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Show (r' nirt p 2C r r' "i"r ) The Salt Lake Tribune. ' T1 Monday, January 27, 1 r i i i ii i ' i w i,nnirrrrT,r'ri v t i-- fT v "''' t 16 Jazz Tonight Bucks Win With Stingy Defense, Stingy Wallet Jazz and their below them only the By Lex Hemphill Tribune Sports Writer Ever since the Jazz came to Salt Lake City, t they have talked about modeling their NBA franchise after Portland They could have said Milwaukee There is probably no NBA team that is run more efficiently than the Milwaukee Bucks, who make their only Salt Palace appearance against the Jazz Monday night. Certainly, in terms of basketball operations, that's true. The Bucks are charging toward their seventh straight divisional championship (one in the Midwest and the last five in the Central), all under the direction of Don Nelson, their two-tim-e Coach of the Year and arguably the best in the NBA. And they are doing it with Jazz-lik- e economy. According to last months reports of NBA player salaries, the Bucks' payroll of around $3.3 million ranked 22nd in the league, although it would have taken a jump if they had held onto Joe Barry Carroll last summer. In any event, $2 y Bucks have the lowest number of players who were drafted in the top 14 picks They have just two Cummings and Moncrief. Denver has million payroll rank - The Bucks somehow get more than 500 respectability for t..eir money, and they do it through astute player evaluation Forward Terry Cummings and guard Sidney Moncrief are their only real players Not only two the also are those but only players L.e that, draft Bucks have who were high choices Moncrief was drafted fifth by the Bucks in 1979, and Cummings was drafted second by the San Diego Clippers m 1982 and was then obtained by the Bucks in a steal of a trade prior to last season But beyond that, the Bucks ave players who generally weren't highly regarded coming out of college The highest draft choice the Bucks have after Moncrief and Cummings is Jeff Lamp, a player they resurrected this season after he had been out of the league a year. Lamp was drafted 15th by the Trail Blazers in 1981. In culling the rosters of all 23 NBA teams, the small-marke- "r three, and four teams (including the Jazz) have four The league average is 5 4 In short, the Bucks have disproved the theory that it's impossible to improve your team through the draft if you keep finishing with winning records, a claim heard recently from Detroit, where the Pistons were supposed to challenge the Bucks the past two years. Instead of complaining about their draft position, the Bucks have done something with it. They have all of their last five draft choices, even though none of them was drafted higher than 18th. Look at the record. 1981, Alton Lister, 21st; 1982, Paul Pressey, 20th; 1983, Randy Breuer, 18th; 1984, Kenny Fields, 21st; and 1985, Jerry Reynolds, 22nd. The two players they obtained along with Cummings in the Clipper heist Ricky Pierce and Craig Hodges were drafted 18th (by Detroit) and 48th (by San Diego) respectively when first-roun- Bird Guides Celtics to first-roun- players that others haven't. "Maybe we can see things in guys like Mo, Hodges, Pierce, Lamp, that other coaches might not see, Nelson told the Milwaukee Journal last month. "You can look at some players and know right away which ones might be able to do the job for you. With me, it's the player wholl work hard, who will listen and understand what we re trying to do. What the Bucks try to do is stifle the opponent with their defense. The Bucks again lead the league this season in field goal percentage defense at 45.5 percent, and they force the second most turnovers in the league. t, efficient winners the Bucks are the models. Small-marke- 105-10- 30 p ft. IM 24 Adr.or Donee Kori WO'Ore, V 14 F 4 F 7 Ecjtonjo vor C G , Green, 111 Boo nonsen, 10 5 R ,C . e G Jucki, JO 15 Jerry Fenoiav 1 5 Terr y Cunmings, 20 2 Rond. Breuer, 1 5 7 Sidney Mtrcrief, Poul Piessey, 14.0 This Is the tourt of se.en Buck! Glance tor the Bucks. Thet are slroignt rood games on the rood, loming Boston, Philadelphia, ond the ith winning road records. Lakers os the only teams 15 gem ,, ond The Bucks have won 12 of their last the finger iniury to they keep sailing olong despite Presstorting guord Craig Hodges that has pusied sey to the Dockcourt and rookie Reynold! into the a nave record agomst starting lineup. The Bucks Midwest Division teams. - Jon Glonce The Jan didn't proctice Sundoy, after Coach Fronk Layden declared after Saturday's homecourt