The Kokomo Tribune from Kokomo, Indiana • Page 14

14 KOKOMOdnd.) TRIBUNE Monday, Jan. 26, 1970 'All I'd Heard Was The East Was Better, I Wanted To Prove Different'. Hmm! Not Bad Eh Mel? All-Star game. At left he sits on the banch with Rocket Denver rookie, 20-year-old Spencer Haywood (left), teammate Larry Jones, who hit for 30, and watches may have had at least 11,932 people asking "Alcin- proceedings. In the second photo.

Spencer goes up to dor Who?" Saturday with his showing in the 3rd ABA jar one of Indiana's Mel Daniels' attempts. What Goes Up Comes Down Spencer drew more than just the fans' attention, from behind. At right, the Rocket grabs one of his 19 however. In third photo from right the MVP gets a rebounds, as Larry Brown (11) of Washington and shove from an unidentified arm in front, while Kentuc- Darel Carrier of Kentucky (right) look on. Photo by Jack ky's Louie Dampier, who led the East with 17, inteferes Acrey) And He's Only 20! MVP Spencer, Absolute Marvel By GENE CONARD Assistant Sports Editor 'Tis been said: "A good big man can beat a goood little man," or "A good young man can whip a good old man." And if you'd ask any of the record, standing room only audience of 11,932 that sat in on the 3rd Annual American Basketball Association All-Star Classic at the Indiana Fairgrounds Coliseum Saturday as to an opinion, you'd get: "You're darned right, that Spencer (Haywood) is something!" For the uninformed, 20-year-old Spencer, the 6-9 and 225-pound gee-whiz who led the United Stats to the Olympic title some time back and who has Denver's ABA rockets in a rut of 15 straight wins, was something Saturday when he lured the West to a stunning, 128-98 win over the East.

In the mere span of 39 minutes. Spence' meshed 23 points, fed off for four more, grabbed 19 loose shots, blocked nine opposing attempts and was THE reason the East frontliners missed 27 of its 47 flings at the hoop. The young phenom, who admitted later "I thought I deserved the MVP award, but I didn't play too good a had 12 points and nine retrieves by halftime to make the East cause highly improbably, 61-41. Then, when the East charged back to within five (91-86) with 8:25 to go in the fourth, Wast tutor Babe McCarthy cut short Spencer's rest on the bench with, "Let's go, they're getting close." So, Spence began with a dunk at 8:09, roamed the middle to keep the East stuck on 86 for 1:55, by which time he and his West buddies had it up to 103-89. He followed with a jumper to lift it to 107-89, and then sat down to watch the final 2:32 with everything locked up.

Later in an interview, he stated; "I wasn't thinking too much about offense today, I was just going to take the points as they came. But defense, well, you have to work on that. And I'd heard so much talk about how much better the East was, I just wanted to prove it wasn't." When Spencer drew the MVP vote, thereby receiving a year's right to a 1970 Dodge Challenger, a $2,000 RCA Color Television set and the five-foot trophy, it must have stung his Denver teammate, 6-3 Larry Jones, a little. After all, Larry drilled 12 of his game-high 30 markers in the first quarter to put the East in a hole from which it never recovered, doled out five assists, had six rebounds and was Larry- on-the-spot almost every time it was ripe. Afterward, Larry uttered: "Maybe I'll get a ride in Spencer's car, or he'll invite me over to watch TV.

Heck, everybody can't be a winner." meant that neither team had more than five minutes to loosen up. Leonard was a grim-faced young man when approached in the East dressing room at 1:30. When asked what he knew of the situation, he remarked; "I don't know exactly. I got the drift of this a few days ago, but right now I don't know what's going on." A few feet away sat Bob Netolicky and Mel Daniels, two All-Stars who ignored the meeting. JONES (Larry), the ABA Players' Association President, remarked later Saturday: "We just wanted recognition, we didn't talk about money.

