European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 28, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday. April 28, 1994 sports the stars and stripes Page 33 commentary bad taste not a Puni Snoie offence in Aba a funny thing happened to the basketball sunday on its a into the hands of Denver s Mahmoud Abdul Rauf just As he was about to attempt to set an Aba record for free throw percentage in a season. Funnier still might be the Way the Aba has reacted. During a timeout with 6 50 remaining in the third Quarter in Houston moments before Abdul Rauf stepped tothe line one of three officials working the Gam agreed to a request from a Spectator sitting at outside and flipped him the basketball. The Spectator former Aba great Calvin Mur Phy turned it Over in his hands a few times and flipped it Back to the offi Cial. After the timeout the official flipped Heball to Abdul Rauf who made Eye Contact with Murphy before toeing theline. He swished the first free throw then snort armed the second. Those Typo attempts by Abdul Rauf were his last of the game and the 228th and 229th of the season. The one he converted gave him 219made for a free throw percentage of .956. It left him two hundredths of a percentage Point shy of the record set during the 1980-81 season by none other than the aforementioned or. Mur Jim Litke. So what s wrong with this scenario depends on whom you ask. Murphy who now works As a to analyst forthe rockets after 13 seasons playing for the club had no complaints. Then again he simply May not know any better. And the fact he attended sunday s game As a Spectator did t make his re action any less embarrassing Murphy leaped out of his seat and began clapping As soon As the second try fell Short Only slightly More Palata ble. V " / the victim insisted faulty mechanics caused the miss and not any whammy or hex Mur Phy might have put on the basketball. And Abdul Rauf a Low key soul known As Chris Jack son until his conversion to islam several seasons ago did t appear to care much either Way. Aba spokesman Jan Hubbard said Mon Day the league would find put from the official involved either Edt Rush Paul Mihalik or Derrick Stafford How the Ball found its Way to Murphy. But by tuesday Thorn had ruled there was no harm thus no foul. He said no further action was planned. There Are plenty of times during a stoppage in play when a ref will hand the bal to a kid sit Ting nearby. This whole thing Thorn said was very True enough. But the Way things Are these Days the Aba is wasting an Opportunity to re mint people of a worthwhile lesson. In the past year or so fans have run Dow onto the playing Field at Yankee stadium with one out to go run a soccer referee off a pitch i Spain and tried to land a paraglider in the ring at Caesars Palace while Riddick Bowe Vandevander Holyfield were fighting for the heavy weight championship inside it. And those Inci dents Pale when compared to the stabbing of Monica Seles. Obviously Murphy s tired Little routine was t As disruptive As any of them. But it s not hard to see where with a Little imagination and the right person i.e., Pete Rose this kind of thing could become both really tiresome and really time consuming. If the Aba won t take the time to provide an guidelines on the subject let s Hope the referees figure this much out for themselves in this Dayan age it s a Good to take a Long Hack at who you Are handing the Ball to. By the a ocl us or it s the big four front and Center by Bill Barnardas basketball writer four players David Robinson Hakeem Olajuwon Shaquille o Neal and Patrick Ewing made 1993-94 the year of the Center Well have to wait however until the two big four face off in the playoffs. All four of their teams made the postseason but the earliest meetings would be in the conference finals. Ewing s new York Chicks Are second seeded in the East while o Neal s Orlando magic Are fourth. Similarly Olajuwon s Houston rockets second in the West would have to win two rounds before facing Robinson s fourth seeded san Antonio spurs. Here s a capsule look at the Best-of-5 first round matchup with the teams head to head record in the regular season key players Outlook and prediction Eastern conference no. 1 Atlanta is. No. 8 Miami head to head Atlanta 3-1.key players Miami Center Rony Seikaly for Ward Glen Rice guard Steve Smith Reserve John Sal Ley. Atlanta forwards Kevin Willis and Danny Man Ning guard cookie Blaylock Reserve Craig the heat looked very Strong after the All Star break winning five straight Road