BULLETS, SUNS FAVORED
Page 8-Wednesday, April 4, 1979-The Michigan Daily
Women open season
with twinbill sweep
By SUZANNE JAQUES
If there wasn't a hole in the Lansing Community College infield,
Michigan's women softball team might not have come away with a 1-0 vic-
tory in the first game of yesterday's twin-bill season opener.
With two down in the bottom of the seventh, catcher Sheryl Tominac
found the hole.
The Michigan runner on second base came in from the resulting error,
and the Wolverines started off their season with a victory.
Getting hits was the key problem in the first game. The team had
problems getting a solid piece of the ball, instead hitting fly balls and infield
grounders.
"Our bats died," said pitcher Theresa Gardocki between games. "We-
need to get those sticks going," Coach Gloria Soluk agreed. "We're going to
have to improve our hitting."
The women showed where the team's strength lies with their defensive
play. Gardocki, who pitched the first game, was in top form and kept Lan-
sing off the scoreboard with fast and controlled pitches. "I had excellent con-
trol of the ball," she said. "I've been ready (to play) for two weeks."
Freshman Julie Zyjewski hurled the second game. She too showed the
sparse crowd her skill. However, she lacked the control Gardocki had. But
for the most part, Soluk was pleased with her first performance, shutting out
Lansing 9-6 for :Michigan's second win.
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NBA teams gear-up for playoffs
BY SCOTT M. LEWIS
Midwestern teams may have
dominated college basketball this past
year, but in the pro game, it's been an
entirely different story.
As the 82-game regular season plods
to an end, fans in this sector of the coun-
try respond to their teams with an ap-
propriate "So what?" Detroit,
Cleveland, and Chicago - which have
combined for a .379 winning percentage
- are locked in a furious struggle for
second place. The goal: finish behind
New Orleans as the losingest team in
the league?
FIVE OTHER clubs will join the
Titanic Trio on the sidelines when post-
season action begins next Tuesday. For
all ye faithful from New York,
Milwaukee, Boston and the Bay Area,
well, at least your baseball teams will
provide something to cheer about.
What about the other 13 NBA teams
which still entertain championship
hopes? All but one are playoff-bound,
ready to start what most players and
coaches call the "second season."
Washington and Seattle, surprise
finalists last year, are logical choices to
meet again for the title. By compiling
the best records in their respective con-
ferences, each will hold the all-
important home court advantage in the
playoffs.
HOME TEAMS have won 69 per cent
of the time this year, so it's only natural
that coaches will pull out all the stops
this week to finish with the best possible
mark. Only the Bullets and Sonics can
afford to rest their aching players, sin-
ce they probably will have an additional
week's rest._
and square off in three-game mini-
series. The third-place team plays,
number six in one qualifier, while four
and five are paired in the other. The
division champs with the best record
await the winner of the third place-sixth
place series, while the other division
winner plays the second survivor. -
A LOOK AT the standings as of
yesterday morning will clarify the con-
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W L Pct. GB WESTERN CONFERENCE
X-Washington................ 52 25 .675 -- 'seattle...0 28L Pt. G
*San Antonio .................. 45 33 .577 72' Phoenix............. ......48 30 .615 2
Philadelphia.................45 34 .570 8 Los Angeles................44 33 .571 5
Houston .................... 43 34 .558 9 LosAnes.t........ .......44 33 .570 512
Atlanta.................... 42 36 .544 10'2 Dener. y.................. 45 34 .570 5
New Jersey................36 41 .468 16 Portland...................44 34 .564 6
X-clinched division title San Diego ....,................ 42 37 .532 812
*-leads division
The playoff formula is the same as
last season's, which doesn't explain
matters too much. The system works
like this:
Division winners in each conference
are exempt from first-round qualifying
competition. The next four teams in
each conference also make the playoffs
,
2 -
,
, .
CJIINUNK
fusion.
It is conceivable that a second or
third-place team in one division will
finish higher than a division champ in
the same conference. If, for example,
Philadelphia winds up with more wins
than San Antonio, the Spurs will
automatically advance to the quarter-
finals. But in the event that the Spurs
and 76ers meet in the playoffs,
Philadelphia will have the home court
edge.
Predicting the outcome of the NBA
playoffs is as difficult as determining
who will play whom. Injuries,
emotional factors, and home court ad-
vantage often override sheer talent, as
was the case two years ago when
Phoenix nearly upset the Celtics in the
championship series.
