10B
SPORTS/The Charlotte Post
Thursday, May 16, 1996
Milliard impressive in AAA
Continued From 8B
hitting .290 through the first
four weeks. One of his best
games, two weeks ago in a 3-1
victory over Columbus, saw
him go 3-for-3, including a
game-winning two-run homer.
"I guess it was one of those
games,” Milliard
said. “I just went
out and relaxed and
I just try to get the
job done and I did it
tonight and I'm
happy about it.”
The native of
Willemstad,
Curacao, made the
jump to AAA after
just one season
w4h the AA
Eastern League
regular season
champion Portland.
But what a year it
was. Milliard hit
.267 and scored 104 runs, lead
ing all of AA. His quick success
with the Knights has left
Milliard pleased but cautious.
“I'm feeling good about it, “
he said. “They told me it’s
going to be hard but you know
I always try to prove people
wrong, so I just go out there.
We knew
he could play
great defense
but I think the
offense, has
been a little
bit of a sur
prise.
Knights manager Sal
Rende on Milliard
“Sometimes I get it done and
sometimes I don't but I'm not
going to let it get me down,
because I try to have a positive
attitude. I'm just trying to
hang in there.”
He's done more than just
hang in there. Milliard isn't
expected to score
104 nms again this
year, but he’s
brought a special
spark to the
Knights with his
defense and timely
hitting. The
Knights’ major
league affiliate, the
Florida Marlins,
are excited.
“We knew he
could play great
defense but I think
the offense, has
been a little bit of a
Surprise,” Rende
said.
“He started out slowly, then
got real hot for five or six days,
then struggled again a little
bit.
He seems to be really streaky
so far. When he's hot, he seems
to hit the ball very well every
time up and hopefully he can
continue to do that.”
When Milliard’s hitting, he's
on base and scoring runs,
something he takes pride in.
“You got to try and get on
base at least twice a game, “ he
said. “Sometimes it isn't going
to happen and sometimes you
get on base four times. I try to
do my best just to score runs. I
know if you score runs, you're
going to win the game.
Defense and score runs, you’re
going to win games.”
Milliard would like to play in
the majors someday and if it’s
with the Marlins, he'll have to
unseat promising speedster
Quilvio Veras at second base.
It’s not something Milliard
spends a lot of time worrying
about. He's happy in Charlotte
and his work here comes first.
“I really don’t pay attention
to what other teams, or other
players are doing,” he said. “I
just make sure that I get my
job done and I think if you try
to get your job done, good
things will happen.
“Charlotte is nice, nice and
quiet, not a whole lot of places
to go and that keeps you
home.”
Playoffs fit Seattle SuperSonics
Continued from 8B
“It's been a hell of a run, all
the good things that come with
being champion,” Rockets
coach Rudy Tomjanovich said.
“We've been on a treadmill for
two years.”
'The treadmill ground to a
halt Sunday when the Sonics
won 114-107 in overtime.
“It's disappointing but you
also have to look at reality,”
Tomjanovich said. “I thought
we played worse in some
games last year and won. We
just ran into a great team that
did some phenomenal things.
Three of those games went
right down to the end."
The Rockets amazed their
opponents to the very finish.
“I was wondering, ‘Why don't
you guys just die?’” Sonics
guard Gary Payton said. “They
really had me going. I couldn't
believe it. They were like a
vampire. You stab them 18
times and they won't die.”
Seattle had to endure failure
in order to be successful,
according to Sam Perkins.
“All the adversity we went
through, it made Shawn grow,”
Perkins said. “It made Gary
grow. It made us all grow.”
Gary Payton and Shawn
Kemp, the Sonics’ two All-
Stars, matured because of
back-to-back first-round play
off losses the past two seasons.
The embarrassing defeats
made Payton and Kemp better.
“You can’t win it alone,”
Perkins said. “The superstars
on this team need support
from their teammates.”
Now, the Sonics, fresh from a
4-0 series victory over
Houston, are waiting to play
the winner of the Utah-San
Antonio series for the right to
advance to the NBA Finals.
Payton, Kemp and their
teammates felt they had the
weapons to beat Houston, the
league's two-time defending
champion. But who would
have imagined a sweep?
“They have a championship
team and they can play at
every level,” the Rockets’
Hakeem Olajuwon said after
the Sonics won 114-107 in
overtime Sunday in Houston.
Going into the playoffs, crit
ics questioned the Sonics'
defense. They said it was too
gimmicky, that an opposing
team could figure it out in a
seven-game playoff series.
Well, Seattle's trapping, dou
ble-teaming defense stymied
the magnificent Olajuwon.
The Rockets never quite fig
ured out how to solve coach
George Karl’s swarming dou
ble teams that Kenny Smith
complained were nothing more
than a zone in disguise.
So how far can they go now?
