Page 10-Tuesday, April 4, 1978-The Michigan Daily NEW FACES TO HIGHLIGHT 'SECOND SEASON': NBA gears uj By SCOTT M. LEWIS Forget about the past six months. Never mind that 95 percent of the regular season has been completed. The NBA season begins NOW. Next Wednesday, in the wake of this weekend's baseball openers, the NBA playoffs will get underway. And in case that doesn't thrill you, the cham- pionship series may end on Memorial Day! The upcoming playoffs will hardly be anticlimatic. Nearly all teams are likely to entersthe playoffs with at least a .500 record, and each features a recognized superstar. As of Monday night, eight of the 12 spots had been filled. Among those conspicuously absent from the title chase are the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets. The Celtics, for the first time since Dave Cowens joined the team in 1971, failed to qualify for the spring classic, nor did the troubled Pistons for the first time in five years. Houston, a semi-finalist last year, was decimated by injuries to standouts Rudy Tom- janovich and Moses Malone and never recovered from a disastrous start. Straining to make their first playoff appearance in a number of seasons are the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks. The Bucks' new coach Don Nelson has molded a crop of first-round draft choices into a disciplined, competitive squad. Rookies Marques Johnson and Kent Benson add youthful energy to a team that 'relies heavily on the shar- pshooting guard Brian Winters. Quickly, name the starting lineup of the Atlanta Hawks. Give up? Now you know what Atlanta coach Hubie Brown was confronted with when he opened camp. Pre-season prognosticators, basing their predictions on last year's pathetic showing, buried Atlanta in the Central Division basement with little hope of escape. Forward John Drew and guard 'Armond Hill led Atlanta's resurgence, although they have little depth. . for layofs have won 68 percent of their games this fered various ailments, while poor year. shooting has plagued Elvin Hayes and Here is a capsule overview of the Phil Chenier throughout the year. The other probableplayoff participants: Bullets are staggering into the playoffs, EASTERN CONFERENCE having lost four of five over the past PHILADELPHIA-76ers coach Billy week. Cunningham's men fell on hard times WESTERN CONFERENCE Cver h 'mweekend, losing three con- PORTLAND-Jack Ramsay's Trail- over the weknlsn he o-blazers have also been victimized by a secutive road games. As long as Dr. J.,brshavenalsosteeii i ba Big Mac, and friends stay happy and rash of injuries, most serious being Bill healthy, though, Philadelphia will be Walton's injured foot. Maurice Lucas hard to stop. and Lionel Hollins have tried to pick NEW YORK - A starting five up the slack, but the Blazers are that includes Earl Monroe, Bob struggling. A sub-par Walton would appear to be awesome. Unfortunately, destroy Portland's title defense. Pt (1Ti NiTY.7 T1..i . nT hal 1 9 K EASTERN CONFERENCE WESTERN CONFERENCE W .L GB W L GB Philadelphia .......... 53 24 - Portland .............. 56 22 - San Antonio......... 50 28 31/2 Phoenix ............... 48 30 8 Washington.........41 37 121/2 Denver ................ 46 32 10 New York...........,40 39 13% Seattle ................ 44 34 12 Cleveland ............. 39 39 14% Los Angeles ........... 43 35 13 Atlanta.............38 40 151/2 Milwaukee ............ 42 36 14 New Orleans ........ 36 43 18 Golden State...........40 38 16 Despite this the Hawks, barring a collapse in their final four games, will grab the sixth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Credit must go to Brown and owner Ted Turner for revamping the franchise. This week will find the top teams jockeying for position in an effort to gain a home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. In a best- of-three series, playing two games on the road is quite 'an unenviable task. Understandably so, as the home teams ODENVER WIN TWO $10 TICKETS-Drawing 4/14 NO PURCHASE NECESSARY DOLLAR BILL COPYING 611 CHURCH 665-9200 FEATURING THE "SUPER" XEROX 9200 NOW 3%t COLLATED WITH THIS AD ABOVE BLUE FROGGE EXPIRES 4/15 neither they nor many of their Knick playmates are known for their defense. Because of this shortcoming, it is im- probable whether the Knicks will seriously contend for the champion- ship. SAN ANTONIO-The Spurs' fast- paced play, combined with the zany atmosphere inside the Hemisphere Arena, frustrates visiting opponents. George Gervin and Larry Kenon spearhead a high-powered offense, while Billy Paultz mans the middle for the streaking Spurs. Their defense, second worst