NBA rookie class
of '92 more than holding its own
By BILL BARNARD
Asaociafd Pr? Sports Writer
Larry Johnson and Dikembe
Mutombo, the class of the best
rookie class in more than a
decade, are showing they have
what it takes to be NBA stars.
Just ask them.
"My goal is to dominate,**
Mutombo said, and by the relative
standards of the Denver Nuggets,
the 7-foot-2 rookie has dominated.
Johnson also has the cocky
self-confidence that characterizes
many NBA superstars.
"There's no pressure on me
because I know how to play,**
Johnson said. "I knew what to
expect. I knew all about how
physical it is. I felt comfortable
from the start**
After a slow start, Johnson is
coming on very strong in the
Rookie of the Year race, averag
ing 17 point* and 12 rebounds.
Fears that he was too short at 6-5
to play inside in the NBA have
disappeared.
"The guy*s automatic when
ypu get him the ball 6 feet from
the basket,** Hornets coach Allan
Bristow said of his 250-pound for
ward. "We don*t have any reser
vations with who we got (with the
No. .1 pick). If we had it to do
over again, we*d do the same
thing.**
In his meeting with Larry
Bird on Nov. 16, Johnson had 27
points and 15 rebounds to 25
points and 11 rebounds for Bird,
who had eight assists compared to
one for the rookie.
"He*s strong, quick and a
great team player,** Bird said of
Johnson. "He takes his time and
when it's his time to score, he's
there.'*
Mutombo, the fourth pick in
the 1991 draft, is averaging 19
points and nearly 14 rebounds. He
got early season tests against two
of the best veteran centers in the
NBA ? Hakeem Olajuwon of
Houston and David Robinson of
San Antonio. Mutombo combined
for 48 points and 30 rebounds in
the two games.
"David was really surprised
3)w big and physical he was, and
avid has the fat lips to prove it,"
Spurs coach Larry Brown said.
"Mutombo plays with his hands
up and when he stands behind
you, it's hard to even see the bas
ket."
"I can tell you one thing, his
elbows are sharp,Robinson said.
The rookie talent does not by
any means stop with Mutombo
and Johnson.
Billy Owens of Golden State,
Steve Smith of Miami, Stacey
Augmon of Atlanta, Kenny
Anderson of New Jersey, Terrell
Brandon of Cleveland, Greg
Anthony of New York, Mark
Macon of Denver, Dale Davis of
Indiana, Victor Alexander of
Golden State, Rick Fox of Boston
and Robert Pack of Portland all
have been impressive, although
not always consistent.
Not since 1981 has the rook
ie class shown this kind of depth.
The 1981 class included
Isiah Thomas, Buck Williams,
Mark Aguirre, Rolando Black
man, Tom Chambers, Larry
Nance, Kelly Tripucka, Herb
Williams, Danny Schayes and
Alton Lister. All but Tripucka are
still in the NBA.
In perhaps the season's
biggest irony. Golden State coach
Don Nelson, notorious for his
reluctance to rely on rookies, is
using Owens and Alexander (No.
17) extensively and also has got
ten some help from a third first
glowing in his comments about
his rookie point guard
"Unless you know where
you're going, you can't use your
speed," Fitch said. "But with
Kenny, every once in a while, you
see a glimpse." .
year pro, Chris Gatling (No. 16).
4The No. 1 thing I look for in
the draft is guys who know how to
play basketball/* said Nelson,
who acquired Owens from Sacra
mento in a trade for Mitch Rich
mond. "Larry Bird is a. 10, but
Billy Owens is right up there, an 8
1/2 or a 9. He was the best basket
ball player in the draft.**
Many people wondered if it
was worth breaking up Golden
State*s Run-TMC ? Tim Hard
away, Richmond and Chris Mullin
? to get Owens.
"We*re used to watching Tim
and Chris play so well, but Billy
has taken that next step and is
beginning to blossom,** Nelson
said.
