I age 4' The Portland O bserver-A pril 10, 1991
A ííé ^ T H E LOCKER ROOM
Magic Johnson: The Assist King
NBA home-court advantage means little.
bv Aaron Fentress
Steve Dunn, KÀ TU
Earvin Johnson
BY ULLYSSES TUCKER, JR
M agic Johnson grew up in Lan
sing, M ichigan idolizing former De
tro it Piston/Washington Bullet great
Dave Bing, now the President o f a very
successful steel manufacturing com
pany and Oscar ‘ Big O " Robertson o f
the o ld C incinnati Royals. He could not
have picked better heroes.
A very successful businessman like
B ing, Johnson is about to be the N B A ’ s
a ll-tim e assist record held by Oscar
Robertson established between 1961 -
73. A member o f the Basketball H all o f
Fame, Robertson is flattered that Johnson
held him in high esteem as a youth and
happy to see him break the record.
“ M agic is a tremendous athlete,” he
said. “ H e’ s been very consistent over
the years. Records are made to be bro
ken. I saw M agic in Charlotte (during
the N B A A ll-S ta r game) and I had a
chance to chat w ith him. I d id n ’t men
tion the record because i t ’s not a big
deal to me.” Ironically, both Johnson
and Robertson needed 12 N B A seasons
to reach their totals. Robertson finished
his career w ith 9,887. M agic is sure to
finish w ith many more.
“ Passing the ball has always been
my favorite part o f the game” , said the
M ichigan State product. I never think
about breaking records. I ju st play hard
and try to wm championships. No prob
lem w ith championships, Johnson has
five N B A Championship rings. Earlier
this season, Johnson joined the “ Big
O ” as the only other guard to score
over 16,000 points and hand o u t < ver
9,000 assists
* President George Bush honored
Phoenix Suns point guard supreme Kevin
Johnson for his outstanding w ork w ith
youngsters in his hometown o f Sacra
m ento,CA. The “ D aily P o in to f L ig h t’ ’
award recognizes an individual, group
or organization that claim s society’ s
problems as their own w hile taking
direct and consequential action to ad
dress those problems. Johnson is the
founder o f the St. H O P E (Helping our
People Excel) Academy in Sacramento,
which is an after school educational
and recreational program for young
people between the ages o f 8 and 17. A t
S l Hope volunteer teachers and com
munity members tutor the students, lead
com m unity service activities, and help
the youth focus on education,respect,
and self confidence.
*A ir M ichael Jordan is chewing
bubble gum and eating burgers a ll the
way to his accountant. There are two
new products associated w ith Jordan,
like he needs the cash, these days. “ Hang
T im e ” bubble gum w ill soon be ap
pearing in stores in original, strawberry
and grape flavors. The wrapper fo r the
gum w ill contain both a picture o f Jor
dan and his signature. A “ McJordan
Special Sandwich?” Yes! Get this, it
consists o f a quarter pound burger topped
w ith smoked bacon, cheese, barbecue
sauce, mustard, onions, and pickles.
The sandwich w ill be available until
A p ril 18 at 350 M cDonalds restaurants
in the Chicago area/Northem Indiana.
Go for it Michael!
* I f the Portland T ra il Blazers ex
pect to w in the N B A Championship
this season, they had better find a Johnson
to sit at their bench because they w on ’ t
play much. Why? Because the last nine
N B A champs have had a Johnson on
their roster. L e t’s see, there was M agic
Johnson w ith our neighbors to the south
in 1982,1985,1987, and 19M . Reggie
and Clemon Johnson w ith the 76ers in
1983. Dennis Johnson w ith the Celtics
in 1984 and 1986; and o f course Vinnie
"M ic ro -W a v e " Johnson w ith the Pis
tons in 1989 and 1990. Best Johnson
candidates fo r the 1990-91 season?
M agic Johnson and Kevin Johnson o f
the Suns. Best regards to Vinnie, Eddie
Blazer Watch
Kevin Johnson
in Seattle, and Avery in San Antonio.