UNDAUNTED BY the uncertainties
laid before him, this intrepid forecaster
plows ahead, recalling that in the
playoffs, one must always expect the
unexpected.
In the Eastern Conference, expect the
talent-rich Bullets to breeze into the
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"8 ballin the side pocket"
title series. Sporting the league's
deepest set of guards and a bullish fron-
tcourt, Washington should defeat
Philadelphia in the Eastern finals.
Backcourt ace Kevin Grevey, slowed
in recent weeks by a hamstring injury,
should be at full tilt for the playoffs.
Phil Chenier, also coming off the sick
list, has been adding clutch points as a
reserve guard. Add to that combination
a frontcourt of Wes Unseld, Bob Dan-
dridge, Elvin Hayes, and one has the
ingredients of a conference king.
PHILADELPHIA, which has been
receiving solid center play of late, will
"owe their fans another one." Coach
Billy Cunningham has all summer to
second-guess himself for unloading
guard Lloyd Free, now with San Diego.
The two Texas teams fighting for first
place in the Central Division along with
Atlanta are too erratic to compete with
the Washingtons and Philadelphias in a
long series. The Spurs still have no in-
terest in defense, while the Rockets'
bench is woeful.
Atlanta, on the other hand, is simply
too inexperienced to challenge for the
title (but remember, that's what they
were saying about Seattle last year).
New Jersey is revelling after making
the NBA playoffs for the first time; look
for the celebration to end very quickly.
IN THE OTHER conference, the
Phoenix Suns will spread rays of joy
throughout the Southwest after upen
ding Seattle in seven games. The Suns'
starting five - Paul Westphal, Don
Buse, Alvan Adams, Leonard 'Truck'
Robinson and Walter Davis - is
superior to the Sonics' quintet. In ad-
dition, Phoenix reserves have averaged
over 25 points per game.
Critics who dismiss the Suns' chances
point to their lack of bulk in the middle.
Adams, at 6-9 and 215, gives away plen-
ty of pounds to most pivotmen around
the league. But Robinson and workhor-
se Gar Heard give Adams more than
adequate support underneath.
Seattle remains a fun team to watch,
with free-wheeling Gus Williams and
'Downtown' Freddie Brown supplying
much of the long-range arsenal. The
Sonics will be victimized by the Law of
No Return this spring - only three
times in NBA history (most recently in
1972-73) have two teams met in the
finals two years in a row.
PORTLAND and Denver are peaking
for the playoffs, fending off a late surge
from San Diego for the final post-season
spot. The Blazers finally realize that
Bill Walton will not return to the team,
and have centered their game around
Maurice Lucas, perhaps the best power
forward in the game who has been on a
torrid streak since February.
When Los Angeles' Kareem Abdul-
Jabbar is in the mood, he remains the
finest center in basketball. Unfor-
tunately for Coach Jerry West, he
hasn't been in the mood lately. The
former Lakers' great hascomplained
this season that Abdul-Jabbar, 31,
doesn't play both ends of the court
anymore - he'll play either offense or
defense, but not both. An inspired Ab-
dul-Jabbar could lead Los Angeles to
playoff prosperity.
Vastly improved Kansas City can
thank rookie sensation Phil Ford for its
rebirth. However, any team which star-
ts Sam Lacey in the pivot won't go too
far in the playoffs.
NBA CHAMPION 1979: Phoenix
Suns.
WAKE
UP'.
to
3lidiitn
1 ai1
Pabst presents the National Intercollegiate
Billiard Championship
I
When: April 5, 6 and 7
Time: Thursday April 5
Where: Michigan Union
Ballroom.
9:00 AM
11:00 AM
1:00 PM
3:00 PM
5:30
7:30
9:30
5:30
7:30
PM
PM
PM
PM
PM
Friday April 6 9:00 AM
11:00 AM
1:00 PM
3:00 PM
Saturday, April 7 Semi-Finals
Finals
1:00 PM
7:00 PM
a.
Admission: Free. The Pabst Brewing Company,
together with the Association of College Unions-
International, has invited the top collegiate billiard
players to Ann Arbor, They'll be shooting for the
National Championship Titles for both men and
women. And you're invited too. Come see the action
and suspense of billiards, the game of concentration
and ultimate finesse.