in the league last year, has improved significantly and will determine how far San Antonio advan- ces in the playoffs. WASHINGTON-An assortment of injuries has crippled the once-feared Bullets, Mitch Kupchak, tom Hender- son, and Bob Dandridge all have suf- BILLBOARD There will be an organizational meet- ing for all undergraduates interested in playing on the intercollegiate soccer team Thursday, April 13, at 8:30 p.m. at the Sports Coliseum located on the cor- ner of Fifth and Hill; ru txruwestp (2 t5.6 ppg), Walter Davis, and ron Lee pace a balanced, cohesive Suns team. Alvan Adams (6'9", 215), flanked by Gar Heard and Davis, form a three-forward front court. Phoenix' lack of bulk may, hurt them against a team with a dominant center. DENVER-The Nuggets clinched a post-season berth with a victory over Houston Sunday, but have been winning less than 45 percent of their games sin- ce February 26. Guard David Thom- pson (26.6 ppg) is vying with Gervin and New Orleans' Pete Maravich for the league scoring honors. LOS ANGELES-The Lakers haven't sewed up a playoff spot yet, but they will soon. An inspired Kareem Abdul- Jabbar, aided by competent supporting cast, is capable of subduing anyone in the conference, including Portland. SEATTLE-Lenny Wilkens' Sonics, are evidence of what can happen when an industrious coach and a determined team coalesce their skills. Since Wilkens seized the coaching reins in November, Seattle has played at a .696 clip (39-17). Sparked by crowd-pleasing guards Gus Williams and Fred Brown, the Sonics are especially tough at home. This Week in Sports { Spring sports on campus are just about ready to shift into high gear, as we take a look at the Wolverine sports schedule for the week of April 4-10. Baseball With a lot of cooperation from Mother Nature, Michigan's baseball team will be by far the busiest squad around, slated to play four doubleheaders in just five days. Three of the four will be right here at Fisher Stadium, beginning with today's season opener against Western Michigan. Tomorrow the Toledo Rockets come to town, and then the Wolverines engage in a home-and-home with another Ohio club-Bowling Green. On Friday the Blue '9' will be the visitors before coming back the next day to host the Falcons. Eight games in five days-let's hope that coach Moby Benedict has plenty of fresh pitching arms in his bullpen for this week. Women's Softball Whats that, you say? That's women's softball, the newest varsity sport at Michigan. Piloted by Gloria Soluk, the women make their debut this Saturday in Evanston, playing a doubleheader with Northwestern and In- diana. The team will make its first appearance before the home fans on Monday the tenth, facing Grand Valley in another twinbill. Men's and Women's Track Jack Harvey's men's track team is looking to continue-its winning ways, kicking off the outdoor season by competing in the Ohio University Relays at Athens this Saturday. Indoors, the thinclads strode to the Big Ten title. Meanwhile, with one outdoor meet already under their belt, the women's squad is also in action this Saturday, facing Illinois in an away dual meet. Women's and Men's Tennis After initiating their campaign by registering a triple victory in a quad- rangular meet, the female netters get their first chance to do their thing in Ann Arbor, hosting local rival Eastern Michigan tomorrow. Their male counterparts will be a bit busier, playing in two matches, both at home. On Friday Brian Eisner's defending Big Ten champs take on the Minnesota Gophers, before entertaining Iowa the following afternoon. Elsewhere The Detroit Tigers are set to go for '78, opening with a three-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays starting on Thursday afternoon before an expected crowd of over 55,000. Down in Augusta, Ga., the top golf pros will square off in one of the sport's most prestigious events, the Masters, Thur- sday through Sunday. KARZEN, WEBER STRONG Netters sweep premiere ., r, F Bell's Pizza has fast, free delivery. i ~ , y r , !f 4 r Open From 11:00 a.m. FR EE DELIVER Y From 4:30 p.m. S. State & Packard 995-0232 ROY AL P RE STIG E nees students to supplement summer work forCer FREE DELV e a I V Geman & AmrcnBrew bythe Pitcher byp H El DELBERO ll215 N. Main e Ann Arbor * 663-7758 By BOB WARREN They sang Queen's "We are the champions," all the way to Madison and they sang it on the way back. The Michigan women's tennis team must have had a premonition as they com- pleted a sweep of the Wisconsin Quadrangular meet held this weekend at Madison, Wisconsin. Despite injuries, illness and inex- perience, Michigan