There seems to be a shortage o f good
Johnson’ s around the league. Thank
Harvey Pollack, Philadelphia 76er’ s
Statistical Inform ation D irector fo r the
research on this one.
*Bob Bullock, the quick w it-cin e
matographer fo r K A T U -T V 2 has done
ita g a in . He always findsa way to outdo
him self, By now, most readers have
heard about the Sir Charles Barkley
spitting incident where he showered an
eight-year-old g irl instead o f an adult
heckler. W ell, Bullock thought that most
o f the m ajor publications around the
U.S.A. blew a great opportunity fo r a
headline. The Headline you ask” “ When
The Spit Hits The F a n '." Stay tuned to
more from Bob “ B u lle t” (that’ s be
cause he’s quick) Bullock...
*M oreot\M agicJohnson\ Another
K A T U -T V 2 person, Steve " / Use To
Have A J u m p e r", Dunn shaped one o f
th best “ M ag ic” stories heared iodate.
Dunn, a graduate o f Central M ichigan
University, had the opportunity to watch
Johnson play as a tenth grader back in
1975. “ He was ‘ M ag ic’ then” , said the
weekend reporter/anchor.” “ I remem
ber telling m y dad after the game that
Johnson was the greatest basket ball
player I ever saw. He s till is. Even back
then, he had so much poise, style, and
confidence. He really put on a show
that night and the place was packed. He
scored 37 points in only three quarters
o f action. When he checked out o f the
game, Johnson shook every player on
our teams (Howell High) hand and waved
to the crowd. He was a class act.”
Johnson , who attended Lansing
Everett, defeated D unn’s school rather
handily fo r those who had a burning
desire to know the outcome. “ H e’ s j
what legends are make o f ’ , said Dunn.
Portland plays host this Saturday
to the Los Angeles Lakers in a nation
a lly televised contest
Economy Shows Slight
Improvement
The Economic A c tiv ity Report o f
the PURCHASING M A N A G E M E N T
ASSOCIATION OF OREGON, released
recently, shows some improvement in
the economy o f Oregon/S.W. Wash
ington. The P M A O Industrial Index
rose to - 7.1% from January’ s -17.1%.
According to Dr. Alan Raedels. C.P.M.,
Business Survey Committee C hair and
Portland State U niversity professor, the
improvement was due to advances in
the Metals and Electronics sectors. The
Equipment sector took a steep decline
to -27.1% from +11.4%. The Produc
tion Index moved positive fo r the first
time since June, 1990. Improvements
were noted in several sectors.
Trends all seem to be slightly posi
tive. Perhaps we are looking at the
beginning o f something good.
The P M A O Wholesale Index
dropped again in February. The -20%
is down from -12.2% the previous month.
A ll indices were down w ith the excep
tion o f Prices. Inventories moved posi
tive reflecting the slowdown in sales.
The PURCHASING M A N A G E
M E N T A S SO C IA TIO N OF OREGON
is an organization o f over 400 members
committed to education and research in
the fields o f purchasing and materials
management. C olleclivley the mem
bership is responsible for over $6 B il
lion in annual purchases.
Photo by Veronica Green
Portland stays on top of the Pacific Division with 6 games remaining in the
regular season The Blazers play at San Antonio tonight, then return to
the Memorial Coliseum to host the Lakers Saturday afternoon.
For Best Results
Advertise in the Observer
W H A T IS 230-2121?
230-2121 is a seven d ig it non
emergency number that you can dial 24
hours a day for non-emergency police
response. Using the non-emergency
police number keeps the emergency
number available fo r true emergencies.
Examples o f when to call this number
are:
* Any situation which is not occur
ring now, or docs not require immediate
police response
y A
4**
W ith only a few games remaining
for p la y o ff bound N B A teams there’s a
frantic race to muscle into position for
home-court advantage in the playoffs.
