Jackson’s Comments Familiar

Let’s see, Phil Jackson has already said the Spurs are “vulnerable”

“For Phil Jackson, that’s kind of been his history,” David Robinson said.

“They did that with New York [when Jackson coached the Bulls], they did that back with Detroit. That’s kind of been his M.O.... You know, when you’ve got 10 championships [nine actually], I guess you can do that. Rest of us, we’re just trying to get ‘em so ...

“We pay no attention to it. It’s all going to come down to what happens on the floor. I mean, I don’t think anybody in our locker room pays attention to it. We just go play.”

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Derek Fisher was a force in the Lakers’ surge in the first round, making 21 of 34 three-point tries, but nobody has to tell the Spurs not to forget about him.

Two years ago, Fisher made 15 of 20 threes against them, helping the turn the West finals into a 4-0 Laker sweep.

“We didn’t overlook him,” Coach Gregg Popovich said before Monday night’s game. “Their role players were great. Their role players just made every shot.

“They looked like we did the year [1999] that we swept them. Jaren Jackson made shots all over the place that people probably didn’t expect and Mario [Elie] made shots....

“But I think [Fisher] is starting to play like that again. Down the stretch of the season and in the first round of the playoffs, I thought he was huge in complementing Shaq [O’Neal] down on the block and Kobe [Bryant]. Shaq’s a very patient post man and he finds him.”

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In 1992, when Tim Duncan was coming off his sophomore year at Wake Forest, he played on a college all-star team against the U.S. Olympians, including Robinson.

“I just remember it kind of sticking in my head, thinking, ‘Boy, that boy’s going to be pretty good when he gets to the league,’ ” Robinson said. “And lo and behold, he comes to my team and even surpassed my expectations of him. He’s been unbelievable.”

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Bruce Bowen, who started at Cal State Fullerton in 1989 and is three courses shy of a degree in public relations, took a final exam at Texas-San Antonio Monday morning and said it was very difficult.

“I’m just hoping for a C,” he said.