2C The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, PA, Tuesday, May 19, 1992 Pfund named to succeed Dunleavy as Lakers coach INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) Randy Pfund wasin- 1 think well be able to make the changes well need to make. We need more players on the floor who can do more than one thing, have multiple skills, a team that plays quicker, moves the ball. That's something I believe I can bring to the Lakers. It's time to get to work, get after making more of those special moments." Showtime, orchestrated by Magic Johnson from 1979-91, helped the Lakers win five NBA champl-' onships.
Johnson announced his retirement Nov. 7 because he had tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS. That was the beginning of a nightmarish season for the Lakers, who barely made the playoffs with a 43-39 record, then were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Portland in four games. i Pfund. 40, was an assistant for the Lakers for seven years, working under current New York Knicks coach Pat Riley for five years and Dunleavy for two.
Before that, Pfund was involved in high school coaching and teaching in Illinois for two years and served as an assistant coach at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. for eight years. 1 was a head coach of a freshman team my first year (as a high school coach)," he said with a smile when asked If he'd ever been a head coach before. He also coached the Lakers' summer league team for six years. Pfund grew up in Wheaton, and played college basketball at Wheaton College where the head coach was his father, Lee.
Neither Riley, who won four NBA "titles with the Lakers, nor Dunleavy. who led them to the NBA Finals in his first season as coach, had been head coaches in the league when they were hired by Lakers general manager Jerry West and owner Jerry Buss. West wouldn't divulge terms of the contract signed by Pfund except to say it was a multiyear deaL Pfund said he might have been hired to fill the coaching vacancy with the Sacramento Kings had Dunleavy not made his sudden move to Milwaukee. troduced as the 14th head coach In Los Angeles Lakers history on I Monday and said he's prepared to make the necessary adjustments to help the team return to past glories. "The 80s were Showtime.
We're past that," said Pfund, whose hiring was announced Sunday night five days after Mike Dunleavy suddenly resigned to sign an eightyear contract to RANDY Pf UNQ coach the Milwaukee Bucks. "We've got to look for a new style of play. 1 4 I 1 5 LJi 1 Bulls, wearied by Knicks, brace for series with Cavs Bulls-Cavaliers, Game 1 8 p.m., TNT 'it v'- ITWtHJiiit, i. 4 i 'y style the Knicks used successfully. "We can't change our style to be something else," Wllkens said, "Then you really lose.
You've got to be what you are. New York had to beat up on them because they don't have that many offensive weapons." The Cavaliers recovered from an injury-filled, 33-victory season to win 57 regular-season games in 1991-92, secend only to the Bulls in the NBA. "I said early in the season that we have room to grow, and we have," Wllkens said. Michael Jordan has had success for most of his career against Cleveland. Wllkens has not double-teamed him often, fearing that Jordan would find the open man too easily.
Tm a little baffled that they don't do it more," Jordan said. "They rely on the defensive ability of Craig Ehlo." CHICAGO (AP) The Chicago Bulls, relieved to get the New York Knicks' physical tactics behind them, face a new challenge in the Cleveland Cavaliers. The upset-minded Knicks took the defending champion Bulls to seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, holding them under 100 points six times before finally succumbing 110-81 in the final game Sunday. Next for the Bulls are the Cavaliers, averaging nearly 1 8 more points in the playoffs than the Knicks, but lacking their Intimidating nature. The opening game is tonight at Chicago Stadium.
"The Knicks series was very brutal, and it was getting out of hand," said Scottie Pippen, who was harrassed for six games by Xavier McDanlel before breaking loose for 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in Game 7. "But we kept our composure, and the Knicks made us realize the play- A GIANT MATCHUP Chicago Bulls center Bill Cartwright, right, checks New York Knicks center Patrick Ewing during Sundas game Jazz see first-game loss Loss was bitter satisfaction CHICAGO (AP) That the New York Knicks' season ended at Chicago Stadium was no surprise. That a team with as many weaknesses as the Knicks took the defending champion Chicago Bulls to a 7-game series was a shock. Credit the coaching of Pat Riley who probably would win coach of the year in a runaway If the balloting came after two rounds of the playoffs and a pit-bull defensive attitude with taking the team as far as it did. This was a "great experience for me to coach this team," Riley said.
