Spurs Learn a Hard Lesson

Once they were blue collar. Now they’re merely blue. . . .

Coach Gregg Popovich warned his San Antonio Spurs that defending their NBA title wouldn’t be easy. Two months into it, he’s right.

They lead the Midwest Division, which is OK if you overlook their record over the last 11 games (5-6), their standing in the West (No. 3) and the fact they’ve been gift-wrapped and left under the Lakers’ tree.

Since last spring, when the Spurs put them out of their misery, the Lakers have improved, tangibly and otherwise. The Spurs have not, tangibly or otherwise.

The Lakers, once given to factions, boasting and strolling onto the court in the belief their opponent would flee at the sight of them, now give a professional effort. Once casual on defense (No. 25 last season), they now work at it (No. 2).

The Spurs lost a starter, Sean Elliott, and 11 points a game they needed. Their offense, which was No. 13, is now No. 21.

They have Tim Duncan and . . . what?

In a recent six-game stretch, Duncan averaged 29.5 points while one other Spur, David Robinson at 13.7, was in double figures. No one else was over 8.0.

“Tim Duncan isn’t going to win games by himself,” Popovich was obliged to remind them. “Magic 1/8Johnson 3/8 didn’t do that either. He had some guys around him. We have to have that inside-outside game.”

Everyone gets up for the Spurs and some nights they forget to do the same. They recently lost at home to the Washington Wizards. The Milwaukee Bucks just swept them for the first time since 1986. In a loss at Denver, they were hammered on the boards by 16 against a front line of Keon Clark, Antonio McDyess and James Posey.

Last season, newly arrived Mario Elie made a crusade of toughening them up, once even grabbing Robinson by the jersey in a timeout huddle in Minnesota after he’d had the ball batted out of his hands twice.

Now Oscar the Grouch has turned into Ferdinand the Bull, or as Elie recently told Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio News-Express, “There’s more things than basketball, having a peace of mind and just enjoying life. . . . It’s his 1/8Popovich’s 3/8 job to get on guys. I’m done with that. . . .

“Playoff time, that’s when my switch will turn on.”

That’s a long time to wait. The sight of the Lakers should revive them, for a night, anyway, but who thought the Spurs would have to cast around for motivation?

Elie is 36. Robinson and Avery Johnson are 34. Three more Spurs are 34 or older and this is a full-length 82-game season, not a 50-game sprint.

And what if Duncan, the upcoming free agent, starts wondering who he’d be playing with in three years, if he decides to stay?

“I guess one of the many advantages to having Michael 1/8Jordan 3/8--among the many--is that he would take matters into his own hands,” Steve Kerr said recently.

“I never saw him have a tentative game, even if he was missing every shot. He was still being aggressive. We don’t really have that mentality. We’ve been more of a laid-back team. Maybe that’s been a problem, maybe we do need to have a little more fire.”

Jordan won titles in his last six full seasons. The Spurs, trailing by five, have just begun to grasp the level of difficulty.

FACES AND FIGURES

Year 3 of the Larry Brown Era, or right on schedule: Brown benched Allen Iverson in a Philadelphia loss at Detroit. Iverson demanded to be traded, then rescinded the demand after a meeting with Brown and 76er owner Pat Croce. Brown revealed he thought of resigning after an earlier run-in with Iverson. Then Brown’s agent, Joe Glass, said the 76ers have been talking about extending Brown’s $5-million-a-year contract, which has two years left on it. “In defiance of his reputation as a vagabond coach, it would be a nice scenario,” Glass said. “Larry and his wife love Philadelphia, but we have time to talk about this. We have to see how things shake out.” . . . And the Chicago Bulls think they’re going to recruit star players? They just had a hard time convincing Rusty LaRue to rejoin the team from Idaho in the Continental Basketball Assn. “I called and spoke to my wife to make sure it was OK with her because the holidays are coming up,” LaRue said. “She agreed with it so I said I’d be on the next plane. I’m just going to try to play well and hope other teams see me while I’m here.” . . . Fans can buy tickets at the door for Bull games now, but the team keeps announcing sellouts--by counting seats in the luxury suites. Said ticket broker Eric Soderholm: “Their streak is still alive? Are you kidding? Really? I can’t give Bulls tickets away. They went from the greatest ticket on the planet to the worst ticket, just like that. Our business is going to be down 50% this year. But I can’t complain. We had a great run.” . . . That’s why we love him: Said New Jersey Net Coach Don Casey, “Can we be .500? Yeah, we’re going to be .500. I think that’s reasonable.” Informed they’d have to finish 34-24, Casey said, “Oh, yeah? Take that statement back.” . . . What is he on the injured list for, hallucinations? Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon, who once considered retiring, says he doesn’t want to finish this way and will return. “Maybe I’m alone, but I think we have players who can win and I’m not ready to write off the year,” he said. “I am telling you, it’s not over.” . . . And I am telling you, it is.

Vancouver’s Bryant “Big Country” Reeves peaked at 16 points a game two seasons ago, has averaged 10 since and was recently told by interim Coach Lionel Hollins to become more of a defender and rebounder. “It’s something I’m going to have to kind of learn to deal with,” Reeves said, morosely. “I know I’m not going to get the touches anymore. I’m going to become more of a screener. That’s what his head coaching philosophy is and I’ve got to live with it.” . . . Seattle Coach Paul Westphal, on his speech after his team led the Bulls, 57-53, at the half: “I said they hadn’t scored 100 points all year, they have 53, you do the math. Then I threw something.” . . . The beat goes on: The Clippers’ Mo Taylor, a Detroit native, at a recent game against the Pistons, said, “It’s no secret that I want to test the free agent waters this summer and it is no secret that I want to come home. I like the way the Pistons play, definitely. But I’m not worried about my situation this summer. I’m confident that somebody is going to want a power forward.” . . . Indiana Pacers President Donnie Walsh on his veterans’ reaction to trading Antonio Davis for Jonathan Bender: “They probably were in some back room saying, ‘Can you believe that idiot Donnie traded Antonio for some high school kid?’ I can hear them saying it, that I took away their chance to win. Not to say we won’t miss Tony. We will, but I think we’re making up for him. We’ve got two kids, 18 and 19, one guy 6-11 1/8Bender 3/8 who shoots the ball from where Reggie 1/8Miller 3/8 does, can handle and jumps over the basket. The other guy 1/8Al Harrington, two years out of high school 3/8 is 6-9, 250 and can bring the ball down, handle, pass it. . . . I love Reggie. But this is the first time I’ve had to say, ‘Wait awhile.’ I know he’s probably upset with me 1/8for not offering him an extension 3/8. Here was this skinny, little guy from UCLA who did whatever he was asked to do. There was no easy way to tell him to wait. But I have to protect the franchise.” . . . Toronto’s 20-year-old Tracy McGrady was yanked from the starting lineup after a string of impressive performances and then a dud against the Lakers. Said Coach Butch Carter, asked about the Raptor point guards: “I don’t think you can evaluate that issue until we find out how Tracy McGrady is going to play every night. . . . Since he’s gone in the 1/8starting 3/8 lineup, we’ve basically lost.” Look for McGrady, a free agent, to go into someone else’s starting lineup next season. . . . Minnesota’s Sam Mitchell after the Timberwolves routed the Bulls: “Don’t blame us. We didn’t not sign Michael. We didn’t not sign Scottie 1/8Pippen 3/8. We didn’t break it up.”

TONIGHT

SAN ANTONIO at LAKERS

Time: 6:30 p.m.

TV: Channel 4