NBA Notes : Pacers Have Another Top Rookie in Miller

Indiana Pacer fans should learn to have a little more faith in their front office.

In 1986, fans booed Indiana’s selection of Chuck Person in the NBA college draft. Most were hoping for a guard, namely Michigan State’s Scott Skiles, a former Indiana high school star. Person went on to become the NBA rookie of the year and lead the Pacers to their first playoff berth in six years.

Last June, the selection of UCLA guard Reggie Miller also received boos because most fans wanted Indiana University guard Steve Alford to become a Pacer. So far, Miller has followed in Person’s footsteps by sparking the Pacers.

In a reserve role, Miller scored a game-high 24 points in a loss to Boston. The playmaker earned the respect of such NBA veterans as Larry Bird and Boston Coach K.C. Jones.

“He is a diamond in the smooth,” Jones said. “He is a rookie but he plays like a veteran out there.”

Added Bird, “He’s a heck of a player. He’s always hustling and he’s a good shooter. He plays like he has been there for a long time.”

The Milwaukee Bucks’ backcourt woes continued the second full week of the season. Craig Hodges strained his left achilles tendon on Nov. 17 against Golden State. The injury kept Hodges at home as the Bucks left on a three- game, fiive-day road trip.

Hodges was just getting his rythm back after missing training camp because of a contract holdout. He was signed the week before the regular season began.

“My ankle got hung up in an odd position and I felt a pinch in my heel,” Hodges said. “I felt like I was just getting my game back.”

The Bucks’ team leader Sidney Moncrief is still out with an injured right knee that knocked him out during training camp and Ricky Pierce was put on the suspended list when the front office refused to renegotiate his contract.

Who says centers can’t shoot from the foul line? Jack Sikma, the Milwaukee Bucks center, had his free throw streak end at 75 straight in the game against Golden State. The streak included 38 free throws from last season’s playoffs and 37 consecutive made free throws to start this season. Sikma was the league-leading free-throw shooter the first week of the season.

Basketball journeyman Clinton Wheeler has found a spot in the NBA at last.

Wheeler, a 1981 graduate of William Paterson College in Neptune, N.J., is a backup guard for the Indiana Pacers after bouncing around foreign leagues and minor leagues for six years.

After playing in the Philippines from 1981 through 1984, Wheeler played two seasons for the Albany (N.Y.) Patroons of the Continental Basketball Association. He spent the 1986-87 season with the Rapid City (S.D.) Thrillers, helping the relocated Tampa Bay team to the league finals and earning MVP honors in the championship round. He played for New Jersey of the U.S. Basketball Leage in 1985 and then earned USBL all-star honors last summer in leading the Miami Tropics to a championship.

How important is Larry Bird to Boston? When he left after the first 24 seconds of the third quarter in the Nov. 17 game against Cleveland, the Celtics scored just 15 points. Boston lost the game 109-88, their first loss of the season.

Bird went through pre-game warmups the next night but was scratched from the lineup. The Celtics went 0 for 19 in the second period, before rallying for a double-overtime victory over the New York Knicks. Bird, who is suffering from mild tendinitis in both ankles, left at halftime.

“He joined the stampede and left,” said Boston Coach K.C. Jones.