Spurs Hoping for ’99 Redux

This isn’t 1999. And yet it is.

These Spurs aren’t what they were then. And yet they are.

Mario Elie and Jerome Kersey are gone. And yet they are back, one relentless as he chases Kobe Bryant, the other subbing with the tough muscle of the unaffected.

The old days?

Just the names, Bruce Bowen and Mark Bryant, are new.

Little is the same from 1999, when the Spurs swept the Lakers, or even 2001, when the Lakers swept the Spurs. Forget that this series is even after two games. The absence of David Robinson alters any comparison.

Still, these three series have story lines that both intersect and are parallel. In 1999, for example, the Lakers relied on an ex-Spur power forward (J.R. Reid). Now the Lakers lean on another (Samaki Walker).

Walker isn’t Reid. The Spurs gladly let Reid drift away, whereas they lost Walker last summer strictly because of salary-cap complications.

Still, Walker did his best J.R. on Tuesday night. He threw in the game’s first basket and never scored again. His defensive impact? He stood next to Tim Duncan until other Lakers ran to help.

There’s a reason the Lakers were at their best last season. Then Horace Grant took that role, and he smartly used his experience against Duncan.

Grant often defended Duncan by himself, and the Spurs privately say this now: Grant’s absence is significant.

As it was with Elie, Bowen irritates with proper professionalism. Asked if he’s a Kobe Stopper, Bowen shakes his head. If Portland’s Ruben Patterson wants the world to mock him for making that claim, fine. Bowen figures Kobe is tough enough without a dare.

Bowen also figures there’s no such thing as a Kobe Stopper. Bowen is simply what Elie was before. A Kobe Botherer. Whereas Elie used the rules of 1999 to bump Kobe, Bowen now chases and darts.

But that’s just the story of one Bryant.

Mark Bryant is the strongest Spur, and there isn’t even a close second. Then he stands in at center, and the concept of size changes. Bryant is to Shaquille O’Neal what Terry Porter is to Bryant.

But Kersey could play Shaq at times too, because he had the same quality that Bryant has now. Both had been around too long to be afraid.

Shaq got his fifth foul when he tossed an elbow into Bryant’s head. Bryant also flipped in a few jumpers when Shaq strayed. Maybe this package is why Spur Coach Gregg Popovich, when asked about Robinson’s possible return, said:

“I’m not sure it would be that big a deal. We’ve been without him for a month, and we’ve gotten used to being without him.”

Used to being without Robinson?

This isn’t 1999, all right.

And yet it is.