These Tandems Are as Big as Texas, but San Antonio Remains Tallest of Orders

There may or may not be a great team or a budding dynasty in the Western Conference, but there sure are a lot of good, big ones.

The Spurs have their famous towers, 7-foot-1 David Robinson and 7-0 Tim Duncan.

The Trail Blazers can throw a 7-3 (Arvydas Sabonis), 6-11 (Rasheed Wallace) tandem out there.

Sacramento has 7-0 Vlade Divac and 6-9 Chris Webber.

Utah has 6-11 Olden Polynice and 6-9 Karl Malone.

The Lakers have Shaquille O’Neal, although Phil Jackson is still looking for someone 6-10 or so to keep him company.

The Suns, who are considered a finesse bunch, can go 7-2 (Luc Longley), 6-11 (Cliff Robinson), 6-9 (Tom Gugliotta) up front with guards that go 6-7 (Penny Hardaway) and 6-4 (Jason Kidd.)

Lots of teams in the West are coming on--the Spurs, Trail Blazers, Suns, even, yes, the Clippers. The Lakers have Shaq and Kobe Bryant, so even if they’re floundering now, everyone is still eyeing them nervously.

Too bad half these teams can’t go East. Ask the Lakers if Portland and Phoenix wouldn’t look better in the Atlantic Division.

But no: Your heroes are going to have to do it the hard way.

1. SAN ANTONIO SPURS

Projected starters

G Avery Johnson

G Mario Elie

F Tim Duncan

F Samaki Walker

C David Robinson

1999 record: 37-13, first in Midwest.

Offense: 92.8 (11).

Defense: 84.8 (3).

Gone: Sean Elliott, Will Perdue.

New: Samaki Walker, Terry Porter. Chucky Brown.

Having gone from chumps to champs in one short(ened) season, the Spurs still think they have work to do: convincing people to take them seriously.

“You can look on TV,” guard Avery Johnson said, “read a lot of the publications and wonder who won the championship, us or the Lakers.”

Obviously, he isn’t looking at TV around here, but the Spurs’ later-bloomer, junkyard-dog mentality keeps them motivated. They also have the best Twin Tower tandem ever, with Robinson slipping ever more comfortably into his supporting role alongside Duncan, now often referred to as the best player in the game--who hasn’t even begun to max out.

Losing Elliott hurt, but getting Walker and Porter may help more.

Robinson’s back is bothering him, so they may not fly out of the gate, but last season wasn’t a fluke. These guys may only be warming up.

2. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

Projected starters

G Damon Stoudamire

G Steve Smith

F Scottie Pippen

F Brian Grant

C Arvydas Sabonis

1999 record: 35-15, 1st in Pacific.

Offense: 94.9 (4).

Defense: 87.8 (9).

Gone: Isaiah Rider, Jim Jackson, Walt Williams, Kelvin Cato, Stacey Augmon, Carlos Rogers.

New: Scottie Pippen, Steve Smith, Detlef Schrempf.

Trader Bob Whitsitt had a nice off-season, trading his nightmare, Isaiah Rider, and a bunch of reserves for Steve Smith and Scottie Pippen. Now when the Trail Blazers are near, the NBA trembles.

“They have the most talent of anyone,” Spur Coach Gregg Popovich says. “If they play together and play good basketball, they’ll be a monster.”

There was always that for Laker fans to cling to, the hope the talent wouldn’t mesh. That lasted until the Trail Blazers tore through the exhibition season and dumped the Lakers in their one meeting. Now what?

However, great teams are built on great players and who is Portland’s? Damon Stoudamire is a career 41% shooter, Pippen averaged 14 in Houston and Smith has sore knees. Wallace has the game, if not the inclination.

But if Wallace plays this season at the level of last postseason, it’s time to duck or pray.

3. UTAH JAZZ

Projected starters

G John Stockton

G Jeff Hornacek

F Karl Malone

F Bryon Russell

C Greg Ostertag

1999 record: 37-13, second in Midwest.

Offense: 93.3 (9).

Defense: 86.8 (6).

