The Sentinel from Carlisle, Pennsylvania • 24

National Thursday June 13, 1996 Page C41ie Sentinel ks at Sonics woirsoim loo rllllly Continued from Cl period, going on an 1 1-0 run marked by Payton' third 3-pointer and a fast-break dunk by Schrempf for a 36-21 lead. Consecutive jumpers by Jordan appeared to break Chicago's slump, but the Sonics closed the half with a 12-5 run for a 53-32 lead at the break. Chicago had an 11-4 run at the outset of the third quarter to pull within 14, and a pair of foul shots and a technical foul shot by Jordan with 1:38 left got the deficit down to But McMillan hit a wide-open 3-pointer from the top of the key 13 seconds later, and Jordan was called for a flagrant foul with 56 seconds left for hacking David Wingate on a fast break. Wingate made both shots and Kemp tipped in a miss on the ensuing possession. Perkins had a left-handed slam in Rodman's face with six seconds left in the quarter to built the lead back to 21 entering the fourth.

The Bulls trailed by as many as 27 and never got closer than 18 the rest of the way. McMillan, who shook off a painful nerve injury that had sidelined him for most of the series and had eight points, three rebounds and three assists. McMillan also connected on a tide-turning 3-pointer in the third quarter after Chicago had pulled within 13. It was followed by a 17-5 run that sealed the Sonics victory and turned the rest of the game into garbage time. Seattle came out ready to play in the first quarter, scoring 18 of the' first 27 points, including a pair of 3-pointers by Payton and one by Hawkins for a nine-point lead with 3:45 left.

Rodman picked up a technical just 4V minutes in, apparently for making a gesture at referee Joe Crawford, and Seattle led 25-21 after one. Seattle captured the momentum again right at the start of the second 0 4 I I PHILADELPHIA (AP) Allen Iverson accepted the Philadelphia 76ers' invitation for a meeting before the NBA draft. Other teams need not call. The Georgetown point guard, who many feel Philadelphia will select with the first overall pick in the June 26 draft, met with the 76ers braintrust Wednesday. He said later he would not visit any other team.

"If Philadelphia doesn't pick me, they (other teams) will just have to go on what I did in college," Iverson said. "I think I showed them enough." Iverson was the first of four players the 76ers will bring into town this week. And while general manager Brad Greenberg said Iverson's position as the first interviewee doesn't necessarily mean he is the leading candidate, he made it clear the 76ers are impressed. "I don't think it's a stretch to assume he's got a chance to be a great player in the NBA," Greenberg said. "He's got the right stuff inside his heart, and he wants to win." Johnny Davis, named the 76ers coach Monday, said he doesn't think there's a guard since Isiah Thomas who has entered the NBA with the same kind of quickness that Iverson possesses.

"He's a basketball player, first and foremost," Davis said. "He's a hardworking young man who is committed to winning." Despite the fact that the 76ers were 18-64 last season the NBA's second-worst record Iverson said he wants to play in Philadelphia. "I never said that (to the 76ers) but I think they know," Iverson said. "I love the atmosphere here," he said, noting that he was particularly impressed with Davis. "He has the same thing I have in mind.

That's just coming in here and winning." That would be a change for the 76ers, who this year set a league record for sustained futility by losing more games than they did the year before for the sixth season in a row. Iverson bristled when it was suggested that, if he does end up in Philadelphia, he may have to endure a few more seasons of losing with a 76ers team that has no center and only five players under contract "That's not the way I think," he said. "From the first game to the last, I want everybody to feel like we're going to win. I think they want to win. After winning only 18 games last year, those guys are hungry." And if he runs into any players that aren't? "Then they're going to have "to get hungry." Iverson was a first-team All-America last year, leading the Hoyas in scoring (25 points per game), assists (4.7 per game) and steals (3.35).

