ABA Is Test for Memory

This is Trivial Pursuit for basketball fans, a chance to quiz your neighbor.

Where is Stanley Roberts now?

Stanley Roberts is the 340-pound center for the San Diego WildFire of the American Basketball Assn.

Where is JaRon Rush now?

JaRon Rush is wearing street clothes and sitting on the bench for the Los Angeles Stars of the ABA.

Isn’t Kenny Brunner playing basketball in junior college somewhere? Or at Fresno State?

No. Kenny Brunner, once from Georgetown and then in trouble, is talking on his cell phone as his beeper goes off while he is sitting on the WildFire bench. Brunner has all the electrical gadgets that will help him fit into an NBA locker room. If only he can get the game.

Welcome to opening night at the Forum on the day after Christmas. The ABA has come to life again, a ghost of basketball past. Red, white and blue balls. No defense that you could detect. The kids loved it. There were many kids in the crowd of 5,347 to watch your Stars beat their WildFire, 126-122.

Where is LaSalle Thompson now?

Thompson played 15 years in the NBA. He played for Kansas City, Sacramento, Philadelphia and Denver. Now he’s the coach of the WildFire. And the general manager. Thompson has to sweat the details. When the WildFire didn’t have uniforms a few hours before the opening game, Thompson was shaking his head. UPS lost the uniforms. Then UPS found the uniforms.

So the WildFire did not play in birthday suits, and for that Roberts thanks UPS. And so do we.

There were dance girls at the Forum again.

The Starlets wore short, shiny black tops and tiny black skirts and big, clunky black shoes. It’s hard to be a dance girl when the shoes have more material than the top and skirt combined. But the Starlets danced anyway.

Where is Ed O’Bannon now?

He’s coming off the bench for the Stars. So is Toby Bailey. Bailey scored 23 points in UCLA’s 1995 NCAA championship game victory over Arkansas. O’Bannon had 30 points and 17 rebounds in that game. It is hard to recapture the glory, but O’Bannon and Bailey should get plenty of points and rebounds as long as Paul Westhead is the coach of the Stars.

Yes, this is where Paul Westhead is. He is coaching the Stars. It is Westhead’s 28th year of coaching. There has been triumph--Westhead won an NBA championship as coach of the 1980 Lakers. There has been tragedy--the death of Hank Gathers while Westhead was coaching Loyola Marymount still can make Westhead cry. Now there is the ABA. One suspects Westhead can use a chalkboard better than Thompson or Kevin Pritchard or Darryl Dawkins, some other ABA coaches.

Quick quiz.

Do you need 3-D glasses to watch the 3-D rule in the ABA?

No. You need to have your head examined if you understand the 3-D rule. If your team regains possession of the ball while the ball is in “Backcourt Status,” your team can score three points on a two-point shot and four points on a three-point shot. If a shooting foul occurs during the 3-D rule--oh, never mind. Just bring your calculator.

There’s also a “Backdown Rule,” and a “Shirted Foul Rule.” Don’t ask.

When the first “Shirted Foul” occurred--poor Star center Paul Grant was the culprit--it took five minutes for the official scorer to explain “Shirted Foul” to Westhead. We don’t think he understands yet.

Whatever happened to Scott Brooks?

Brooks once starred at UC Irvine. Yes, the Anteaters had an NBA-caliber player. Brooks played 11 years in the NBA. Now he’s a 35-year-old player-coach for the Stars. More coach than player since Brooks never did take off his warmups. But you can’t take away the NBA championship ring Brooks won with the Houston Rockets in 1994. And Brooks says he understands the 3-D rule.

Suggestion.

Since part of the ABA 2000 Mission Statement is that “the fan is KING,” Stars marketers might want to rethink charging $18 for a Stars baseball cap. The woman in the booth at one of the merchandise stands said, after the third quarter, that she had sold no merchandise.

Third-quarter score: Stars 103, WildFire 87.

Whatever happened to spelling and punctuation?

Besides the WildFire, there are the Memphis Houn’Dawgs and Tampa Bay ThunderDawgs. Let’s get kooky. Thank you, Detroit Dogs. Somebody used a dictionary in the Motor City.

Where is Bill Sharman now?

He is throwing out the first ball of the new ABA. The first incarnation of the Los Angeles Stars, in the first incarnation of the ABA, had Bill Sharman. Sharman gave the new league quick credibility in 1968. As Sharman walked out onto the court, Roberts said, “Who’s he?”

Sharman is a hall of famer and a legend. Having Bill Sharman walk onto the court was better than the 3-D rule and the Shirted Foul Rule combined.

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Diane Pucin can be reached at her e-mail address: diane.pucin@latimes.com