Notes on a Scorecard - March 28, 1994

Under Magic Johnson, the Lakers beat the Milwaukee Bucks by nine points Sunday night at the Forum. . . .

Under Randy Pfund, the Lakers beat the Bucks by 22 March 7 at Milwaukee. . . .

But don’t get down on Coach Johnson. . . .

He just might have a future if the Lakers play with as much intensity and intelligence as they did in his debut before garbage time began early in the second quarter. . . .

This is a good Final Four mix--a No. 1-seeded team (Arkansas), a regular (Duke), a stranger (Florida), and a team that hasn’t won by fewer than 12 points in the tournament (Arizona). . . .

If you think comparative scores are important, you have to like Arizona’s chances to upset Arkansas Saturday at Charlotte. . . .

Arkansas had trouble putting away Michigan, 76-68, before a pro-Razorback crowd at Dallas Sunday. . . .

Arizona whipped Michigan, 119-95, at Tucson on Dec. 30. . . .

Of course, the Razorbacks deserve to be favored. They are young, but physical and quick, well-balanced, and packed with potential NBA draft choices. . . .

Mike Krzyzewski bringing Duke to seven Final Fours in nine years is one of the greatest coaching achievements ever in sports. . . .

Switch coaches and I guarantee you that North Carolina would be in Charlotte this week and Duke wouldn’t. . . .

Seldom has a team had three guards the caliber of Arizona’s Khalid Reeves, Damon Stoudamire and Reggie Geary. . . .

It would be unwise to overlook Geary’s contributions. . . .

The quick sophomore from Mater Dei High was a defensive wizard at the Sports Arena, offering weakside help against Louisville center Clifford Rozier Thursday and blanketing Missouri guard Melvin Booker Saturday. . . .

I’m glad President Clinton didn’t try to hide the fact that he was rooting for Arkansas. . . .

This is the fifth consecutive year that the Big East, which had three teams in 1985, will not be represented in the Final Four. . . .

Remember when Marcus Allen, Vinny Testaverde, Ty Detmer, Desmond Howard and Gino Torretta, among others, lost games after winning the Heisman Trophy? Well, Glenn Robinson of Purdue and Lisa Leslie of USC were announced as winners of the Naismith Awards the morning after their teams were eliminated from the NCAA tournament. . . .

What this tournament has lacked is a buzzer beater. . . .

In fact, I can’t remember one with fewer tight finishes or controversy. . . .

Most exciting comeback was Syracuse’s that tied Missouri in regulation Thursday at the Sports Arena before the Tigers won going away in overtime. . . .

Florida forward Dametri Hill would have made a hell of a defensive tackle for Steve Spurrier. . . .

Purdue’s women showed a lot more poise beating Stanford at Maples Pavilion on Saturday night than the men did losing to Duke a few hours earlier. . . .

The three-point basket is so commonplace that announcers should always say that a team trailing by two points and in possession of the ball has a chance to go ahead. . . .

Thumbs up to host USC for staging a smooth West Regional at the Sports Arena. . . .

The 62 points Askia Jones of Kansas State scored in 28 minutes against Fresno State in an National Invitation Tournament game last week translates to 106 points in 48 minutes, six more than Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962.. . .

Look-alikes: New York Knick forward Charles Smith and Syracuse guard Lawrence Moten. . . .

*

Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones will live to regret it if he lets Jimmy Johnson get away. . . .

Fox’s first NFL telecast will be the San Francisco-Denver exhibition Aug. 12 at Candlestick Park. . . .

Former bantamweight champion Albert Davila has done a fine job training unbeaten junior-welterweight David Kamau, who headlines the Forum card tonight. . . .

This probably will be remembered as the year that Wayne Gretzky broke Gordie Howe’s goal-scoring record but failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in his career. . . . Black Coaches Assn. member George Raveling on the agreement brokered by the Dept. of Justice that sets a framework for increased dialogue between the coaches and the NCAA: “We’ve proved that we just weren’t a bunch of people running around shouting and hollering.”