"I learned a lot I won't be satisfied with this ending, although there is a certain sense of satisfaction taking this team to a seventh game against the world champions. But. at the same time, there is a sense of loss." The Knicks, after holding Detroit and the Bulls under 90 points in nine of 11 games, lost 1 10-81 to Chicago on Sunday. 1 wasn't prepared for that kind of game and that kind of Riley said. "But 1 don't want them hanging their heads.
They need to know mat before you can grow, you have to learn from experiences like this." cut me aeieai perhaps enabled the Knicks to dwell less on what-mlght-have-been auu uiui uu wxiaL uicy otturu- plished. 'We sent a message about the direction this basketball team is going," point guard Mark Jackson said. "Our future is very bright. We are very disappointed now since we thought we were capable of winning the championship. We didn't play over our heads." Xavier McDanlel.
who bought out his option at midseason and will be a free agent, said his strong playoff performance convinced him to return to the Knicks next season. "The difference for next year will be to get past Chicago the way Chicago got past Detroit," McDanlel said. "We did not play good enough to beat Chicago." "We played as hard as we could Sports in Brief From AP PHOTO Despite these shortcomings, the Knicks were impressive in defeating Detroit in five games and then putting a scare into the Bulls. "We went into the series sleepwalking," Michael Jordan said. "Everyone, including us, seemed to expect a sweep.
The Knicks woke us up. "We played an emotional series against Detroit and were razor sharp coming out of that," Riley said. "We won Jthe first game against Chicago and that got the Bulls' attention." J- "We met two of the toughest teams in the playoffs this year, not Just In the conference, but the whole, NBA," said guard Gerald Wilkins. who played poorly on offense most of the season but played well defensively against Jordan. "To our credit, we beat one and almost the other.
We have a lot to build on for next season. This improves our confidence and well be much im proved next PORTLAND. Ore. (AP) In the rarifled atmosphere of the Western Conference finals, the Portland Trail Blazers have plenty of experience. Utah doesn't.
Whether that has made any difference after one game in the best-of-7 series depends on the speaker. Utahs John Stockton said his team got a lesson in intensity that better be remembered when the Jazz takes the court tonight foij Game 2. 1 'We learned something," Stockton said of the Jazz' 1 13-88 loss in Game 1. "By the level of play, you could tell they've been here before. We haven't, so it's Imperative we learn what they al-.
ready know how to play that well in this situation." The Blazers have been in the conference finals the last three years. Utah is making its first-ever appearance. "That's really the only thing that separates the two teams," Portland's Buck Williams said. offs wouldn't be the easy cruise it was in the regular season." Pippen said Monday that the Cleveland series "will be a lot cleaner. But the Cavaliers have a lot more offensive weapons with Brad Daugherty, Hot Rod Williams and Larry Nance, plus Mark Price running the transition game.
They present a lot of problems, but nothing we haven't faced in the past." "We were surprised by the aggressiveness the Knicks brought to the series." Bulls coach Phil Jackson said. The Cavs have a more precise offense. They're a finesse, ball-movement team like we are. It should be a totally different kind of series." Cavaliers coach Lenny Wllkens said at Richfield, Ohio, that the Bulls won't try to emulate the Blazers-Jazz, Game 2 10:30 p.m., TNT But Portland coach Rick Adel-man isn't buying that argument 1 think there are teams that have not had the great experience and still got there," he said. 'The first year we were all together, we got to the finals.
It didn't bother us. I think this Utah team is really tough mentally. When they get beat like that, you better be ready to play the next game. I think our guys know that" Adelman feels Portland will have no excuse for a letdown just because the Blazers won easily in Game 1 and have beaten the Jazz 10 straight times in Memorial Coliseum. He said Utah coach Jerry Sloan is a master motivator and he expects that to show Tuesday night.
