The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 43

Sports Th Charlotte (Tbscritr Sunday February 10 1991 SECTION Pumped-Up Brown Prevails 1 Ron Aif Green it Celtics Rookie Downs Kemp For Dunk Title By RICK BONNELL Staff Writer Boston Celtics rookie Dee Brown had it all figured out Right down to the shoes Brown knew he couldn't compete with the power of the Seattle Shawn Kemp in the slam dunk contest so he made sure to score the style points Between the creativity of a two-ball tap in the final and the constant pump of his sneakers before each dunk Brown won over the crowd and the judges to edge Kemp 977 to 93 7 at the Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte Hornets guard Rex Chapman was eliminated in the semifinals but registered the highest one-dunk score with a 497 in the first round In the Legends Game the East edged the West 41-34 with former State great David Thompson scoring 12 for the East In the three-point contest Chicago Bulls guard Craig Hodges defended his title beating Portland Trail Blazers guard Terry Porter The NBA All-Star Game is today at 155 (NBC WCNC channel 36) The shoe company Brown represents owes him a favor if not a bonus Every time he set up to dunk Brown pumped his shoes a few times playing to the crowd Brown said the move was more strategy than commercial Celtics teammate Kevin McHalc gave him the idea for the gimmick The pump action stole him some panache points but the real creativity was Brown's first attempt the final He put one ball atop the rim before driving with another dunking one then tapping the other Though Brown missed on the stunt the first time he tried it he was given a second chance under the rules and knocked both through the rim Kemp protested mildly saying since Brown dunked one of the two balls the first time that should have counted as his attempt The judges disagreed always going to see the little guy with more said Kemp 6-10 was Hornets rookie Kendall Gill was eliminated in the first round Chapman scored the top dunk of the night by flipping the ball over his back grabbing it back in and reverse slamming He was disappointed by elimination in the semifinals but feel cheated am I to Chapman said I get Dr to grade my Charlotte Soars As Stars Come To Life Out on the Charlotte Coliseum court some famous ancients Rick Barry Oscar Robertson and friends are pounding and gasping through the NBA Legends Game Pro ace three-point shooters and slam-dunkers are waiting in the wings The Saturday night crowd 23000-plus is in high spirits on the eve of NBA All-Star Game An old typist sits and observes all this and his fingers start pecking out the words he promised himself he write No stuff that needs violin music he had told himself Too provincial Too you know mushy All that about Charlotte and how it finally got to wear long batches But thoughts rush in amid the noise and the glare thoughts like this is a great Not great like New York or Chicago or Los Angeles or some others Not great in size Not great because it has more European chefs or theaters or freeways or lovely bridges or musicians or publishers or skyscrapers Not great like Wilt Chamberlain Great like Michael Jordan Creative with a sense of joy and a longing to soar Great city? OK not great like Rome was great Not that kind of great Great like when you say a burger joint serves really great cheeseburgers or you hit a great second shot on the 1 8th hole or you had a great time at the beach Great city9 Go ahead shrug smile say understandable You been on this ride with us Fifty years ago Charlotte was Mayberry Forty years ago the big sports event in town this time of year was the Purple Flash vs the French Angel three falls no time limit at the Armory Thirty years ago the NBA was a curiosity hereabouts It played an occasional exhibition here The first time I ever spoke to Bill Russell the Celtics were here for a game and Russ had to stay in an all-black hotel (He an easy interview that day Twenty years ago we struggled with an American Basketball Association team and lost Ten years ago we started talking about building a new coliseum not because we had an NBA team or had any notion of getting one This was for college ball and the ice show and the circus and a tractor pull or two and an occasional Billy Graham Crusade Five years ago George Shinn a little fellow with a sunshine smile and an absurd idea was telling us he would get us an NBA franchise and we were saying well yeah OK George Someone out West wrote that the only franchise Charlotte would get would be one with golden arches But we got it And today the NBA All-Star Game is being played in Mavbcrry Because of Shinn who started all this Because of a commissioner David Stern who listened to some hicks from a place whose name still had behind it news dispatches so people would know where it was (Public relations executive Max Muhle-man who engineered bid said one day this week heavens David Stern was the commissioner If it had been anyone else I'm not sure Charlotte would have gotten a And because the people Charlotte long to soar and unfailingly do something about it Sure we argue But it seems we argue loudest about things like the sculpture we put in front of the coliseum And what we should call the coliseum And where going to build the stadium that will house our NFL team when we get it (Not if When At his news conference Saturday afternoon Stern said years ago when Charlotte first applied for an NBA franchise the joke among some of the media was think this franchise and this city have answered that question in record-breaking fashion The reception received for our all-star weekend from the people down here proves that this is a great basketball Thanks Commish You so bad yourself The legends huff and puff and bend over and grab their pants legs and smile a lot This is after all a celebration the whole all-star weekend a celebration of pro basketball And as the pist watches and