SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, June 14, 1995
3B
Being normal suits Houston's Rudy to a 'T'
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — When Rudy Tomjanovich was an NBA player, he didn't seem to be coaching material.
"He was not a leader on the court. He was just a hard, tough player who played to win and did his job," Houston assistant coach Carroll Dawson said. "That's been the biggest surprise. He becomes a coach and all of a sudden I see leadership qualities I never knew he had."
Now Tomjanovich is on the verge of leading his Houston Rockets to a second consecutive NBA championship.
Across the country, he's known simply as
Rudy T. No last name is needed for this unassuming, regular guy.
If ever a team reflected the personality of its coach, the Rockets do.
"Hard-working, never-give-up, humble." Dawson said of that mentality. "If you watch this team, the egos are not involved, just like Rudy's isn't."
"I think one reason Rudy won't coach very much longer is because his ego's not big enough. He doesn't really need this. He wants to be a normal guy. All of this celebrity status really bothers him."
up. But with his team one away from victory from an NBA Finals sweep of Orlando, he's becoming harder to ignore.
When the great NBA coaches are mentioned, Tomianovich's name seldom comes
One more win and he'll have two titles in a little more than three seasons as head coach.
"They're going to have to look at Rudy and give him some respect because he's a great coach," Houston guard Mario Elie said. "I get mad when I hear about George Karl and Pat Riley, Where's Rudy T in all of that?"
Attention is something Tomjanovich can do without.
"I don't like this at all," he said, surrounded by a mot of reporters. "I wish we
could play basketball in a deserted gym and come out and say, 'Hey, we won that one,' and it's over."
The players all say the same things about him, that he's more like another player than some stern dictator of a coach. He asks for suggestions and listens to their opinions.
Houston center Charles Jones has played for all kind of coaches in 12 NBA seasons, and he's never been around one like Tomjanovich.
"He's a guy with an open mind," Jones said. "Everybody gets along with him and understands him. It's so open that it's hard to describe."
After an All-American career at Michigan, Tomjanovic played 11 NBA seasons, all with the Rockets. When he retired, Rockets coach Del Harris asked him to stay as a scout.
"Del and I talked him into helping me, because I was the only assistant we had." Dawson said.
Dawson marvels at Tomjanovich's ability to deal with the different personalities on the team.
"He does it with a soft but firm hand on this team. They don't always like the answers he gives them, but they respect him," Dawson said.
Devils ward off evil spirits, reach their first NHL finals
The Associated Press
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New Jersey Devils exorcised the ghosts of a Game 6 failure one year ago and advanced to their first Stanley Cup final Tuesday night with a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Devils will go on to meet the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday in a best-of-7 series for the NHL title.
Last year they led the New York Rangers 3-2 in games, but Stephane Matteau scored in double overtime in Game 7, sending the Rangers to what eventually would be their first Stanley Cup in 54 years.
This time the Devils didn't let it slip away — becoming the first team in this series to win a home game.
Whether New Jersey will remain
home to the Devils remains to be seen. The team is exploring a move to Nashville, Teen.
Philadelphia took an early 1-0 lead on Jim Montgomery's first career playoff goal. However, that would be as close as the Flyers would come.
The Devils' neutral-ice trap limited Philadelphia to just 16 shots against Martin Brodeur, and New Jersey got the goals it needed from Stephane Richer, Brian Rolston, Randy McKay and Claude Lemieux.
The vaulted "Legion of Doom" line of Eric Lindros, Mikael Renberg and John LeClair finished with just five goals in the series after scoring 81 of the team's 150 in the regular season.
"They've got a good future ahead of them," Stevens said. "Time was running on us, so it's great to get
to the finals."
Montgomery gave the Flyers the lead for only the second time in the series at 4:05 of the first period. But the Devils took advantage of a questionable tripping penalty minutes later as Neal Broton sent a cross-ice pass to an open Richer for his first goal in 11 playoff games and the 50th of his career.
Holston put New Jersey ahead for good with 1:45 left in the first period, slipping a rebound just over the goal line. Bobby Holik carried the puck up the left wing and McKay re-directed his cross-ice pass to break the game open.
Lemieux, whose 50-foot goal in the final minute won Game 5 for New Jersey, started the Meadowlands' chants of "We Want the Cup" by scoring on a breakaway with 9:49 to go. It was his 11th of the playoffs.
US decathlete has incentive to win fourth national title
The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Dan O'Brien no longer thinks about who he will be competing against in the decathlon. He doesn't have to.
"I've always felt that since 1991 I was in a league of my own," said O'Brien, who is the overwhelming favorite to win his fourth national title and third in a row at the USA-Mobil Championships, which begin today at Hughes Stadium.
His only loss in the nine decathlons he has finished in that time was at the 1992 Olympic trials at New Orleans, where he ignominiously failed to clear a height in the pault.
Otherwise, O'Brien has been sensational, scoring at least 8,700 points in every victory except one and setting the world record of 8,891 points at Talence, France, in
September 1992 — shortly after watching, instead of competing in the Barcelona Games.
No other decathlete in the world has been nearly as good nor as consistent.
"I don't worry about the competition." O'Brien said. "Sometimes, it's more stressful doing that."
Only two dreadful performances in the 1,500 meters, the final event of the demanding two-day, 10-event competition, prevented O'Brien from smashing his world record last year. First, he ran 5 minutes, 16.42 seconds in the national championships at Knoxville, Tenn., finishing with 8,707 points. Then he went 5:10.94 in the Goodwill Games at St. Petersburg, Russia, for a total of 8,715.
"in both competitions, I had such a big lead I felt all alone out there," he
said. "In that situation, you feel a little sorry for yourself and just want to get through it.
"Goodwill didn't look good and wasn't a great effort. I've learned a lot thinking about it. I regret not running a good 1,500 because of the exposure (a world record) would have gotten. That was a mistake.
"This year, I've come to grips with the 1,500. If I'm going to be a gold medalist at the Olympics and the World Championships, I have to run well in it. I won't run 4:10 or 4:20, but I think I can run 4:30 or 4:40."
O'Brien's best, 1,500 is 4:33.19 in 1989 at San Francisco.
This week, he will have added incentive to do well and possibly break the world record and the 9,000-point barrier. Some 25 family members and friends will be on hand to watch him perform.
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