It was the second year in a row that he was Georgetown's top scorer, and also the second year in a row he was named Big East defensive player of the year. The 76ers are in desperate need of a point guard, and while some have questioned whether Iverson has too much of a scorer's mentality to effectively run an offense, Iverson disagreed. "They (Georgetown) needed me to score more than the average point guard," he said. "It would be crazy to think I would come here and put up all the shots. I'll just come in and distribute the ball and let my game come to me." If he comes to the 76ers, Iverson will be asked to distribute the ball to power forward Derrick Coleman and shooting guard Jerry Stackhouse, but if those options are denied, Greenberg said Iverson can create his own shot.

"I consider him as good a penetra-tor as anybody in the draft," Greenberg said. "He's got courage. He'll try to dunk over big people." The 76ers will bring Massachusetts' Marcus Camby in for an interview Thursday, while Georgia Tech's Stephon Marbury and Connecticut's Ray Allen are scheduled for Friday. Payton keys win i -ifcH all 3-pointers, he wound up 7-for-15 overall and 3-for-6 from 3-point range for 21 points. He also had 10 assists, two steals and just one turnover.

And "The Glove," as Payton is known, finally lived up to his billing as the NBA's defensive player of the year. "His defense was tremendous tonight," Seattle's Shawn Kemp said. "That's probably what won the game for us." Payton had been matched against Jordan sporadically in the first two games out of fear of foul trouble. On Wednesday night, Seattle coach George Karl decided to start Payton on Jordan. "Good luck," Karl told Payton.

The Seattle guard didn't need it. The matchup set the tone for the night. Payton, his long arms flailing, fronted Jordan, making it tough for him to get the ball. Payton was helped by the return of his favorite backcourt teammate, Nate McMillan, who had missed virtually the entire series with a nerve problem in his back. With four minutes to go in the game, Payton punctuated the night with a looping pass to Kemp, who in one motion snared the ball with one hand and slammed it A minute later, his team up by 24'' Payton left the game! And the Seattle SuperSonics were not quite through with their season.

SEATTLE (AP) The guard from Generation took it to basketball's grand master Wednesday night With his Seattle SuperSonics on the brink of a humiliating NBA Finals sweep at the hands of the game's best player and what might be the best team of all time, Gary Payton wouldn't quit. The brash, gum-popping, diamond-loving playmaker outplayed Michael Jordan, and denied, or at least postponed, what might have been the Chicago superstar's finest moment. "I think we was plenty wild tonight," Payton said. "When we play like that and be wild and crazy, we're hard to beat." Jordan, in a quest to complete his triumphant return to the game by leading the Bulls to their fourth NBA title in six years, was just 6-for-19 from the field with four turnovers, three rebounds and two assists. In frustration, he also was called for a technical foul and a flagrant foul.

Jordan still had 23 points, thanks to his 11 -for-13 free throw shooting. But that's nine points below his playoff average. "I was very frustrated. I think we all were," Jordan said. "We expected to play better and we wanted to play better and we couldn't play better." Payton, meanwhile, was the mag-" nificent maestro of a stunning 107-86 Sonics' rout.

After missing his first three shots, Philadelphia 76ers draft prospect Allen Iverson talks to the media at the Doubletree Hotel in Philadelphia Wednesday. (AP) Schott Continued from CI IF YOU DON'T SEE YOUR BRAND OR SIZE, PLEASE CALL also will be permitted to approve the team's annual budget and advise in decisions about a new ballpark. Schott the only controlling female owner in baseball will not be allowed to hire or fire employees, including the manager, and general manager. Reds controller John Allen will run the team for up to 60 days. During that time, Schott and NL president Len Coleman will search for a mutually agreeable person to run the team through the 1998 season.

"This is not in any way going to be a sham," Selig said during a telephone news conference. "This person will be the CEO, make no mistake about it." Schott took control of the Reds in December 1984. Baseball officials had threatened to suspend her through the 1998 season and not allow her any input at all. "She accepted this, quite candidly, because otherwise she faced a complete suspension," Selig said. It was the second time in three years that Schott agreed to give up leadership of the Reds.