"The; four best teams in the league are playing right now," Adelman we- think be antitrust suit Vim "fjv UlLVLi LtUOl.i World cr Collectibles 838 Sun Soiid Pkwy, Hanover CCLU7E9 SETS -DON RZS 1992 Contains 8 BC Cards $37.50 mErrsi clrs 92 baseball Sartesl- $44.00 PfllJJIHTTKST HOCKEY 6arisl- $30.00 RmmACU rC $T2ALl OR B0CEET $52.00 per sat -Also singles Including. Upper Deck 822-2995 looted in the Back Room Of GARDEN OF GIFTS whera you can fulfill your gift needs Dozier, 8 others file NFL as a lesson cause we won one game, it's going to be easy, we're crazy. That team is too good and too well coached. I know Jerry well enough to know that they're going to come out ready to play. "There's no way we should ever relax.
If that happens, we shouldn't be here. The Jazz must have a bigger effort from Stockton and Karl Mal-one if they expect to win Game 2. Stockton was just 1 for 6 from the field and scored 6 points and" was unable to "slow-down" Port-, land's Terry Porter, who scored 26 points and made a club-record 6 of83-polnters. Sloan said the Jazz will have to shift away from using Stockton to double-team Clyde Drexler or other Portland players. "We can't chance off Porter as much as we did," Sloan said.
"I think that's why they went to him at the beginning. They wanted to see how we'd play him; if we'd stay with hint" Authorized Dealer TROY-BILT TOFFY Tillers Sized priced for backyard yet every inch a genuine TROY-BILT Tiller MOUNTAINTOP LAWN TRACTOR RT. 309, 44-46 N. Mtn. Blvd.
Mountaintop 8-6, Sat 9-5 474-6355 AUTHORIZED UPS SHIPPER mm 3a 6 I -3HP, tills 14" wide, and have nothing to be ashamed of," Patrick Ewing said. "We need a few additions to go all the way next season." The Knicks averaged 90.3 points in 12 playoff games and surrendered 89.3, so the addition of some offensive firepower obviously is in order. Perimeter shooting was a weakness all season. Their best outside shooter, John Starks, was so inconsistent that Riley nicknamed him Feast or Famine. Another perimeter shooter.
Klkl Vandeweghe, played only three of seven games against the Bulls and probably won't return to the team. Another obvious shortcoming is the lack of a backup center. James Donaldson, acquired at midseason, played even less than Vandeweghe in the playoffs, appearing in two of 12 games. Starting power forward Charles Oakley played center in the few minutes Ewing rested. stall and wire reports Soccer Tryouts for the Keystone Oames Intermediate Female Soccer Team (grades 0 10) will be held today from 6 to 8 p.m.
at the Wilkes University soccer field at Klrby Park. Tryouts will be conducted by coach Chris Davis. The Bear Creek Soccer Association will hold Its monthly meeting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Cosenza's Restaurant Bear Creek. AO interested persons are invited to attend.
Track and Field The 1992 Middle Atlantic AAU Association Youth Track and Field Championship will be held June 6-7 at Bensalem High School Bensalem. Competition is divided mto divisions depending on each boy's or girl's date of birth. Divisions include Bantam (1982). Midget (1980-1981). Youth (1978-1979), Intermediate and Young MensYoung Women's (Sept 1, 1973-1975).
Call (317) 872-2900 lor more information. Editor's Hotet Bulletin Board Items appear Jor three days. PHILADELPHIA (AP) Nine more players filed an antitrust suit against the NFL on Monday, joining Freeman McNeil and Marcus Allen In challenging the league's rules governing veteran free agents. NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw said the group includes primarily veteran players "who were restricted In 1990, 1991 and 1992." The suit was filed In U.S. District court In Philadelphia.
Upshaw said the suit, like those of McNeil and Allen, contends free-agent restrictions constitute an unlawful restraint of trade, and that the NFL has illegaly monopolized the market for players In the United States. "The group of players damaged by the NFL's Illegal system Increases by the hundreds each year," Upshaw said. NFL spokesman Joe Browne said the suit "adds nothing to already pending litigation. It Is a public ity stunt filed on the eve of our league meeting which opens Tuesday in Pasadena." The newest suit was filed by Seth Joyner and Clyde Simmons of Philadelphia; Rod Woodson of Pittsburgh; Steve Beuerlein of Dallas; Bobby Hebert of New Orleans; D. J.