B u t does hom e-
court advantage re
a lly matter ?
The Los A n-
geles Lakers, C hi
cago Bulls, Boston
Celtics and Portland
Trailblazers all have
ashotduringthelast
week o f the season
to capture homc-
c o u rt advantage
th ro u g h o u t
the
playoffs. But his
tory shows that i t ’s
not home-court that
w ind s c h a m p io n
ships, it’ s the best
B ird's aim is to
team.
than seven games to w in the title and
they did it on the road. A lso, o f the eight
championships won by the team with
home-court advantage, o nly two went
the distance o f seven games, three went
six games, one went
five games and two
were sweeps.
Ifa series goes
six games then there
would have been an
even sp lit o f three
games at home
apiece. I f the series
goes fiv e games, as
did last years match
up between Portland
and D etroit, then the
hom e-court disad
vantage team actu
a lly pla yed more
games at home then
bring a title back home. Jordan ju st wants one
the team w ith home-
court advantage.
Year Teams
Won in
Everyone that
79-80 LA(4) - Philly(2)
Philly
remembers last years N B A Finals knows
80-81 Boston(4) - Houston (2) Houston
that after winning one game in Detroit,
LA
81-82 LA(4) - Phllly(2)
Portland returned home tied 1-1. The
82-83 Philly(4) - LA(0)
LA
Blazers were then swept three straight
83-84 Boston(4) - LA(3)
Boston
at home to lose the scries 4-1. Some
84-85 LA(4) - Boston(2)
Boston
home-court advantage.
85-86 Boston(4) - Houston(2) Boston
The two teams that actually did
86-87 LA(4) - Boston(2)
LA
need their home-court advantage were
87-88 LA(4) - Detroit(3)
LA
88-89 Detrok(4) - LA(0)
the 83-84 Celtics who defeated the Lak
LA
89-90 Detroit(4) - Portland(l) Portland
ers at home in game seven and the 87-88
L a k e rs w ho de
Team with home-court in bold
feated D e tro it at
hom e in game
seven. These two
teams needed that
seventh game at
home to w in the title
in two close cham
pionship matches.
The o th e r nine
cham pions either
didn’ t need the ad
vantage, or d id n ’t
have it to begin with.
But, o f those eight championships, four
were decided on the road in the building
which housed the team w ith home-court
disadvantage. Meaning that it took four
teams w ith home-court advantage less
Just looking at
the N B A finals results o f the past 11
years, dating back to when Magic John
son and Larry Bird entered the league,
you realize that home-court advantage
only served to help two teams. But
before I state my case, let me set some
basis for my arguments.
First o ff the most telling statistic
in the finals is the amount o f games it
takes to w in the title. I f the series goes
seven games then it
can be determined
that the teams were
evenly matched. But
i f the series is a
sweep or only goes
fiv e o r even s ix
games, then it can be
determ ined that a
margin o f victory o f
4-0,4-1 or 4-2 dem
onstrates that one
team was superior
than the other. Now
to make m y point.
O f the last 11
championships de
cided, the team with
home-court advan
Magic won two titles on the road. Drexler has lost one at home.
tage did indeed win
eight o f the 11 tides.
CANDLE
P o int made,
home-court advan
tage doesn’ t w in
championships, the
best team does.
VIGIL
"A MOMENT TO HONOR THE VALUE OF LIFE"
In whatever way each of us is working as individuals,
organizations and groups to arrest the issues and concerns which
affect our community, we can all appreciate the
importance of encouraging confidence, vision and hope in the
people we serve. It appears appropriate and necessary that
we collectively rally around the candlelight vigil:
"A Moment to Honor the Value of Life."
Please join us in this united attempt to promote optimism
in children, youth and adults. We greatly welcome your
presence and support at the candlelight vigil.
SUNDAY, APRIL 14,1991
PIONEER SQUARE
7:30 until 8:15 PM
For more information contact SELF ENHANCEMENT, INC. at 249-1721
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