pose. But I think that this
team — as has been ex-
emplified in the playoffs par-
ticularly — they're rooting on
that bench, whether they
think they should be in there
or not.
"I observed just the other
night (Adrian) Dantley was
out there really rooting the
team on. And these were
crucial, crunch-time
minutes."
Feldman was particularly
impressed with the team's
key player, Isiah Thomas,
when the team drafted him in
1981.
"I recall how impressed I
was in the initial negotiation
of Isiah's contract. Here was
a 20-year-old coming in with
his agent to negotiate his first
professional contract. Dressed
in a pin-striped gray suit with
a white shirt and a tie. Speak-
ing with maturity well
beyond his years. That's
always impressed me about
Isiah, his maturity. His
talent, of course, speaks for
itself. What we didn't know
was the contribution that he
was going to make to the com-
munity."
Feldman gives McCloskey
credit for building the team
and calls him "very loyal to
his position?' Feldman praises
coach Chuck Daly as "a great
motivator. One of the great
ones that I've had over these
many years. He never gets too
high and he never gets too
low. He's able to keep the
team at that same level. That
has really put the team in
good stead as a result,
because emotion is involved
in the playing of the game,
besides talent."
Feldman maintains social
relations with many players
and ex-players, even some
who left the team under dif-
ficult circumstances, which
happens often with any sports
franchise. "I don't think we —
my wife (DeDe) and I — have
made any enemies of players
who have been associated
with the Pistons over all
these years."
One of the Feldmans'
social friends is former Piston
Chris Ford, now an assistant
coach with the rival Celtics.
"We usually don't talk
business when we get
together," Feldman says.
The Feldmans have been
married for 37 years. "DeDe's
been as active with the
organization — in different
levels, obviously — as I am.
For example, she and Chuck
Daly's wife, Terri, had a
shower for three of the preg-
nant wives of our players just
a couple months ago. It's im-
portant to let the families
know that we want to be
friends with them and we are
interested in their welfare"
Detroit's first-ever NBA
championship final round
game will be played at the
Silverdome on Sunday. Look-
ing ahead to a Pistons-Lakers
matchup, Feldman said op-
timistically, "I think we
match up pretty well with
them. I think our players
think so and our staff thinks
so. I think that was proven in
the games that we played
against them in the last
several years:' ❑
I ROUND UP I
Novetsky Inks
Scholarship
Jason Novetsky of Oak
Park has received a half-
scholarship to play baseball
at the University of Southern
Mississippi. The left-handed
pitcher and his mother, Gayle,
visited the campus in Hat-
tiesburg during the Memorial
Day weekend.
"It was a beautiful cam-
pus," Novetsky reports. "They
showed me all the facilities
and just everything was top-
notch . . . It's not what
everybody thinks it is. It's not
a bunch of farms and pickup
trucks. It's a city close to look-
ing like Birmingham,a great
downtown. And they have a
synagogue right near the
campus, a big synagogue, and
a Hillel facility on the cam-
pus. And they told me that
there's nine Jewish players on
the football team and another
Jewish player on the baseball
team. So it's a good mixture
of kids down there"
Novetsky returned from his
trip to discuss his options
with his parents, and to await
more offers. Michigan State
University also made him an
offer, but it did not match the
Southern Miss scholarship.
"Even if they did," he ex-
plains, "I would've highly
considered still going to
Southern Miss, because the
South is just an incredible
place to play baseball. The
facilities down there are so
much nicer than Michigan
State's. And they treated me
so much better?'
Based on his performance,
Novetsky's scholarship can be
upgraded from 50 to 60
percent.
Novetsky says that
Southern Miss coach Hill
Denson "wants me to come
right in and throw. That's
why, mainly, I went down
there. Because he told me he
was in high need of lefthand-
ed pitchers and wanted me to
step in right away and start?'
Novetsky apparently was
not selected in last week's
professional baseball draft.
first ime
Ever!
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at Franklin
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summer and enjoy full
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Your Summer
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you'll take advantage of
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But hurry! Our special Summer
Membership Offer ends June 15.
Call today! 352-8000.
FRANKLIN
Fitness & Racquet Club
14/1/ 0/
11O7iiiff5/9 7
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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