Owens was taken third in the
draft behind Johnson and Ander
son, whose late signing has ham
pered his early development. Nets
coach Bill Fitch has alternated
among being critical, sarcastic and
Fifth In the draft was
Miami's 6-7 Smith, who took over
as the Heat's point guard when
Sherman Douglas became a hold
out.
i .
"Steve would rather have an
assist on a good pass than score,"
Heat coach Kevin Loughery said.
"Not many people come into the
league with that kind of attitude.**
Doug Smith, the No. 6 pick
by Dallas, also was a late signee,
but has shown signs of contribut
ing recently with four consecutive
double-figure scoring games,
including 17 in a victory over
Miami Dec. 10.
Macon, despite shooting less
than 33 percent, starts and plays
nearly 30 minutes a game no mat
ter what his stats are.
"I*m just playing Mark as
many minutes as 1 can to get him
the NBA experience," coach Paul
Westhead said of the draft's eighth
pick. "I want to keep him on the
floor."
Augmon, No. 9, is a starter
for the Hawks at shooting guard
despite playing forward at UNLV.
He also is averaging 30 minutes
per game while averaging 11
points.
Brandon and Anthony,
picked 11th and 12th, have settled
in as backup point guards on the
Cavaliers and Knicks, teams that
have played very well.
Both have quickness superior
to starters \iark Price and Mark
Jackson, but the rookies need
experience and better shot selec*
tion.
Davis, the 13th pick, has
given Indiana needed rebounding
muscle and occasional scoring
punch as evidenced by his 19
points on 9-for-10 shooting in 17
minutes in a 141-121 rout of
Houston Nov. 29.
Fox, picked 24th by Boston,
is the star of the bottom of the
first round. He is benefitting from
the Celtics* system of moving
without the ball, which is similar
to what he played under at North
Carolina under Dean Smith.
"He's been playing hard
since Day 1 of training camp,"
coach Chris Fbrd said of Fox, one
of the first rookies to sign. "He
makes mistakes, but one thing he
doesn't do is stop listening."
The unquestioned star of the
tindrafted rookies is Portland's
Pack, of Southern California.
"You've got to give the
young man so much credit
because he came into camp and
there really wasn't much of a
chance that he'd be on our team,"
Trail Blazers coach Rick Adelman
said. "But he just kept impressing
us and earned a spot and earned
minutes."
His most impressive game
was Nov. 15 when he scored 13 of
his 15 points in the fourth quarter
as the Trail Blazers rallied from a
21-point deficit to beat Minnesota.
a ?
OF THE WEEK
Weston Travel is pleased to recognize
Veronica S. Crumblin as our Ram of the Week.
Mrs. Crumblin, a Winston-Salem native, is a
graduate of Paisley High School and Johnson
C. Smith University. Veronica began work at
WSSU in 1973 in the math department. She
then worked in personnel and since 1967 has
been working as a vital cog in the Chancellor's
Office. Veronica is responsible for a myriad of
tasks as she works closely with Chancellor
Thompson. Mrs. Crumblin feels fortunate to
have worked with a variety of good people in
each of her positions at the University. She
lives day to day by her personal creed that
"patience and understanding are the key to
dealing with people." Veronica is a member of
Dur Lady of Fatima and is married to Charles
T. Crumblin, Jr. Veronica and Charles have two children, Kamal and Kesha.
Her hobbies are sewing, collecting Motown oldies, and following Ram
Football.
Weston cTravel salutes Veronica S. Crumblin for her diligence and
commitment to excellence at Winston-Salem State University.
Veronica S. Crumblin
FOR ALL YOUR TRAVEL NEEDS
Bullets' Ellison continues to make his mark
DALLAS (AP) ? Washington
Bullets forward Pervis Ellison
believes he can hold his own
against most of the league's big
men.
"Size bothers me the most, not
quickness," said Ellison, who
scored 31 points and had 16
rebounds in the Bullets' 107-99
Victory over the Dallas Mavericks
last Friday night. "I had some real
problems against David Robinson
a couple of days ago because he
has size and quickness."
