NBA NOTES : Tarkanian, Spurs Are Perfect Fit

When Jerry Tarkanian was hired as coach by the Spurs Wednesday, he announced that he would bring his uptempo game from UNLV to San Antonio.

Apparently Tarkanian did not realize that if he were not a believer in the running game, he never would have gotten the Spurs’ job. Run-and-gun has been popular in San Antonio for a couple of centuries. It started with the cowboys -- the real ones -- and became a staple of the Spurs’ franchise in the late 1970s and early ‘80s when Doug Moe and Stan Albeck exploited the considerable talents of the fabulous Iceman, George Gervin.

It peaked under Larry Brown, who utilized the enormous talents of David Robinson to direct the Spurs to seasons of 56 and 55 victories, which were the best in franchise history. Running is part of the Spurs’ basketball heritage. If Spurs owner Red McCombs had hired a guy who announced that the Spurs would rely on a halfcourt game, McCombs and the new coach would have been run out of town.

Tarkanian believes in the running game, but he also has put some great defensive players in the NBA -- the two most recent being rookies Stacey Augmon of the Hawks and Greg Anthony of the Knicks. With Robinson anchoring the middle, Tarkanian should have a good defensive team.

Tarkanian and the Spurs are a perfect fit, although he should not underestimate the differences between college basketball and the NBA. In the NBA, the offenses, defenses, scouting and use of videotape all are more sophisticated.

Tarkanian needs a veteran assistant with considerable NBA experience. McCombs, in fact, has insisted that Tarkanian hire such an assistant.

If Tarkanian is as diligent in coaching the Spurs as he was in seeking the job, he should have no problem. McCombs said that within two days of Brown’s firing, Tarkanian called and began campaigning for the job. McCombs obviously knew of Tarkanian, but he had never met him. McCombs’ response was lukewarm.

But Tarkanian was persistent. He asked friends--including University of Texas Coach Tom Penders, a good friend of McCombs -- to recommend him. He kept calling McCombs.

“I was very impressed that he kept pushing,” McCombs said. “Rather than say, ‘I’m available if you’re interested,’ he said, ‘I want the job.’ I’m old-fashioned. If somebody says, ‘I want to be with you and help you,’ I get impressed.”

For McCombs, the timing was perfect. It’s been a rough season for the Spurs. They won the Midwest Division last season but lost to the Warriors in the first round. His relationship with Brown soured to the point where Brown was fired despite his success. Then the Spurs lost Robinson and Willie Anderson because of injuries. They probably will lose their first-round playoff series again.

But by hiring Tarkanian, McCombs has given Spurs players and fans something positive to think about during the summer.

When the Knicks visited Portland three weeks ago, Clyde Drexler hyperextended his right knee during the game. He kept playing, but the pain didn’t go away. The pain became worse before a game last week against Seattle, but Drexler was cleared to play by Portland team physician Robert Cook. Drexler played 37 minutes in the game, but hurt the knee again. The Blazers now are being second-guessed because they needed only one victory to clinch the Western Conference homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. So why was Drexler on the court?

“I was thinking about why he was out there myself a few times,” said Trail Blazers Coach Rick Adelman, who said he left it up to Drexler and Cook. “But Clyde’s a competitor. Clyde wanted to play.”

“I didn’t think there was any risk in making it worse,” Drexler said. “But I guess I was wrong.”