victory over the Dippers, "It's sacor ploy on Super Bowl Sunday." rilegious to proctice Mavoe practice wouldnt help anyway; the Jot: hove lost 10 of their lost 11 to the Bucks. Layden hinted Saturday he mav make more iiberol use of his reserves after they ployed so well against the at home, 1 overoil Clippers. The Jon are 8 overall in the ogomst the Central Division, and month of Jonuary. Best Of NBAs Rejectors 20-1- By Gordon Beard Associated Press Writer Little by litLANDOVER, Md. tle, so to speak, Manute Bol is becoming a force in the National Basketball Association. After just half a season, the rookie of the Washington Bullets already is being called the best shot blocker in league history. The superlatives flowed anew Sat3 urday night after Bol keyed a victory over the Atlanta Hawks with 15 blocked shots, a total exceeded on NBA list only by Elmore the e four-gam- - high-scorin- g 111-10- all-tim- Smiths 17 blocks Oct. 28, 1973. Bol, who once caused Atlanta rookie Jon Koncak to stagger out of bounds with the ball after consecutive crushing blocks Saturday night, also forced many other shots to be altered harmlessly out of range. 29-2- 3 51-5- 4 74-6- 1 Hes the best ever, said Washington Coach Gene Shue, a contemporary of Bill Russell, the Hall of Famer whose has been considered the measuring standard for that special talent. Coach Don Nelson of the Milwaukee Bucks, who played on some great Boston Celtics teams with Russell, gave the same evaluation after Bol rejected a team record 12 shots in his first NBA start Dec. 12. Bol, expected to be worked in gradually with the Bullets after being drafted on the second round, was forced into action after center Jeff Ruland suffered a broken ankle bone. Now, with Ruland working out and expected back shortly, Shue anxiously awaits the prospect of having both players in the lineup at the same time. It may take a couple of weeks for Jeff to get into the flow of the game, Shue said. But once he does, well be great. The Bullets have a 0 record without Ruland, the team leader in scoring and rebounding when he was sidelined. Guard Frank Johnson also has been out, missing 15 games while recovering from a broken bone in his left foot. Manute is doing what I thought he could do . . . once I got over the idea that he couldnt play in the NBA, said Shue. I saw him twice in the summer league, Shue said, and I kept saying, He cant play, he cant play. But he kept blocking 15 shots a game. Bols latest performance was timely, since he is due to make an appearance on David Lettermans late-nigtelevision show Monday night. Manute is athletic and he has fine instincts, Shue said. "He also has long arms, so he doesnt have to be off his feet to block shots. When he extends his arms, Manute can reach about 10-- or 10-Shue said. Thats quite an advantage. Shue said he could understand the present frustration of seven-footer- s who had their way under the basket before Bol arrived in the NBA. "It would have been like a coach telling to post Bob Pettit when I played," said the Shue, referring to the former NBA scoring champion. "I would have thought the coach was crazy. "But thats basically what it is, Shue said. "Manute is seven inches taller than the players he plays against." Bol leads the NBA with an average of 4.9 blocks per game although he has averaged only 23 minutes of action in the 42 games in which he has appeared. shot-block- 4 g 82-7- 88-8- 0 2 93-9- 0 Kings 121, Blazers 116: In Portland, Sacramento rallied behind a 38 points from Eddie season-hig- h Johnson to win a rematch with Portland. The Blazers, who won a Saturday contest with the Kings in Sacra129-12- 22 Victory Over Sixers Bols 105-10- 3 7 (570 AM) t, With their eighth consecutive victory and 12th in the last 13 starts, the Celtics hiked their home record for . The 76ers had a the season to e winning streak while losing for only the third time in 20 games. Bird also had 14 rebounds, six assists and four steals while going over mark for the 16th consecthe utive game. Dennis Johnson contributed 17 points, Scott Wedman 16 and Robert Parish 13 in helping offset Bostons loss of forward Kevin McHale, sidelined for the second game in a row by a strained achilles tendon. With Wedman scoring 10 points while starting in place of McHale, the Celtics took a 7 lead after one period. Then, helped by a 12-- edge in free throws, Boston held on in the second period for a 0 halftime edge. Philadelphia went on a 20-- spurt for a lead with five minutes left in the third period. Then Boston went on a 21-- run as Bird