Tuesday, April 9, 1974
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Rage Seven.
Tuesday, April 9, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Seven
Hammerin'
Hani
clouts
th
BY GEORGE!
George Hastings
Vital bench strength
. . .
... a Piston plus
WHEN BASKETBALL WRITERS speculate about the National
Basketball Association playoffs, the talk is usually in terms
of t'ie superstars. What players like Kareem Jabbar, Bob Lanier,
and Dave Cowens do, of course, is probably the biggest factor in
determining who will wear the NBA crown in 1974. But beyond
the snierstars, the benches of the various contenders are going
to go a tao-g way toward deciding the next pro champion.
The value of the bench in pro basketball was never more in
evidence than it was Sunday night at Cobo Arena, where the
Detroit Pistons blasted their way back into the thick of their ,
playoff battle with the Chicago Bulls. Lanier, quite predictably,
was the high Detroit scorer in that contest, but it was the play
of a number of normal benchwarmers for the Pistons that
spelled the difference in the game.
Stu Lantz, George Trapp, John Mengelt, and Jim Davis
are not everyday names even to the rather avid basketball
fan. But it was their efforts that enabled Detroit to roll to its
mpressive 102-87 victory which tied the series at two games
apiece and set up a two-out-of-three series beginning tonight
in Chicago.
Each of the four made his own contributions. Lantz making
his first start since before Christmas, responded by hitting 10 of
14 shots in a 23-point performance. Trapp found his long range
shooting touch, and dropped in 11 of 17 himself, good for 22 more
markers.
Mengelt and Davis, while neither did much scoring, both
came into the game in the first half and provided some much-
needed spark at points where it looked like the Bulls were about
to open up a lead.
Both coaches agreed that the Piston bench was the difference.
"The bullpen was the key tonight," said Detroit coach Ray Scott,
"especially the fact that Lantz came up with such a big game
as a starter."
Chicago mentor Dick Motta went even further. "They had
performances from guys we didn't expect to hurt us," he ex-
plained. "Their bench hurt us. They had four people come off
the bench that really killed us. You're fortunate if you have
people that deep. We hold Dave Bing to 11, and still lose-that's
not too good."
Indeed, the Pistons are fortunate. They were especially
fortunate Sunday night to have Lantz and Trapp, both of whom
turned In their best performances in months.
Lantz' starting role was a surprise to the 11,287 who
packed Cobo Arena. Lantz had played some very good basket-
ball early in the season for Detroit, but in a game in Chicago
in December one of these same Bulls had flattened him
against a basket support and knocked him out of the line-up
for two months with a broken wrist.
He really.never got back into the swing of things for Detroit
until the final few games of the season, and he sat on the bench
while Chris Ford started the first three playoff games for the
Pistons. But Sunday Stu got the call, as Detroit needed something
to avoid a disastrous third defeat in the series.
Lantz explained his role in the Piston attack. "The game
plan was for me to make Jerry Sloan work a little bit on defense,"
said Lantz, referring to the Chicago guard who had been covering
Ford for the series' first three battles.'
"Our weak side guard never shot the ball the last game in
Chicago. So tonight, when I got the shot, I took it. After I hit a
couple of fifteen footers early in the game, they couldn't sag on
Bob Lanier."
The strategy worked beautifully for the Detroiters, as Lantz
came up with the scoring that Ford had not given them. This
forced Sloan to concentrate more on defense, and as a result he
had his poorest offensive night of the playoffs, hitting for onlyti
eight points.
The other happy surprise for the Pistons was Trapp. Unlike
Lantz, Trapp has never started a game for Detroit. But during
the heart of this season when the Pistons rolled up the majority
of their wins, it was the uncanny outside shooting of Trapp,
coming off the bench, that accounted for many victories.
Trapp also had a late season shmp, and in the first three
playoff games had been very ineffective. But Scott brought
him in early in the first half Sunday, and then left him in as
the second half got underway. Trapp's shot, devistating when
it's on, was suddenly there, and he fired in twelve third
quarter points to enable Detroit to sprint out to a 21-point lead.
Afterward, Bing acknowledged that it was Trapp who made
up for Bing's own poor shooting night. "George is a great shoot-
er," said the Detroit captain. "We need that kind of performance
from him to blow anybody out."
What's most significant, though, is the emotional lift that the
play of the subs on Sunday has given the Pistons. "This gives the
whole team some confidence that we have a solid ballclub," said
Scott after the game. "We think this series will go until we win
it."
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jumped on:af1-0cfas.ball by the I _________________"_________________________?:" __________________
32-year-old Dodger left-han der. -______{:+"_____"____________".+:.___r.:_":.":t:_________t__________nh:..._S_________.._Y:___:;..,};_"_F"
"lie$ust hng i a litle,'" Aaron THE UNxIVE ;,RITY OF MICHIGAN:' r; ;r:rr'.
