Page 6, The Portland Observer, May 9, 1990
.^llM^SPORTS/E VENTS
P eninsula P ark L ittle L eague
The Locker Room
TEAM OF THE WEEK
by Ullysses Tucker, Jr.
H ello O regonians, it’s a wonderful
day in the neighborhood, w on’t you be
my neighbor? Mr. Robinson, David
that is, found out the hard way that his
neighbors in San Antonio appreciate
him more than the ones at M emorial
Coliseum.
The neighbors, Cliff Robinson, Buck
W illiam s, W ayne Cooper, and Mark
Bryant did a serious m uscle job on Mr.
Robinson as the Blazers opened the
best of seven NBA playoff series with a
107-94 victory before a rowdy sell-out
crow d. No cookies and punch to w el
com e this visitor; only bumps, pushes,
bruises, hacks, taunts from the fans, a
bloody nose, and a rare technical foul.
The Trailblazers cam e at R obinson in
droves and it was established from the
opening tip that he would have his work
cut out for him. He was visibly upset
and frustrated.
Robinson acknow ledged that the
gam e was very physical, but he likes it
that way. He also likes fouls to be
called when they are made. The T rail
blazers shot thirty more free-throws
than the Spurs (45-15) and lost by only
thirteen points and grabbed nine re
bounds. He averaged 24.0 and 12.0
during the regular season respectively.
* ‘M aybe we were beating them up a
little bit more than they beat us up,’ ’ he
laughed about the difference at the free
throw line. “ They got some bloody
noses over there too? I do n ’t know ..it’s
ju st som ething you’ve got to bounce
back from and get a little tougher.”
R obinson, know n more for his dom i
nating play and not ‘ ‘running o ff at the
m outh” , surprised the fans when he
drew a technical foul from official Earl
Strom. Itw as only the second technical
foul called on him this season and the
first for his conversation with an offi
cial. Robinson says that the Naval
Academy taught him poise, and the two
year wait to play in the NBA brought
him greater m aturity. He, how ever.
will question authority.
“ If something happens on the court
that you do n ’t like, y o u ’ve got to stand
u p fo ry o u rse lf,” hesaid. “ Itrie d to d o
it in a diplomatic way and I think refe
rees appreciate that for the m ost pan,
but there was a lot o f intensity out there
today. You c a n ’t blam e the refs getting
me the way he got me. I was a little
excited so maybe it cam e off some way
that I didn’t intend for it to com e o ff.”
Spurs’ coach Larry Brown agreed
with Robinson. He said that Robinson
is a class guy and not the type who baits
officials. “ I thought Earl m isunder
stood his actions,” said Brown. “ It re
ally bothered David and affected his
play. E arl’s the best, but he definitely
m isunderstood David on this one.”
Currently ranked as a lieutenant J.G.
in the U.S. Naval, Robinson holds a
bachelor’s degree in m athem atics and
hopes to attend graduate school som e
day. A m em ber of the Fellowship of
Christian Athletes, Robinson scored
1,320 on his college board exam ina
tions (SAT).
As a college senior, he led the nation
(4.5) in blocked shots, finished third in
scoring (28.2), and fourth in rebound
ing (11.8). He won the W ooden, Rupp,
and Naismith post-season awards. He
was everyone’s All-American and holds
33 records at the Naval Academy.
W hen questioned about the last time
he played such a terrible game, Robin
son was quick to bring up his perform
ance against the Sacram ent Kings late
in the season. He scored only five
points that game. Robinson said that it
will be easy to forget about the first
game against the Trailblazers, but only
after he watched the sports report on
local news and the video o f the game.
“ You just go back to the hotel and
drop this one in the garbage,” he said.
“ W e’re on the road and all you want to
do is put yourself in a position to win. I
think we put ourselves in the position to
win, but we just didn’t perform at crunch
time. I ’ll watch this tape and see what
1 need to work on or do different. We
didn ’ t play our game for the m ost part. ’ ’
Clyde Drexler, who missed a triple
double (23 points, 11 assists, and nine
rebounds) by a rebound was pleased
with the victory and defensive effort
against Robinson.
“ I think the team did a great jo b on
him ,” he said. “ The team was there to
help out every time Robinson received
the ball. It was a great effort. We
expected to win. W e all knew that we
had to up our game another level since
Kevin (Duckworth) was out and we
d id .”
Despite the defensive effort by the
Trailblazers, Robinson is confident of
one thing, that he will not play two
gam es in a row like the series opener.
“ I ’ve never had two terrible games in a
row ,” he said. Mr. Robinson will be
back in the neighborhood soon, he is
going to be a persistant neighbor.
L
A t
i
J
PENINSULA LITTLE LEAGUE 1990
Jay Hernandez, Coach
Row 1 - William Booker, Norman "Bo" Grant, Jacqueline Johnson, Lawson Taylor, Damien
Warner, Carl Warner, Charles Fitz Jr., Corey Pitman, Andre Lawerence; Row 2 - Jay Hernan
dez, George Reed, Stanaford Blacknail, Martin Lockett, Michael Thompson, Milton Lockett,
Shawn Ollison, Coach Milton Lockett.
S*H*O*R*T**S*H*A*K*E*S
Mr. Robinson came back to the rough
neighborhood (M emorial Coliseum),
again, trying to convince the Trailblaz
ers that he is a good neighbor. ‘ ‘The
Nasty B oys” (C liff Robinson, Mark
Bryand, Buck Williams, and Coooooop!)
did not w elcom e him.
As prom ised, Mr. Robinson played
a much better gam e (31 points and 8
boards), but they were still blasted by
the Blazers 122-112 to fall behind in
the best o f seven series 2-0. If the Spurs
are serious about their quest for an
NBA title, W illie Anderson and Rod
Strickland had better pick up their play
another notch. So should Sean Elliott,
who has been “ dogged” by Jerome
Kersey. The third game is tonight, in
Mr. R obinson’s neighborhood. Stay
tuned, ladies and gentlemen.
**..
ROBINSON NAMED MINUTE MAID ORANGE SODA NBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs, the No.
1 pick ot the 1987 NBA Draft who waited two years
to begin his pro basketball career w hile serving a com
m itment in the L'.S. N aw , was named the unanim ous
w inner of the Eddie Gottlieb T rophy as the 1990 Mi
nute Maid O range Soda NBA Rookie of the Year.
Robinson, who received all 92 votes from a nation
wide panel of sports w riters and broadcasters, ranked
10th in the league in scoring w ith a 24.3 ppg average,
second in rebounding with 12.0 rpg and third in
blocked shots with 3.89 bpg. His .531 EG percentage
led all rookies.
T he Spurs, in large part due to Robinson’s contribu
tions, were 56-26 this season — a franchise record for
wins — and champions of the Midwest Division for the
first time since 1983. The 56 wins represented an NBA
record turnaround of 35 games from the 1988-89
campaign, when San Antonio struggled with a 21-61
mark.
“What's happened is that, in one season, this has be
come David’s team ,” said San Antonio Coach Larry
Brown. “He is its heart and soul. I ’m not sure he real
izes that yet because every thing happened so quickly.”
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Beech Elementary School