European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 3, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Aba preview lets bulls spurs blazers get nod to. I v tit inn a new by Jan Hubbard new Day Atlantic division Boston celtics. Here is a fact of Aba life Larry Bird will be much letter this season than last which is not to say he will be Hie same Bird who won three consecutive map awards. Rut hell be better. J Bird a 50-percent career shooter struggled from the eld last season hovering around 45 percent for much of the time before finishing at 47.3. But now he has a y 1 year behind him to overcome the effects of the year Byoff in 1988-89 season after surgery on both heels j in the playoffs the backcourt cannot match up with the pistons or bulls. They would have to be very Lucky 1 a or almost perfect a to get to the conference finals. Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers won the Atlantic last year and have improved their regular season product by adding 7-6 Man Ite Bol who should help them win More games. Charles Barkley figures to be better than Ever. They can expect to win More than 50 games but go no further than the second playoff round. New York kicks say it again. And again and again and  Long As the kicks have Patrick Ewing there is no by they cannot win at least half their games and get nto the playoffs. The problem is that Ewing does not pave enough help. Miami heat heat fans  get too excited. This lofty fourth id Ace prediction does no to mean the heat is going to be significantly better Only that the bullets and nets will be significantly worse. Washington bullets the bullets gave up Jeff Malone for Pervis Ellison fhe bullets May have a Center but that a it. Bernard icing will continue to be a steady 18-Point scorer but he bullets Best player is Power Forward John Williams ind he is grossly overweight after having major knee surgery. A new Jersey nets i the nets Are the pits. Yes they think they Are in the Tarly stages of building something special. They have beaded away some of their bad apples and underachiever. Even with Derrick Coleman the nets simply do not have the Type of team that can compete with even the verage Aba team. A a Central Chicago bulls two years ago the Chicago bulls finished 16 games behind the pistons during the regular season. Last sea Jon they finished four games behind. They have Fine tuned their team adding depth in Forward Cliff Levingston and guard Dennis Hopson. Stacey lung is ready to become a big time scorer. Add Scottie Pippen Horace Grant and of course Michael Jordan 6nd this is the year the bulls could catch the Detroit off so is Anc in he me Quot court advantage for the play Detroit pistons the pistons will not surrender meekly. They will Dis season what other champions have discovered. Their Success has made them rather Safe and Borig in terms of the prediction business. Cleveland Cavaliers the Cavaliers sacrificed a run at a championship last Leason when they traded Ron Harper for the rights to. Any ferry. Ferry has arrived from Italy but so far the reaction is mixed. Critics say he cannot rebound is too weak to play big Forward and is too slow to guard Small forwards. Admirers say he is a Winner. The cars should Yin 50 games but Lack of depth in the backcourt will prevent them from challenging for a title. Atlanta Hawks new coach Bob Weiss will rejuvenate the merry Laws who seem to be a Nice Bunch of Guys. With najor problems in the attention Span area. The Hawks Rpu listening to Mike Fratello who three years Parker had been touted As the Best coach in the Aba. Milwaukee Bucks As always the Bucks will demonstrate great fundamentals and be one of the tougher defensive teams in no a As a ways they will be fortunate to get last the Fust round simply because they have a Large roup of role players but no superstars. T Indiana pacers. Up ers Are a strange team a talented but average. They have player s with superstar ability such As Reggie Miller and Chuck person. They have 7-4 Rik mits a Center who could develop into one of the five in i ea8ue they have the versatile detlef Lup have decent role players such As la bile Thompson and Mike Sanders. But they have Little Larry Bird should shoot closer to his career 50 percent. Chance of finishing better than .500. Charlotte hornets the hornets Are Only two years old but they already have had two coaches and two general managers. The hornets have several Good Young players most notably . Reid. But it appears they made a major mistake in their first draft by taking Rex Chapman instead of a bigger player. Midwest san Antonio spurs the spurs improved 35 games last season but it is doubtful they can match that since they would have to go 91-1, a Tough task in an 82-game season. Still they figure to improve because David Robinson a superstar in his first year is not going to decline. Sean Elliott had growing pains As a Rookie but he will be better. The spurs also have outstanding scorers in Terry Cummings and Willie Anderson and Rod Strickland undoubtedly will Benefit from a full training Camp. The spurs made two excellent moves acquiring swing Man Paul Pressey from the Bucks and signing free agent David Greenwood. Utah jazz the jazz filled a major Hole when they acquired High scoring guard Jeff Malone who will play alongside John Stockton. The jazz also has perhaps the Best Forward in the game in