Gone: Shandon Anderson, Greg Foster, Todd Fuller.

New: Olden Polynice, Pete Chilcutt.

Imagine that, everyone is writing the Jazz off.

After last season’s second-round exit, following a near first-round upset by Sacramento, they’re being dismissed as too old. This happened annually in the early ‘90s, after which they became the best team in the West and might have gone all the way, but for the personal intervention of Michael Jordan in two finals.

Losing Anderson hurts, but acquiring Polynice helps. On one hand, they have to listen to Olden’s mouth, but on the other, they don’t have to depend on Greg Ostertag.

Malone will still be Malone and John Stockton will remain John Stockton, so don’t count on any easy nights in Utah.

4. PHOENIX SUNS

Projected starters

G Jason Kidd

G Penny Hardaway

F Clifford Robinson

F Tom Gugloitta

C Luc Longley

1999 record: 27-23, tied for 3rd in Pacific.

Offense: 95.4 (3).

Defense: 93.2 (19).

Gone: Danny Manning, Pat Garrity.

New: Penny Hardaway, Rodney Rogers, Corie Blount, rookie Shawn Marion.

Here they come again.

The Suns might not be big enough but they’re once again a deep, talented, high-scoring outfit, with Kidd (44% from the field, 37% on three-pointers last season); Hardaway, who should be OK now that he’s not the man, and Gugliotta.

Plus there’s Marion, a rookie small forward who’s rated a comer (“an athlete among athletes,” raves Sacramento personnel director Jerry Reynolds), Cliff Robinson, a trimmed-down Rodney Rogers, etc.

In the end, the Suns will still be a little team in a conference where all the other contenders are huge, but until the end, the Suns will be up there.

5. LOS ANGELES LAKERS

Projected starters

G Derek Fisher

G Kobe Bryant

F Glen Rice

F Robert Horry

C Shaquille O’Neal

1999 record: 31-19, 2nd in Pacific.

Offense: 98.5 (2).

Defense: 96.0 (25).

Gone: Coach Kurt Rambis, J.R. Reid, Derek Harper, Sean Rooks.

New: Coach Phil Jackson, A.C. Green, Ron Harper, rookie Devean George.

Well, that wasn’t the exhibition season of their dreams, was it?

Predictably, the Lakers struggled with Phil Jackson’s triangle offense, but they looked even worse than anyone thought they would. Bryant, who usually burns up the exhibition season, sat out this one because of a broken hand. Jackson reviewed his alternatives at power forward without finding one he liked.

New role players began arriving, with Jackson suggesting there will be more.

Sounds like a grisly start followed by the inevitable hue and cry. Then we’ll really see what everyone is made of.

6. SACRAMENTO KINGS

Projected starters

G Jason Williams

G Nick Anderson

F Chris Webber

F Corliss Williamson

C Vlade Divac

1999 record: 27-23, tied for 3rd.

Offense: 100.0 (1).

Defense: 100.7 (29).

Gone: Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Vernon Maxwell.

New: Nick Anderson, Ty Corbin, Bill Wennington, Darrick Martin.

The ugly ducklings turned into the NBA’s darlings last spring when they almost shocked the world and the Jazz. Now they have a tougher foe: expectations.

Coach Rick Adelman must convince his high-spirited high-wire artists they don’t get extra points for spectacular plays and aren’t going anywhere with the No. 29 defense.

Everything depends on the improvement and poise of the outrageous Jason Williams, Mr. Pull Up Three Strides Behind the Arc, and Mr. Forever Young, Chris Webber.

There is wave after wave of slick-passing talent, though: Williams, Webber, Vlade Divac, coming off his finest hour in the playoffs, Nick Anderson, Corliss Williamson, Predrag Stojakovic. If they grow up, they can move up.

7. HOUSTON ROCKETS

Projected starters

G Steve Francis

G Shandon Anderson

F Charles Barkley

F Walt Williams

C Hakeem Olajuwon

1999 Record: 31-19, 3rd in Midwest.

Offense: 94.2 (7).

Defense: 91.9 (15).