The Sonics may feel confident,
but they're not making any
boasts.
“From losing in the first
round, we have kept our
mouths shut,” Karl said.
The Sonics had a well-
deserved day off Monday. They
planned to begin practicing
today for either the Utah Jazz
or the San Antonio Spurs. The
Jazz lead the series 3-2.
Seattle took three out of four
from Utah during the regular
season, winning the final
meeting in Salt Lake City 100-
91 on April 2. Because the
Sonics won a franchise-best 64
games this season and Utah
was 55-27, Seattle would have
a homecourt advantage in a
playoff series against the Jazz,
a team the Sonics beat 3-2
three years ago, the last time
they met in the playoffs.
Utah's Karl Malone and
John Stockton present huge
obstacles, the Sonics said.
All-Star game showcases talent
Continued From 8B
up.
“I showed up thinking this
was going to be an ordinary all
star game with a lot of running
and dunking,” referee Bruce
Bell said. “But after the very
first drive down the lane, you
could tell the North came to
play defense. 'They contested
every shot.”
The game was witnessed by
1,500 fans, 14 NBA scouts and
a TV audience of 40 milllion
who watched the South grab
their only lead of 2-0 on a
Malone jumper. Johnson C.
Smith guard Melvin Abrams
and Hampton's JaFonde
Williams blitzed the South for
28 and 24 points respectively.
Williams snared nine
rebounds and handed out five
assists to gamer the North’s
MVP honors.
N.C. Central’s Levelle
Moton, who scored five points,
was pleased with his effort.
“I was sick of listening to
Malone and his little sidekick
guard and teammate Deartrus
Goodman,”
Moton said.
“I played in
the CIAA and
scored a lot of
points, so I
wanted to
show the
scouts I could
play defense.
In the Double
A, you’ve got
to strap on a
chinstrap and get down and
dirty and the South wasn't
ready for that kind of game.”
Abrams
Belle tolls for California pitching
Continued From 8B
tremendous strength.”
Percival (0-1), whose perfect
record of 11 saves in 11 oppor
tunities wasn't damaged, had
n't allowed a run in 20 1-3
innings dating back to Sept.
19.
He had shaved his head in
spring training, but vowed not
to get his hair cut while his
ERA remained 0.00.
“If you're going to give up
runs, they might as well all
come in one game,” he said. “I
guarantee it'll be a different
story next time.”
Percival had not allowed a
hit since a single by Melvin
Nieves of Detroit on April 20.
He ran his streak of consecu
tive batters retired to 24 on
Saturday with a perfect ninth
inning against the Indians
that included striking out
Thome.
While the Indians ended the
road trip with a 6-4 mark, the
loss was the Angels' sixth in
seven games. They had won
six in a row, and 10 consecu
tive at home, before being sent
reeling by Kansas City and
Cleveland.
California starter Jim Abbott
equaled his career high with
six walks in 5 2-3 innings, but
was bailed out by three of the
Angels' four double plays.
Only Belle’s run-scoring sin
gle in the fourth, which
extended his hitting streak to
14 games, hurt Abbott.
Still, the left-hander
remained winless in 10 starts
at Anaheim Stadium since
rejoining the Angels in July in
a deal with the Chicago 'White
Sox.
Cleveland's Orel Hershiser
went seven innings and
allowed five hits, including a
homer to Jim Edmonds in the
fourth.
Jim Poole (2-0) struck out the
side in the eighth and Jose
Mesa worked the ninth to pick
up his league-leading 14th
save. He has converted 22
straight save opportunities
since blowing one to the
Detroit Tigers last Sept. 3.
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3521 Brookshire Blvd. 282M
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2842RozzeHsFeri(SrRd. 2821d
SMALLWOOD GROCERIES
2500 West TVi^eSk, 282(^
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::|740 West'hade St, 28216
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125 N, Invin St. 28202»
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505 Beatties Ford Rd. 28216
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1023 Beatties Ford M 28216
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MOlOaklawnAve. 282!dii
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2312 LaSalle St 28216
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2206 Beatties Ford Rd. 28216
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2504 Beattie, lord Rd. 28216
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2519 Beatties Fold Rd. 28216
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4005 Sunset Rd. 28216
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1-85 At Beatties Ford 28216
BITSY BOUNTY #2
9001 Nations Ford Rd. 28273
CIRCLE ‘K’#4855
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JR GENERAL STORE
ONE INDEPENDENCE PLAZA 28202
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818 E. 7th St. 28202
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2044 North Graham St 28206 .
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2521 North Gi^ham 28206
DEESE COIFFURE BOUTIQUE
4409NorUi1VyonSt. 28206
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217 E. Sugar Crk.&1Vyoii 28213
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4431-C North'Etyon St. 28213
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^30 North Tryon St 28213
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4801 North TVyon St 28213
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