In February 1993, Schott agreed to a one-year suspension later shortened to eight months for bringing "disrepute and embarrassment" to baseball with her repeated use of racial and ethnic slurs. "We just cannot condone any type of ethnic insensitivity," Coleman said. "We've got to have tolerance, not intolerance." NL counsel Robert Kheel and Schott lawyer Robert Martin had what Kheel called "very sensitive discussions" throughout Wednesday. Baseball's 10-man executive council acting in the absence of a commissioner last week gave Schott an ultimatum to step aside or face suspension. The council unanimously approved the deal during a telephone conference call late Wednesday afternoon.

The agreement did not address whether Schott could challenge the deal in court and didn't say whether her St. Bernard, Schottzie 02, could still run on the field. Schott and the Reds didn't have any immediate comment on the agreement. She did not comment when she left the stadium and went home before Selig's announcement. She left her home in mid-evening and could not be located.

"This is not a happy occasion by any stretch of the imagination," Selig said. "Hopefully the Cincinnati franchise will be better off because of this." By agreeing to give up control, Schott saves a substantial amount of money. A court fight with baseball probably would have gone to an appeals court, and cases like than routinely cost more than $1 million. Three years ago, Schott paid about $600,000 to have Washington lawyer Robert Bennett negotiate a settlement with baseball. Selig and other officials were embarrassed in April when Schott said in an interview that Hitler was "good at the beginning" but "went too far." In interviews with Sports Illus- trated, she spoke critically of said women shouldn't work and spoke of Japanese prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa in what the magazine said was "a cartoonish Japanese accent." In reference to seeing high school-aged Asian-Americans, she told SI: "I don't like it when they come here, honey, and stay so long and then outdo our kids.

That's not right." When Scott returns, she may be able to run the Reds only for two seasons. The team's partnership agreement expires in December 2000, and it's unclear if she will be able to keep her limited partners from pushing her out. Selig said he isn't concerned Schott will try to influence decisions during her forced departure. In 1993, Schott violated her suspension at least twice. "It will be a situation that Len Coleman will monitor very, very closely," he said.

"If there's any violation of this agreement, that will obviously lead to something far more serious than what you have tonight." Carlisle's twice were forced to give up control of their team for more than one year. She angered Selig and other baseball, officials: with, her statements about Adolf Hitler; working women and Asians during interviews with ESPN and Sports Illustrated in the past two months. She will retain her partnership shares as controlling owner of baseball's oldest franchise. But she will not be involved in day-today decisions, will not be allowed to speak for the team, and will not represent the Reds at National League and major league meetings. "I don't know if there ever will be a finality to the black eyes that this organization continues to produce," Reds shortstop Barry Larkin said in San Diego before Cincinnati played the Padres.

"Major league baseball was look-irig for some way to silence Marge, get her to be more responsible. Whether it was fair or not, I don't know." Unlike her suspension during the 1993 season, Schott will have access to all areas of Riverfront Stadium including the playing field and her field level seats, private box and office. Schott ar a UBIJ Kwr-yday lfewoiint l'rie $1199 89799 81199 $0199 nP15580R13 LI P15580R13 I 155TR12 01 155SR13 Steel belted radial All-season tread T-speed rated I T-speed rated I All-season tread WMttml I All-season tread BtKfcwal Prtci P17580R13 P18W5R14 P19575R14 P20575R14 WMtuwal 24.99 29.99 P18575R14 29.99 P19575R14 29.99 P2(75R14 PPOWRRIS Prtcs 45.99 Ripken 165SR13 17570SR13 18570SR13 18570SR14 19570SR14 20570SR14 Btockwii 155R13 165R13 17570R13 18570R13 18570R14 19570R14 20E70R14 Met 30.99 36.99 P20575R15 P21575R15 P23575R15 45.99 P215W5R15 P23575R15 Continued from CI Tread designs may vary No dealers please "Oh yeah, there is definitely a significance to the world record," Baltimore outfielder Mike Devereaux said. "First of all, baseball was born here in the United States, so breaking Lou Gehrig's record is obviously an American thing. "I'm sure the people in the Far East were saying, "Well, he broke that record but we've got the big one out It's more of an international thing," Devereaux said.

