boards.
C o o p e r has been p laying like a
tiger
since tak in g
over
fo r
Thom pson at center and C a rr
played w ith m ore ease on a night
when he grabbed I0 rebounds. The
announcem ent th at T ho m p so n
wouldn't play because o f the flu was
greeted with applause by many Bla
zer fans.
Tho m p so n has beer, missing
something in his game this season
and it hasn't gone unnoticed. But the
Blazers need Thompson to make the
playoffs and they need him playing
at the level he used to perform on.
The Blazers aren’ t yel at the level
o f play they w ant to establish but
the recent group o f wins is encour
aging T he team is starling to get
some life back into a game that has
been played very lifelessly at times
this year.
Ramsay described the Phoenix as
“ A big win for us. Phoenix is one o f
those teams we're fighting." Like he
said earlier, if the Blazers are going
to make the playoffs this is the type
of game they must win.
Following the Tuesday night con
test with the Lakers, the team tra
vels to San Diego Thursday and re
turns hom e to b a ttle D a lla s on
Saturday night.
Dallas is another one o f the teams
that the Blazers are fighting with for
a playoff spot. This is one o f those
games that Ram say says must be
w in s. I f the Blazers don’ t come out
of this week at least (wo games over
.500, they will be behind last year's
pace th at d id n 't even result in a
playoff position.
Professional Pest
Control Supplies
For Do-it-yourself
Homeowners
Call: 286-6252
• Licensed Consultants
• Eliminate your pest problems like the pros
We can tell you what to use and
how to use it.
★ KEMI-KIL PRODUCTS *
2030 N. Willis Blvd. (in Kenton)
Mon-Fri: 9-6 Sat 9-2 pm
Ants, roaches, silverfish, moles, gophers, rats, mice
ju st about anvlhinn!
Evans' illness
sidetracks OSU
by Joe White
O n the cover o f O reg o n State
U n iversity's m in ia tu re basketball
schedule is a p ictu re o f D anny
Evans flo a tin g by an O reg o n d e
fender and the p rin t that says,
"O regon State '8 2 -'8 3 ."
T o say that Evans, senior out o f
Flint, M ichigan, is important to the
Beavers basketball success can be
classified as a m a jo r understate
ment.
Evans has been sidelined for the
entire season with a viral infection
and just now is getting back to prac
tice. W ith o u t the sharpshooting
g u a rd -fo rw a rd , the Beavers have
stumbled out to a 1-3 record. The
lone win came against a young and
inexperienced
U n iv e rs ity
of
P o rtla n d team . M is s o u ri, the n a
tio n ’ s num ber eight ranked team,
u n s h e d < >Sl 1 7 '9 la st S a tu r d a y .
The success o f the Beavers' sea
son seems to rest on when Evans can
re tu rn to fu ll strength and head
coach R alph M ille r still doesn’ t
know when that will be. " I still have
no positive comment on when he'll
p la y ," M ille r said. The coach did
say he hopes to have Evans healthy
enough to play m ore th an a few
m inutes a game at the F ar West
Classic.
To do so he will need to regain the
strength lost along with 20 pounds
while sick. M ille r says Evans can't
jum p or do much else yet and is "as
weak as the proverbial kitten .”
The Beavers need to have the k it
ten return to the tiger form that was
in flu e n tia l in O regon S late 's w in
ning a third straight Pacific 10 Con
ference championship last season.
O S U fa ith fu l rem em ber the im
p o rta n t game against U C L A last
season when Evans was uncanny in
h ittin g 11 consecutive buckets to
lead O SU to the win.
" I th in k it's c e rta in ly a crucial
p o in t," M iller said about Evans' re
covery. " H is recovery means a great
deal for us.”
The Beavers have been struggling
w ith Evans sidelined and aren ’ t in
the coaches' best graces. " T h e r e ’s
no reason for me to have a negative
a ltitu d e ," M ille r said. But added,
" N o , I'm not pleased with the way
anyone is playing."
T h e three titles in a row have
made M ille r somewhat o f an o p ti
mist though. "B y the time we get to
7r a n z d i t t o
A
dt dhtppiin d it
the first o f January, we will be a d if
ferent team and b e lte r. W ith or
without D anny,” M iller said.
W hether or not the Beavers can
make a run at a fourth consecutive
Pac-10 title will rest with the physi
cal co n d itio n o f (he clu b , M ille r
says. " T h e younger players are
learning a lot out there. Each time
we go out w e're learn in g a little
m ore." M iller said.
A 43-42 loss to Fresno State is one
o f the games that M ille r feels the
Beavers should have won. He said,
" I think we should have a couple
more victories. W e've made a num
ber o f mistakes but they are correct
able mistakes.”
C h arlie Sitton has stepped up to
take over the Beavers’ scoring re
sp o n s ib ility. The ju n io r fro m
M cM in nville has played many roles
w hile at O reg o n S late and M ille r
sees his scoring this year as just a
n a tu ra l process. " I t ' s n o rm al he
should (score). H e ’s one o f my bet
ter and most experienced players,"
M iller said.
M eanw hile the other two return
ing starters have gotten lost along
the way somewhere. W illia m Brew
hasn't done a thing all year and M il
ler isn't pleased at all. "B re w 's got
to im prove. I d o n ’ t know why I ’ve
even played him this season," Miller
said. A C. Green has failed to lake
more chances on offense, especially
with his shooting. Green has been
passing like he did last year when he
was su rrounded by the shooters.
W ith Evans out and Lester Conner
gone. G reen w ill need to develop
some confidence in his shot.
For the next couple o f weeks M il
ler w ill be searching fo r signs that
this squad will develop into a cham
pionship caliber club. " I don’t have
any in fo rm a tio n that says w e're
going to accom plish much right
n o w ," he said.
F o r the Beavers to m ake it
through a tough Pac-10 season and
survive they w ill need pictures o f
Evans floating by defenders like the
one on the schedule cover. They will
also need the im p ro v in g play o f
young players like 6-10 Steve W ood-
side and D a rry l F lo w ers. Players
like these two will be counted on for
va lu a b le m inutes and along w ith
Jam ie Stangel fo rm the nucleus
needed o ff the bench.
k ^ s ir -
d e s ig n
Phone
249-1940
Hours : 10am to 6pm
Mon. - Sat.
This coupon antitla* you to
Z"
» CHRISTMAS SPEC1A L
Curls
Regular
6 5 .0 0
Special
4 8 .0 0
R e la x e r Cuts 4 0 . 0 0
2 5 .0 0
3 0 .0 0
1 5 .0 0
Cellophanes
( colors )
H ead Bands
1 2 price
all M a k e up
offer good through December 31,1982
3327 N E BROADWAY
PORTLAND OREGON 97232
We'd like to remind
you that low-
wattage twinkle
lights on your
tree can
lighten your
Christmas
energy needs.
Change a habit.
Conserve your
current and your
currency.
And we would like to
take this opportunity to wish
you a happy holiday.
H au J
SPEC IA LIZIN G IN FOREIGN AUTOMOBILE REPAIRS
VOLKSWAGEN • AUDI CARS
THE BEEPER PEOPLE
713 S.W. 12th Street
Call 224-BEEP for a free demonstration.
FRANZ
WIRKNER
PHONE 2B4 469C
396, N E U " k > r A*»n»«
FortUnd. Or»*«,.» 97212
I
1
1