European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 18, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday april 18, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 23 commentary the Long Road to a Nof so Sweet 16 it took six months but the National basketball association finally is getting Down to business. The less said about the regular season the better. It took 81 games per team to determine that teams like Golden state and Indiana weren t of playoff Caliper. But the league did t go far enough in slashing teams off the 16-team playoff list. Chicago which managed to win 30 games and san Antonio which rolled to 34 triumphs were deemed worthy of playoff status. Fortunately those teams Drew Boston and the los Angeles lakers respectively As first round playoff opponents. We won t have Chicago and san Antonio to kick around very Long. The celtics and lakers should meet for a title series rematch. The Eastern conference has two other Quality teams in Milwaukee and Philadelphia but neither has enough Talent to stand up to Boston. But the Atlanta Hawks might meet Boston for the Eastern conference title. A player like Dominique Wilkins can dominate a Short series and there s no More dominating player now than Wilkins. Reminds me of two years ago when Bernard King almost single Anderly pulled the Talent poor kicks into the Aba championship series. The rockets have twin Tower Hopes of unseating the lakers Early in the playoffs. Don t count on it. Every time you watch the rockets in action you can t help but think they would have been better placed by taking Michael Jordan in last year s draft instead of Akeem Olajuwan. The rockets Lack consistent play from the guard position and All the strength up front in the form of 7-footers Olajuwan and Ralph Sampson can t compensate. The Aba will hold another lottery for the top eight draft picks after the playoffs. The Rich will get Richer since Boston and Philadelphia each own one of the top picks thanks to trades. Unlike last year when Patrick Ewing was the Clear Choice for the top spot no College standout has a lock As the no. 1 pick. Guard poor teams might take Johnny Dawkins of Duke. Those needing a Center will take either North Carolina s Brad Dougherty or Georgia tech s John Salley. Forward Len Bias of Maryland should also command top Dollar. The National hockey league featured a couple of upsets in the first round. The Toronto Maple Leafs All 25-48-7 of them ousted the Chicago Blackhawk in three straight in the biggest Surprise. Don t ask me what a 25-48-7 team is doing in the playoffs. Then again i never could figure out Why it takes 80 games to eliminate five of 21 nil teams from Post season play. Nothing against the Hartford whalers but it was sad to see them oust the Nordques. The Quebec Mon Treal playoff rivalry is one of the Best in All of sports. Can someone please explain Why the world cup hockey championship runs concurrent with the Stanley cup playoffs it s stupid to have the United states and Canada sending teams with most of their stars tied to Stanley cup commitments. The baseball season in t three weeks old and already one manager seems destined for an Early out. That s Jim Frey of the Chicago cubs. Dallas Green won t put up with another going nowhere season and that s what the cubs Promise. Face it the cubs Are an aging team that put everything they had into the 1984 season. Compare the cubs to the St. Louis cardinals and new York mets and you la see that a world series in Wrigley Field is Only a fairy tale. Despite the hype the mets have yet to prove they re anything but a reincarnation of the Montreal expos of the late 70s. Remember them they re the team that on paper could t help but win. Problem was they had to play 162 games and kept coming up one or two victories Short. The mets have yet to show they re ready for prime time. With Pedro Guerrero out with a knee injury the no West shapes up As a free for All. The dodgers offence is Guererro. With the slugger sidelined the los Angeles team can figure on losing a number of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 games. The no West team that jells in late August through september gets the brass ring. Take your pick. Dennis Leonard s comeback Effort last saturday ranks As one of the top stories of the 1986 season. If he returns to form the royals May Trade one of their starters for a Power hitting outfielder. If so you can get a jump on the rest of the Public by ordering your world series tickets tomorrow co the Kansas City royals. Too Early to pick this year s ail Star teams but How about overrated and underrated squads those who get too much Ink by position in Pete Rose reds2b Willie Randolph Yankees 3b buddy Bell reds is Gary Templeton padres of Larry Herndon Tiger Jim Rice red sox and Dave col Lins tigers c Gary Carter mets p Ron Davis twins do Dave Kingman a s. Underrated team in Pete o Brien rangers 2b Frank White royals 3b Tim Wallach expos is Hubie Brooks expos of Brett Butler Indian Jose Cruz astros and Mike Young orioles c Butch Wynegar Yankees p Greg Minton giants do Larry Parrish rangers. Non american players captured the attention if hot the title at this year s masters Golf tournament. But if it s non americans you re looking for look to Tennis. The top six Money winners among the men were born outside the United states. On