games at on stretch but fell apart late in the season nearly losing the last playoff berth when Seikaly sprained an got Back in time to Salvage Miami s second postseason appearance but the Hawks Are playing too Well to become the first top seed to lose to an eighth seed. Prediction Hawks in 4 no. 2 new York is. No. 7 new Jersey head to head new Jersey 4-1.key players new Jersey Forward Derrick Cole Man guard Kenny a Iderson Center Benoit Benjamin Reserve Armon Gilliam. New York Center Patrick Ewing Forward Charles Oakley guard Derek Harper Reserve Charles Smith. Outlook this is the matchup fans in the Newyork area were looking Forward to. The nets 4-1 advantage in the regular season is intriguing but the perceived matchup advantages for new Jersey should Dis appear when the kicks Are Able to concentrate on them exclusively. Benjamin has played Well lately scor ing 20 or More Points in three recent games. If he could keep it up the upset possibility is there. Prediction kicks in 4. No. 3 Chicago is. No 6. Cleveland head to head Cleveland 3-1. Key players Cleveland guard Mark Price Cen Ter John Williams Forward Bobby Phills Reserve Tyrone Hill. Chicago Forward Scottie Pippen guard , Center Luc Longley Reserve Toni Kukoc. Outlook the Cavaliers have been eliminated bythe bulls in four of the six previous years with Michael Jordan hitting series ending shots twice. Jordan is gone but so Are Brad Daugherty and Larry Nance. Cleveland did remarkably Well to win 47 games but Chicago did remarkably Well to win 55. The bulls look that much better right Chicago in 4. No. 4 Orlando is. No. 5 Indiana head to head series tied 2-2.key players Indiana guard Reggie Miller Cen Ter Rik Smits Forward Dale Davis Reserve Anton Odavis. Orlando Center Shaquille o Neal guard Nick Anderson guard Anfernee Hardaway Reserve Scot Skiles Outlook the pacers Are playing better than an Indiana Aba team finishing the season with a club re Cord eight straight victories. Many observers will take the position that the pacers Are soft unto proven otherwise regardless of How Many times Smits scores40 Points in a game. Prediction Indiana in 4. Western conference no. 1 Seattle is. No. 8 Denver head to head series tied 2-2. Key players Denver Center Dike be Mutombo guard Mahmoud Abdul Rauf Forward Laphonso Ellis and Reserve Robert pack. Seattle Forward Shaw Kemp guard Gary Payton Forward detlef Schrempf Reserve Ricky Seattle is loaded with nine Tough play ers at coach George Karl s Call. Ricky Pierce has Aba playoff predictions Olajuwon Robinson looked Good in limited action since he returned from an injury giving the defensive minded sonics an extra offensive weapon they might not have needed. Prediction Seattle in 3. No. 2 Houston is. No. 7 Portland head to head Houston 4-0.key players Portland guards Clyde Drexler and Rod Strickland Center Clifford Robinson Reserve Chris Dudley. Houston Center Hakeem Olajuwon guards Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell Reserve Sam Cassell. Outlook the rockets depth was comparable to Seattle s in the first half of the season before injuries to Maxwell Mario Elie Matt billiard and Carl Herrera limited the options of coach Rudy Tomyanovich. But Olajuwon still should be too much for the Trail blazers although an upset is possible if Chris Dudley recently returned from a season Long ankle injury can help on defense. Prediction Houston in 5. No. 3 Phoenix is. No. 6 Golden state head to head Phoenix 3-2.key players Golden state Forward Chris web Ber guard Latrell Sprewell Forward Chris , Cen tev Chris Catling. Phoenix Forward Charles Barkley guards Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle Reserve . A Outlook the suns Are vulnerable to teams with dominating big men so at first glance they caught a break there. But it s a double edged sword As Golden state is similarly vulnerable. In what could be a shoot put Phoenix has Home court advantage More weapon sin Reserve and playoff experience to put them Over the top. Prediction Phoenix in 5. No. 4 Sari Antonio is. No 5 Utah head to head Utah 5-0. Key players Utah Forward Karl Malone guards John Stockton and Jeff Hornacek Reserve Tom Chambers. San Antonio Center David Robinson for wards Dale Ellis and Dennis Rodman Reserve . Reid. Outlook the jazz despite being the lower seed have that big sweep to give them Confidence. But the playoffs Are a new season and the 5-0 will mean nothing if Utah can t contain Robinson Ana Ellis starts hitting from outside again after a late season injury an Utah in 4. I