Ellison, at 6-9 and 225 pounds,
said his 11-point performance in
the Bullets* recent 96-93 victory
over San Antonio helped him two
days later. .
"Tonight's game, I think, was
something that just carried over,"
- he said.
. Dallas forward Herb Williams
hit on eight of 10 shots from the
field in the second period while
scoring 17 of his team-high 22
points. The surge helped the Mav
ericks take a 63-52 lead going into
the second half.
Ellison, however, scored 11
points in the final quarter on his
way to his career high.
"That's a sensational game,"
Dallas coach Richie Adubato said.
"We didn't stop them on the
defensive end. Defensively, when
we needed to play we didn't stop
them."
The Bullets, who improved to 8
17 with the victory, have now won
two consecutive games for the
first time since late November and
played Friday's contest without
starter Harvey Grant.
He was suspended for a game
for his role in a fight with Robin
son in San Antonio.
However, Ellison more than
made up the difference. He
entered the game averaging 19.4
points and 11.9 rebounds.
"We played pretty well, we hit
the boards hard,'* Washington
coach Wes Unseld said. "Pervis
really played well."
The Bullets' front court of Elli
son, Larry Stewart and Tom Ham
monds combined for 66 points
and 34 rebounds.
The Mavericks (10-15) has a
four-point lead going into the
fourth quarter, but Washington
took the lead for good on a 14
foot jumper by Hammonds to
make it 86-84 with 8:05 to play:
Dallas got as close as one point
at 94-93 when Rolando Black
man/Who scored 16 points, hit an
ll4ooter with 4:12 on the clock.
The Bullets, however, tallied eight
consecutive points to put the con
test out of reach when .Dallas
three-point shooters proved cold.
"When you don't take advan
tage of the opportunities to put a
team away, it turns out that way,"
said Blackman. "They did a good
job of hanging in there posting up,
hitting their shots/*
Ellison hit on 13 of 19 attempts
from the field Tuesday. Stewart
added 21 points and guard
Michael Adams tallied 18 points
and a season-high 17 assists for
the Bullets.
"Michael is Michael,^ said
Unseld. "He will do well no mat
ter what the situation is, whether
he's scoring or just running the
floor." .
For Rudy Washington,
winning isn't always enough
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ?
Winning alone isn't always enough
for Drake coach Rudy Washington.
He's interested in performance as
well.
While happy with the result in
Drake's 65-47 victory over Texas
Wesleyan last weekend, Washing
ton wasn't totally satisfied with
how it was achieved.
Drake committed 19 turnovers
and shot just 44 percent Washing
ton said the Bulldogs will have to
be sharper if they're going to win
later on.
"When you're trying to gear up a
team for a championship, which is
what we're trying to do, you have
to realize that championship teams
don't celebrate routine wins," said
Washington, who heads the Black
Coaches Association. "I want to get
this team in a habit of more than
just winning."
Still, it was a noteworthy victory.
It followed a 69-67 victory at
Lamar and was Drake's first in a
home opener since the 1986-87 sea
son. The Bulldogs are 2-2 heading a
short holiday break. They'll play
again on Saturday at Cal State
Fullerton.
"It was a good confidence builder
for us coming off our big Lamar
win," Washington said. "After
beating Lamar, if we would have
lost to Texas Wesleyan we would
have had no credibility.
4 Then we pick up the paper and
see that Lamar beats Kansas State
116-75. So I don't know how good
we can be."
Texas Wesleyan, an NAIA school
in Fort Worth, fell well short of its
89-point scoring average. The
Rams*, previous low came in an 89
73 loss at Texas-El Paso on Thurs
day night.
The shock, the anguish, the damage?the results of a crash far outweigh the time you save by driving fast It's a fact that your *
chances of hitting someone or something increase as you exceed the speed limit A crash like this can happen in a heartbeat.
And when it does, it will change your life forever.
? SPEEDING. GETS YOU NOWHERE. FAST.
U S Department of Itansporiation