European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday May 30, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 25 commentary nets look to Daly for credibility by Jan Hubbard new Day thursday the new Jersey nets told everyone it is time to Stop laughing at them. They no longer want to be known As idiots. They want to permanently eradicate their inept image. The nets made their Best move since aug. 1, 1973, when they traded George Carter Kermit Washington a draft rights and Cash to the Virginia Squires for troit Daly structured a High powered offence around roster. It s one thing if a player refuses to play for Willie sojourner and More important Julius Erving. Chuck Daly provides the nets everything Pat Riley gave the new York kicks and everything the nets have not had. Credibility. Stability. Visibility. The nets for goodness Sakes Are going to be coached by the United states olympic coach. Net coach Chuck Daly. Good thing he got the olympic Job before he became the new Jersey coach. The olympic committee never would have embarrassed itself by hiring anyone connected with the nets. Wait a minute wait a minute. Its time to quit making fun of the nets. Right now. Promise. Daly is More than a High profile figure however. He is owner of two championship rings because he is a great coach. And versatile. In Nis Early Days in de Isiah Thomas and Kelly Tripucka. The pistons were ranked As High As third in offence. They participated in the highest scoring game in Aba history a 186184 triple overtime Victory Over the Denver nuggets. In Dalys latter Days in Detroit he built the leagues Best defense around Dennis Rodman Joe Dumars and John Salley. For the last three years the pistons were  in the league in defense. The nets under Bill Fitch were a woeful defensive team a except for shot blocking. With at the Helm you can bet that next season the nets will rank much better defensively than 18th, which is where they finished last season. Daly also will put the nets ownership and front office in touch with exactly what they have on the Daly Bill Fitch whom the players universally disrespected. Its quite another if someone such As Derrick Coleman or Chris Morris refuses to play for Daly. If that happens its obvious it will be time to make some major deals. But it will never get that far because Daly will not allow it to. Daly is great about getting players involved in coaching decisions. He was so adept at doing that in Detroit that he made the pistons think they did no to need him. Bill Laimbeer once called Daly a a Good  the players thought they had a great team. They did not realize How important Daly was. Next season they will find out. Daly also has extensive experience in coaching dingbats. Coleman and Morris May be Moody but compared to Mark Aguirre they Are absolutely delightful. Yet despite Aguirre a presence Daly managed to keep relative peace while directing the pistons to two titles. The nets have re established a sense of order. They have demonstrated they have a flair for the dramatic. Even Larry Brown did not give the nets the credibility Daly will provide. No one has had the potential to make the nets a viable exciting franchise that Daly has. The nets were As perfect As they could be thursday. They arc no longer a  Cool As season heats up Howard Johnson hit 38 homers last year but just four in his last 157 at bats. By Ben Walker the associated press when the weather gets hot so do the Home run hitters they say. And summer can to possibly get Here soon enough for Kevin Mitchell Howard Johnson Jack Clark and a lot of other slumping sluggers. Consider this going into the weekend Light hitting Manuel Lee Jim Leyritz and Henry Cotto each had hit three Home runs Mitchell Clark Mike Greenwell and Chili Davis had combined for five. Now its True that homers Are Down about 8.9 percent this season. Last year there were 3,383 Home runs hit in 2,410 games for an average of 1.61 per game. About one Quarter through this season there have been 1.47 Home runs per game. Weather has something to do with it. When its cold and Rainy Early in the season the Ball usually does no to travel too far and in places like Detroit Chicago and Boston its been one cold Spring. But forget about Home runs for a moment. How about some doubles Greenwell who has averaged 16 Home runs and 32 doubles in each of the last five seasons for Boston finally got his first extra base hit of the year this week. It took him 88 at bats and his double came on a Fly Ball to Center Field that californians Junior Felix might be caught except that he strained his Groin on the play. A actually i Hadnot even been thinking about it. In be been swinging the Bat real Well since in be been Back from the injury a said Greenwell who missed two weeks with an injured wrist. A a in be spent seven years in the big leagues and i realize its a funny game. A a in be had a lot of hits since in be been Here and i can to explain Why i Wasny to getting any extra base hits. But i swung the Bat real Well in Spring training and nit a lot of doubles and Home runs a he said. A you run into funny streaks sometimes and i was in one of those funny  Mitchell is in one of those streaks too and he does no to find it so funny. Mitchell whose 109 Home runs in the last three years were the most in the majors did not Homer this season until his 92nd at Bat for Seattle. Mitchell Hom Rcd the next Day but has not connected since giving him a grand total of two Home runs in 148 at bats. Mitchell was supposed to be a highlight for the mariners and instead of cheers he a been hearing it from the Home crowd. Recently he slammed Down his Bat after a strikeout something totally out of his character. A a in be never done that before a Mitchell said. A a in be never gotten that frustrated before. In be heard All the Boos and stuff. I just done to want people to give up on me a for Mitchell it might be a Case of being out of his league. He Tore up no pitchers while with Aan Francisco but is seeing a lot of different stuff in the Al. A a they be been pitching me away throwing me a lot of off Speed pitches a he said. A a that a the opposite of the Way they pitch in the no and in be got to  while Home run hitters Are expected to produce the Long Ball they can also expect to see a different style of pitches. That might account partly Why Johnson who led the no with 38 Home runs last season hit just four in his first 157 at bats this season. His Power drop resulted in a drop in the lineup Down to the sixth spot in the new York Metsy  soccer team intact for . Cup 92 by the associated press the first test for organizers of the 1994 world cup starts this weekend when the National teams of Italy Ireland Portugal and the . Open a four team nine Day tournament known As . Cup �?T92. Each team plays three games in the tournament which begins saturday with he United states playing Ireland at washing Tony Srok stadium and Contin Les sunday with an Italy Portugal match in in the Yale bowl at new Haven Ronn. Portugal plays the United states on wednesday night at Chicago a Soldier Field while Italy and Ireland play the following afternoon at Foxboro stadium in a rematch of their 1990 world cup quarterfinal won 1-0 by Italy. Italy which beat the . Team 1-0 in the first round of the 1990 world cup plays the americans on saturday at Soldier Field while Portugal and Ireland play sunday at Foxboro stadium. A this is our season a . Goalkeeper Tony Meola said. A we done to have a league so we get excited about every  the United states will have All its top players available for the first time since the 1990 world cup. Midfielders Tab Ramos and John Harkes and Forward Peter Vermes have rarely been available because they play for european clubs. In addition Forward Roy Wegerle of the Blackburn rovers in the English first division and defender Thomas Dooley of Kaiserslautern in the German Bunde Sliga will make their . Debuts. Both were Given . Passports in recent months in order to make them eligible to play for the United states. A even though i Haven to played for a National team i have played very important and serious matches internationally a said Dooley who scored three goals in 20 games this season. A of course any time you re Able to play for a National team its going to bring  the United states was routed 4-1 by Ireland on april 29 in Dublin. The Irish who have 14 players from their 22-Man world cup squad of 1990, Are coming off a 2-0 Victory Over Albania on tuesday in their first 1994 world cup qualifying game