Karl Malone. Those three along with a terrific defense will be Good enough to help the jazz win at least 50 games. Houston rockets this could be a Surprise team which seems a Little Odd because any team with Akeem Olajuwon in the Middle should be excellent. Olajuwon however has had a poor supporting cast in recent years. But during the off season the rockets acquired guard Kenny Smith from Atlanta and it looks like Smith will be an outstanding addition. He might Start which would free sleepy Floyd from play making duties. With Otis Thorpe assisting Olajuwon on the boards the rockets will be Tough inside. The rockets could Challenge the top three in the division. Dallas Mavericks Dallas acquired fat lever and Rodney Mccray in the off season so those two must blend in. And with lever Derek Harper and Rolando Blackman at guard the Mavericks must avoid playing time controversies. If they can and if Roy Tarpley stays clean they will be Good enough to win 50 games. Orlando magic magic fans  get Overly excited because fifth place in the Midwest Means the magic has to win Only about 23 games. In Rookie Dennis Scott the magic apparently has drafted a major league scorer who should e the favorite for Rookie of the year honors. Minnesota Timber wolves the Timber wolves had the Best record of the four expansion teams last season and it still is Early enough in franchise history for the players not to have tired of the bullying tactics of coach Bill Musselman. Tony Campbell shoots with no conscience but hit often enough to average 23.2 Points. Denver nuggets forget for a minute the wild and crazy system of Paul Westhead which is almost sure to allow 200 Points sometime in the season. The nuggets had a major off season reduction in Talent when they traded fat lever to Dallas and did not re sign free agent Alex English. There Are mixed reports on Rookie Chris Jackson who May be Able to score but wont be Able to Stop anyone. Westhead says he wants to average More than 140 Points a game. His problem will be that opponents May average 160. Pacific Portland Trail blazers the Trail blazers tied for the second Best record in the league last season at 59-23, and they advanced to the Aba finals. They Are intact and More experienced and the Bench was strengthened with the acquisition of Danny Ainge to Back up the outstanding backcourt of Clyde Droxler and Terry Porter. The blazers figure to get off to a Quick Start and that should enable them to overtake the lakers for the division championship although it does not mean they will beat the lakers in the playoffs. Los Angeles lakers new coach Mike Dunleavy has installed a new offence and the veterans were not completely comfortable with it in training Camp. Also the lakers have added Sam Perkins and Terry Teagle and although each is an accomplished player they will have to fit in. The lakers still could win 60 games but the Competition in the West is so Tough that 60 May not be enough to win the Pacific. Phoenix suns the suns have won a total of 109 games the past two seasons and have advanced to the Western finals each time. They have prolific offensive players in Tom Chambers and Kevin Johnson. Guard Jeff Hornacek continues to improve and third year Man Dan Majerle should be ready for stardom. Unlike the blazers and the lakers however the suns were unable to swing a major Deal. They still will win More than 50 games but they May be one player Short of winning the Western title. Los Angeles clippers barring More bad Luck this finally could be the year that the clippers stable of no. 1 picks jells and makes the playoffs. The clippers front line is so talented that Danny Manning is Only the fourth Best big Man on the team. Forward Charles Smith will put up big numbers Center Benoit Benjamin reported in shape and Forward Ken Norman worked out so enthusiastically in the off season that he May be a candidate for or. Universe. The clippers Are not As Good i the backcourt where Gary Grant gets Many assists and plays Good defense but is inconsistent. Rookie to Kimble should add scoring punch and the clippers could get a big lift in january when guard Ron Harper is expected to be fully recovered from major knee surgery. Golden state warriors coach Don Nelson was singing the blues in preseason which is probably a Good sign. Last year Nelson was optimistic and the warriors who were Hurt by the loss of Center Alton Lister knee surgery and Terry Teagle to the lakers. Chris Mullin is one of the a bad a better All around offensive players. Seattle supersonics no one will argue that the supersonics Lack Talent. Dale Ellis and Xavier Mcdaniel will score a lot of Points. Derrick Mckey is a Multi talented Forward. The sonics also have High Hopes for Rookie guard Gary Payton. But there is something missing in Seattle a most notably a Center. Michael Cage is a Forward playing out of position and Shawn Kemp is a year or two away from being consistently effective. More than that deficiency however the sonics seem to Lack the intangible Quality of leadership. And new coach . Jones is known More As a hands off coach than As a Leader. Sacramento Kings Dick Motta loves working with Young Talent and he has a lot. Motta seems to Wear out his Welcome when Young Guys become older and get tired of his Iron listed tactics. Forward Wayman Tisdale will score but in the West however Young rebuilding teams wont win Many games