Notes on a Scorecard - April 8, 1993

The phone doesn’t stop ringing. Everyone wants to talk about the basketball game. North Carolina-Michigan? No. Lakers-Suns. . . .

One caller said he tuned out when the Lakers fell 20 points behind in the fourth quarter Tuesday night at Phoenix, and asked if it was true that they had rallied to take the lead. Another said he thought he watched the comeback, but wondered if he was dreaming. . . .

This might have been remembered as the most improbable Laker turnaround since the move from Minneapolis in 1960 if Dan Majerle had not connected on his second consecutive three-point shot from 33 feet at the buzzer to give the Suns the 115-114 victory. . . .

No Western Conference team has beaten the Suns in their new arena, but a jump shot by rookie Anthony Peeler had given the Lakers, losers of eight of their previous nine, the lead with 1.6 seconds left. . . .

It was supposed to have been a preview of the first round of the playoffs. . . .

However, there is some question as to whether the Lakers will be able to keep their postseason appointment with the Suns or anyone else. . . .

With 11 games remaining on their schedule, the Lakers are only three games ahead of Denver in the race for the final Western Conference playoff spot. In case of a tie, the Lakers, who won the season series, 3-1, would advance. . . .

Many would argue that it is better to have the 17th-best record in the league and enter the lottery than finish 16th and enter the playoffs. . . .

But the lottery is weighted and you have to get lucky, like Charlotte last season, to move up considerably in the draft from the position where you finished. . . .

The Lakers will need to finish with a flourish to avoid their first losing season since 1975-76, when they were 40-42. . . .

This isn’t the way Randy Pfund hoped his head coaching career would begin, but exactly how much of the blame belongs to him? . . .

His substitution patterns and motivational abilities can be questioned, but the team’s 34-37 record pretty much fits the available talent, and General Manager Jerry West was looking to the future when he traded Sam Perkins for Doug Christie in the deal that also brought Benoit Benjamin from Seattle. . . . The young coach deserves the opportunity to grow with the young talent, including Christie, Peeler and next season’s first-round pick, lottery or not. . . .

Thumbs down on Indiana Coach Bob Knight and his Wooden Award recipient, Calbert Cheaney, for not attending the ceremony Wednesday. Can you imagine the heavy favorite for football’s version of the Wooden, the Heisman Trophy, not showing up? . . .

The performance of the officials didn’t match that of the players Monday night in the NCAA championship game. The calls were inconsistent in the first half before the officials swallowed their whistles in the second half and missed many obvious fouls and violations besides Chris Webber’s traveling. . . .

This will be a busy weekend for Marion Jones, the great all-around athlete from Thousand Oaks High. . . .

Friday at 6:45 p.m., the 5-foot-11 forward who averaged 22.8 points and 14 rebounds as a senior will compete in a prep all-star basketball game at Cal State L.A. A boys’ game follows at 8:30. . . .

Saturday starting at 4 p.m., she will compete in the long jump, 100 meters and 200 meters and also run the anchor leg on Thousand Oaks’ 400-meter relay team in the Arcadia Invitational meet at Arcadia High. Her clocking of 22.58 in the 200 is the fastest ever for high school girls, her 11.14 in the 100 is the second fastest, and she is nearing 20 feet after recently taking up the long jump. . . .

Jones has signed a letter of intent with North Carolina, where she will major in journalism. . . .

Olympic 100-meter champion Gail Devers will conduct a clinic, speak at a luncheon and then be honored during the UCLA women’s and men’s meets with Houston, Colorado and Cal State Northridge Saturday at Drake Stadium on “Discover Women in Sports Day.” . . .

Oscar De La Hoya didn’t appear determined to take out Mike Grable until the eighth and final round Tuesday in Rochester, N.Y., and then was unable to do so. De La Hoya’s strength in his sixth professional fight was his body punching. . . .

So much for Tim McDonald, the former USC Trojan and Phoenix Cardinal safety who signed with the San Francisco 49ers, coming back to the Coliseum and making the Raiders forget Ronnie Lott. . . .

Thumbs up to Food 4 Less for its decision to donate $10 million over the next three years to Los Angeles Unified School District athletic programs.