We merely wanted to discuss goals for the league and the players. Yes, there was a possibility of not going on the floor," and East guard Don Freeman of Miami's Floridians admitted that he was seriously thinking about staying away if the ABAPA, formed some 18 months ago, was not recognized. Dolph commented in an interview: "The players thought they were being -Whatta Day, It Really Was THIS HISTORIC ABA attraction almost never got off the ground or out of the coliseum. CBS-TV was beaming the game to all America and Canada and had set a time schedule from 2 to 4 p.m. But, Saturday morning the ABA Players' Association decided it was time to discuss security problems, meaning they wanted Commissioner Jack Dolph and the 11 ABA owners to recognize it immediately.

Suddenly, there was talk of a players' strike, and rumors flew through the Fairgrounds Coliseum like a March gale. CBS reportedly said: "If they (All- Stars) aren't oncourt by 2 o'clock the show's off," and Dolph intimated nearly the same thing. The players left Room 802 at Stouffer's Inn at approximately 1 p.m., arrived at the coliseum at 1:39 and the East crew of Coach Bobby Leonard's trotted oncourt at 1:55. Two minutes later the West emerged, which Pefe, Rick Top ABA 'Secret Draft' LOS ANGELES AP Pete Maravich, the nation's leading collegiate scorer, has been selected by the Carolina Cougars in a "secret" American Basketball Association draft, it was reported Sunday. The Los Angeles Times said the first two rounds of the draft were drawn up weeks ago but that no names had been released.

The Times printed a list of the two rounds. Maravich, college basketball's second all-time high scorer, was Carolina's lop pick. The Cougars have assertedly been interested in getting Pete and his father Press in a package deal. Press would presumably coach the Cougars. He currently coaches his son at Louisiana State.

Rick Mount, Purdue's high-scoring guard, was listed as a first-round pick of the Indiana Pacers and the New York Nets took Bob Lanier as its territorial selection. Lanier is St. Bonaventure's 6-foot-ll center. UCLA's only senior, guard John Vallely, was Denver's only pick. The Rockets lost their first pick by signing Spencer Haywood last year before he had completed his senior collegiate season.

Others listed as fir'st-round picks were Dave Cowens, Florida State, Los Angeles Stars; John Hummer, Princeton, Miami Floridians; Mike Malloy, Davidson, Pittsburgh Pipers; Dan Issel, Kentucky, Kentucky Colonels; Sam Lacey, New Mexico State, New Orleans Bucs; Bobby Croft, Tennesse, Dallas; and Charlie Scott, North Carolina, Washington. ignored by the owners and management and felt it was time to do something about it. We'll recognize the ABPA when 51 per cent of the players have signed memberships." He also said penalty of players, should they have stayed away, had not been discussed. Horace 'Bones' McKinney, Carolina Cougar coach who had the ABA banquet audience in stitches at the Mural Temple Friday, stated after the game Saturday: "No, I don't think the players' pre-game actions had anything to do with the outcome. If it had, it would have affected both teams.

The thing is, it's tough to play catch-up basketball and win," and he agreed that the East took some bad shots at inopportune times in the stretch. PEOPLE SOMETIMES misconstrue all-star performers as those who border on the supernatural, and maybe in Spencer's fight they have a case. The truth of the matter is the ball must go in the hole a respectable number of times if you are to succeed. Okay, so the West shot .500 the first half (21-42) while the East managed a meek 17-62 for .284. The aggressive West defense meanwhile was giving the East one precarious shot at a time.

And everytime Leonard's squad got within striking distance, McCarthy's gang came right back for the equalizer. At times it seemed the West scored with almost effortless ease, while the East had to grind out every profit. Indiana Pacer fans, accustomed to seeing their favorites either mop up or romp, grew unhappy with the showing of 6-5 Doug Moe, a two-lime All-Star performer and a guy who's played with two champions, New Orleans and Oakland. Going in with a 19.0 gait, Doug had three errors the first quarter, missed both first-half floor shots and his only three throw, finished with 0-5 outside and just two tallies, although he did have six assists. The Pacer mob began chanting "We want Roger" early in the game.

