The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 21

Sports rHE Indianapolis Star MONDAY, APRIL 23, 1990 6, 7 Obituaries 8 draft Colts on the oil ensive in EfU'VlI ie9T7 VI cast which has sprung some serious holes of late with Utt's departure to Atlanta via Plan and the loss of Hinton and Rlson through the trade with the Falcons. "We hope we have addressed our needs through what we did today." said Coach Ron Meyer. "I just walked out of the draft room and I heard (director of player personnel) Jack Bu-shofsky say he thinks we've got six guys who are going to make our football team next year. "There Is a certain amount of risk In everything you do, particularly as you proceed down through the draft where the odds are against you. But we like the direction we took today." "We're happy with the people we came up with." General Manager Jim Irsay added.

Indianapolis came up with after George, who the organization Is banking on being the next franchise-quarterback a versatile running back, a swift wide STAR PHOTOS Top draft picks Jeff George (left) and Anthony Johnson display their new uniforms. pick It secured in last week's Then came five picks over the trade with Atlanta by selecting next four rounds, four of which home-grown quarterback Jeff were aimed at solidifying George. George's supporting cast. It's a Pacers dump Bullets in finale; receiver, two offensive line projects and a cornerback who should add spark to the return game. The Colts used their second-round pick to secure Notre Dame fullback Anthony Johnson, then utilized four fourth-rounders to obtain Stacey Simmons, a wide receiver from Florida; Bill Schultz.

a 6-4. 289-pound offensive tackle from Southern Cal: Alan Grant, a cornerback from Stanford: and Pat a 6-6, 295-pound offensive tack' le from Texas "In the fourth round we think we have recouped and selected with the best players available," said Meyer. "We think they did fit into a couple of slots where we felt there was going to be a need, most notably wide receiver and the offensive line." Prior to that, the Colts went a long way toward deepening their backfield. A deep running back pool five dotted the first See COLTS Page 3 next up PLAYOFF SCHEDULE Best-of-five series Thursday at Detroit, 7 p.m. Saturday at Detroit, 2:30 p.m.

(CBS) May 1 at Pacers, 7:30 p.m. x-Game 4 at Pacers, 7 p.m. x-Game 5 at Detroit, TBA x-ll necessary 39 points but was shut out the last 3:51, missing all three shots he attempted. Aside from Tom Hammonds (17 points) and Darrell Walker (11 points. 13 rebounds and 15 assists).

King was about all Washington had. "Mike bailed us out." said Pacer coach Dick Versace. "He takes great pride In his defense and we use him to hold people down." Said Sanders. "Basically. I Just tried to deny him the ball because once he gets it.

he's so effective." At the other end. the Bullets had nowhere to turn for defensive help because the Pacers seemed to have too many weapons. Schrempf led with 25 points. Miller had 21, Chuck Person 19. Vern Fleming 18 and LaSalle Thompson 14.

Particularly Impressive were the performances of Sanders (defensively), Thompson (scoring, rebounding) and Fleming (running the offense). Thompson, playing 29 minutes, hit six of seven from the floor and had eight rebounds. "I think Tank really helped us." Versace said. "He was really Into it, really focused." Fleming played 43 minutes and in addition to his scoring, tied his career high with 17 assists. He also had seven rebounds.

See PACERS Page iiiiimiTinnT-nnnn-mi i nrn-rr-rm-i I i tin i in Robin Miller Draft day brings out Colt critics TRUE TO HIS word, Jim Irsay made it official Sun-Jay Indianapolis now has more quarterbacks than common sense-. And. even though Jeff George has yet to take a hit in an NFL uniform, the Colts took a pretty ood bashing on ESPN's Draft Day special after trading Chris Hlnton. Andre Rlson and a No. 1 pick to Atlanta for the right to sign the local kid with the rifle release.

"The Colts have a storied history of draft day ineptitude and it continued here today." said Mel Klper ESPN's pro football draft analyst, who projected George as a late second- or early third-round selection. "Andre Ware was the best quarterback available, by far." "He's (George) got all the tools, but I didn't think he was worth such a high price." said Joe Thelsmann, of Notre Dame and NFL fame. "I don't think that's the Colts' weakness. "I think Chris Chandler has a great future and 1 think Jack Trudeau is a very good backup quarterback. I don't think they needed a quarterback." Of course, the view at the Colts' complex on West 56th Street wasn't as gloomy.

