With Dawkins in Backcourt, Spurs Should Be Entertaining

The San Antonio Spurs are expected to lose a lot of games this year, chiefly because their frontcourt is aging and without depth.

The Spurs, however, should provide one of the most entertaining backcourts in the NBA.

Of course, that is what San Antonio fans thought last year before a rare illness almost took the life of veteran guard Johnny Moore.

Now, however, Moore has returned to his old self and on top of that the Spurs used their No. 1 draft choice this year (and the 10th overall) to select perhaps the quickest major college player in the country--Johnny Dawkins.

When last seen, Dawkins was slithering around and between the Louisville Cardinals, helping the Duke Blue Devils build up a lead in the first half of the NCAA championship game--a lead the Cardinals eventually overcame.

And he is expected to do much the same thing for the Spurs--who must rely on their quickness and ball-hawking abilities to overcome the superior talent they will face night after night.

“Right now,” said first-year San Antonio Coach Bob Weiss, “I would think we would use a three-man guard rotation. Johnny Moore and Alvin Robertson will start with Johnny Dawkins coming in to play both guard spots. Jon Sunvold will see action when we need outside shooting.”

Such a plan will allow Weiss to bring Dawkins along slowly instead of force-feeding him to the rough NBA world. And that became possible thanks to the remarkable recovery of Moore.

A year ago Moore came down with desert fever, a debilitating illness that doctors still do not fully understand. He underwent treatments throughout the 1985-86 season and when he appeared at the HemisFair Arena to sit on the bench with his teammates, he looked weak and tired.

Slowly, however, his strength began to return and now--even though he still takes treatments every two weeks--he has regained almost all of his old form.

Moore has shot about 60% during the preseason and is posting his normal numbers in assists and steals.

He will start alongside Robertson, who was voted to the NBA All-Star team a year ago and was named the league’s most improved player. Robertson led the NBA in steals last season with an average of 3.67 per game--a full steal per game ahead of his closest challenger.

Dawkins’ size (just over 6-0) will be a detriment, but his overwhelming quickness will perhaps make up for it as it did in the college ranks.

Dawkins will beat players down the floor on the fast break and has the capability of catching bigger players off guard with an occasional drive into the lane.

“He is the kind of player you wish was just a little bigger,” Weiss said. “But he can play in this league or we wouldn’t have taken him. He will allow us to keep the pressure on the opposing guards throughout the game.

“I think as he develops he will be an outstanding player. He came to our rookie camp without a contract and he signed one in a hurry. He has been with us from the start, so he has had a chance to learn a lot. He is the kind of player you like to coach.”

Dawkins is simply looking forward to the challenge.

“I’ve said that if I had the chance to play,” said Dawkins, who hit 81% of his free throws, 55% of his field goal tries and averaged 20.2 points during his senior year at Duke. “Now I have the chance and it’s just up to me to make the most of it.”