David Robinson Awaits the Olympic Basketball Trials

Life couldn’t be better for David Robinson, well, except for maybe one thing. “I wish the Olympic Trials were right now,” he said.

The May 18-24 basketball trials at Olympic Sports Center here will have to wait. For now, the 7-foot-1 Robinson has the eighth Amateur Basketball Assn. USA National Tournament demanding his attention.

Robinson and his U.S. Armed Forces All-Stars teammates are competing in the event at Olympic Sports Center.

With Robinson, the unanimous 1986-87 college player of the year from Navy, and high-scoring Army graduate Kevin Houston, Armed Forces appears to be a potent squad.

However, the team went 2-2 last week in the Amateur Athletic Union’s national tournament in Topeka, Kan. After winning its first two games by 53 and 38 points, Armed Forces didn’t adjust to a slowed tempo and lost, 80-77.

“It was fair,” Robinson, 22, said of his performance. “I wasn’t in as good a shape as I would have liked to have been in. I ran the court for most of the game, but I ended up getting a little bit tired at the end. It’s not really the way I’d like to be.

“There are always those doubts that I won’t be on the Olympic team, but I feel like I’m playing pretty well now. I’m going to go work out for a while. When I come out to the Olympic Trials, I’ll be ready. I have a lot of confidence in myself. I know I can make that team.

“I wish the Olympic Trials were right now. I’d make it if it were right now. Oh yeah.”

As the No. 1 pick in last year’s NBA draft, Robinson signed a contract for $26 million with the San Antonio Spurs. His two-year Navy commitment keeps him working as a civil engineer in King’s Bay, Ga., until the summer of 1989.

In addition to running and weight training, he also worked last season as a part-time assistant coach with the University of Jacksonville.

“I feel my game is a little bit different right now,” Robinson said. “I’m not the same. I’m doing a few more different things offensively. I’m not concentrating so much on my offense. I’m working more on my rebounding and playing strong in the middle, running up and down the court.

“I was surprised we didn’t win last week. Our strength is our perimeter shooters. We go inside to me, too, but I haven’t been scoring a lot. I guess I scored about 22 a game. I don’t run everybody else off the court. I try to rebound, help inside.