NO SHOW : With Manning Holding Out on Clippers, Exhibition in Kansas Is a Tough Sell

Phog Allen Fieldhouse at the University of Kansas is poised and waiting for the return of favorite son Danny Manning. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

Waiting along with the Clippers, who are waiting for the contract holdout of the National Basketball Assn.’s No. 1 draft pick to end. Barring the unlikely possibility of the stuck-in-the-mud negotiations kicking into high gear, it won’t happen soon enough to help interests in Kansas.

Allen Fieldhouse, home of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. champion Jayhawks, holds 15,800. As of Wednesday, the Manning-less game there tonight between the Clippers and the New Jersey Nets, originally organized as a homecoming for the 1988 player of the year, had sold all of 3,466 tickets.

“And we’ve been getting a lot of calls from people asking whether they can get refunds,” said Laura Klotz, who works in the ticket office at Kansas.

Oh, Danny boy. For this week at least, they need you more in Lawrence than in Los Angeles.

“Everyone is very disappointed,” Klotz said. “The only reason people are buying tickets is because they want to see Danny play one more time. A lot of comments have been like, ‘I don’t care about the Clippers and I don’t care about the Nets. I only care about Danny.’ ”

The game, of course, will go on, even if there won’t be many people manning the ticket booths.

In Los Angeles, it’s also business as usual, holdout or not, as the Clippers keep moving full speed ahead on their most aggressive promotional campaign since moving north from San Diego before the 1984-85 season.

The party line all along has been that Manning will be signed, that he won’t remain a holdout into the regular season, which begins Nov. 4. So, the Clippers continue to feature him on billboards, in radio and TV commercials and in newspaper ads.

According to Andy Roeser, the team’s executive vice president in charge of business operations, the Clippers have spent about $500,000 on promotions. That’s $200,000 more than in past years, and the fans have responded by tripling season-ticket sales, from about 2,000 last season to 6,000.

“We are very pleased,” Roeser said. “We have a long way to go and by no means are sold out. But we’re pleased with the direction and think that by the time (the preseason selling push is) over, we will have 7,000 season-ticket holders.”

But isn’t it tough, making a no-show the focal point of advertising?

“Absolutely not,” he said. “We drafted Manning and we expected to sign him and we are going to sign him. Everyone sees that. . . . Most people see the overall direction of the team and they know about the new enthusiasm with this team. They want to be a part of that.

“There’s no marketing magic. The magic is what Elgin (Baylor, the general manager) did in putting this team together. We (in promotions) are just riding piggyback on that.”

At the same time, increasing Manning’s importance to the franchise, on and off the court.

And when he does arrive?

“When they get Manning, they should be the most improved team in the league,” Sacramento Kings Coach Jerry Reynolds said of the Clippers. “And I think they will be.”

The Clippers, who had planned to bid for the 1990 All-Star game at the Sports Arena after finishing as runner-up to Houston for this season’s league showcase, have decided to hold off because they could not get enough hotel rooms set aside in the downtown area. Instead, Roeser said, the team will go after the 1991 game.

The selection for the ’90 and ’91 games, which includes the old-timers’ game and 3-point shooting and slam-dunk contests, is anticipated before January.

Clipper Notes

Coach Gene Shue, on the off-season improvement of Ken Norman, one of the most impressive players in camp: “Ken Norman is the classic example of someone who dedicated himself last summer to becoming a better player.” The most noticeable areas, Shue said, are confidence and shooting. . . . The Clippers will return Saturday to Cal Poly Pomona for workouts twice a day for 4 days. The afternoon sessions, from 2 to 4, will be open to the public.