Friday, June 10,1988/The Battalion/Page 5
Sports
Mondays ai'
Call Mortal
>lant saleSa:
lopswillbet,
the baserr?
do so.
Submission
> an en[j) m
Brown denies
Spur rumors
■ SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Kan
sas coach Larry Brown, whose
Hame repeatedly has emerged as
collegiate and professional bas
ketball coaching jobs become va
cant, agreed in principle to be
come the next coach of the San
■ntonio Spurs, a newspaper re
ported Thursday.
H But Brown, who led the Jay-
hawks to the NCAA title last sea
son, denied he has accepted an
offer from the NBA franchise.
I The Sun Antonio Light quoted
sources as saying that Brown had
Iccepted the job vacated after
Spurs owner B.J. “Red”
cCombs fired two-year coach
ob Weiss on Tuesday.
■ The newspaper quoted a
source close to Brown as saying
he is “100 percent sure” that
Brown has agreed to take the job.
I The source told the newspaper
that Brown and the Spurs have
agreed to a multi-year, $3 million
Seal.
I “This deal is done, unless
^eedMcDvt Brown changes his mind, which
Weonlypib he has been known to do,” the
source said Wednesday night.
I Brown told the Kansas City
Star Thursday that he had not ac-
Kpted an offer.
I “It’s news to me,” Brown said.’
I “No. 1, I’m not commenting on
any of this and No. 2, that’s not
true.”
I Earlier Wednesday, several
friends of Brown indicated the
Ji.yhawks coach feels “very posi
tive” about San Antonio and the
B)aching situation with the Spurs.
■ Brown has had earlier pro
I,, head coaching stints with the Car-
|j)lina Cougars and Denver Nug
gets in the ABA and the New Jer
sey Nets in the NBA.
?en
volatile s
iuses brain,'
damage,
NY city streets
harden Piston
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) —
When he was growing up on the
mean streets of Brooklyn, Vinnie
Johnson had a dream.
Johnson, a key reserve on the De
troit Pistons’ Eastern Conference
championship team, sometimes re
turns to those streets and asks about
guys he knew at Franklin D. Roose
velt High School — guys who did not
escape.
Johnson played collegiate basket
ball for Baylor University.
“I’d say, ‘Where’s so-and-so?”’
Johnson said. “They’d say, ‘Oh man,
he got shot. He’s dead,’ or ‘He’s on
drugs,’ or ‘He’s in jail.’ You heard all
kinds of stories. But some guys made
it. My dream was to play one year in
the NBA. 1 got that dream. But I
know others didn’t.”
Rather than one year, Johnson
has played nine seasons in the NBA.
He has that reputation for occasion
ally getting a hot shooting hand, the
epitome of the player who gives a
team instant offense off the bench.
Danny Ainge of the Boston Celtics
dubbed Johnson the Microwave be
cause he gets hot in a hurry.
But after shooting 44.3 percent
from the field during the regular
season and 40.7 percent in the Pis
tons’ first 15 playoff games, includ
ing nine scoreless minutes in Game 5
against Boston, Johnson’s image was
becoming somewhat tarnished.
“If I miss four or five in a row,
then I lose a lot of confidence,”
Johnson said. “I’ll stop shooting and
try and do other things. I’ll try and
do something like make a move and
a great pass and get the team going.
That helps get my confidence back.”
In his last two games, however,
Johnson has regained his confidence
by living up to his nickname.
He was 10-for-15 with a team-
high 24 points in the series-clinching
win against Boston and was 7-for-l 1
for 16 points in Detroit’s 105-93 vic
tory in Game 1 of the NBA
Championship Series against the Los
Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
“Was he something or what?” tea
mmate John Salley asked. “When he
hits that first shot or so, just give him
the ball and get out of the way. It’s
like he’s unstoppable.”
“I was inconsistent in the regular
season,” Johnson said. “It was a bad
year for me. I didn’t play as many
minutes this year because we have so
many weapons. But whenever we
had a big game, I was there, I played
well. At least that’s how I felt.”
Johnson said his Brooklyn back
ground helped his development be
cause basketball is so competitive
there.
“There are guys there that could
play pro, but never went to college,”
he said. “I could go back there after
winning it and they would say con
gratulations, but then you have to
walk out on the court. You still have
to prove yourself out there. It gives
me a strong mental attitude. I never
take anything for granted.”
Johnson said one of the play
grounds he went to was called Soul
in the Hole.
g>
there,” he said. “There were a lot of
guys who could play pro, but just got
themselves in trouble. I had a
stronger desire than them. I always
had a dream to play in the NBA, and
I was not going to be misled.”
Shelby streak
reaches 24
LOS ANGELES (AP) — John
Shelby extended his hitting streak
to 24 games with a go-ahead dou
ble in the fifth inning Thursday
as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat
the Houston Astros 4-2.
With Nolan Ryan pitching,F-
ranklin Stubbs walked with one
out, stole second with two outs
and scored on Mike Marshall’s
double for a 2-2 tie. Shelby fol
lowed with his hit and scored on
Mike Scioscia’s single for a 4-2
lead.
Orel Hershiser, 8-3, gave up
two runs on five hits in eight in
nings. Jay Howell finished for his
sixth save.
Alan Ashby led off the Hous
ton second with his seventh
homer. The Astros scored an
other run in the inning on a dou
ble by Craig Reynolds, an error
by second baseman Steve Sax and
Gerald Young’s single.