Gone: Scottie Pippen, Michael Dickerson, Othella Harrington, Brent Price, Antoine Carr.

New: Rookie Steve Francis, Walt Williams, Kelvin Cato, Tony Massenburg, Don MacLean.

The West’s most entertaining pretenders had an off-season debate about whether last season’s pratfall was due to Charles Barkley’s lack of dedication and “fat butt” (Scottie Pippen’s theory) or Pippen’s whining (the Houston press theory, standing in for Barkley, who was taking the high road on this one).

Of course, both theories were right. Figure old age is a little problem too.

Coach Rudy Tomjanovich, who runs the basketball operation, almost called it an era and traded 35-year-old Hakeem Olaujwon to Toronto but backed off, then found a deal he liked more, getting the unhappy Steve Francis out of Vancouver.

Francis is a major talent, if one who doesn’t pass often and has an attitude. Olajuwon has complained about not getting the ball. Barkley surely will have a word with the youngster. It’ll be interesting to see what happens then.

8. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES

Projected starters

G Terrell Brandon

G Anthony Peeler

F Kevin Garnett

F Wally Szczerbiak

C Radoslav Nesterovic

1999 record: 25-25, fourth in Midwest.

Offense: 92.8 (10).

Defense: 92.4 (17).

Gone: No one of note.

New: Rookies Wally Szczerbiak and William Avery.

Last season at 22, Kevin Garnett averaged 21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Then he came back, looking even better.

Coach Flip Saunders uses him to guard anyone from point guards such as Jason Kidd to centers such as Tim Duncan. Duncan and Charles Barkley rate him among the toughest defenders they’ve faced.

Now if they can just get him some help. Stephon Marbury fled in a spasm of jealousy. His replacement, Terrell Brandon, never got out over the hump but in a surprise, signed a long-term deal over the summer.

Joe Smith re-signed too, but he has never become the player people thought he’d be when he went first in the ’96 draft. Szczerbiak looks promising. Center remains a problem, a bad one to have in the West, and Garnett can’t do everything.

9. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS

Projected starters

G Eric Murdock

G Derek Anderson

F Maurice Taylor

F Lamar Odom

C Michael Olowokandi

1999 record: 9-41, 7th in Pacific.

Offense: 90.0 (20).

Defense: 99.0 (27).

Gone: Lorenzen Wright, Lamond Murray, Rodney Rogers, Sherman Douglas, Pooh Richardson, Darrick Martin, Stojko Vrankovic.

New: Rookie Lamar Odom, Derek Anderson, Eric Murdock.

No, seriously.

It was your typical Clipper off-season, with more than half the roster fleeing while owner Donald T. Sterling nixed an extension for Maurice Taylor, depressing the organization for weeks.

In a major surprise, however, the team looked great in exhibitions and Odom looked special. Michael Olowokandi still looks as if he’s in the second year of a three-year project and there isn’t enough experience or shooting, but, for a change, the Clippers have athletes and, for a moment anyway, esprit.

10. SEATTLE SUPERSONICS

Projected starters

G Gary Payton

G Brent Barry

F Vin Baker

F Ruben Patterson

C Horace Grant

1999 record: 25-25, 5th in Pacific.

Offense: 94.6 (5)

Defense: 95.7 (24).

Gone: Olden Polynice, Don MacLean, Dale Ellis.

New: Horace Grant, Brent Barry, Ruben Patterson, Greg Foster, Vernon Maxwell.

Gary Payton almost lost it when they missed the playoffs, so they had better alert the guys with the butterfly nets, because here comes the encore.

Payton is practically running the franchise now, so when he said he wanted more “ghetto” guys, management went out and got him Mad Max and Ruben Patterson, the self-appointed “Kobe-stopper.”

Unfortunately, Vin Baker, newly signed to an $85-million contract, is still customarily overweight and looking for his game. Insiders say the minister’s son now runs with Payton but can’t handle Gary’s pace.

Best bet: SuperSonics miss postseason again and Payton demands they trade him.

11. DENVER NUGGETS

Projected starters

G Nick Van Exel

G Chauncey Billups

F Ron Mercer

F Antonio McDyess

C Raef LaFrentz

1999 record: 14-36, 6th in Midwest.