"I suppose I'm prejudiced, but I know what Jeff can do and he does some things that most quarterbacks can't." said Leon Burtnett. the Colts' 9B coach who had George as a freshman at Purdue in 1986. "That guy (Kiper)Just needs something to talk about but I don't think he even played football, so what does he know? "We needed a franchise quarterback and guys like Jeff don't come along very often." One of the pre-draft knocks on George was that he lacked leadership qualities. "Jeff showed leadership as a freshman, he was vocal In the huddle and when 1 talked to people at Illinois, they said the same thing that he ran the show," continued Burnett. Down in Atlanta, Coach Jerry Glanville said he thought it was a "good deal" for both clubs, a source close to the Falcons said the Colts were the only interested party.

"Glanville's preference was always to trade the (No. 1) pick, it was his trump card and he needed a lot of players," said Len Pasquarelli of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He (Glanville) set out to find a buyer but there was very little interest, except the Colts. "But if he (Glanville) would have been forced to keep the pick, he would have taken George." Pasquarelli also said he thought if Indy would have held fast after initially balking at giv ing up its No. 1 pick for 1991.

the Falcons Indicated they would have settled for Hinton, Rlson and the Colts' second-round pick on Sunday. Irsay said Sunday there were no plans to trade Trudeau so it appears the Colts will have a trio of quarterbacks who believe they should be starting when camp opens In July, And even though Jeff was smart enough to give the party line Sunday and say he it would be a "challenge to win the job. the Irsays didn shell out 915 million for George to sit and watch. Their latest switch In offen sive philosophy forces the Colts to throw their 22-year-old quar terback Into the fire. But George, who comes across with a blend of confidence and mod esty, is going to be facing more pressure than Just the guys across the line of scrimmage.

Because even Bruce Smith coming from the blind side can' be any more intimidating than a rookie making more money than everyone on the team walking Into a locker room full of skeptical veterans. "He can handle the pressure." predicted Burtnett. "he always has." GLANVILLE was asked about getting Eric Dlckerson in the trade and replied, "it tne Colts wanted to throw him In, we'd have been glad to have him." By MIKE CHAPPELL STAR STAFF WRITER The Indianapolis Colts took an oltenslve approach to bun-day's National Football League draft. And why not? Concerned over the departure of Pro Bowl tackle Chris Hinton, guard Ben Utt and wide receiver Andre Rlson, and with Eric Jeff Georae was No. 1 day, Page 2 lU's Antnony i nompson naa a long wait, Page 2 NFL draft rounaup, rage NFL round-by-round selec tions, Page 2 Colts draft capsules, rage 2 Dickerson's threatened retire ment hanging over their heads like a guillotine, the Colts began the uncertain task of replenish ing their strike force.

Indianapolis took care of the formalities of using the No. 1 Indiana's Detlef Schrempf and Unser By RICK SHAFFER STAR STAFF WRITER Long Beach. Calif. On a scale of one to 10. Al Unser Jr.

may wish to score his weekend as a 22. That's because Unser captured Sunday's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach before a record crowd of 86.500, the 20 points that accompanied the victory, the point awarded for most laps led (91 of 95) and the point for the pole position. It also vaulted him to the top of the CARTPPG Indy-car standings with 36 total points and gave the 28-year-old Albuquerque resident, an unprecedented third straight win at Long Beach. Driving the Valvollne Lola-Chevrolet, Unser averaged 84.227 miles per hour and collected the winner's prize of SI 43.908 out of a $1 million purse. But before one gets the impression It was a Sunday drive for Unser, consider that he finished a scant 1.7 seconds ahead of reigning Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldl In the Marlboro MMLiipimmiyiim all.

Pistons By DAVID BENNER STAR STAFF WRITER Landover, Md. It was a good ending to a good season. Sunday afternoon in the Capital Centre, the Indiana Pacers closed the NBA's regular season with a 127-117 victory over the Washington Bullets. The triumph left them with a 42-40 record, the second best in the team's 14-year NBA history. It also left them tied for the Pacers have mixed feelings about Detroit, Page 5 No.

7 spot In the Eastern Conference playoffs. But because Cleveland, also 42-40, won Sunday against New York and beat the Pacers in the season series, the Cavaliers get the seventh spot and will play Philadelphia. That sends the Pacers against the defending world champion Detroit Pistons, starting Thursday night (7 p.m.) In Auburn Hills, Mich. Game 2 will be Saturday (time TBA) at Detroit with Game 3 expected to be May 1 in Indianapolis. The Pacers got a good send-off to that series with Sunday's game.