The Dodgers made it 2-1 in the
fourth when Shelby walked and
Scioscia and Jeff Hamilton fol-
lowed with singles.
t
Bubka breaks
vault record
BRATISLAVA, Czechoslovakia
(AP) — Sergei Bubka of the Soviet
Union broke his world record in the
pole vault during an International
Amateur Athletic Federation Grand
Prix track and field meet. Bubka
cleared 19 feet, 10'/» inches.
Bubka’s leap surpassed the mark
of 19-9'/4 he set June 23, 1987, at
Prague.
Bubka cleared the record height
on his first attempt, the official CTK
news agency said.
Texas A&M University System Employees
Your Body Is
A Wonderful Thing.
Cover It With
Texas Health Plans.
Texas Health Plans is a Health Maintenance
Organization dedicated to providing Texans
with quality, affordable health care.
New Benefits
Primary Care Physician Office Visits
$5 copayment
(includes the following services and more)
Well Child Care no charge
Immunization. no charge
Maternity (pre- and post-natal care) $5 copayment
for initial office visit
Authorized Referral Specialist visits and care
$5 copayment
X-rays and lab tests no charge
Medically necessary hospitalization no charge
Lenses and frames or contacts $80.00 per set
Prescription drugs $4.00/Austin
$4.50/Bryan-College
Station and Waco
RATES
Waco, Temple
Bryan-College
Station
Austin
Employee
Employee and one dependent
Employee and family
...$84.62
...$167.50
...$255.24
$82.87
$174.02
$256.88
Enrollment ends July 15, 1988.
For more information, call Texas Health Plans today at:
(800) 234-7912
Tfexas
Health
Plans, Inc.
Warriors could ‘Bol’
over Sampon’s ego
Do the Golden State Warriors re
alize what they’ve done? In an .at
tempt to make all the other “Twin
Tower” combinations in the Na
tional Bas
ketball Asso
ciation look
more like
“Double
Dwarfs,” the
Warriors ac-
? [uired 7-
oot-7 Man-
ute Bol from
the Wash
ington Bul
lets.
Bol is also
answer to
two NBA
trivia
questions. Not only is he the league’s
tallest player, but he is also the only
one to average more blocked shots
per game than points — 2.7 to 2.3.
So naturally his position is center.
As in the same position of Ralph
Sampson, the only 7-foot-4 human
being who shrinks to 4-foot-7 at the
sound of a whistle.
The Warriors acquired Sampson
in a trade with the Houston Rockets
this season so that he could play at
center — his natural position. With
the Rockets, Sampson had
disappeared into oblivion on the
court at the power forward position,
leaving Akeem Olajuwon to carry
the team offensively and
defensively.
Sampson, who has been known to
pout during games, can’t be happy
about the arrival of Bol. Bol
certainly is not mobile enough to
play power forward and his
defensive prowess is too valuable to
waste away on the bench.
“Manute, in my humble
estimation, is the greatest shot
blocker I’ve ever seen, and I’ve
played with Bill Russell and against
Wilt Chamberlain, and coached
against Mark Eaton,” Warriors
coach Don Nelson said in an
Associated Press story Thursday.
This of course means that
Sampson’s ego and professionalism
will once again be put to the test — a
test he has often failed. He was a
moody crybaby with the Rockets
once Olajuwon emerged as the
team’s true superstar savior.
And he often showed no heart or
emotion when he played. One of
Spud Webb’s or Tyrone Bogues’
ventricles couldn’t have fit in
Sampson’s oversized chest cavity.
When he did show emotion on the
court, a fight usually broke out with
Sampson attacking someone
approximately the same size as the
waterboy.
If Sampson does surprise
everybody and welcomes Bol to the
team with open arms, the Warriors
could have a potentially lethal inside
ame at both ends of the court,
ampson is by far the more
accomplished offensive player. He
could play the low post position
offensively.
Defensively, Bol could keep the
opposition’s center occupied while
the more mobile Sampson could line
up against the power forward. This
would also allow Bol to clog the
middle.
Of course if Sampson is moved to
the power forward and is unhappy
about it, the Warriors have a simple
solution. They could always trade
for benchwarmer Chuck Nevitt of
the Detroit Pistons.The 7-foot-5
Nevitt would allow Sampson to make
the move to small forward.
PROBLEM PREGNANCY?
Pro-Choice
Concerned Women’s Center
7324 Southwest Freeway #1010A
Houston, Texas 77074
713-988-2200
FREE PREGNANCY TESTING
IMMEDIATE SCHEDULING
ClNtPLEX ODION
AND
PLITT THEATRES
$3.00 BARGAIN MATINEE DAILY
ALL SHOWS BEFORE 6 PM
At Sfl fCtrO THEATRES CHECK SHOWIIMES
post oak Three
1500 HARVEY RD 6S3-2796
CINEMA THREE
315 COLLEGE AVE 693-2796
The Last Emperor ( po)
2:00 5:00 8:00
Cinema III
Crocodile
Dundee
1:00 3:15 5:30 7:4510:00
Post Oak III
Poltergeist III ( pg 13)
2:104:107:109:10
Cinema III
A Time of Destiny ( pgi3)
Funny Farm,.™,
2:05 4:15 7:05 9:15
1:30 3:30 5:35 7:30 9:30
Cinema III
Post Oak III
A Great New Place
Fbr Fbod, Flin
And Games!!!
Open daily for
Breakfast, Lunch
and Dinner.
Cocktails, too!