_________________GILBET AN SULIVAN SCIET
said:"I wa$insde, buti;:: . .think>tfr :z':a:>}xt: :::
The powerful swing coneets again ,,,
From wire Service Reports
ATLANTA -"If God didn't
see fit for me to hit the home d aily
run here, then I would have
hit it somewhere else," Henry
Aaron said last night after be-I
coming baseball's all - time ;
home run king. NIGHT EDITOR:
The reserved 40 - year - old BILL STIEG.
superstar was obviously re- Th
lieved that the chase of the The two-run blast, a 400-foot shot,
legendary B a b e R U t h had sailed out ofa jam-packed Atanta
finaly eded.Stadium, just to the right of the:
finally ended. 385-foot marker in the fourth in-{
It ended at exactly 9:07 p.m., ning, giving the Braves a 3-3 tie
EDT. Aaron connected for the his- at the time.
toric 715th home run off Al Down- Atlanta went on to win the
ing of the Los Angeles Dodgers. game, 7-4.
An historic event,
The huge crowd began buzzing
the moment the ball left Aaron's
bat, and when it sailed over the
fence, bedlam erupted.
As Aaron circled the bases in
typical fashion, a massive firE
works display wastriggered, send-
ing colored sparks into the air
along with canon-like noises.
Aaron's teammates poured out
of the dugout. Relief pitchers
streamed in from the left field
b u I I p e n to congratulate their
hero.
It was one of his teammates,
pitcher Tom House, who caught
the ball and rushed it to Aaron
as the game was halted for an
11-minute tribute.
I
I~~ itjflu.
LOS ANGELES
Lopes 2b
Lacy 2b
Buckner
Wynn cf
Ferguson c
W Crawford rf
Cey 3b
Garvey l1b
Russell ss
Downing p
Marshall p
Joshua ph
Hough p
Mota ph
Total
ATLANTA
ab r
2 1
1 0
3 0
4 0
4 0
4 1
4 0
4 1
4 0
11l
l10
1 0
0 0
1 0
34 4
h2
Q
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
7
hi
0
0
0
bi
0
0
0
2
0
0
l
4
0
1
0
0
0
0
4
bi
z
0
Aaron It,
Office of
Baker ef
DaJohnson 2b
Foster 2b
Correll c
C Robinson ss
Tepedino ph
M Perez ss
Reed p
Oates ph
Capra
Total
S
0
2
3
0
4
0
0
2
2
0
29
2
0
2
I
0
1
0
0
0
0
7
1
0
I
I
0
0
0
I
0
0
4
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
The legendary Ruth, who died of
cancer in 1948, hit the last three'
of his 714 home runs on May 25, BASEBALL
1935 agains. the Pittsburgh Pirates. New York 5 Cleveland 3
At te tin hewaswiththe OS-San Francisco 4, Cincinnati 3
At te tme, e ws wih te Bo- IAtlanta 7, Los Angeles 4
ton Braves. ABA PL AIYF
3
J-
Los Angeles
Atlanta
i
003 001 000-4
010 402 00x-7
E-Buckner, cy, Russell 2, Loes, Fer-
guson, LOB-Los Angeles 5, Atlanta 7.
23-Baker,Russell, Wynn. HR-Aaron
(2). S-Garr. SF-Garr.
IP H R ER BB SO
Ruth played in 2,503 games and
had 8,399 at-bats during his 22-
year career. He quit the game in
a dispute with Boston management,
about a week after hitting his final
homers.
The HR leaders
Henry Aaron (a) 715j
Babe Ruth 714
Willie Mays 660
Frank Robinson (a) 552
Harmon Killebrew (a) 546
Mickey Mantle 536
Jimmy Foxx 534
Ted Williams 521
Ed Mathews 512
Ernie Banks 512
(a)--active players
*New York 108, Virginia 96
*Kentucky 128, Carolina 119
(*winners of best-of-seven series)
GOT THEIR GOAT
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (UPI)-The
first goat mascot for Naval
Academy teams was an animal
named El Cid, presented in 1898
by officers of the USS New York.
presents
IOLANTHE
April 1Oth-13th
Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre
WEDNESDAY, April 10th-8 P.M.-$3.00
THURSDAY. April 1 lth-8 P.M.-$3.00
FRIDAY. April 12th-8 P M.-- $3.50
SATURDAY, April 13th-2 PM -$2.50
SATURDAY, April 13th- 8 P.M.-$3.50
Box Office 763-1085
i
'Vi
Garr rf
Lum lb
Evans 3b
ab
3
5
4
r
0
0
1
Downing L,0-1
Marshall
Hough
Reed W,1-0
Capra
3
3
2
6
3
2 5 2
2 2 1
0 0 0
7 4 4
0 0 0
4
1
2
1
1
2
l
1
4
8
ERRORLESS BALI
DETROIT (UPI) - Al Kaline
of the Detroit Tigers holds the
American League record for the
m o s t consecutive errorless
games by an outfielder, with 242
games, without a miscue. The
American League record book
lists former Cleveland Indians'
slugger Rocky Colavito in sec-
ond place.
Save-Capra 1. WP-Reed. PB-Fer-
guson. T--2:27. A-53,775.
i
11
Yearbook Mass Meeting
Those people interested in working on the 1975
Michiganensian are asked to meet
Wed., April 10-7-:30 p.m.
1st floor Student Publications Building
Areas of Interest
EDITORIAL STAFF, PHOTOGRAPHY, ARTWORK, LAYOUT
A "HAPPINESS
is
serving on
UNIVERSITY COMMITTEES
U. Court of Appeals
A.C.I.R.C.S.
Advisory Committee on
Intramural, Recreation, and Club Sports
Program Evaluation
Student Organizations Board
OFFICE OF STUDENT SERVICES
Unit Committees
for Health Service and
Special Services and Programs
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