European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 4, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 30 the stars and stripes c sports thursday March 4,1993 to i How about hard Tirfe for by Dave Anderson in the National basketball association s own words its known As a a a flagrant foul. That s flagrant according to Webster As in a extremely Flau tingly or purposefully conspicuous a As in Quot glaringly evident a As in Quot notorious. As in the kicks John Starks mugging Kenny Anderson into Byrne Meadowlands Arenas parquet floor sunday and putting the net commentary Point guards broken left hand into a cast for at least two weeks if not longer. Starks was fined $5,000 i tuesday but Rod Thorn the a bad a Dean of discipline rejected the nets plea that the Knick guard be 1 suspended Ter reviewing video tape Thorn declared did t see any intent at ally beyond the Quot excessive contacts that defines a flagrant foul. In the Aba intent must be evident in order for a player to be suspended for a flagrant foul. V Quot intent a Saia Thorn Quot meaning something a that a unnecessary and  but with or without intent a its time the Aba imposed automatic suspensions on repeat offenders. Hard fouls deserve hard time. After a players second flagrant foul in a season for example he would be Dave Anderson suspended for one game. After his third another game. After his fourth three games. Thorn said he was asked at the recent All Star game to explore such a plan by the members of the a bad a Competition committee one from each club. Automatic suspensions would put flagrant fouls in perspective. As it is now the flagrant foul has wrongfully emerged As a badge of Honor a pretence of playing hard. At least it seems to be that Way on the kicks who revel in coach Pat Riley a Quot Tough defense a which was forged in the near upset of the Chicago bulls in last years playoffs. Quot Over the first two thirds of the 1992-93 season the 27 Aba teams averaged Only 3.8 flagrant fouls. But the kicks had 10 in that period and they have 12 now. Charles Oakley has committed six this season including five in less than five weeks earlier on Anthony Mason and Greg Anthony each have two Doc Rivers and Starks have one each. Across the Hudson the nets have seven. But when the kicks had 10 the it Nav worst team the Dallas Mavericks were the league Leader with 15, indicating that flagrant fouls Are also a dangerous outlet for frustration. Whatever the rationale the flagrant foul is a cheap shot that cheapens pro basketball. With automatic suspensions and the loss of game salaries for repeat offenders maybe players would think twice. Maybe even coaches would think twice. More and More the x Factor in sports is now the a Ray Factor. Andersons damaged left hand is just another in a Streak of marquee injuries to marquee players. 1 injuries Are part of the game. Especially any collision game. You can to legislate against accidents. But the cast on Kenny Andersons left hand is not there because of an Accident. John Starks a flagrant foul put that cast there. By the very nature of the a bad a own word Quot flagrant a that foul was not an Accident. But the most flagrant foul in the Aba is its own absence of automatic suspensions for repeat flagrant foul offenders.  j sonics nip cars for 8th straight by the associated press Seattle a Good teams produce Good games so it s realty no Surprise that the Seattle supersonics and Cleveland Cavaliers put on a Good show. Shawn Kempis two free throws with 11 seconds left in overtime gave the sonics the Lead for Good As they came away with a 108-105 Victory their eighth straight. Cleveland had its seven game winning Streak snapped. A Quot Cleveland a obviously a contender in the Eastern conferences beating them is important a Derrick Mckey of the sonics said. Both teams came into tuesday night s contest striving to reach the top Echelon of their respective conferences. Cleveland is 214 games behind Chicago and 1 game behind new York while Seattle is 3 games behind Portland. Res Ohn Aba sure this was an Opportunity to put p c on Phoenix Seattle a Eddie to son said after scoring 24 Points and pull ing Down 11 rebounds. Every team in the league has had a negative phase except Phoenix. If they have theirs now this is the time for us to make a  the Cavaliers tried to set up their final shot for Mark Price but the sonics defended him perfectly. John Battle ended up with the Ball and his 10-footer was blocked by Mckey. Mckey came Down with the Ball and Assed to Kemp who fed a streaking Gary Ayton for a Layup with 0.1 seconds left. Kicky Pierce scored 22 Points Kemp had 20 Points and 1 rebounds and Mckey 18 Points and five steals. Price paced the cars with 25 Points Craig Eli of scored 20 and Brad Daugherty had 17 Points and 14 rebounds. In other games tuesday night. Rockets 99, clippers 83 los Angeles since Cleveland lost Houston now has the second longest wire Streak in the Aba a eight games. The rockets took control of the game by outscoring the clippers. 16-4 in the final four minutes of the opening Quarter. Hakeem Olajuwon confronted the clippers Randy Woods on the Way to the locker room then took a swing at Ken Norman. Quot he grazed me Quot Norman said. Quot in be got to look out for our Rookie. I did no to swing. Stanley Roberts really locked him up tonight. He was frustrated i  Olajuwon played just 30 minutes be cause of foul trouble and scored Only 16 Points Well below his average of 24.8. Bulls 87, nets 80 East Rutherford no. The nets put on their worst offensive performance of the season. With Point guard Kenny Anderson sidelined new Jersey shot 35.7 percent from the Field. Michael Jordan led the bulls with 24 Points but Chris Morris provided the most excitement shattering a backboard on a Dunk with 4 21 left. Pacers 109, spurs 95 Indianapolis a the pacers won their third straight and made san Antonio 1-3 on its Road trip. Detlef Schrempf had team highs of 26 Points seven rebounds and nine assists Tor Indiana. Spurs coach John Lucas said his team especially missed Forward Sean Elliott sidelined with Back pains. A we could t find anybody to shut Schrempf Down Quot Lucas said. Kicks 107, Hawks 98 new York the kicks broke out kicks John Starks drives past Law is Stacey Augmon tuesday night in new York. Of a two game malaise in which they had lost by 26 and 28 Points. New York took advantage of the absence of the Aba s fifth leading rebounded Kevin Willis and offset a 42-Point Effort by Dominique Wilkins. Patrick Ewing scored 30 to Lead the kicks. Nuggets 127, lakers 115 Denver a Marcus Liberty tied a career High with 25 Points and Chris Jackson added 22 As Denver posted its 12th Victory in its last 13 Home games. Bucks 120, Mavericks 86 Milwaukee a the Bucks turned a 10point halftime Lead into a 90-62 Lead after three quarters thanks in part to a 24-5  magic 108, Timber wolves 89 Orlando Fla. A backup Forward Jeff Turner scored 10 of his 22 Points in the first 4 00 of the final period As the magic turned a five Point Lead into an 8871 advantage. To Denver sellout cheers retirement of English s Jersey Denver apr a sellout crowd gave a standing ovation to Alex English Denver Sall time leading scorer tuesday night As his no. 2 Jersey was retired and hoisted to the rafters at Mcnichols Arena during halftime ceremonies of nuggets 127-115 Victory Over the los Angeles lakers. Quot there was no Way in my life that 1 could close the chapter of my basketball playing Days without coming Back to Denver and thank All the Many fans a English said. A i m very grateful for Alt of you All to show me that you did appreciate what i did Here. A i enjoyed every minute of it just As much As you All did a English said after his Jersey look its place next to Dan Issell a no. 44 on the North Side of the Arena. English is the a bad a seventh leading All time scorer with 25,613 Points. He was the nuggets All time leading scorer with 21,645 Points but left Denver after he and then coach Doug Moe had a falling out during the 1989-90 season English finished his playing career with the the Dallas Mavericks before going to work for the Aba players association. English said coming Back to Denver was like a burying the  /