The Michigan Doily-Saturday, June 10, 1978-Page 15 THE SPORTING VIEWS Gophers' T 1st NBA choice; 'M' Bullets'championship -... ... a new party for D.C. WASHINGTON, D.C. By BILLY SAHN Bulletmania. No, it's not a Broadway musical, and it's not a national gun lobby. On this past Wednesday night the Bullets became the champions of the world. Asa team they reached the pinnacle. The Bullets penetrated the fuselage of the SuperSonics, forcing them to land one game short of the championship runway.- The Bullets played team ball-the game the 1969 Knicks mastered. They won. And each individual that contributed to that victory is a story of success in his own right. The Bullets' first championship was also the first in 36 years for the nation's capital. It was the pot of gold at the end of Wes Unseld's ten year search for the National Basketball Association title. The 105-99 seventh game victory was the one that Unseld was waiting for. Unseld was named the series' most valuable player by Sport magazine, but it was a mere token of gratitude for his tremendous effort. What counted was the championship trophy that NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien awar- ded to Bullets' owner Abe Pollin, coach Dick Motta and the MVP, Unseld. The 6 foot 7 inch center finished the night with 15 points, including two clutch free throws with twelve seconds left. More success stories Another success story is the man they call "E." Elvin Hayes only scored 12 points Wednesday night. What's worse, he fouled out in the last quarter. Immediately following, the Sonics rallied to within two points, and it looked like bad news for D.C.'s finest. Yet Hayes was still effective: Confined to the sidelines, ''E" led cheers and gave encouragement to his teammates. Then there is Charles Johnson, the guard who was released by the Golden State Warriors at the start of the season. He scored 19 points to co- lead the Bullets' scoring with Bobby Dandridge. Coincidentally, it was Johnson's second NBA championship in four seasons. His first with Golden State was against the Bullets in the 1974-75 season. Still another success story is coach Dick Motta. Motta replaced K.C. Jones as Bullets' coach before last season. He never played pro ball. After a long stint with the Bulls, Motta found his home, his team, and his city. A Capital championship Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area were probably the biggest winners of all. This city has not experienced a championship team since 1942 when the Redskins won the National Football League title. Maybe that's why 8,000 screaming fans welcomed them back from Seat- tle; why they were presented with a key to the city; why they received a motorcade down Pennsylvania Avenue; why tribute was given to them by both the president and the congress, and why a rally took place at RFK stadium. It's ironic. The city that entertains this country's leaders as well as most others, has gone crazy overtheir Bullets. No act of congress, no presidential declaration, could have done to this city what the Bullets did. The Bullets evaded injury, ups and downs, and the category of "longshot" as they knocked off the Atlanta Hawks, the San Antonio Spurs, the Philadelphia 76ers, and finally the Sonics. Bullets Day 1978 will be a memorable one in the future. For a brief moment, politics was superceded by agreement. "We (the Bullets and Washington) are the champions," echoed throughout the nation's capital. If~p ejue woolg stars selected early From Wire Service Reports Big Ten star Mychal Thompson of Minnesota was the first player chosen in yesterday's NBA draft by the Por- tland Trailblazers. Thompson, who played center in college, will provide valuable insurance for the Blazers behind injury-plagued center Bill Walton and power forward Maurice Lucas. Portland, which won the NBA title in 1977, suffered a rash of injuries to its frontcourt players and was eliminated by Seattle in the playoff quarter-finals this spring. Thompson, the only Big Ten player chosen in the first round, holds the con- ference scoring record with 6,477 poin- ts. He is also Minnesota's career rebounding leader. The Bahamian almost turned pro last year but elected to stay in school, a move that paid off as he earned All-American honors and became the NBA's No. 1 pick. MiCHIGAN'S