edged out im- proving Northwestern and surprising Wisconsin both by the score of five games to four. Michigan State was a pushover, as the women crushed the Spartans eight to one. "THIS WEEKEND was real ex- citing," exclaimed Michigan coach John Atwood. "We discovered that there are other good teams in the Big Ten besides us and Ohio State. North- western could beat us on a given day and Wisconsin might too, although that would be unlikely." "It was great to beat Northwestern, because they have a good schedule, good scholarships and a great program while we have a good program but no money or anything," said co-captain Kathy Karzen a winner of two singles matches by default and two. doubles matches with teammate Ann Kercher. Kercher began the weekend well with a victory in her first singles match. However, Ann did' not feel mentally tough to continue with her singles play and opted to play just doubles with Kar- zen, allowing Elaine Crosby the oppor- tunity to play at number six singles. "WITH ANN OUT it gave me the op- portunity to take advantage of a rare chance to play," said victorious Elaine Crosby whose victory Saturday clin- ched the win over Northwestern. "I have more confidence now, but I was also lucky that my opponent Julie Nolan hit me shots that I like to hit." "Elaine played real good, but her op- ponent was not responsible enough to break down her game," Atwood com- mented. "Elaine's victory was crucial but that shouldn't overshadow the other crucial matches we won." SOME OF those other crucial mat- ches included Lisa Wood's three vic- I I I Rec Spots I tories in doubles with partner Kathy Krickstein. "I was real happy with our doubles play because we played well together," said Wood, a member of one of the two all freshwomen doubles teams on the Michigan squad. "I think I put too much pressure on my singles play and that's why I lost in straight sets three times." Another freshwoman who had a pret- ty good tournament was second singles player Sue "Little Webby" Weber, victorious in three singles matches. "I PLAYED as well as I expected to," Weber said. "It was great to get off these slow courts (referring to Michigan's indoor tennis surface) and play on some fast courts. What I need to do the most is work more with Leticia (doubles partner Diaz-Perez) so we can get ourselves together and not lose like we did twice this weekend." Although there were some' losses in spots that victories would normally be expected such as Diaz-Perez' losses at singles and doubles and Karzen's loss at first singles, the weekend tour- nament showed that Michigan can overcome different types of adversity that may affect an athleticteam. With Whit Stodghill out with a stress fracture, Diaz-Perez and Krickstein both playing with illness, the team came through as inexperienced Crosby and Wood filled in well in substitute roles to key Michigan's weekend sweep for the "championship." SCORES Exhibition Baseball Pittsburgh 6, Toronto 5 Montreal 5, Philadelphia 4 Atlanta 9, St. Louis 4 Kansas City 11, Chicago (A) 4 Boston 6, New Nork (N) 0 Milwaukee 9, Minnesota 2 Houston 8, Texas 3 Cleveland 4, Chicago (N) 3 DON'T LET THE UNIVERSITY SCREW YOU AGAIN! YOU TOO CAN LET IT FLY ON THE FOLLOWING COM- MITTEES: ACADEMIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE BUDGET PRIORITIES CIVIL LIBERTIES BOARD OFFICE OF STUDENT SERVICES POLICY BOARD STUDENT RELATIONS UNION BOARD OF DIRECTORS PLUS MANY MORE' Apply at MSA Office - 3909 Michigan Union Deadline: April5, 1978, 5 PM The Department of Recreational Sports is sponsoring a Bicycle Clinic this evening at 6:30 in room 2230 CCRB. Sunday, April 9th, the Rec Depar- tment is sponsoring a Bike Rodeo from 3-5:00 p.m. The Bike Rodeo is for kids of all ages and will include special races, an obstacle course, a safety check, films and much more. It will be held at the NCRB. A student ID, facility user's pass or a guest pass is required. For further information contact Rochelle Bast, 763-3084 or Ellen Gold, 763-4560. On Monday, April 10th, a fitness film - "Coronary Counter-Attack" will be shown at 7;00 p.m. in the exercise room of the NCRB. If you have a permanent locker in NCRB, CCRB or the IM building and it expires April 28th, you must have the locker cleared out by April 28th or the contents will be removed. If you wish to renew your locker, you may do so before April 28th. If you wish to pur- chase a new locker in any building, there will be a special sale on May 13th. SEI and MSA lections Will 6e Held the second week of April We urge all undergraduate and graduate students at the School of Education to make sure that candi-