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Page 6, Portland Observer, June 12. 1905
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• SPORTTALK• SPORTTALK•
The Lakers take
it all in 85
The greatest thing about writing a
weekly sports column is the time that
is allowed to see the whole picture. I f
you haven't detected my eastern bias
by now I'll make it easy fo r you: I was
rooting for Boston. K. C. Jones had
a little to do with it, but I honestly
thought that Boston had the better
team.
Magic called it; the best team did in
tact win. The Los Angeles Lakers are
the 1985 N BA W orld Champions.
The l akers took the title in the 6th
game in the lamed old Boston (Iarden.
Another benefit o f writing weekly,
lor die-hard spoils fans, is, I don't have
to waste our time with a bunch o f worth­
less statistics. The final score was 111-100
and Kareem showed his hips. All o f the
nonsense about the team that controlled
the hoards would win the game went up
in smoke. Boston out rebounded the
lakers 54-44 in tfre final game. So much
lor stats. The home team advantage
theory went out the window in this senes
also, and L A. won twice in Boston and
the Celts won a game in L. A.
Now tliat we've eliminated the stats,
let's get to the tieart o f the senes — the
players. Kareem must have taken that
first game embariassmeiil personally,
because I k - smoked Robert Parish for
die rest o f the scries. I couldn't be­
lieve how bad Parish lixikcd in Game
6
'I lie t h ie f ” played as though
Ins hands were made o f stone. Reach­
ing for the ball and looking for Ka­
reem simultaneously is a definite
b ixi boo.
Magic Johnson has to gel my vote
lor the most complete ball player in
the league Guarding a man 6’9 " ,
with speed, continually bringing it to
you from all angles, has to be the epi­
tome ot an exercise in fu tility . Magic
is just a bigger Oscar Robertson and
that, friends, is scary.
W orthy, Rambis and Kupchak
played some gixxl ball too and their
efforts can't be ignored but here's a
Hash for you. Michael Cooper was
the killer dillcr. Every basket that
C ixip made was like a knife in Bos­
ton’ s heart. Think about the number
K A R E E M A B D U L JA B B A R
o f times he drilled the net from the
lop o f the circle while playing that
2-man game with Kareem His bas­
kets seemed to come at the most cru­
cial limes, too. Whenever Boston
would make a run, Riley would gel
Coop in there and suddenly l .A.
would move out. I said that to set this
up. He not only played on the o f­
fensive end, he shut Bird down cold.
Poor shooting is just as much gixxl
defense as it is a pixir shixinng night.
Bird could only make a shot when he
could gel someone to pick Cooper
o ff and ro ll to the hoop. I'm not tak­
ing anything away from Bird, but ab­
solutely no one has given Cooper
credit for the defensive job that he did
on Bird. Think about it.
Pat Riley is still another example
that former N BA players make better
coaches in this league. Riley was ter­
rific. I'm actually a bit embarrassed
that his coaching skills had escaped
me before now. Riley had his team
prepared for everything in Boston's
arsenal. He substituted liberally and
flawlessly throughout the playoffs.
The Lakers played so many people
that everyone on the team was ready
to respond to Riley's call. The Lak­
ers played basketball with imagina­
tion and instinct and I enjoyed watch­
ing it. Why do I think that former
players make better coaches? The
best example that I can give is the fact
that four coaches in the Conference
Championship gomes were all former
N BA players: Pay Riley and Doug
Moe in the west and Billy Cunning­
ham and K. C. Jones in the cast.
Boston's side o f the ledger won't
take long because i t ’s pure and sim­
ple, they just couldn’t put the ball in
the hole That leads us directly to
Larry Bird and his dismal shooting
performance in the final series. Blood
just couldn't buy a basket against the
laker quickness. There’s no doubt
that Bird can think out there but nat­
ural instincts w ill win out in the long
haul o f a 7-game series. A p ixir shinn­
ing Larry Bird is better than most
players in the league but the Celtics
desperately needed the real Bird.
Not letting the press make excuses
for his performance has to be admired
and respected when you consider
how the media tries so hard to tout
him as the greatest player in the his­
tory o f the league after only 6 seasons.
Bird displayed a glaring deficiency
in matching quickness with opposing
forwards in the league but he also
showed that he is not, by any means,
a one dimensional player, la rry didn't
have to deal with quick forwards until
the Laker senes. That, coupled with
the defense o f Michael Cooper, can
cause a lot o f shots to hit the front o f
the rim.
There's no way to describe the
performance o f Kevin McHale. Even
you Laker fans have to acknowledge
his ability as a player. Sure, he goes
over the back when he’s trying for
the defensive rebound. Sure, he
pushes o ff when he’s jockeying for
position under the hole; they all do.
