Playoffs Give Him a Forum : Pro basketball: The best play their best in the postseason, and the Spurs’ David Robinson is doing just that.

Scenes from a playoff:

“Timber!”

Portland’s 6-foot-6 Clyde Drexler switches defensive assignments in the lane and jumps out to guard 7-1 David Robinson. Drexler takes two steps and runs straight into Robinson’s side.

Instantly, Drexler’s body assumes Nerf ball quality and drops limply to the floor.

Monster Mash

The Spurs are loose in the open court and point guard Rod Strickland sees Robinson coming up fast from behind.

Strickland flips the ball to Robinson, who is airborne and nearly horizontal as he slams a mighty jam. One rowdy Baseline Bum nearly waves the Lone Star plumb off the Texas flag he holds in his shaky hands.

Shooting Star

Robinson has the ball near the right baseline with his back to the basket. He looks left, then turns right to face the hoop and fires a soft left-hander that settles into the net as he drifts ever-so-gently out of bounds.

To be continued. The Academy (the motion picture kind) may rest assured that further sequences will be available soon, produced by David Robinson, starring David Robinson.

Said Larry Brown, Robinson’s acting coach with the Spurs’ troupe: “I think the guy has been and will be phenomenal.”

But how phenomenal? Is he the NBA’s most valuable player? Robinson is surely a candidate, but he isn’t sure his time for the league’s most prestigious individual honor has come.

“It’s hard to commend yourself because you see yourself with your own eyes, and you feel like you have so much more to show,” Robinson said.

“Magic Johnson, he runs that team. How can I say I’m better than him? Michael Jordan. Who can do what he can do?

“But I feel good about what I do for this team. I don’t know, maybe in three or four years down the road I think maybe I’ll be at my peak, coming out and playing great night after night. I am feeling good about what I’ve done so far, but this is one year.”

The former star of the Academy (the naval kind) has absolutely dominated the Portland Trail Blazers in this Western Conference semifinal series, which stands at two games each.

Although this is not truly shocking stuff, that the Spurs are back even with Game 5 tonight in Portland seems at least sort of remarkable. That’s because they played so poorly in the first two games.

How poorly? Well, Robinson shot an air ball on a free throw.

He had nine points in Game 1, only the second time all season he didn’t score in double figures. Robinson came back with 31 points in Game 2, but got 20 of them after the Spurs trailed by 24. And one last insult: Wayne Cooper blocked Robinson’s dunk attempt.

Naturally, there was fallout. The last time the Spurs were in Portland, down 0-2 and fading, Brown did the only thing he could. He left his team and flew home on his own.

Brown was roasted in the local newspapers after his solo flight, but criticism abounded on a lot of levels.

Terry Cummings had scored 33 points in Game 2 only to hear that Brown ripped his defensive play. Owner Red McCombs looked more rumpled than usual, probably because his team was losing to another team he had already dismissed to reporters.

Even backup center Caldwell Jones, at 39 the oldest player in the league, was privately mumbling about his lack of playing time.

Against such a backdrop strode David Robinson. There is probably no one else whose talents are being revealed in the playoffs more than Robinson’s.

Magic, we know how good he is, and the same for Jordan, Isiah Thomas, Charles Barkley, Kevin Johnson, Patrick Ewing, Drexler. Even Dennis Rodman and Joe Dumars have had a forum for their greatness.

But Robinson is new to the scene and so, in that respect, this year’s playoffs are sort of his showcase.

The Spurs, who swept Denver in the first round, have gotten 24.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 4.1 blocks from Robinson in seven playoff games.

Already, Robinson says he has learned one fact of NBA life: superstars play better in the playoffs.

“Believe me, I know now that the playoffs are not an extension of the season anymore,” Robinson said. “This is a new level, a whole new level and it’s something else, I’ll tell you.”

The Trail Blazers know all they want to about Robinson. In the playoffs against them, he is averaging 24.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, 4.1 blocks and about the same amount of respect after every game.

“The best thing he does, he’s so quick, you look and he’s gone,” said Portland forward Jerome Kersey. “You just don’t see that in a big man. Nobody runs the floor like him except for maybe Akeem.”

Said Drexler: “If he already isn’t, he is becoming the premier center in the league.”

Still, Robinson is a rookie. Without him a year ago, San Antonio was 21-61. This year, the Spurs finished 56-26, the biggest one-year turnaround in NBA history.

Robinson played in all 82 games, apparently answering the one nagging rap about his endurance. He averaged 24.3 points and 12 rebounds and was the only player in the league to rank among the leaders in five categories.

“No question, he’s the center of the ‘90s,” Laker General Manager Jerry West said.

In less than one season, Robinson has become the Spurs’ most decorated player. He was an all-star as well as rookie of the year. He won the Schick Pivotal Player award, was named player of the week three times, is a candidate for MVP and is a member of the all-rookie team.

The Trail Blazers hoped to use their own centers to stop Robinson, but that hasn’t been easy. If backup center Wayne Cooper cannot play again because of back spasms, Coach Rick Adelman must use forwards Cliff Robinson and Mark Bryant against David Robinson.

That isn’t regarded as much of an option, though. The Trail Blazers’ chances rest on the fact that two of the last three games will be played on their home court.

Brown’s best chance is that his rookie center dominates the game. He is the only player on the court who can.

“I told David, there are special players in the league like Magic and Barkley and Michael Jordan, and that they play at an unbelievable level,” Brown said.

“I told him that if he wanted to be in that level, he needed to take his game to another level. Now that’s a hell of a burden to put on someone.”

But Robinson has pulled through. Maybe it was Robinson’s naval training.

From ensign to lieutenant (j.g.), to admiral, to which the Spurs’ fans have promoted him, Robinson has moved up in rank. Rest assured he is on maneuvers at this moment, moving up in rank among his peers.