NBA Fans Aren't Ready For Vacation

My turn at the free-throw line:

What a marvelous NBA playoff run we've had. These playoffs have been 
packed with drama, loaded with intensity. Games and series have been 
decided in the final seconds, fueled with emotion and spiced by 
characters you like, tolerate or hate. What more can you ask?

I can't remember a year when interest has been so high and sustained. 
People aren't bellyaching about the playoffs eating into the summer.

Last Sunday, I was in the restaurant/bar at Meriwether Golf Course, 
hoping my tee time would be delayed so I could hang on to watch New 
York and Indiana, which turned out to be worthwhile -- Patrick Ewing 
unbelievably missing a driving layup at the buzzer, allowing the 
Pacers to win Game 7. We had a runner relaying the score to fans 
begging to learn, "What's happening?" 

The Knicks-Pacers game came a day after Phoenix and Houston played 
what I consider an all-timer for entertainment. That game also had 
special interest in Portland because of all the former Trail Blazers 
in action.

You remember Mario Elie. He played the 1992-93 season for Portland, 
averaging 8.6 points. Well, Elie's 3-pointer from the corner with 7.1 
seconds left won it for Houston, eliminating Phoenix 115-114.

Watching this one, with Elie and Clyde Drexler on one side and Danny 
Ainge and Elliot Perry on the other, one can find himself thinking: 
"These guys claw, bump and compete, things you need on any team. So 
how did the Blazers let them all get away?"

We'll not make an issue of A.C. Green and Charles Barkley -- both 
once made overtures to the Blazers but couldn't be squeezed under the 
salary cap, I was informed. Maybe someone should have tried harder.

In a way, I say poor Sir Charles. He was knocked out short of his 
championship goal. No fault of his, though; the Suns didn't have a 
real center and were without injured Danny Manning. While not a 
center, Manning added size and scoring inside, where the Suns wound 
up short.

Speaking of big men, you better have a quality center if you want to 
win the NBA title. The remaining four teams each have one: Olajuwon 
of defending champion Houston, David Robinson of San Antonio, Rik 
Smits of Indiana and Shaquille O'Neal of Orlando.

Last week, Olajuwon devalued new most valuable player MVP Robinson, 
taking him on Wednesday night and forcing The Admiral to salute him.

Speaking of bigger still, Arvydas Sabonis was criticized in the 
Madrid papers when Real Madrid lost to Spanish rival Barcelona.

"Too much of his mind was on Portland," it was written, according to 
my source, who said of Sabonis, "He's maybe 7-4, he's a great passer 
and shooter once he gets the ball, inside and out. He can do 
everything but run fast."

OK, the joke goes around, "Now Portland has a center who can't shoot 
and one who can't run." (Chris Dudley and Sabonis).

I saw Sabonis on TV when I was in Europe last year. My question is 
whether the more mobile NBA players and the higher level of play won't 
make him appear flat-footed.

Now about Drexler: This is one inspired man. And I'm not buying one 
talk-show line last week that he had dogged it while he was waiting 
to be traded from Portland. He never did.

Drexler has given Houston what it needs. He takes pressure off 
Olajuwon and is big enough, smart enough and good enough to dominate 
the game on the perimeter and open court. As we're seeing, Hakeem is 
saying, "Thank you, old friend."

Did you hear what NBC's Julius Erving said about Clyde last weekend? 
He said that Drexler "has athletic ability second only to (Michael) 
Jordan in this era."

The downside:

*Dennis Rodman. I'll only ask this: How does Robinson, schooled in 
the discipline and responsibility of the U.S. Naval Academy, put up 
with this distraction? I think it's eating him up.

*Jake O'Donnell. If Jake The Snake was venting his venom in the 
Drexler case, he deserves to be punished. But the NBA should have 
handled it in the office, not in the public eye.