European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 11, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 26 the stars and stripes Friday april 11, 1986 it not Ewing who s Aba s Fop Rookie by William r. Barnard a basketball writer at mid season Patrick Ewing looked like a runaway Winner of Aba Rookie of the year honors. But As the 82-game regular season comes to a close this weekend the result of ballot ing among Aba writers and broadcasters no longer is Clear. The picture clouded when the powerful 7-foot Center for the new York kicks played Only 14 games in the second half of the season and 50 Overall because of a knee injury that required surgery. Ewing s statistics arc impressive 20 Points and nine rebounds per game and he got nearly unanimous rave reviews wherever he played. He s 7 foot and 230 pounds with a Feath ered shot Boston coach . Jones said. He s definitely the Center of the  he s Al that s Why he s going to be a Star for years and years to come said Ewing s coach Lubic Brown. But when asked if he will get Rookie of the year honors Brown said it s difficult to miss Over one third of the season and come out no. 1." Ewing s stiffest challengers Are Karl Malone of Utah Xavier Mcdaniel of Seattle Manuec Bol of Washington Charles Oak Ley of Chicago Benoit Benjamin of the . Clippers and Wayman Tisdale of Indi Ana. Only Malone among the rookies comes from a winning team the jazz were .500 going into the final Days. That prompted jazz coach Frank Lay Den to make a Case for Malone a 6-9 for Ward who was the 13th draft pick. As far As i can see he s making the biggest contribution on the winning est  Mcdaniel a 6-8 Forward and Malone have been the most consistent starting All season and averaging 17 Points and nearly 15 Points respectively. Both get about nine rebounds per game. The 7-6 Bol has been a phenomenon and a Media favorite while leading the league in blocked shots. But the sudanese giant is one dimensional with far More blocked shots than Points. Oakley and Benjamin started slowly but came on strongly in the second half. Benjamin a 7-0 Center looked like a wasted pick at mid season but has raised his average to 11 Points and 7.6 rebounds. That s up from 5.8 Points and 5.5 rebounds at Christmas. Kids come in with a false idea or Igno Rance of what the Aba is clippers assist ant coach Don Casey said. Ben was Young. Early on he had to go against Jack Sikma and Kareem Abdul Jabbar and they did a number on him. I think he was scared and in Awe. He looked  Given a Chance to play because of injuries on the bulls Oakley can be great. In his first 40 games the 6-8, 225-Pound Forward averaged 13.0 minutes 4.1 Points 4.9 rebounds and shot 44.3 percent from the Field. In his next 30, he averaged 34.1 minutes 16.3 Points 12.9 rebounds and shot 54.7 percent. If he had played at Kentucky or Ohio state nobody would be saying who s Charles Oakley " said Dave Robbins his coach at Virginia Union College. We knew he was a terminator Chi Cago coach Stan Albeck said of Oakley s muscle. He s rambo commando and terminator All in  Tisdale the no. 2 pick in the 1985 draft behind Ewing looks impressive for a week and lost for two. I realize this is a year of adjustment and it s not going to get me Down said Tisdale a 6-9 Forward averaging 14.8 Points and 7.2 rebounds. I know i can play in this  no from Page 21 but three of them came in a Row to provide los Angeles Only run in the fourth. Haw Kins an 18-game Winner last year struck out five while walking one in seven innings. Bill Madlock singled to right Center and Greg Brock followed with a single to right Madlock holding at second. Then Mike Marshall laced a single to left to drive in Madlock. It was the third straight pitching Duel Between the clubs in the Young season. Fer Nando Valenzuela beat the padres Eric show 2-1 monday and san Diego s Dave Dravecky blanked Orel Hershiser and the dodgers i-0 tuesday. Welch did not allow a padres runner past first base As he beat san Diego for the first time at Home in his last six decisions. In other no action wednesday Phillies 5, reds 3 Cincinnati Glenn Wilson broke a 1-1 tie with an 1 Ith inning sacrifice Fly and John Russell followed with a two run Homer As Philadelphia scored four times off Cincinnati Relief Ace Ted Power. The reds scored twice in the Bottom of the inning on Dave Concepcion s two run single. For eight innings the game was a pitching Duel