Spurs’ ‘Cupcake’ Ices First Big Test

If looks mattered, Gary Payton would sweep Rasho Nesterovic.

No, worse. Payton would melt him.

Payton would cock his head, looking serpentine and sinister, and Nesterovic would resume the posture of a pasty, young boy who doesn’t eat the basic food groups.

Looks mattered last summer when the Lakers impressed the basketball world by signing fierce Hall of Famers while the Spurs settled on Nesterovic. And looks mattered too, when fans tried to picture who would win this series.

But then came the opener, when Rasho moved where the Spurs wanted him to move, reacted where the Lakers swung the ball, stood where Shaquille O’Neal wanted to stand.

The look?

Few still see it for what it is.

Argue if the Spurs were lucky or not last summer. But it’s clear that when Jason Kidd and Karl Malone rejected the Spurs, and Nesterovic signed with the Spurs, and Malone and Payton signed with the Lakers, freeing Robert Horry to sign with the Spurs, that a few things changed.

But even Phil Jackson brushed aside the stars to cut to the substance. “The story of the game,” he said, “is our attempts to get the ball into Shaq, which caused turnovers in the fourth quarter.”

The Spurs’ defensive scheme is based on as much, the reason they’ve often avoided huge games from O’Neal over the years.

Duncan had a lot to do with that. But Nesterovic gets little credit, whether from the media or from other players, because of the look.

Gregg Popovich, searching for his own description last week to describe his starting center, used the word “cupcake.” And even when Nesterovic faced off against Kobe Bryant in an uncharacteristic confrontation on Sunday, the look didn’t change much.

Head down, eyes down. Payton would look tougher in a tutu.

Spur executives defend Nesterovic, and they have reason to. They gave him a $42-million deal last summer and would rather not devalue the investment.

But they make another point: Others don’t understand how effective he is.

Popovich addressed that Sunday. He said Nesterovic’s numbers compare to David Robinson’s last season, which is not necessarily a flattering compliment.

But Popovich also said, “He’s going to places on the court where we want him to be.”

Sometimes that means he fronts O’Neal. Sometimes that means he’s ready to move baseline to defend a Bryant drive. Always that means he’s playing the way the Spurs need to play.

So could Nesterovic be integral in eliminating four Hall of Famers?

Payton would cock his head, looking serpentine and sinister, intimidating anyone who would think such a thing.

Looks matter, all right.

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Buck Harvey is a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News