Dave Baxter and Joel Thompson were chosen in the third and fourth rounds repectively. Baxter was chosen by Houston while Thompson went to Seattle. The selection of Baxter that early in the draft comes a big surprise to many experts. Last week Baxter, along with Marvin Delph of Arkansa (drafted in the third round by Buffalo), signed to play ball with Athletes in Action, a team sponsored by the Campus Crusade for Christ that plays exhibition games with outstanding collegiate teams. "I think Thompson's number one pick speaks highly of the Big Ten," Frieder said. "The fact Dave and Joel were drafted ahead of those other top players says something of our players' ability." The only other Big Ten player drafted before Baxter was Wayne Radford (In- diana), selected by Indiana in the second round. THE KANSAS CITY Kings, choosing second, picked All-American guard Phil Ford of North Carolina, whom they Mychal Thompson hope to pair in the backcourt with last year's No. 1 pick, Otis Birdsong. Indiana, using the pick it got from Portland, selected 6-10 235 pound Rick Robey from national champion Ken- tucky. Robey played mostly forward in college, with sometime at center. Some scouts question his quickness as a pro cornerman, but nobody doubts his strength. New York which got the No. 4 pick as part of its settlement of its lawsuit with the New Jersey Nets, had been hoping to grab Robey. With him gone, the Knicks took 6-4 guard Mick Richardson of Montana, an unknown to most fans, but very highly regarded by the scouts. He was the top player in the Big Sky Conference the last two years and should fill New York's need for a big guard. First round NBA picks 1. Portland-Mychal Thompson (Minnesota) forward 2. Kansas City-Phil Ford (North Carolina) guard 3. Indiana-Rick Robey (Kentucky) forward 4. New York-Mike Richards (Montana) guard s. Golden state-Purvis Short (Jacksonville) forsward 6. Boston-Larry Bird (Indiana St.) forward 7. Portland-Ron Brewer (Arkansas) guard 8. Boston-FreemanWilliams (Portland 5t.) guard 9. Chicago-Reggie Theus (UNv ) guard-forward 1. Atlanta-Butch Lee (Marquette) guard 11. New Orleans-James Hardy (San Francisco) forward 12. Milwaukee-George Johnson (St.John's) forwoard 13. NewJersey-Winford Boynes (San Francisco) guard 14. Washington-Roger Phegley (Bradley) forward-guard IS. Cleveland-Mike Mitchell (Auburn) forward 16. Atlanta-Jack Oivens (Kentucky) guard 17. Denver-Rod Griffin (Wake Forest) forward 18. Washington-Dave Corzine (De Paul)oenter 19. Phoenix-Marly Byrnes (Syracuse) guard 20. San Antonio-Frankie Sanders (southern U) guard 2t. Denver-Moke Evans (Kaeda5 St.) guard 22. Golden St.-Ray Townsend (UOLAI'guard Dave Baxter AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST W L Pct. GB Boston...............36 19 .655 - New York............31 22 .585 4 Detroit ................ 29 23 .558 51/ Baltimore............29 25 .537 6 / Milwaukee ............ 26 26 .500 81/ Cleveland...........23 28 .451 11 Toronto..............19 32 .373 15 Oakland ........W.ST. 32 22 .593 - Kansas City ........... 27 23 .540 3 Texas. ............. 27 24 .529 3 V r ni...a _ _ __ __ 7 2 11 41/ NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST W L Pct. GB Chicago .............. 31 21 .596 - Philadelphia .......... 28 21 .571 1% Montreal............30 24 .556 2 NewYork...........26 30.464 7 Pittsburgh.............23 28 .451 7 / St. Louis..............22 35 .386 111 WEST San Francisco. 32 20 .615 - Cincinnati............34 22 .607 - Los Angeles .........28 26 .519 5 Houston.............. 22 29 .431 91. San Diego............ 23 31 .426 10 Atlanta...............20 32 .385 12 Most fans at Michigan thought center Thompson would go earlier than Bax- ter, perhaps as high as the second round, but Seattle must have known something that the fans didn't. "EVIDENTLY Seattle needed some.n guards and they thought'they could talk Dave out of playing with Athletes in Ac- tion," commented Michigan assistant coach Bill Frieder. "Houston must have known something too, because they wanted Joel and somehow had it figured out that he'd still be around in the fourth round."T Thompson and Baxter were drafted ahead of Big Ten stars Walter Jordan and Eugene Parker of Purdue and. DaveWiney and Osborne. Lockhart .of. Minnesota, all drafted between the fourth and sixth rounds.