There’s one other thing for sure. too.
Kevin McHale is a ball player.
One last note: Blazer fans can now
take solace in the fact that the team
which eliminated them from the play­
offs were the eventual 1985 NBA
W orld Champions
Lite N B A /P ro A m
B asketb all League
Portland
D on't dismay, basketball fans,
there's still more ahead. This time
around it will be a little closer to hixix-
AN AMERICAN
LEGEND IN THE MAKING.
AND A LEGEND
MADE THE AMERICAN WAY.
Not many years ago. Danny Sullivan was driving a taxicab in New York
Now h e \ driving the Penske M iller American 2 0 0 ♦ rnph
Indianapolis 5 0 0 entry
In the years in between, Danny proved him self In Formula
Three In Formula One In Can Am And in CART
Just like Danny and Indy car racing, M iller is also uniquely
American
It's a beer ttiat's been made the American way for over 100
years Ever since F redenc M iller put his beer into clear glass
bottles, so that everyone could see just how good and pure
,i beer could be
So next tim e you're in the mood for a
< old one. grab yourself a Miller
It has jx irity you can see Quality
you can taste And. like Danny and
Roger Penske. a record of success.
MADE THE AM ERKAN WAY.
See Danny Sullivan drive the Miller Indy car
at the Portland 200 on June 16
I
H o w a rd A very, o f th e S u n *, cau g h t doing w h a t
ha does boat: co n tro lling the ball and o rch es tra t­
ing h it te a m 's o ffen se
(Pohto: Jernigan)
The 1985 Lite Beer P ro /A m Summer
League has o fficia lly begun. The ac­
tion will be taking place at Irving Park
and all o f the local skywalkers have
been fueled up by the N BA playoffs.
It w ill be a repeat o f the same fast
paced, grueling basketball that you
witnessed last year in the Kuz-ins
Summer League. The only change
has been the sponsors. Due largely to
the efforts o f Wally Scales, Director
o f Community Relations for the Port­
land I rail Blazers, the 1985 Sum
mcr League has taken on the flavor o f
an NBA contest. There's a 24-second
clock and a J-point circle to add to the
excitement.
The Kuz-ins, Byron, Tracy and
Dennis are still running the league and
they have upgraded their efforts o f
last year The community needs what
is being offered over at Irving Park,
so let’s go over and lend some sup­
port and see some gixxl basketball
Sjvace permitting, I w ill attempt to
print the schedule each week so you
can see your favorite teams in action.
In an attempt to whet your appetites,
I'll run down a tew o f the players
and their teams. I'll start with my
main man, Howard Avery I coached
Howard a lew years ago, so maybe
I ’m partial, but I think he’s the best
guard that ever came out o f this slate.
If you have never seen Howard play,
check him out. Howard is playing
for the Suns.
The Lakers are strong and boast
the high-powered guard combo o f
Terrel Cage and Greg West Bobby
Flowers, Mark Strutt, and Mark
Radford make this squad a definite
contender.
The Rickets are led by last year’ s
M V P , Ricky Lee and former Grant
star, Andy M o ll. Amos " S ilk '' Allen
has former Jefferson standouts, Phil
Hopson and Keith Jackson, running
with him on the Nets.
The 76ers w ill rely heavily on the
d irty left hand o f Charles " D u ffy ”
Jernigan. The name alone should
strike enough fear for at least 30
points, " D u f fy . " The Bucks are led
by I.eRoy Ellis and Jimmy Winters.
Trail Blazers
ticket hike
The Portland Trail Blazers an­
nounced Wednesday that prices will
increase next season on less than half
o f the tickets available in Memorial
Coliseum.
Increases are from $19.50 to
$22 50, fro m ^ l.5 .5 0 to $18 (X) and
^ jtL E T IN
•<
V
.1
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LASHAYS PLACE
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
284 7722
3806 N. W illiam s Ave. • 281-3136
A Rübke Servtce of the
(By A ppointm ent Only)
Portland O h & rv tr
I
Form er G rant A ll-S tar, Richard Hollis (center),
appears to be an interested sp ectato r at th e U te
N B A /P ro -A m S u m m e r League at Irving Park.
(Photo: Jernigan)
from $14.50 to $16 .00.
There will be no increases for tick­
ets priced at $13.50, $12.50, $10.50.
$8.50and $7.50.
In a letter to season ticket holders,
the club pointed out the necessity for
additional revenue to remain com­
petitive in the NBA
Par, o f the revenue w ill come from
gate receipts and part from ancillary
programs such as radio, television and
cable
•