the women s Side Chris Evert Lloyd and Pam Shriver Are the Only two  players among the top seven in Money winnings. The stars and stripes Hanau Tell 89-79 hornets could t push setae around by Tim Boivin staff writer Vicenza Italy Ever have Sand kicked in your face on the Beach by some one twice your size maybe you should come out and watch the setae Lions play basketball. The Lions fresh from showing they were the class act at the Usa eur position tournament beat a taller and deeper Hanau squad wednesday night 89-79. And the Lions used can you believe this their Bench and rebounding for the Victory that gave them a 1-0 Lead in this Best of three Usa eur men s semifinal series. The hornets whose first four forwards stand Between 6-feet-4 and 6-7, were outre bounded by the scrappy Lions 56-35. These Are the same Lions that use a three guard offence much of the time and whose front line usually consists of Sterling Hammond All 6-3 of him and Darryl Dancy also 6-3. Dancy pulled Down 13 rebounds and Usa eur basketball Hammond had 12. The Lions had 27 Offen Sive boards. But when the going got rough it was Chester getter a guard who saw very Little action in the position tournament who provided the spark that give the Lions this Victory. Getter came off the Bench in the second half As Hanau outscored the Lions 19-3 in the first seven minutes to take 56-48 Lead. Getter scored four clutch Points and had two key steals As the Lions fought Back. Setae went ahead 65-63 on getter s drive in the Lane with eight minutes left. After the teams exchanged baskets be Taf s Cliff Spencer hit a jump shot Ham mond slammed Home a Dunk and getter stole the Ball and went in for another Bas Ket. Just when Hanau thought it had the Lions declawed setae came Back behind its ninth Man getter to go up 72-68 with three minutes left. The Lions converted on the Charity Stripe to Seal the game. Getter admitted being nervous in his first Long look at Usa eur basketball action. I have been anxious to get in from the first game of the position tournament. The coach told me to take my time and not lose my composure getter said. Which is something setae s coach Doug Urner could t do. I lost my poise when they made that run Early in the second half he said. Urner turned to Len Rogerson my co coach and said you talk not me i tend to get Caus tic and Len s approach really settled  the big difference in this game was be Taf s ability to pull Down rebounds. Dancy who led the Lions with 25 Points said he was t going to let the hornets push him around. Hanau s big men tried to bully us around but i was quicker than Barton Wade. I fronted him used my quickness and did some pushing of my own. 1 have played Center Long enough to know How to get physical out there Dancy said. The Lions boxed Wade completely out of this game As he failed to come up with a single rebound scoring just eight Points. Quite a shutdown considering Wade was the v corps scoring Champ in the 1984-85season. Roderick Roach Hanau s coach said it was a combination of the rims and his team s inability to move out for rebounds that did them in. They have High Bounce rims Here. They went to the outside of the offensive end and got the rebounds while we stayed under Neath. We relaxed and did t put them away when we had them Down and their coaches coached a smart game Roach said. The second game is tentatively scheduled for saturday april 26, at Hanau with the time to be announced. Dantley out Malone questionable for game 1 the i a i v a r t 1 a _ _ by the associated press two of the Aba s most explosive players could be absent this week when the playoffs open. Adrian Dantley of the Utah jazz the league s no. 2 scorer will not travel to dal Las for game 1 of the Best of five series with the Mavericks. The Utah Forward is suffering from muscle spasms and will re main in Salt Lake City. "a.d. Will not go to Dallas for Friday s game jazz spokesman Bill Kreifeldt said wednesday. And we won t know until sat urday whether he will try to play sunday in game 2. In Philadelphia the 76ers Are still Uncer Tain whether Center Moses Malone will be Able to play against the Washington bullets in a series that also starts Friday. Malone who suffered a fracture of the orbit Bone around his right Eye will not know if he will be available until shortly before game time. Moses is the main Man in any decision concerning him but to be effective he has to be Able to go at full tilt. And Well Only know whether he can do that when we see him scrimmage Philadelphia coach mat Guokas said. Malone has started wearing goggles for the first time in his career to protect the Eye and is still getting used to them. Philadelphia s injuries go beyond Malone. Bob Mcadoo who like Malone missed the final seven games of the regular season has a hype extended knee and is questionable. Julius Erving and Demon Johnson have injured rotator cuffs but Are expected to play against the bullets. In addition the 76ers will be without guard Andrew Toney for the entire play offs. Toney missed most of the regular sea son with stress fractures of both feet and then underwent Groin surgery. The defending Champion los Angeles lakers hosted the san Antonio spurs on thursday the Boston celtics met the Chi Cago bulls the Atlanta Hawks played the Detroit pistons and the Houston rockets hosted the Sacramento Kings