listens he smiles loo help it ALL-STARS INSIDE NBA All-Stars past (Oscar Robertson) present (Magic Johnson) and future (Shaquille O'Neal) Page 6D Magic's All-Star Vision Page 5D Thompson Leads East Legends Page 5D Hodges Wins 3-Point Shoot-out Page 5D All-Star Statistics Page 4D All-Star Picture Page Page 4B Dee-vine Dunk Boston Celtics guard Dee Brown displays the style that gave him the victory In the NBA slam dunk contest Saturday night at the Charlotte Coliseum Brown outpointed Shawn Kemp for the title UNC Leaves Virginia Huffing And Puffing 9-4 run started with a three-point play off a dunk then Eric Montross scored consecutive baskets Montross then swatted away a Virginia shot at the other end freshman guard Derrick Phelps had three quick assists in the process and North Carolina was on its way to a 42-26 halftime lead The Tar Heels led by 20 early in the second half when Stith went to the bench with his fourth foul The Cavaliers managed to get back within eight before the Tar Heels switched to zone and put the game away "That much Jones said Carolina came out and established who the aggressor was going to be and from that point we were just trying to hold Tar Heels played man-to-man Rick Fox kept Stith from being a factor in the offense When North Carolina suddenly shifted into a zone to counteract a Cavaliers run midway through the second half Virginia missed six straight shots and went from eight to 18 points behind just made it so they run their said Hubert Davis who led North Carolina with 19 three main scorers Stith John Crotty and Kenny Turner hit just 12 of 37 shots Stith bothered by foul trouble have a second-half basket and scored just 14 Freshman Cornel Parker led Virginia with 15 North Carolina which hosts Wake Forest Wednesday broke open a tight game late in the first half with an electrifying surge from several of its freshman Clifford Roziergot a By RON GREEN Jr Raleieh Bureau CHAPEL HILL The North Carolina-Virgima basketball game Saturday in the Smith Center had a classic look about it Second place the ACC on the line No 9 vs No 11 A double-overtime battle between the teams three weeks ago So much for first impressions The Tar Heels manhandled the Cavaliers rolling to a 77-58 victory that left North Carolina (6-3 17-4) alone in second place one game behind Duke just have to worry about ourselves and not worry about going on around North Carolina coach Dean Smith said The loss left the Cavaliers (5-4 17-6) gasping for air literally and figuratively It was second straight league loss coming on the backside of a Thursday loss at Duke It dropped the Cavaliers into a tie for third in the league Virginia must play at Wake Forest today at 4 The defeat also left Virginia coach JefT Jones perplexed by a fatigue problem that befell his club North Carolina seemed the more likely team to be tired after back-to-back games against State Wednesday and Thursday But with the Tar Heels banging bodies at both ends and rotating players in and out Virginia was at a distinct physical disadvantage anticipate fatigue being such a Jones said guys were huffing and puffing from the very beginning Bryant Stith looked like he was running in The Tar Heels had a lot to do with troubles North Carolina used a variety of defenses to disrupt the Cavaliers and hold them to 35 shooting When the Progress pleases Smith Page 8D Summary Page 8D INSIDE Davey Allison Speeds To Daytona Pole on the track car drove perfect I have asked for better Today we had the total package a big kick for us and maybe we can come back next week get our first Daytona 500 best finish in the 500 is second behind his father in 1988 Said Irvan: "I got a good lap in the quickest had here definitely pleased I guess my team (MorganMcClure) pulled something out for me was just too strong He has been since we got here 'A proud to be the fastest Terry Norris spoils Sugar Ray return in Madison Square Garden twice knocking him down and winning a one-sided 12-round decision in New York was my last fight" Leonard says Page 13D Dale Earnhardt promises Ken Schrader will have a tougher time in Busch Clash today than he has in winning the past two years because back in the field Page ISO East Oaston High wins its second straight 4A wrestling championship in Greensboro Page 12D By TOM HIGGINS Staff Wrlttr DAYTONA BEACH Fla Ken Schrader failed to achieve an enviable first Saturday at Daytona International Speedway but Davey Allison did not Allison sped to a special line in the Daytona 500 record book by becoming the first second-generation driver to win the pole for NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car premier event which opens the season next Sunday Driving the Robert Yates Ford to a lap of 195 955 mph Davey joined his legendary father Bobby as a 500 pole winner The cider Allison now a team owner positions were locked Saturday The remainder of the 40 to 43 car field will be determined in time trials Monday and Tuesday and in two 125-mile qualifying races Thursday Wallace and the other guys in the engine room did a great job working out how to get more power from an engine with a restrictor said Allison referring to the carburetor device that limits the (low of the airfuel mixtures to keep speeds down for safety at Daytona and its sister track Talladega (Ala Superspeedway of Jake Elder gave me a perfect chassis The car never quivered or slipped at any point qualified a Pontiac fastest prior to the 1981 classic at the 25-mile track The younger achievement denied Schrader a record fourth straight pole in the 500 Schrader's Chevrolet finished eighth fastest at 194 045 Allison be 30 Feb 25 was the only driver to crack the 46-second mark with a time of 45 929 This enabled him to edge Chevrolet rival Ernie Irvan clocked moments earlier at 46 003 seconds or 195 639 mph for the No 1 starting spot in the $25-million race lap gave him the other front row slot as only the top two More Racing Page 15D.