Offense: 93.5 (8).

Defense: 100.1 ((28).

Gone: Coach Mike D’Antoni, Danny Fortson, Eric Williams, Eric Washington.

New: Coach Dan Issel, Ron Mercer, Popeye Jones.

As general manager, Issel did a fine job of restocking the team that was 11-71 two seasons ago, but Antonio McDyess, Nick Van Exel and Co. didn’t live up to expectations, so the next thing you knew, a new ownership team made Dan fire D’Antoni and move back to the sideline.

It’s a lot easier watching this bunch from upstairs. The newly arrived Mercer is a coming star, but he wants a maximum extension and the Nuggets turned him down, so who knows where his head will be?

Van Exel got a new $10-million-a-year deal but he depresses easily and there’s a lot of bad news around him.

McDyess sat out most of the exhibition season because of an ankle injury and the Nuggets went a grisly 1-7, shooting poorly, defending infrequently. Didn’t we see this show last season?

12. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS

Projected starters

G Mookie Blaylock

G John Starks

F Antawn Jamison

F Jason Caffey

C Erick Dampier

1999 record: 21-29, 6th in Pacific.

Offense: 88.4 (25)

Defense: 90.8 (12).

Gone: No one of note.

New: Mookie Blaylock.

After all those terrible seasons, management will do anything to put a competitive team on the floor, which is what the Warriors finally became last season, led by veterans Terry Cummings and John Starks.

Where that will take them in the long run is another question. The Warriors aren’t very good and there aren’t any monster young talents on the roster being groomed.

They traded the No. 10 pick that could have become Corey Maggette for Blaylock, another battle-tested veteran, if one shooting 41% for his career.

Look for the Warriors to fight fiercely once more. Look for it not to matter much once more.

13. DALLAS MAVERICKS

Projected starters

G Steve Nash

G Michael Finley

F Cedric Ceballos

F Gary Trent

C Shawn Bradley

1999 record: 19-31, 5th in Midwest.

Offense: 91.6 (14)

Defense: 94.0 (21).

Gone: A.C. Green, Samaki Walker.

New: Sean Rooks.

After two woeful seasons, the honeymoon is finally over for Coach/General Manager Don Nelson, who has an in-house rival in President Terdema Ussery.

Not that Nellie figures to make much of a run at the playoffs this time, either. He risked everything on last season’s rookie, the German phenom, Dirk Nowitzki, who was as talented as advertised, but also as soft as the average Euro in his first exposure to the rough-and-tumble NBA. Nothing seems to have changed in a year.

Nelson had announced he would move upstairs after this season and let son Donnie coach. Owner Ross Perot Jr. says Donnie’s future has yet to be decided. Nor, he could have added, has Don’s.

14. VANCOUVER GRIZZLIES

Projected starters

G Mike Bibby

G Michael Dickerson

F Shareef Abdur-Rahim

F Othella Harrington

C Bryant Reeves

1999 record: 8-42, 7th in Midwest.

Offense: 88.7 (24).

Defense: 97.4 (26).

Gone: Tony Massenburg, Lee Mayberry, Rodrick Rhodes, Michael Smith.

New: Michael Dickerson, Othella Harrington, Brent Price, Antoine Carr.

Happily for Vancouver, the Grizzlies aren’t moving.

Unhappily, they aren’t going anywhere in the standings, either.

The McGaw family, which has run the franchise with a light hand, allowing General Manager Stu Jackson to stay on even if the team has never won 20 games, sold to Bill Laurie, who had it ticketed for St. Louis, which is close to his home, even if there’s no more detectable interest in the NBA there than in Vancouver.

However, no one messes with David Stern’s globalization and the league turned down the sale.

Jackson’s latest coup was drafting Steve Francis with the No. 2 pick and only then learning he didn’t want to play for them, obliging a trade with Houston for Dickerson and a bunch of reserves.

There’s talent, led by Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Mike Bibby, but the hard truth is, the Grizzlies could be a lot better and still not win 20 in this conference.