Letters

Air Ball?
Wait a minute! You finally give the Cleveland Cavaliers some overdue attention (Can the Cavs Finally Jam? March 15), and they come off as hayseeds from the set of Hee Haw. In Cleveland we love the Cavs as players and, more important, as upstanding citizens of our community. Lenny Wilkens will soon be the NBA's winningest coach and northeast Ohio knows him as the Knights of Columbus choice for Catholic of the Year. We respect Brad Daugherty for extolling the virtues of Cleveland and a college education on The Arsenio Hall Show. We love Mark Price for his all-out hustle, leadership and marksmanship on the court, and for the example he provides our young people at The Chapel in Akron. We relate to the blue-collar work ethic of Craig Ehlo and Hot Rod Williams's total unselfishness as our super sub, plus the toughness of all our role players—even Danny Ferry, with his continuing struggles.

You missed the hoop on this one. Air ball! The real story behind these Cavs is one of unspoiled and unselfish players who seem to like each other as people and as athletes. That clichè about family values really applies to this special team.
LYLE R. POHLY
Mogadore, Ohio

Instead of digging down for the true reasons behind the Cavaliers' performance, you gave your readers a superficial, formulaic article that reads as if it had been punched out of some computer with minimum thought. Does your market-analysis group tell you this is what turns your readers on? What has happened to good analytical sportswriting?
ROGER O. GILRUTH
Akron

Jerry Krause
As a Bull fan who witnessed years of dismal play by the Scott Mays, the Tate Armstrongs and the Ronnie Lesters, I thank Jerry Krause (The Sleuth, March 15) about 70 times each basketball season, once for each Bull victory. Sadly, I feel that Bull fans have become complacent with this consistent winning, which has probably caused Krause's scouting accomplishments to be overlooked. Bull fans, be thankful. Krause could have traded up for Sam Bowie!
CHRIS DALEO
Kirkland, Ill.

Jerry Krause, a basketball sleuth? Come on. Krause is a mediocre general manager with a glorified title and a paranoid personality. Michael Jordan is right. Except for drafting Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, Krause has done little to improve the Bulls. Krause should be grateful to Jordan. Without him the Bulls would be lucky to win half their games. If the Portland Trail Blazers hadn't made the monumental mistake of passing on Jordan to pick Sam Bowie in the 1984 draft, Krause would be just another general manager on just another NBA team.
AARON BRENNER
New York City

NBA Defense
In INSIDE THE NBA (March 8), Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is quoted as saying that his team started slowly because "we were playing NBA defense. No help." Jack McCallum called this a ludicrous statement, citing as proof the defensive wizardry of such stars as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and David Robinson. But the defensive prowess of these stars is a result of their tremendous athletic ability, not because of help defense. Sure, defense is played in the NBA, but not with the intensity found in most of the premier college programs. Krzyzewski's teams are not made up of players with NBA-level athleticism, and thus their success hinges upon the effectiveness of their team defense. When was the last time McCallum saw an NBA team slap the court in unison, as Duke often does, to motivate defensive pressure?
JEFF DONNITHORNE
West Point, N.Y.

Gibbs Steps Down
I suppose it is indicative of society's values that the retirement of Redskin coach Joe Gibbs was given a column and a half of text in SPORTS PEOPLE (March 15), while Reggie White, with his quest for millions through free agency, made the cover. Besides his three Super Bowl victories and a 140-65 overall record, Gibbs brought class and a sense of team unity to a sports world that was being engulfed by greed and selfishness. Gibbs may be "bland" and "boring," but his moral values and his dedication to one organization surpass any of White's or free agency's merits.
GRAHAM SARGENT ERNST
Bethesda, Md.

No Walter Davis?
It was only a sidelight in Jack McCallum's excellent article about the Suns' ascent (Rising Suns, March 8), but how could the Phoenix fans not have voted Walter Davis (right), the Suns' leading career scorer, onto their 25th-anniversary team? Would you please list the players on that squad?
LAWRENCE T. STOOGENKE
Stamford, Conn.

•They are guards Paul Westphal and Jeff Hornacek, center Alvan Adams and forwards Charles Barkley and Tom Chambers.—ED.

PHOTO

JOHN MCDONOUGH

Letters to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED should include the name, address and home telephone number of the writer and should be addressed to The Editor, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. 10020-1393.