European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 5, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 34 the stars and stripes sports sunday june 5, 1994. Aba takes the fight out of the nil. A t1. A _ a a a a. Commentary Byar Spander san Francisco examiner they re doing something in the Aba that should have been impossible. They Are ruining basketball that a what they Are doing. They Are turning the games into wrestling Natches and protest marches. And what a More they Are turning our attention and our affection toward hockey. Its been no contest. The excitement has been sucked out of pro basketball and injected into the nil. Even thursday night when the rangers beat the Vancouver canucks 3-1, you were afraid to leave the television screen until that open net goal in the final seconds. Double overtimes quadruple Over times heart palpitations it did no to matter that you never had put on a pair of ice skates or that you thought the red line was something Brezhnev used to quote. All you had to do was watch. Meanwhile the new York kicks took this wonderful game of Grace and skill and made it a shoving match. The sport that gave us Michael Jordan and magic Johnson and yes for those of you with Long memories Rick Barry and Julius Erving was instead giving us indigestion. The kicks and the bulls 38-37, at halftime that a not defense that a a disgrace. What can be going through Pat Riley a mind when he was coaching the lakers we were offered Showtime. Now with the kicks its Showtime. Its a fat Many a race at the company picnic a lot of shoppers barging into Macy son Sale Day. Its ugly As sin. A we Are a said Riley a who we what s that the Guys who sweep up after the elephants at Ringling bros.? whatever happened to the term a entertainment value can to we bring Back Jordan even for a Day or Charles Barkley in the nil they be been hitting crossbars and posts. In the Aba they be been hitting each other a and not Many baskets. Reggie Millers out there sure. But so Are Patrick Ewing and Greg Anthony and Charles Oakley. A year ago we had Michael against Charles a triple overtime for the Ages. This year we re very close to Hakeem against Reggie. I wonder what s on the discovery Channel the to big shots laughed when esp agreed to show the Stanley cup on the tube it was electronic suicide they said. But that was before the san Jose Sharks stepped out of a phone Booth and into the ratings. They were different. They were underdogs. They were fascinating. Basketball once Barkley disappeared has Only been Boring. 1 mean did you really care who won the Utah Denver series or the Utah Louston series of so Hakeem is the most dominating player in the game. He creates chaos. He just does no to create any passion. Look. It s june and they re still playing two Winter games hockey and basketball so we can be choosy. Baseball is Well along. Schools arc ending. If they want us to stay indoors when the fish Are jumping and the Cotton is High then they a better give us something More than a lot of nameless people plodding up and Down a heavyweights Elk Smits and Patrick Ewing will Square off one More time tonight. Arffia court what the nil has Given Are conversation pieces. Kirk Mclean the Vancouver goalie records 52 saves on tuesday night. Brian Leetch the rangers Forward scores a couple of goals on thursday night. Yes Reggie Miller got 39 Points for the pacers on wednesday but the game lacked definition. When the highlight is Miller giving the choke sign to Spike Lee at Coumides you re in trouble. To ratings for the Aba Are plummeting. They were off 37 percent for the sunday came from a. Year ago not that anyone is surprised. In 1993 it was the bulls and kicks Jordan against Ewing. In 1994, it was the pacers and kicks Lasalle Thompson against Anthony Mason did you catch that quote from Bernard King who used to play for the kicks a As Well As the warriors and bullets a fall the artistry had been taken out of the game a said King. Basketball is supposed to be Ballet in sneakers Quick reactions mobility credibility. Take away the sneakers and that a what the hockey playoffs have been. Three times the rangers and new Jersey devils went into double overtime in the semifinals including the deciding game. The devils tie it up with Only seconds to go in regulation. And then somehow the rangers win it with a wraparound goal past Martin Brodeur. Now that a entertainment. It have been this Way perhaps if Barkley had stayed healthy. The Phoenix suns rally in game 1 against the gagging Houston rockets was something for the Ages. And when the suns went up 2-0, on the Road we had a Chance. But Charles was aching. And so were the playoffs. The rockets ended up As winners. The flame had died. Basketball has an advantage Over hockey especially outside the Northeast. There Are baskets in every playground baskets hanging from so Many garages. You done to walk out the Back door in Cali fornia or Kentucky and say Start emulating Gretzky or Lemieux. And yet this time hockey . The image has been altered. Its the Aba where Guys Are fighting. In the nil they re scoring. Or saving. The Stanley cup has made us appreciate Pavel Bure and Mike Richter Given us new stars to watch. The Aba playoffs on the contrary have made us glance backward and wish for just one More series Between Bird and magic. Or Michael and intensity Galveston Texas a the Houston rockets Are getting a much needed break before the Start of the Aba finals. However too much rest and relaxation could dim some of the emotional fire that got them this far. The rockets earned a weeks break from the playoffs after wrapping up the Western conference championship on tuesday in game 5 against the Utah jazz. They came to the Beach to rest and heal their wounds and to find a Way to keep the competitive Edge they gained in beating Portland Phoenix and Utah to reach the championship series. A your bodies will be fresh a Forward Otis Thorpe said. A but mentally its a fight right now. You have to condition your mind even when you re not playing a the rockets have been on a Roll since losing the first two Fame games of their series against Phoenix. They rallied to beat the suns in seven games then beat the jazz in five. A a you re talking about an Opportunity that does no to come along too often a Thorpe said. A fall we can do is keep our intensity and be ready for the next series. A that first game is going to be so important. You done to want to Start out in a Hole coach Rudy Tomjanovich knows the dangers of a Long Layoff Between series. A the mental aspect is something we re really going to talk about a Tomjanovich said. A we were really playing Good basketball. This coaching staff is going to do its Best to make sure the Guys keep its a Happy problem for Thorpe a 10-year Veteran who a More accustomed to watching than playing at this Point in the playoffs. A it s been a Long 10 years a Thorpe said. A in nine of those 10 years in a already at Home looking at this thing on television. Now in a the one on the tube everybody will be watching. A in past years by this time of year id have gone on four or five Golf outings and my summer Tan would have kicked in by now. But in a Happy. Wco redoing to the finals a at least the rockets Are near the Beach. They be returned to Texas a amp a University at Galveston the site of their preseason training Camp to prepare for their third trip to the Aba finals. The rockets 1981 and 1986 finalists lost in six games to Boston a a it a Good to get away from All the attention Tomjanovich said. Rookie Sam Cassell Isnit worried about momentum. Team Confidence is High and he thinks that will do the Job. A the key to our Success is the five Guys on the floor and our Guys on the Bench a Cassell said. A a we re going to have to fight with everything that we have. I think that will be unlikely to pass up Purdue s Robinson Scripps Howard news service a consensus Lias developed that five players four of them underclassmen Are the class of this years Aba draft. The five Glenn Robinson of Purdue Jason Kidd of California Grant Hill of Duke Donyell Marshall of Connecticut and Juwain Howard of Michigan. They Are expected to go in that order though the latter two could flip Flop. That gives Robinson Purdue so big dog a to Milwaukee Winner of the first pick in the draft lottery two weeks ago. Coach general manager Mike Dun Eay plans to audition Robinson Kidd and Hill but he Wasny to being too Coy. A i would say there is a 99 percent Chance that we re going to keep the pick a lie said the Day after the lottery. How Good w ill he be a Glenn Robinson is As Good a player As i the big ten probably has Ever had a Michigan state coach Jud Heathcote said. A a we re talking about a Hall of Famer Here a lows a state coach Tim Floyd said. A a he la be mentioned in the same breath with magic Bird amp co. One i
