European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 30, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday april 30, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 23 commentary being Ralph Sampson is Good enough the trouble with Ralph Sampson is he in Twilt Chamberlain. Now a lot of basketball players have that problem but you see Ralph has no excuses. He s three inches taller than Chamberlain he s two Steps faster and he s a slightly better foul shooter. Ralph Sampson was t even Patrick Ewing they complained. It turned out that Patrick Ewing was t even Patrick Ewing once he got to the big leagues but that s beside the Point. Ralph Sampson was supposed to be the franchise when he showed up on the Houston rockets two years ago. He was so Good As a College player that the cel tics red Auerbach got annoyed with the whole state of Virginia when Sampson elected to stay in College there rather than going on hardship and letting the National basketball association fight Over him like Lions Over a prize Zebra. Sampson was in no hurry to get to the Aba and then in no hurry to take it Over when he got there. He played with the Deadpan look of a patient poker player on a Long cruise. He was Good but he was t flashy. He threw in Points from All Over the court. But he did t Dunk them. He did t do any of the fancy turnaround behind the Back stuffs. He did t play an overpowering in your face game. He did t Knock peo ple off the Ball. He did t scare anybody. He did t scowl enough. He looked like a Guy working on a lathe. He threw in 1,720 Points 21 a night he blocked 197 count pm shots he picked off 913 rebounds and his team won 29 games 15 More than it had the season before. But that was still Good for Only last place. Ralph for his part thought that if they wanted him to play Dracula they should have Given him a Cape and a coffin to sleep in. If they wanted him to frighten Little children they should have rented him a Gorilla suit. But if it was basketball they wanted Ralph Felt he was giving them an impeccable 40 minutes a night. He was Jim Murray Rookie of the year and he brought respectability to a franchise that had been focus less since Moses Malone left two years before. Houston was not satisfied. It wanted instant Jabbar. Russell. Muscle. It wanted Caveman basketball. It wanted its Sampson to kill the Lions. It wanted him to throw his weight around. The trouble was he did t have any. At 7-foot-4, Ralph weighed a Bare 220 or so. By Aba standards this is practically anorexic. Sampson was either too tall for his weight or too Light for his height. He had to get either heavier or Shorter. Sampson disagreed. A studious Man he had come to the conclusion that his Silhouette was the Way nature intended. And a canvass of the heavy men in the Pivot from Willis Reed to Bob Lanier to Moses Malone indicated to him that heft on the Hoof was hard on the Knees and Ankles. Lugging 280 pounds a night up and Down Hardwood floors every 24 seconds on legs that May have been constructed to carry 50 fewer seemed to Ralph to be not Only unwise but in the Long run unproductive. Then a curious thing happened the Houston team drafted a gifted nigerian out of the University of Houston Akeem Olajuwon. This seemed to cram an awful lot of height into one space. It s going to get awfully crowded in that Pivot one newsman warned. How Are they Gonna play it piggyback it was assumed that Olajuwon who is five inches Shorter than Sampson would shift to Forward. A but Olajuwon is 25 pounds heavier. So Sampson was the one management told to move Over. The game waited for an argument. Sampson shrugged. And moved Over. The league thrushes coined a new phrase the twin towers of Power and got ready for a new dynasty. The team moved All the Way from last to second in its division but got flipped out of the playoffs in the first round by Utah which had finished next to Lasi. This season the numbers Are better. Houston went Clear to the top in its division. But the league has t run to the cellar yet. The twin towers dominate the Skyline but not necessarily the backboard. The celtics do not tremble. The rub is that Sampson seems to be a Point guard in a Center s body. He has touch quickness a feel for the court an instinct for the flow of the game. He is miscast As a Power Forward. He plays a finesse game not an intimidating one. In a Large sense so does Kareem Abdul Jabbar. And therein lies the grand plot the scenario of the future. It goes like this the league needs a viable franchise in los an Geles. The Gate demands it television demands it and so does the Public. When Abdul Jabbar goes the Lak ers go from Showtime Usa to a lounge act from Uptown to Delancey Street. They arc shopping for that next big Man in the Pivot. Sampson would fit right in. He would t need a club or a fright wig to play with this chorus line. He could be himself. His skills Are not too dissimilar from Abdul Jabbar s. Sampson playing Forward is like Bogart playing a priest. He can do it bul Why the Man who Wisny Chamberlain could become at last the Man who is Ralph Sampson. Who could ask for anything More los Angeles times editor s note Sampson and the rockets were in Houston tuesday night to meet the Denver nuggets in their Best of seven series in the second round of the Aba playoffs. The rockets Lead the series 1-0. Wisconsin football coach Mcclain Dies at 48 Madison wis. A University of Wisconsin football coach Dave Mcclain collapsed in a Sauna and died of cardiac arrest monday shortly after working out on an exercise bicycle at Camp Randall stadium authorities said. Mcclain 48, died at St. Mary s Hospital in Madison after suffering the cardiac arrest Between 2 and 2 15 . Cd said Jim Mott the big ten school s director of sports information. Mcclain was