Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 34

HOCKEY GOLF Triplett uses birdie binge at Greensboro 7-under 65 is good for one-shot edge over Peter Jacobsen, IOC. Coming Sunday: a look at Baseball '95 Capsules and predictions in a special pull-out section. What: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens Whenwhere: 7:30 tonight at Montreal Forum TV: Sunshine Network No place for Melrose with L.A. Kings The team's 13-21-7 record leads to the coach's firing, 3C.

Reuters fr JV Barry Melrose LSI SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 1995 ST. PETERSBURG TIMES r-1 fi i rvM wi As Tampa Bay goes into draft day, the numbers point to crying needs on defense. By RICK STROUD Tfctix 8tff WfHf No feV v1 1 Y- jtiiii)1i rr.TmMMliMiiaM AP TAMPA When the cry for Dee-Fense went out at Tampa Stadium last season, the Bucs rarely mustered anything but a full retreat. No lead was safe, no opposing quarterback endangered. The Bucs finished last in the league in sacks (20) and interceptions (9), and they were among the worst in touchdown passes allowed (25).

It was hair-pulling time for defensive coordinator Floyd Peters if he'd had any. And after four seasons of failing to get things rolling, he was replaced by Tampa Bay like a bald tire. So while other teams come to today's NFL draft with wants, the Bucs arrive only with needs most of them on defense. "The hope in the draft (is) that you'd be able to get two or three bona fide starters who can play," Bucs general manager Rich McKay said. With new defensive coordinator Rusty Tillman aboard, improving the team's anemic pass rush by adding another defensive lineman and finding help at linebacker and safety are Tampa Bay's priorities entering the draft.

Florida end Kevin Carter, Miami tackle Warren Sapp and Boston College end Mike Mamula are considered the best pass rushers available, and the Bucs hope one will be there when they pick seventh. But several teams, including the Bucs, have serious concerns about Sapp's reported drug use and may pass on the Outland Trophy winner. If Carter and Mamula are taken and the Bucs pass on Sapp, they could trade down in the first round and still Boston College DE Mike Mamula is considered one of the top pass rushers. The Bucs were last in sacks. DRAFT HEMHf When: Rounds 1 and 2 are noon-9 p.m.

today; rounds 3-7 begin at noon Sunday. Where: Madison Square Garden's Paramount Theater. TV: Noon-7 p.m. today and noon-3 p.m. Sunday, ESPN; 7-9 p.m.

today and 3-7 p.m. Sunday, ESPN2. Bucs' picks Round 1, No. 7 overaU; Round 2, 41st overall; Round 3, 72nd overall; Round 4, 105th overall; Round 5, 143rd overall; Round 6, 179th overall; Round 7, 215th and 227th (from Kansas City for Darren Anderson). Hotline Have a question about the draft? Call our Draft Hotline at (813) 893-8201 from 2 to 9 p.m.

today and we'll do our best to get you an answer. WJ AP have their choice of other top defensive linemen: Utah's Luther Elliss, Florida's Ellis Johnson and Florida State's Derrick Alexander. One scenario the Bucs are considering: Stand pat and select Pittsburgh's Reuben Brown, the highest-rated offensive tackle other than Southern Cal's Tony Boselli. "The one position that you can affect every part of the team once you make whole is the offensive line," Bucs coach Sam Wyche said. "It's a little overlooked in this conversation.

Surely, they're not looking there. But we're not overlooking anything, including that." The Bucs may be among several teams attempting to trade up with Cincinnati, which holds the fifth pick, to assure themselves one of the three defensive linemen. Mamula, projected as a defensive end by Tampa Bay and a linebacker by others, has made a meteoric rise in the ratings since an astonishing workout at the NFL scouting combine at Indianapolis in Febru- in 1 1 iimir AP AP UM's Warren Sapp looms as a force despite his drop in draft status. Utah defensive tackle Luther Elliss shows up on many teams' wish lists. Florida tackle Ellis Johnson could beef up a defense late in Round 1.

Please see BUCS 7C Magic makes it meaningful Senior statesman joins junior circuit By BRIAN LANDMAN Timat Staff Writer At 36, Orel Hershiser will provide experience to the Indians, the team he cheered for in his college days. champion Pacers 110-86 before a sellout, raucous crowd at the Orlando Arena. "Our last 11 games we didn't play well, so we wanted to turn it on tonight," said Shaquille O'Neal, who finished with another MVP-like performance: 20 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 assists and 2 steals. "We were more focused tonight than we've been in a while," added Anfernee Hardaway, who had 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists. "We wanted to use these last two games to springboard us into the playoffs." Please see MAGIC 10C ORLANDO Although both the Magic and the Indiana Pacers realized Friday's game wouldn't affect the standings or playoff seedings, this one clearly wasn't meaningless.

Not to the Magic, anyway. After losing to some of the weaker teams in the Eastern Conference Detroit, Philadelphia, Miami and Washington this month, the Magic beat one of the best Looking focused, energized and playoff ready from the start, the Magic shellacked the Central Division By BRUCE LOWTTT Timet Staff Writer 7- Marcum back on stage in Arena PUWI A coach with four titles brings his go-deep style to the Storm. WINTER HAVEN He is a kid again and, in a sense, he is coming home. Orel Hershiser, a Cleveland Indian after a dozen years as a Dodger, cannot wait to get into Jacobs Field and Yankee Stadium and Comiskey Park and any other American League field you'd care to mention. "When I was just starting out, I wanted to be the smartest youngest pitcher in baseball," said the 36-year-old right-hander, who on April 8 signed a free-agent contract with the Indians for 1995, with a option for '96.

"I'd run into old-timers who'd always say something like, 'If I knew then what I know now They'd lost ability but gained knowledge. "That became my mantra, to learn as much as I could as fast as I could. Now I'm in a new league, with perhaps 80 percent new players I've never faced before. I'm going to have to do that learning in a hurry now. I want to be the smartest oldest pitcher on this team." The 1990 shoulder surgery that virtually eliminated his 1990 season and sharply curtailed the next one is only a memory, Hershiser says.

"The only thing I've lost is age. I was 30; now I'm 36. I've lost what I would' ve lost from 30 to 35 anyway, surgery or not. I'm just older. But mentally I'm stronger.

I understand the game better now." By ROGER MILLS Times Staff Wrtff if i That's where Marcum fits in with the Storm. Tampa Bay's Arena League franchise once bubbled over with enthusiasm. The game was fun, playing for the Storm was fun. In its first three years, Tampa Bay was 32-7. But that all changed.

Last year the Storm went 7-6 and bowed out in the opening round of the playoffs. Owners left. Players left. Coaches, including head coach Lary Kuharich, left. New blood was needed.

With a 55-12 career record in the Arena League, Marcum was an appealing choice. "I think Tim is the ideal head coach to bring into any Arena team," said Dave Whinham, assistant to Marcum when he was in Detroit and now the Storm's director of player personnel. "He's the standard-bearer Please see STORM 8C Tim Marcum returns to the league after a year with the NFL's Falcons. ST. PETERSBURG Everything is new for the Tampa Bay Storm.

New owner and a new logo. New players in new uniforms. And there is a new coach: Tim Marcum. There's nothing new about Marcum, though. In Arena League circles, he is the revered granddaddy.

As coach of the Denver Dynamite (1987) and the Detroit Drive (1988 to 1993), Marcum won four championships and played a major role in establishing the high-scoring, fun identity of the game. 4 j- jlftrtri-- 1 AP "When I was just starting out, I wanted to be the smartest youngest pitcher in baseball I want to be the smartest oldest pitcher on this team," Indian Orel Hershiser says. Please see HERSHISER 4C.