scored 11 points, including nine of three consecutive bombs, and Walton hit for four 8 baskets. That gave Boston an lead at the three-quartmark. Boston widened the advantage to in the fourth period, but the 76ers, led by Barkley, went on a 13-lead. surge for a mento Poioce, prooopte Stoners jon, Bostons Other Team Wins By Dave O Hara Associated Press Writer BOSTON At halftime, super star Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics had only six points on shooting, but the Philadelphia 76ers weren't ignoring him. You always know hes there, Philadelphia Coach Matt Guokas said Sunday after Bird scored 22 points in the second half in rallying the Celtics 3 to a National Basketball Association victory over the 76ers. Bird really got it going for them, Guokas said. He just didn't make He makes plays for other people, he rebounds. You just know hes going to be there down the stretch. Once he gets it flowing, hes tough to stop. Bird made the big plays, the tough shots, Philadelphia veteran Julius Erving said. He didnt make the layups, but he hit the bombs. Birds bombs included a buzzerbeating guided missile from just over midcourt at the end of the third period. I think you can see from todays game that no matter when we play these guys or L.A. Lakers our guys are always primed, Boston Coach K.C. Jones said. There isnt anything worse than losing, said Philadelphias Charles Barkley, who scored 26 points and grabbed 21 rebounds. Theyre a very good team, but they can not beat us. We gave the game away again. Weve played them four times this season and we should have won all four games. Instead, weve won only once. Veteran Bill Walton hit for 19 points in a reserve role in helping Bird rally the Celtics. The Celtics, who trailed by as much as 13 points before Bird regained his rocket touch, blew an eight-poilead in the fourth period before rallying down the stretch. Soft KLuB-rodi- they came out of college Charles Davis a valuable frontcourt reserve, was drafted 35th (by Washington; five years ago, and Paul Mokeski was drafted 42nd (by Houston) seven years ago. Nelson, who this season has added Stu Inman from Portland to help him with the player personnel duties, has seen something in all these d BUCKS MILWAUKEE at me were outgunned Sunday by Johnson and center LaSalle Thompson, who added 20 points 15 for Sacramento and a game-hig- h rebounds. Forward Kiki Vandeweghe led Portland with 29 points, including a perfect 11 points on 11 attempts from the foul line. United Press International drives Celtic backup center past Sixer Charles Barkley. Walton scored Bill Walton points off the bench, while Barkley had 26 points and 21 rebounds in losing cause. 19 t 12-1- College Hoops: Tar Heels Tip Irish to Keep Record Perfect By United Press International For North Carolina's rampaging Tar Heels, it was a super weekend. North On Saturday, Carolina handed No. 3 Georgia Tech its second loss of the season, and the Tar Heels followed that up victory over No. Sunday with a 15 Notre Dame. Both games were played at the new Dean E. Smith Activities Center at Raleigh. The weekend sweep gave North Carolina a 21-- 0 record, the longest winning streak in the nation. with 14:32 The game was tied left to play, but Notre Dame, now scored only 14 points the rest of the way. The Fighting Irish missed nine consecutive shots and failed to score in 12 straight possessions for more than seven minutes. That one spurt really hurt us offensively," Notre Dame Coach Digger Phelps said. "We had good shots, but we werent hitting them." Junior point guard Kenny Smith 20 points scored 14 of his season-higin the second half for the Tar Heels and teammate Joe Wolf added 16 points. While North Carolina managed to keep its perfect record intact, several other members of the Top 10 encountered a difficult week. Second ranked Duke. No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Michigan all suffered their second defeats of the season and No. 6 Oklahoma lost top-rank- 85-7- 73-6- 1 Stu-de- 47-4- 7 12-- h Associated Press laserphoto North Carolinas Dave Popson and Kenny Smith hound Notre Dames Donald Royal. The No. 1 Tar Heels are still unbeaten. rt the first time following 17 victories. In addition, No. 7 Kansas overcame deficit to escape with a a victory and No. 8 St. Johns fought from 15 points back to emerge winner. a Georgia Tech, after posting an 0 victory over second ranked Duke earlier in the week, was soundly beaten at North Carolina. Duke, following two consecutive losses, rebounded with an 8 triumph over Maryland on