pronounced dead at 3 12 . The coach was exercising on his station Ary bicycle going through his Normal exer Cise routine Mott told reporters. He then went into a professor Steve Zimmerman was in the Sauna when Mcclain entered but left to take a Shower Mott said. When Zimmer Man returned and began talking to Mcclain the coach did t respond and Zim Merman called for help Mott added. Mcclain led the badgers to a 5-6 Overall record last fall 2-6 in conference play. It was his first losing season after four straight winning seasons. We lost More than an outstanding coach said us athletic director Elroy Hirsh. He was a great father husband and human Teing. People like this Are not re former Ohio state football coach Woody Hayes called Mcclain the Ideal coach and said the two had lunch together two weeks ago. It s a hell of a thing Hayes said. Ter Rible. He worked hard. He was extremely popular. He had a Dandy Dandy former Badger Mark Shumate and Hayes said Mcclain s family had a history of heart trouble but they had no details. He was somebody who would stand be Hind you when you needed some help said Shumate who played under Mcclain for five years. He could put you at ease right Green Bay Packer Gary Ellerson who played for Mcclain for three years called him a Good coach and a class Mcclain became the big ten school s 24th head football coach on dec. 16, 1977. He was graduated from Bowling Green state University in 1960 and came to wis Consin from Indiana s Ball state University where he had coached seven seasons and posted a 46-25-3 record. Mcclain was the first coach to have four consecutive winning seasons at Wisconsin since Ivan Williamson in 1949-54. He was 46-42-3 in his eight seasons and his big ten record was 32-34-3. The badgers were invited to the Hall of Fame bowl in 1984, their third postseason bowl game in four years. They had gone to the Independence bowl in 1982 and the Garden state bowl in 1981. Mcclain began his coaching career at draft from Page 21 Back Jim Everett of Purdue perhaps with an Eye toward trading so million a year incumbent Warren Moon. Then came defensive end Jon hand taken by Indianapolis. The Colts had traded monday with Dallas for quarterback Gary Hogeboom in anticipation of Everett being gone. Indianapolis pick was followed by the first Surprise. St. Louis which wanted hand took line Backer Anthony Bell of Michigan state. He had been projected As a second or third Rounder. Then came a pair of 300-Pound offensive tackles Jim Dombrowski of Virginia by new Orleans and Brian Jozwiak of West Virginia by Kansas City. San Diego took o Neal and Pittsburgh followed with Temple guard John Rienstra. Philadelphia took Byars Cincinnati took Washington linebacker Joe Kelly and the Detroit Lions grabbed Chuck Long of Iowa the second quarterback of the first round. Then came offensive tackle James Fitz Patrick of Southern Cal by san Diego defensive end Gerald Robinson of Auburn by Minnesota running Back John l. Williams of Florida by Seattle running Back Ronnie Harmon by Buffalo and linebacker Tim Green of Syracuse by Atlanta. Dallas then jumped ahead of the giants to take Sherrard new York grabbed apr sey and san Francisco traded away the pick it got from the cowboys to take Wolford. Then it was Tennessee wide receiver Tim Mcgee to Cincinnati Unsung offensive tackle Mike Haight to the new York jets and offensive lineman Mike Schad of Queen s University in Toronto to the los Angeles rams. Schad is the first Canadian College player Ever taken in the first round. The raiders typically made another unusual pick taking Little known defensive end Bob Buczkowski of Pitt. Tampa Bay chose cornerback Roderick Jones of sum. The super bowl teams ended the first round with running backs sum s Reg Gie Dupard to the new England patriots and Florida s Neal Anderson to the Chi Cago bears. The patriots also got a break on the Sec Ond round when Hometown favorite Mike Ruth the Boston College nose tackle who won the outland award was still available. Detroit had the same Good Luck grabbing leu running Back Garry James who had been projected As the Lions first pick. The eagles got their wish when Texas am fullback Anthony Toney was Avail Able As insurance if Byars in t ready immediately. Crestline Ohio High school and became an assistant at Bowling Green in 1961. He was an assistant coach Al Cornell in 1962, at Miami University in Ohio from 1963-66, at Kansas from 1967-68 and at Ohio state from 1969-70. University Chancellor Irving Shain praised Mcclain As a Man totally dedicated to his profession who recognized the important benefits of intercollegiate athletics. Dave s thoughts were always with his student athletes. He took great Pride in their accomplishments both on and off the Field. He was a gentleman who worked hard at establishing positive relations with the University s Many constituencies. The University will miss his leadership and commit ment to Mcclain is survived by his wife Judy and their three children Tom a freshman at us Platteville and Marcy and Mindy Mott said. Fitzsimmons fired As spurs coach san Antonio Texas up the san Antonio spurs who ended the regular season with a 5-24 slump and were swept from the playoffs by the los Angeles lakers Mon Day fired coach Cotton Fitzsimmons. We did it quickly because the spurs need to get started with our planning for next year team owner Angelo Drossos said. The decision to remove him came after a meeting of club officials. Fitzsimmons had a year remaining on a three year contract for which he will be paid $275,000. Anybody who is let go is certainly Dis appointed but i also understand the Busi Ness Fitzsimmons said. This is year 15 for me in the Aba. When the team does not win the coach normally is the Guy who is the spurs ended the regular season 35-47