They shot 55.7 percent from the field and broke open a tight game 24 ties. 19 lead changes with excellent play down the stretch. From a 112-110 contest with 3:51 to play, the Pacers got a Detlef Schrempf dunk, a Reggie Miller three-pointer, a LaSalle Thompson rebound basket and some timely defense from Mike Sanders to take a 119-110 lead with 1:57 to play. The Bullets would get no closer than eight. Sanders' defense was particularly Important since he quieted Bernard King down the stretch.

The 6-7 Bullets' forward scored Beach and Sullivan banged wheels entering Turn 1. causing Sullivan to spin in front of Andretti. who stalled. Sullivan rejoined the race ln the middle of the pack while the frustrated Andretti got a push-start and found himself dead last. "It was all my fault," Sullivan said.

"I wasn't even trying to pass Emerson. I Just didn't expect him to stop that quickly." "I was the only one who got hurt." added Michael Andretti. "He (Sullivan) spun in front of me and I did a half spin. Then I let my foot off the clutch and it stalled." Sullivan was able to climb back to 10th on Lap 4 and ran fourth until passing Mario Andretti on Lap 73. Michael's task was more complex, but he made It back to fifth by Lap 36.

He and his father diced for a time and after getting by. he set his sights on Sullivan. He came close, but had to settle for fourth "I really used up my tires getting up there," Michael said. "But if I had another lap with traffic, I might have caught him (Sullivan)." ASSOCIATED PRESS sight of this 1st-half rebound. Washington's Charles Jones lose Jr.

wins at Long SCORES NBA Pacers 127 Washington 117 Boston 118 Philadelphia 98 Cleveland 115 New York 99 San Antonio 108 Phoenix 93 Detroit 111 Chicago 106 Denver 115 Minnesota 108 Golden State 124 Seattle 122 Houston 100 Utah 88 Dallas 118 Charlotte 107 Orlando 110 New Jersey 102 Portland 130 LA lakers 88 AMERICAN LEAGUE Cleveland 5 Chicago 2 Kansas City 7 Toronto California 5 Minnesota 2 Baltimore 3 Detroit 2 Boston 4 Milwaukee 2 Texas 10 New York 4 Seattle 5 Oakland 2 NATIONAL LEAGUE Atlanta 3 Cincinnati 1 New York 5 Montreal 0 Philadelphia 5 St. Louis 3 Pittsburgh 3 Chicago 2 Los Angeles 2 Houston 0 San Francisco 3 San Diego 1 AAA Oklahoma City 7 Indians 2 put four cars between himself CART STANDINGS and Fittipaldl. 1. Al Unser Jr 36 But Fittipaldl made quick 2. Rick Mears 30 work of them and by Lap 83 was 3.

Emerson Fittipaldi 26 only two car lengths behind Un- 4. Danny Sullivan 22 ser However, that was as close 4. Mario Andretti 22 pt 6. Bobby Rahal 17 as would get- 7. Michael Andretti 12 The race was Unser to lose 8.

Arie Luyendyk 10 and Fittipaldl could only wait for 9. Raul Boesel 5 a bobble that never came. 10. Scott Brayton. 4 wag drWlng fantastfc.

Fittipaldi said. "After our last pit PenskeChevy 90. Marlboro stopi was told I could turn up Penske teammate Danny Sulll- tne boost and go for it. van was a close third. "So I started driving fast.

The "Emerson had me worried big problem was that Al was fast-time, especially when he caught er upon the yellow." Unser. said. "I Unser led the first 34 laps definitely saw a red and white before making his first stop and car behind me most of the day. It Marlo Andretti set the pace for was a very competitive race." tne next four laps before making Unser alluded to the Lap 66 nls stoP- Unser regained caution period for the collision he for go00" on UP 39 and between Scott Goodyear and buiIt margin to as many as Dean Hall. At the time.

Unser 13 seconds, wasenloylnga 10-second lead. Traffic allowed Fittipaldl to close a bit. but It was the late The five-lap caution allowed cautlon that threatened to make everyone to dash Into the pits for a five.car affalr as lt put Sulli- their final stop and wiped out van Mar(Q and Mlcnaei Andretti Unser's advantage. ln strlking distance. When the green came out orr in the case of Sullivan and Lap 70, Unser dispatched Willy Michael Andretti, the yellow was T.

Ribbs and Eddie Cheever and a godsend. On Lap 2. Fittipaldi.