Saturday. Michigan, in its only game of the 9 week, was handed a stunning defeat by Michigan State while Oklahoma was able to rebound from its loss to Kansas earlier in the week to for two-poi- one-poi- 87-8- 80-6- 91-7- overcome Kansas State, 83-8- Saturday. Kansas ran its record to 19-- by winning three games during the week, including a squeaker over No. 14 Louisville Saturday, and St. Johns edged Pittsburgh, In other games Saturday, Memphis State remained unbeaten at 19-- with a verdict over Missouri, No. 9 Kentucky defeated Tennessee, and No. 10 Nevada-La- s Vegas beat Long Beach State, In tune with the string of surprises, California snapped a losing streak by beating UCLA, at Berkeley. With Dave Butler scoring 23 points and Chris Washington 19, 2 71-6- 9 68-6- 0 79-6- 8 74-5- 72-6- 75-6- California thus topped the Bruins for the first time since 1961, ending a run of 52 consecutive losses. At Durham, N.C., guard Johnny Dawkins scored 24 points to pace Duke over Maryland, perfordespite a career-higmance by Terrapin senior Len Bias. Senior forwards Mark Alarie and David Henderson added 17 and 12 points, respectively, for the Blue Devils. At East Lansing, Mich., Scott Skiles scored 40 points on shooting to carry Michigan State to its big win over Michigan. Darryl Johnson added 17 points for the Spartans and Richard Rellford led Michigan with 20 points. William Bedford At Memphis, scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to pace Memphis State over Missouri. Baskerville Holmes added 22 points for the Tigers, while Missouri was led by Jeff Strong with 28 points. At Manhattan, Kan., Kansas State with five seconds pulled within left on a jump shot by Joe Wright, but Linwood Davis hit a free throw two second later for Oklahoma to preserve the victory. David Johnson led the winners with 21 points. At Lawrence, Kan., Greg Dreiling scored all 18 of his points in the second half, including two free throws with 1:38 remaining, to give Kansas its close victory over Louisville. h 82-8- 0 i ht 5 Unruly Fan Helps UTEP Earn Overtime Victory at New Mexico By The Associated Press Paso forunruly fan helped Texas-E- l ward Wayne Campbell to the two shots that counted most. In Albuquerque on Saturday night, Campbell went to the line with two seconds left and lead. As CampNew Mexico nursing a bell was about to release the ball on the free throw situation, a fan hurled a paper cup toward him. An 70-6- 9 Both Campbell and the cup missed their target, but referee Jimmy Clark voided the miss and Campbell got a second chance. Campbell was good on both and UTEP edged New Mexico 71-7- In other Western Athlete Conference games Saturday, Wyoming staved on top of the league with a victory over Hawaii in Honolulu and Brigham Young squashed Utah in Provo. 78-6- 87-6- On Friday night in Albuquerque, New Mexico defeated Colorado State Thursday night. Hawaii edged visiting San Diego State in overtime, CSU fell to UTEP in El Paso and Utah sailed over Air Force in Salt Lake City Referee Clark said he had to give Campbell a clean start 46-5- 83-8- 65-5- 7 82-6- "It disconcerted the shooter and choice," Clark said I had no Before Campbell settled the issue, the two teams had traded leads 10 times and were tied 11 times. "Both teams played great, then a strange thing I've never seen in my life happens," a noticeably drained New Mexico Coach Gary Colson said after. The victory moved UTEPs league record and overall mark to . New Mexico is to and In Honolulu. Wyoming center Eric Leckner had 21 of his 24 points in the first half as the Pokes took advantage of a devastating inside 17-3- 6-- 13-- game. I Anthony Jones and Andre Morgan led waii with 15 each. Ha- Hawaii Coach Frank Arnold benched starting forward Keith Turner for the first half because Turner had refused to Thursday's game against San Diego State. It was the third disciplinary action against a Rainbow this season. Turner said he refused because he fell too stiff to play. "Ever been to an ai lusement park?" Arnold asked. "There's that thing where the chipmunks pop up and you try to beat 'em down with a mallet I've been hittin' chip munks all flippin year long. I told my kids I m tired of these disruptions and had not better have any more." in the WAC, 10-- overWyoming now is all. Hawaii is in conference and 1 7 7 overall. In Provo, BYU had its eighth straight victory behind Jeff Chatman's 20 points. Utah-wahalfnever able to recover from a time deficit. 35-2- 8 BYU now is in the league and overall. Utah dropped to 4 4 in conference, 12-6-- 11-- 9 7 overall. s |