Rog' entered at 3:11 of the first and had nine points by halftime. He was on the bench to start the third, came on at 6:26 to score four and had two in the last act. Bob Netolicky (15) and Mel Daniels (13), both starlers, had good and bad limes. Neto had 11 of his in the East's last-half rush, and eight rebounds, Mel seven the last half and 12 grabs to lead the East on the boards. And, they both had scraps with loose and limber Spencer.

At one time, Roger, Mel and Neto had 41 of the 86 East markers. WASHINGTON'S Larry Brown suffered the worst fate of all, an abrasion of the cornea of the right eye when he and Levern Tart came together in a scrap for a loose ball at 10:30 of the fourth. Larry, the 1968 MVP, was to leave with teammate Warren Armstrong (knee operation) for Washington Sunday for further examination. Armstrong is reportedly through for the year due to what they say is a "sliding kneecap." Rick Barry? Well, he's apparently recovered. In 27 minutes he had 16 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, proving he didn't lose much of anything during his recovery from a knee operation.

He stated afterward: "When we had Cincy (Powell)) and John (Beasley) in Ihere in Ihe stretch, that did it. They were bigger than Moe and Brown, which gave us the boards, and we didn't lose any speed." The pair had 15 markers the last half. Leonard was a picture of dejection in the waning minutes when the decision was all but final. It was understandable. During the Friday banquet he stated to an audience of over 1,000 at the Murat: "We'll be more organized than that thing you saw on TV last Monday." But, he wouldn't offer any excuses for the 30- point gap at the end "We didn't hit, and thal's what these things are all about." And he was right.

So, the 3rd ABA Classic is now history. It wasn't exactly Elliott Ness and maybe it missed Hitchcock a little. But, the Indiana Pacer organization did a miraculous job in the short time it had to put things together. Doiph said on the way "I thought it was marvelous. Everybody did a great job." The game went into an estimaled 3,500,000 homes, and 7,000,000 saw it via the tube.

Maybe the skeptics were way- ing, "Huh! I didn't see any which was right. But the ABA is still even, at least, 'cause a week ago they didn't see any Haywoods. It's Yours, Spence' Spencer Haywood beams as ABA Commissioner Jack Dolph presents the coveted Most Valuable Player Trophy to him at the conclusion of Saturday's 128-98 win by the West over the East. Spencer was a virtual demon, scoring 23, blocking nine shots, grabbing 19 rebounds and feeding off twice. His "1 didn't play a very good game." (Photo by Jack Acrey) Seattle Fate To Be Decided Tuesday Wildcats Box Purdue, Illini, Iowa Alone HE HASN'T COOLED YET By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS There is a two-word definition of the word rejuvenated in the case of the Denver Kockets: Spencer Haywood.

The big rookie, a key figure in Denver's drive toward the top of the American Basketball Association's Western Division, scored 28 points and grabbed 26 rebounds as the Kockets topped Dallas 127-118 Sunday for their 15th straight victory. A Denver victory in New York next Friday would tie the league record of 16 set lasi year by Oakland, now Washington. New York beat Eastern leader Indiana 96-83, Washington took Miami 113106 and Pittsburgh downed Carolina 108-101 in other ABA action Sunday. A pair of foul shots by Mike Barrett and Rick Barry's field goal clinched Washington's victory over Miami. Barry finished with 25 points, while Don Freeman poured 33 for Miami, which announced after the game that Willie Murrell had been traded to Kentucky for cash and an undisclosed draft choice.

Murrell did not play Sunday night. Mike Lewis' 32 points and 26 by rookie John Brisker fired Pittsburgh to its second straight victory under new Coach Buddy Jeannette. Bob Verga scored 30 for Carolina. Andy Coe, Yale's football captain, started 27 consecutive games as a linebacker for the Elis. OAKLAND (AP) A group of American League club owners reportedly is swinging behind an attempt by civic leaders and officials to keep Ihe Seattle Pilots' baseball team in the Pacific Northwest.

