The Toronto Star from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 64

svi; L-" i i 1 v-- vwMWiiiwAW4 i D6 THE TORONTO STAR Thursday, December 19, 1996 Voices of experience bend Raptors ears Dave Perkins unit, he said. The key is to take what you have and keep adding parts to it You cant lose one player and add another. You keep your unit together. I 1STILL READY TO RUMBLE standing physical shape and shows no Mr" outward signs of wear and tear at being Lennox Lewis brandishes fist at news conference yesterday to show he still set to fight used for extended periods, says the i -j- team needs a little self-confidence to THE MAPLE Leafs import a defenceman from Japan and certain comers chick. It may be enough to make Don Cherry turn over in his grave.

But how about those Raptors? They have not one but two players from hoops hotbed Argentina these days. John Long and Earl Cureton, at 40 and 39 respectively, were brought aboard by Isiah Thomas to inject some, as the cliche goes, veteran leadership into a team with more ups and downs than the Prime Ministers polygraph. Both NBA veterans had been world-touring with the Magic Johnson allstars before joining a Buenos Aires dub in the Argentine pro league last January. They lasted almost six months there and imagine that One moment its the Paris of South America, its Calle Florida, the Casa Rosada and those tango joints down in Boca. Next its Toronto in the odd grayness of December.

They probably look around and wonder which is which. Its obvious why Cureton and Long are here. has both nothing and everything to do with the long term. are here to plant seeds in several ers who have talent, but perhaps 1 the harness it requires. If they are successful and inject a little of what is required to make the Raps winners down the road, well, they wont be here sharing it At least not in uniform.

Each bas been here long enough to form an opinion about what he sees and what he doesn't Not surprisingly, they mostly agree. Obviously, there is some real talent here, said Cureton, who broke into the NBA in 1980 with Philadelphia and lasted 1 1 seasons. "I don't see any limit to how far they can go once they learn to make the sacrifices needed to win. And I see them willing to make those sacrifices. Cureton has seen other teams in this situation, having raw ability but needing to smooth out the edges.

He cautions not every team succeeds. What it comes down to is that a lot of organizations dont keep the young guys together and let them grow as a advance to the next level. Some teams learn and some do not. The team that is willing to believe in itself is foe one that comes out and competes every night, said the 13-year NBA campaigner, who began at Detroit in 78-79. In the time Ive been here Ive seen them doing foe little things that successful teams do.

I tell the guys it's a matter of putting it together every night We beat Chicago and beat Houston and then we lose to Golden State. Obviously, then, we have the talent to beat those teams, but dont have the consistency. Everyone who knows whether a basketball is square or oval can see that The difference is, Cureton and Long know all the tricks that only a veteran of this occasionally very tricky game can pick up. Passingthem along takes time, although both know some of the younger player may not always be interested in listening. Junior Felix never wanted to listen to Tom Lawless, either, and kept getting picked off first base.

For a sensible player, though, its nice to have a voice of experience around, especially one, or two, willing to share it Dave Perkins' column appears four times a week. Coffey, Dineen conspired on deal FROM CANADIAN PRESS Paul Coffey says he hastened his exit from Hartford by conspiring with Whaler captain Kevin Dineen. Dineen publicly asked Hartford general manager Jim Rutherford to trade Coffey on Saturday, a wish granted a day later when Coffey was dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers. I dont disagree with any of the stuff Kevin said; a lot of that staff, what he was going to sty, was discussed before he said it, Coffey said. The filings (Dineen) said were kind of premeditated.

We both talked about it and it helped to speed up file process. Coffey, the NHLs career goals, assists and points leader among defence-men, was shipped from Hartford to Philadelphia for defenceman Kevin Haller and two June draft picks. Ever since being traded to Hartford from Detroit earlier this season, file 35-year-old has wanted out "The one reason was, and some people drat think its true but it is, that team doesnt really know where its going to be next year, Coffey said. 2.9& 3.9 AVAILABLE ON SELECTED MODELS) URJO 48 BRAND NEW 1996WINDSTJ "5ef 1997 escort wen Si 1997 SABLE GS SEDAN SS? 1997 EXFUHER1UUI4M. 1997 VILLAGER GS NCUBttPW PL, TIX CRUM AUTO, 4.0 L.

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