Ripken recognizes Kinugasa's mark as the true world record, in part because the shortstop respects the way the Japanese play the game. Also, because Japanese baseball has a 130-game schedule, it took Kinugasa 17 league. "If you're going to have a consecutive games streak, you might as well have an American hold the record. And it might as well be my brother, Oriole second baseman Bill Ripken said. Nothing lasts forever, and Cal expects his remarkable streak will be stopped not by injury but by the whim of his on-field boss.

"The manager makes out the lineup. He puts me in the lineup because I'm one of the nine guys that will help us win the ballgame," he said. "When the day comes that the manager thinks I'm not so deserving, I think that's probably how it's going to end." 99 P17570R13 199 SIC All-season tread P19575R14 Met WMttUttm STATE OF THE ART ALIGNMENT SHOP! BEST QUALITY PARTS! BEST TRAINED TECHNICIANS! BEST PRICEI P19570R14 P20570R14 VUl 7 lv; UUIIU Ilia pgpqMMHHpipBRgigHppH streak (Ripken's string I ''''jLiJJZ 53.99 74.99 Hxtkttan P20575R15 P21575R15 P23575R15 30X950X15 31X1060X15 32X1150X15 LT23585R16 Met 53.99 62.99 63.99 67.99 65.99 67.99 Mitiicu may ju, P21OTH14 P215S0R14 P22570fl15' "I think everyone 80.99 87.99 recognizes that base $89.99 P235TOR15 ball is the same P27S60R15 $80.99 IMBERHAVEN GOLF CENTER "We Discount Everything, But Service" CmsMyjimim 00 CUSTOM 10 Ripken and Kinugasa had lunch together Tuesday in Detroit and will have a much more significant reunion of sorts Thursday and Friday in Kansas City, where Ripken will tie and then break Kinugasa's world record for consecutive games played. Both players know plenty about hitting a baseball, but their conversations in Kansas City undoubtedly will center upon the one accomplishment that ties their careers together. During a visit to New York on Wednesday, Kinugasa congratulated Ripken.

"I believe your long journey to reach this point was made possible by your strong mind and body, as well as many people's warm and hearty support," Kinugasa said in a letter read by a translator. have been playing the game as a good role model for many children, never betraying American baseball fans' expectations. I really think that "remarkable' is the only word that would describe your spirit." Last year, when he broke Lou Gehrig's major-league record string of 2,130 consecutive games, Ripken could only imagine what the Iron Horse went through to assemble such an incredible streak. This week Ripken has the opportunity to talk with the man whose record he will be surpassing. "I think it will be interesting to be able to converse with him and kind of share a couple of stories with him and maybe relate to each other's experiences," Ripken said last week.

The two-day event in Kansas City will bring about the union of two cultures and erase any doubt as to Ripken's reputation as baseball's all-time iron man. OFF Get Dad Something He Really Needs. ANY WHEELS See Our Big Selection of Styles Sizes FREE EXTRAS! 30 Minute Tire Mounting Lifetime Tire Care for the life of the tire above 232" of tread: FREE TIRE Rotations FREE FLAT REPAIRS FREE ALIGNMENT CHECKS With Tire Purchase NOBODY WILL SELL TIRES FOR NOBODY! SERVICE OVER $50.00 Nil hi etnbi4 LARGE SELECTION OF FOOT-JOY SHOES MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CLOTHING WILSON TC TOUR BALLS 20 DRIVING RANGE MEMBERSHIPS GOLF LESSONS OR GIFT CERTIFICATES LESSONS CLUB FITTING BY A PGA PRO where. I guess with the history of baseball over here being slightly different than baseball in Japan, it's going to be considered two separate things," Ripken said. "It doesn't take away the accomplishment of Kinugasa at all.

Matter of fact, having to do it over a longer period of time with a shorter schedule is a bigger tribute to his perseverance." True enough. But it's impossible to do anything but marvel at Ripken's record, an astounding feat in any with any ilhir affar I 1 I y'W No Payment (or 90 Days mum if No Interest lEmertTne 200 South Hanover Street Carlisle, PA 17013 i 1 23458789 Open at 10:00 a.m. Monday through Friday. Open at 8 a.m. holidays and weekends.

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