Mayor Wes Uhlman and other executives held a special meeting Saturday wilh theater owner Fred Danz in advance of a Tuesday hearing at which owners are expected to reach a decision about a proposed shift to Dallas-Fort Worth or Milwaukee. What was described by Uhlman as "a strong faction of owners" is opposed to approving a sale which would return at least $8 million to Pacific Northwest Sports which got the franchise a year ago for about $5 million. Seattle has filed "a specific performance suit" asking that Pacific Northwest Sports be required to fulfill its five-year lease agreement. Meanwhile, Ewing M. a a owner of the Kansas City Royals, said Sunday that there will be no bidding war between Milwaukee and Dallas- Fort Worth interests.

Kauffman will chair a four-man committee Tuesday when the owners meet. "The price is $8.8 million," Kauffman said in a telephone interview to Milwaukee. "We've done this so that Daley and the Sorianos will make less than half a million profit. They don't deserve a profit. They did not stay in there and pitch." Kauffman referred to William R.

Daley of Cleveland, the Pilots' principal stockholder, and brothers Dewey and Max Soriano, who were influential in bringing the expansion franchise to Seattle. If the franchise does not stay in Seattle, Kauffman said, he would favor Dallas-Forth Worth because of its climate and because it is in an area not already concentrated with American League teams. CHICAGO (AP) North western's box-and-one defense, Minnesota's two- outside offense and Michigan's early spurt Saturday left idle Illinois and Iowa sitting comfortably in the Big Ten basketball race. Illinois wilh its 5-0 record and Iowa at 3-0 saw Purdue, Ohio Stale and Michigan Stale suffer upsel losses leaving Ihem the only teams in the league with less than two losses. Northwestern ambushed Purdue 6665, Minnesota surprised Ohio Stale 77-76 and Michigan invaded Michigan State and dumped its arch rival 91-88.

Northwestern employed a zone defense with one man rotaling on Rick Mount. The Wildcats, led by Dale Kelley, shot into a 36-31 halftime lead. Kelley scored 23 points but fouled out with nearly 16 minutes left in the second quarter. Northwestern did not lose its poise even though Purdue went ahead 64-63. Jim Sarno came off the bench and scored all of his eight points in the final minutes including the winner with less than a minute to play.

Mount, who had a Big Ten average of 42.7, was limited to 27 points. The outside shooting of Ollie Shannon and Erick Hill, who scored 28 and 22 points, respectively, overcame a 33- poirit performance by Dave Sorenson and gave Minnesota its third conference triumph in five games and lifted the Go- BIG TEN STANDINGS Conler- enc I Illinois 5 0 Iowa 3 0 Ohio Stole 3 2 Minnesota 3 Michigan State 2 2 PURDUE 2 2 Michigan 2 4 Wisconsin 1 3 Northwestern 1 4 INDIANS 0 3 SATURDAY'S RESULTS NORTHWESTERN 46, PURDUE 6S Minnesota 77, Ohio State 76 Michigan 91, Michigan State 18 Iowa 96, Tennessee Tech 68 THIS WEEK'S GAMES (Tuesday) DIPAUL at INDIANA (WIWI-TV) Wisconsin at Marquette (Satariav) Illinois vs. Notre Dame at Chicago Ohio State at Northwestern INDIANA at IOWA Minnesota ft Michigan State MICHIGAN ot PURDUE (WISH-TV) Ohio University ot Wisconsin pliers into a thirdplace tie with victimized Ohio State. Michigan piled up a 47-33 halftime lead and even a tremendous effort by Super Soph Ralph Simpson, who scored 23 of his 32 points in a torrid second half couldn't keep MSU from its second Big Ten loss. Iowa returned to action with a 96-68 nonconference victory over Tennessee Tech.

Five Hawkeyes scored in double figures paced by Chad Calabria's 25 points..