For Karl, It’s a New Ballgame

In the thick of the NBA playoffs, one day after a 92-68 loss to the Lakers, Seattle SuperSonic Coach George Karl was talkin’ baseball.

“It reminds me of the Pittsburgh Pirate [World] Series in 1960,” said Karl, who grew up in suburban Pittsburgh.

He recounted how the Yankees won in blowouts, but the Pirates won the close games, including Game 7 on Bill Mazeroski’s home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

“In a seven-game series, you’re probably going to have some bad games,” Karl said. “We had a bad game.

“Every game [the Pirates] lost, they got hammered. They wound up beating them.”

Karl brought his analogy up to the players, but they didn’t seem as inspired as Karl, who can still recite the dimensions of Forbes Field.

So who does Karl think will play the role of Mazeroski?

“I’m hoping it doesn’t go seven,” Karl said.

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Karl wouldn’t mind seeing Dale Ellis play like, say, Dale Ellis. The swingman, who ranks among the all-time NBA leaders in three-point field goals, was 0 for 6 from the field, 0 for 2 on three-point shots, in Game 2 and is shooting 27% in the playoffs. Ellis has made only six of his 19 three-point attempts.

“I don’t think it can get worse than it is right now,” Ellis said.

“I think Dale is putting a lot of pressure on himself,” Karl said. “I would prefer he just relax.”

Ellis said: “I’m thinking too much about making every shot instead of playing the game. You start pressing, trying really hard to make the next shot.”

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Laker Coach Del Harris tinkered with his lineup because of Kobe Bryant’s illness. His big lineups featuring Elden Campbell playing alongside Shaquille O’Neal, as well as increased playing time for Corie Blount and more time for Robert Horry at small forward, helped lead to a 54-32 rebounding edge.

“Their ‘bigs’ are big,” Karl said. “Three years ago, when Del beat us in the playoffs, he played huge. He played big all night long. I think Del’s comfortable playing an all-big lineup.”

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SuperSonic center Jim McIlvaine is comfortable playing at the Great Western Forum.

“I like playing there,” McIlvaine said. “I was a big Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] fan growing up, a big Wilt Chamberlain fan growing up.”

He described the fans as “kind of an L.A. crowd, almost there to be seen more than anything.”

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SEATTLE PLAYOFF STATISTICS

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PLAYER FG% FT% REB AST PTS Payton .470 .909 3.0 5.6 23.9 Hawkins .485 .912 5.9 3.3 15.6 Baker .531 .462 9.6 1.9 14.0 Schrempf .474 .852 7.9 4.0 13.7 Kersey .489 .923 2.7 4.0 8.3 Perkins .433 .500 3.7 1.4 5.6 Ellis .270 1.000 1.1 0.7 4.0 McIlvaine .400 -- 2.0 0.3 4.0 Anthony .310 .286 1.1 1.1 3.4 Wingate .400 .667 1.3 0.7 2.7 McMillan .333 1.000 2.3 2.2 2.2 Williams .000 1.000 0.3 0.0 0.7 TEAM .450 .772 39.7 21.4 93.4 OPPONENTS .428 .776 40.9 23.6 90.7

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