Dozier of Detroit; Jeff Dellen-bach and Scott Mitchell of Miami, and Kevin Ross of Kansas City. Each of the players had a contract that expired from 1990-'92 and contends he was unable to at-tact offers from other clubs "because of the restrictive system tn the NFL." the union said. A target of the suit is the NFL's Plan first refusal-compensation restrictions on veteran players. Also pending la suit by Allen against the Los Angeles Raiders and San Diego Chargers, filed In federal court in Los Angeles In 199 and Albert Lewis's case against the NFL, a class action suit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. LADY COLONELS LAND GUARD: Athens High School basketball star Michelle Shaffer will attend Wilkes University this fall.
Shaffer, a 5-foot-7 guard, captained the Lady Wildcats to a 21 -5 record and the championships in both the Northern Tier League and District 4 Class A. Shaffer averaged 1 8 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists per game. She was named the Northern Tier MVP and the Daily Revier-Subway Athlete of the Year. A fourtyear starter and letter-winner, Shaffer was named a Northern Tier League All-Star in her sophom*ore, junior and senior seasons. She ended her career with 1 ,143 points and a team record of 71 -28.
YODER WILKES-BOUND: Pottsvllle High School football standout Grant Yoder has announced that he will attend Wilkes University. Yoder, a 6-2, 165-pound wide receiver, was a starter last year and a two-year letterman for the Crimson Tide, which posted an 8-3-1 mark In 1 991 He scored one touchdown and had 1 75 yards in receptions. Spira's conviction is upheld NEW YORK CAP) A federal appeals court on Monday upheld Howard Spira's 1991 conviction for attempting to extort money from New York Yankees owner George Stelnbrenner. The three-Judge panel of 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Spira's argument that an incriminating tape recording was improperly admitted during his trial.
Splra Is serving a 30-month sentence at a federal prison in Morgantown, W.Va., for his May 9, 1991, conviction. His lawyer, Henry Stelnglass, had no immediate comment on the ruling by Judges George C. Pratt, J. Daniel Mahoney and Joseph M. McLaughlin Splra was paid $40,000 by Stelnbrenner after providing Information on former Yankees out- -fielder Dave Winfield.
with whom-Stelnbrenner was, feuding. Splra was arrested In ,1990 after attempting to extort additional money from Stelnbrenner. Splra argued that Judge Lewis L. Stanton Improperly admitted into evidence a tape of a conversation between Splra and lawyer Edward Schuader after Spira's arrest After Schuader explained the definition of extortion, Splra said: "Oh my God, Tm afraid I extorted him." Schuader, who told Splra during the conversation that he could not represent him because he was not a criminal lawyer, later turned the evidence over to prosecutors after his firm was retained by Stelnbrenner. Stelnglass argued that the tape, which was played at the trial, should have been excluded because of the attorney-client privilege.
The appeals court said "the record amply supports the court's finding" that no privilege existed. Stelnbrenner agreed to resign as the team's managing general partner and to what amounts to a lifetime ban from the team's dally operations rather than accept a two-year suspension from commissioner Fay Vincent for his payment to Splra and his relationship with the admitted gambler. BucfcaO Forty Fort Baseball for boys win meet at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Tripp Street Field House. The Grand Slam Baseball Camp win be conducting a series of camps this summer.
There are seven separate. week-kmg sessions scheduled for players age 6-16 In WUkes-Barre, Back Mountain and the Poconos. Each session will run from 9:30 a m. until 2:30 p.m. dally.
Call Jerry Greeley at 824-2292 for more Infor- The University of Scran ton will hold its Royals Baseball Camp from June 17-21. The camp will run from 9 a.m. until 3:15 p.m. dally and is open to boys age 8-16. Call 941-7440 for more information.
Golf EdfWwood in the Pines will hold a Fri day Night Scramble on Friday. Price Is 838 per person, wntcn memoes cans. dinner and beverages. Call 788-3149 for more information. This Is a Captain and Crew format with four players..