Between Philadelphia s Shane Rawley and Cincinnati s Tom Browning. Eric Davis led off the reds first with his second Homer of the season. Giants 4, astros 1 Houston will Clark and Bob Mel Vin hit run scoring doubles and Jeff Leon Ard scored twice. Clark who homered in his first major league at Bat tuesday night doubled in the third inning scoring Dan Gladden who also doubled. Leonard singled to open the fourth inning stole second and scored on a double by Melvin off loser Mike Scott. San Francisco s Scott Garrelts blanked the astros on two hits through five innings. Greg Minton earned a save with i a innings of one hit Relief. A photo Karl Malone has had a big hand in shooting the Utah jazz into the Aba playoffs. He s making the biggest contribution on the winning est team Aba from Page 21 up photo Mike Marshall of the dodgers newspaper it stings a Little Wohl said. "1 think that s Good. Sometimes players have to play a Little  it certainly worked for Gminski who hit 15 of 23 shots from the floor and 11 of 12 free throws in bettering his previous scoring High by 10 Points. His 22 rebounds was two better than his previous High. This was by far my Best game As a pro Gminski said. I can t remember the last time i had a game like this. I used to Light it up pretty Good in High school but obviously the Competition Here is a lot  even though he questioned his own team s motivation Jones had a Pat on the Back for the new Jersey Center. He s quite a player and has been for a while Jones said. He put on a real show  new Jersey won its second straight game and moved a game ahead of Washington in the Battle for sixth place in the Eastern con Ference by overcoming an 11-Point third period deficit. A 13-2 run got the nets even at 69, and a 12-2 burst Early in the fourth wiped out an 83-77 Boston advantage. Otis Birdsong finished with 22 Points for new Jersey while Buck Williams added 10. Kevin Mchale topped Boston with 18 Points and Larry Bird added 16. In other Aba action Kings 113, jazz 108 Salt Lake City Otis Thorpe scored 10 Points in the fourth Quarter including seven in a Row in the final four minutes As Sacramento spoiled a 45-Point performance by Utah s Adrian Dantley. Dantley pulled ahead of Atlanta s do Minique Wilkins in the Aba scoring race building his average to 29.99 Points per game. Wilkins is at 29.93. Each has two games to play. Utah led 101-99 with four minutes remaining but Thorpe scored seven straight1 Points As the Kings outscored the jazz 14-7 in the final four minutes. Lashes game winning single Eddie Johnson led the Kings with 26 Points Reggie Theus added 21 and Mike Woodson 18. Thorpe s 10 Points in the fourth Quarter gave him 12 for the game. Thurl Bailey added 17 Points for the jazz and Karl Malone had 15 Points and 14 re Bounds. Spurs 114, suns 102 Phoenix Ariz. Mike Mitchell scored 22 Points and Artis Gilmore 20, including eight in the fourth Quarter As the spurs claimed the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western conference. The loss Means Phoenix will miss the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons. San Antonio playoff bound despite the worst record in its franchise history at 34 47, took the Lead for Good in the second Quarter. Steve Johnson who had seven of his 19 Points in the period triggered a late 10-2 run for a 60-53 spurs halftime Lead. Mitchell s eight third period Points put san Antonio ahead 86-76. Gilmore s Layin and two free throws Mitchell s three Point play and Back to Back Hook shots by Gilmore pushed the san Antonio advantage to 111-97 with 2 45 to play. The suns lost their fourth in a Row de spite 23 Points from Walter Davis and 20 from Mike Sanders. Clippers 132, nuggets 127 los Angeles Marques Johnson scored 32 Points for los Angeles but the clippers were eliminated from a possible playoff berth by san Antonio s Victory at Phoenix. The clippers led 87-80 with six minutes left in the third Quarter when a Public address announcement told them of their Fate. Los Angeles went into the final period holding a 101-94 Edge but the nuggets pulled within 121-118 with 3 13 left. John son and Cedric Maxwell scored four Points apiece to Seal the Clipper Victory. Alex English who is battling Wilkins and Dantley for the Aba scoring title led the nuggets with 31 Points. Reserve Center Danny Schayes came off the Bench to score 24. The clippers got 24 Points from Benoit Benjamin and 23 from Maxwell