Tuesday, November 18,1980
The Clarion
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Sports views
Bill Russell Earns MVP
Award For Leadership
by Ray Duckworth
On October 30, 1980, the
Professional Basketball Writers
Association of America named
Bill Russell the greatest player in
the history of the sport. Russell, a
cog in the Boston Celtics for 13
pro seasons, was given the award
in honor of the NBA’s 35th An
niversary.
Many followers of professional
basketball feel that Wilt
Chamberlain deserved the
presentation. If the panel had
gone by statistics, Chamberlain
would have won the award hands
down.
In his 14 year career, Cham
berlain, known as “The Stilt,”
compiled a record total of 31,419
points. On March 2, 1%2, Wilt
became the only player in NBA
history to score 100 points in a
single game. He went on to
average a record 50.4 points per
game for that season. He is first
on the rebounding list with 23,924
for his career, and he also holds
the record of the number of
rebounds in one game, 55, against
the Boston Celtics.
In the June 8, 1970, edition of
Sports Illustrated, Bill Russell
says, “No one has ever been sure
what I valued, and where I was
really vunerable. This made me
especially effective against Wilt
Chamberlain. I confused him. On
the other hand, Wilt has really
been the victim of an informal
conspiracy ... Wilt got tricked; he
fell for the statistics game the
way most fans and writers do.
They emphasized points, so Wilt
went out and got points. More
than anyone. Then they said
rebounds, so he went out and got
the most rebounds. He was doing
everything the statistics con
spiracy told him to do, but he was
an also-ran. So wait a minute, it
must be assists. Wilt went right
out and got the most assists for a
center.”
However, the writers did not
get fooled by the statistics. They
read between the lines as they
looked for the man who had been
a dominating force and a leader
for his team. When they did this,
they realized that Russell did
deserve the award.
Russell, while playing for the
Celtics, helped lead the team to 11
championships in 13 years. He is
second to Chamberlain in
rebounds with 21,620. Also,
Russell’s supporters call him the
most outstanding defensive
player and shot blocker in the
history of the NBA.
The October 31st edition of the
Asheville Citizen quotes Red
Auerbach, Russell’s coach at
Boston, as saying, “He was one of
the brightest, smartest players
ever. You might fool him once,
but you could never fool him
twice — never. He always made
the big play. He developed the
blocked shot into an art form.
And he was team oriented — all
he wanted to do was win ... He
was the greatest player to ever
play the game of basketball.”
i
Randy Ward, Ronnie Treadway, and John Delaney are Brevard’s three All-
Americans.
Three Named All-American
Cross Country Team
Is Second Nationally
by Ray Duckworth
Coach Norm Witek is trying to
rearrange his office, for he now
has three more Cross Country All
Americans, which is the most
Brevard has ever had, and
nowhere to place their plaques.
These three All-Americans,
Ronnie Treadway, Randy Ward,
and John Delaney, helped lead
the team to a second place finish
in the nationals on November 8.
Treadway, who was the only
returning All-American from last
year to repeat, finished in eighth
place. He was followed by Randy
Ward, 17th, and Delaney, 19th.
Other Brevard finishers included
Roger Saltsman, 42nd, Ed Fore,
44th, Eric Daye, 52nd, and Mark
Kennard, 79th.
Brevard had a 0:44 split bet
ween Treadway and Fore. Pima
College, which finished first, had
only a 0:33 split between its
number one and five runners.
Coach Witek said about the
team’s finish, “I was very
pleased. Pima ran exceptionally
well. It would have taken an
exceptional run for us to have
beaten them.”
This second place finish is the
highest finish for Coach Witek,
and it is the first time since 1967
that Brevard has finished that
high.
The panel also made other
decisions at a luncheon honoring
the presentation. It named Red
Auerbach the greatest coach of
NBA history. The writers named
the l%6-67 Philadelphia 76ers the
league’s greatest team.
Also it named an eleven player -■■■■■•
rn.SfrSe™“l: Brevard Loses To Hiwassee
Jabbar and George Mikan,
The Harriers end their season
with 34 consecutive duel meet
victories over the past four years.
They finished fourth in the state
and won the Region X Cham
pionship for the 11th straight
year. The team won the Jackson
Invitational for the first time.
Incidentally, three of the top four
finishers in the nationals,
Brevard, Southern Michigan, and
Jackson, were in that meet. Also
the team was ranked second
nationally for the first time.
Coach Witek sums up this
year’s squad by saying, “It’s
been one of the greatest group of
kids I have ever had. We had no
discipline problems. A coach
couldn’t have asked more of his
kids. They would pick up the
slack if someone had trouble.
These guys may have run beyond
their own feelings to pick up the
slack.”
forwards Elgin Baylor, Bob
Pettit, Julius Erving and John
Havlicek, and guards Oscar
Robertson, Jerry West and Bob
Cousey.
John Havlicek sums everything
up when he says, “Everyone on
this list was a great player. I
think what made this group stand
out is that everyone of us here
had fun playing the game.”
Clarion Forecast
Saturday, November 22
Home
Away
Clemson
16
South Carolina
26
UNO
24
Duke
15
Florida State
23
Florida
15
Ohio State
25
Michigan
22
UCLA
20
use
21
Sunday, November 23
Atlanta
21
Chicago
17
Tampa Bay
18
Detroit
21
Philadelphia
24
Oakland
20
Buffalo
20
Pittsburgh
23
New England
26
Baltimore
21
by Gregg Largen
The Brevard men’s basketball
team was defeated by a score of
90-80 by a tough Hiwassee Junior
College team Saturday,
November 8 in the Tornado’s
season opener.
Hiwassee jumped to an early
eight point lead nine minutes into
the first half and by halftime had
extended its lead to 16 points
while making the score 47-31.
In the second half Brevard’s
troubles continued as Hiwassee
put 10 unanswered points on the
board until a basket by guard Mel
Melton gave Brevard its first
points of the half. Hiwassee
extended its lead to 29 points.
However, at the 7:30 mark,
Brevard’s Skip Long recovered a
loose ball and took it in for two
points. From this point on
Brevard outscored Hiwassee 34
to 17, showing a lot of hustle and
enthusiasm in the final ten
minutes of the second half.
The Tornados were led by
Trent Westmoreland with 22
points. Mel Melton followed
closely with 14.
Brevard’s coach Sam Lewis
summed up his feelings on the
game, “I was pleased with the
enthusiasm and hustle, and I feel
that everyone gave 100%. I think
what hurt us most in the game
was our lack of experience at the
Green Dorm Leads
In Flag Football
college level.” He continued
saying, “I am still confident
though that by the end of the year
we will have reached our
potential.”
Brevard travels to Hiwassee
Saturday for a rematch with the
Tigers. The team’s next home
game will be Wednesday,
December 3, when it hosts
Spartanburg Methodist.
By Brian Gillespie
At the halfway point of the
Intramural flag football season.
Green Dorm has a perfect 3-0
record.
In the first week, Taylor beat
Ross Hall 22-6 and Green shut out
the Day Students.
The second week saw Beam
split a couple of games, a 28-8 win
over Taylor and a 28-20 loss to
Green. Ross Hall evened its
record at 1-1 with a 20-6 win over
the Day Students.
In the third week of the season,
Green won a controversial 12-10
game over Taylor to keep its
flawless mark, and Beam came
from behind to hand the Day
Students an 18-14 loss, when
Beam scored a touchdown in the
last five seconds of the game.