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COACH GREG SLOAN, RIGHT, LINES UP A SHOT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THREE VETER-on members of his Rich high basketball squad, from left Bill Sedlacek, Lloyd Rose and Jim Denman. The Rockets meet Thornton Fractional Saturday night at Calumet City.POTENTIALJRICH (73)SABFTFMPF TPHawkins, f116524 17Scott, f82414 8Denman, f76224 14Rose, c2011431 26Sedlacek, c10000 0Pradin, g31204 4North, s41222 4DOWNERS5427191019 73GROVE (5tSABFTFMPF TPFridley, f■ 40214 2Suchonel, f31001 2Bonommi, f10000 0Gorecki, f104203 10O'Byrne, c107134 15Pieffer, c11322 5Jelinek, 920000 0Ukrin, 921000 2Siedentop, g144420 14Novotony, 970132 1Barnhart, 922100 55820161116 56RICH19142416—73DOWNERS GROVE9111422—56Shooting Percentages:Rich -- fieldgoals .500, free Grove — fieldthrows .655; Downers 9oals .346.Officials: Bob manoff.YoungandTomKouf-difference between a team thatcan win on a given night and a team that can win any time they're sent to the floor.By BOB GIBSONSloan hasmg.Sloan has steadfastly refused to predict that the current Rockets will rank with thesc.uad that went to Champaign last year, but even the most conservative fan could see the potential in his club Friday night as they walloped Downers Grove.SLOAN HIMSELF, we feel,would not deny that this team, on some given night later this season, is going to be good enough to beat any team in Illinois. There is, however, a vastThis is the question which only time will answer about the current crop. How much and how fast can they absorbthe teachings of thiscoach?canyVirtually every member of the team has already shown theresults of time spent under the Sloan polishing wheel.Greg Sloan has always taught his basketball teams that it takes more than victories to produce a championship tram. Constant improvement is the secret to a truly successful season, he tells them.Sloan being no stranger to success, his 1955-56 Rockets! seem to take him at his word last week, for they turned in two triumphs — and, more improvement in their second out-The outstanding example is, of course. Lloyd Rose. A six-foot five-inch center, Rose played his first game for theRockets last January. Joining the team in mid-season, hebrought two king-sized handicaps with him — a total lack of experience before crowds and a yoke of pressure which stemmed from a month of predictions than began: “As soon as Rose becomes eligible . . .ffAS A RESULT, his performances were spotty, his playnervous and his penchant for committing fouls a frighteningthing to behold.The current Lloyd Rose is, as the saying goes, a cat from another tree,In two performances last week, he sent 25 and 26 points into the nets, showed *that he could rebound with the best the Crete-Monee and Downers Grove could offer and grinned gleefully at Sloan each time one of his whirling jump shots split the nets.Friday night, when he suddenly spun to his right and pitched a hook shot in with his left hand, he nearly laughed out loud as he galloped back past his happy coach.NOR IS ROSE the only gem taking on a new shine. Jim Denman, turned in two 14-point nights and scored his total against Downers Grove in only half the ball game, being benched with four personal fouls throughout much of thecontest.Those personal fouls are,themselves, an indication of anew Denman, for a year ago,contact was one phase of the game which he seemed happy to avoid.Friday night, he was probably the most aggressive player on the floor and his drives toward the basket w?ere sureand deadly.Bill Hawkins rounds out the finest front line the Rockets may have produced in their three-year history.HE STARTED out at a guard position Wednesday against Crete, but it’s our guess that after Friday’s performance at forward, that’s where he’ll be for the rest of the season.Against Downers Grove, he alternated with Larry Scott for the first half, but caught hold in the last two quarters, clicking for 14 points to raise his game total to 17.Scott, meanwhile, spelled Hawkins and Denman and added eight points to the front line total.Lest critics point an accusing finger at the two junior guards, Bruce Praden and Jim North, it must be remembered thatkSloan’s advice to these two was:“Get it up the floor and in toour big men.* * *THIS THEY did in almost effortless fashion and their avoidance of bad passes was a testimony to the polished manner in which they handled themselves.All things considered, it was an auspicious opening for the Rockets, particularly when compared to the grim sessions that marked their last two los-ii eFing starts against Wheaton.The two games were not without surprises, however. Certainly no one anticipated the improved Crete-Monee club thatbattled the Rockets so bitterly Wednesday night. Nor did anyone figure they would handle Downers Grove, last year’s West Suburban champions, with such ease.Jim Bonney has done a fine job with the Warriors and has produced three excellent scorers in Don Daily. Dave Sell-meyer and Gary George. This could easily be the best season Crete-Monee has had in a num-Cdber of years.*THE ROCKETS were never in trouble against the Trojans of Dowmers Grove, however. With Denman pitching seven andRose six in the opening quar-(Continued on page 17)
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Chicago Heights Star
Chicago Heights, Illinois, US
Tue, Nov 29, 1955
Page 16
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