Don't know if this is the year, since the Spurs tend to do well in the regular season (overachieve) and do poorly in the playoffs (achieve at their ability). So what you think about the San Antonio Spurs this coming year. When will they ever figure out that they can't win with Vinnie of the Black and Avery Johnson at starting guards, backup guards maybe, but not the starting guards for a team that has championship aspirations.

Who can they get?

I would have to agree with what the "Coach" from the Austin Chonicle wrote me this about the Spurs: The spurs are in nowhere land. They did nothing to improve(Vernon Maxwell??) while the other top Western teams did. Which means the Spurs went backwards. AJ has turned himself into a decent point guard. His and Del Negro's improvment last year was a big reason for Spur regular season sucess. Their poor playoff performance a big reason for failure. It's the SA total dependance on the fast break wide open g me which dooms them in the slow down playoffs. AJ could be an asset in this type of situation. With no muscle anywhere, he's a non-factor. Not good or bad.

The Rodman trade was one of the poorest moves they made. They made the Bulls while they got who? Bill Perdue? I don't recall the exact details. This trade may have been precipitated because Coach Hill couldn't get along with the worm whereas the more metraphysical Phil Jackson could integrate him into the Bulls tribe; Jackson being less rigid and militaristic.

I know how it is only preseason and everything, but the Spur's have really been getting their ass kicked so far. Dominique Wilkens could be a pretty good pickup, and maybe the Spurs can pick up a decent shooting guard from the waiver wire or something, but so far it seems like the same old tired Spurs team.

See the Spurs won yesterday. Too bad Wilkens can't play yet because of the contract problems. Mad Max had a pretty good game, maybe he can contribute some points and push Vinnie of the Black out of a starting role.

the season starts soon. Too bad the NBA regular season seems more like a long preseason, but with baseball over, it will be a good diversion on the weekdays.

I'm glad the NBA season is here. My two favorite sports are college basketball and NBA basketball.

Here is the Spurs roster as of late last week: # Name Pos Ht Wt Birthdate College Year Yrs 50�David Robinson* �C �7-1 �250 �08/06/65 �Navy '87 �7 � 41�Will Perdue �C �7-0 �240 �08/29/65 �Vanderbilt '88 �8 34�Greg Kite �C-F �6-11 �263 �08/05/61 �Brigham Young '83 11 � 33�Greg Anderson �C-F �6-10 250 �06/22/64 �Houston '87 �8 � 32�Sean Elliott �F �6-8 �220 �02/02/68 �Arizona '89 �7 54�Charles Smith �F �6-10 244 �07/16/65 �Pittsburgh '88 �8 21�Dominique Wilkins �F �6-8 �215 �01/12/60 �Georgia '82 �12 7�Ca l Herrera �F �6-9 �225 �12/14/66 �Houston '90 �5 3�Monty Williams F �6-8 �225 �10/08/71 �Notre Dame '94 �2 45�Chuck Person* �F �6-8 �235 �06/27/64 �Auburn '86 �10 � � 6�Avery Johnson �G �5-11 180 �03/25/65 �Southern '88 �8 � 15�Vinny Del Negro G �6-4 �200 �08/09/66 �North Carolina State '88 �6 11�Vernon Maxwell G �6-4 �190 �09/12/65 �Florida '88 �7 � 1�Cory Alexander �G �6-1 �190 �06/22/73 �Virginia '95 �1 � 12�Elmer Bennett �G �6-0 �170 �02/13/70 �Notre Dame '92 �2 � 24�Dexter Boney �G �6-4 �200 �04/2 /70 �Nevada Las Vegas �R

Yeah I heard something about 'nique. An impact player!

Sorry folks about the mess above but it sure looked good before I sent it. Season starts Friday and the Admiral is out for 2 to 4 weeks. Probably will start Will Perdue in his place, meaning the Spurs will be lucky to be .500 when the Admiral returns. Heard on the radio that Wilkens might play off guard (anything is better than Vinnie of the Black), I did not know he could play guard? Also the Statesman is supposed to have a section on the Spurs Wednesday.

Has anyone notice how old the Spurs are. They have two players with less than 5 years experience and only 3 with less than 7 years or less experience. I bet that they are one if not the oldest team in the league. Just hoping that Vernon Maxwell can contribute about 10 to 14 points per game and about 4 assist. When the Rifleman gets healthy then they could start phasing out little Avery and Vinnie of the Black.

Da Bulls seem to do ok on experience and aging players. And Houston does some of this too. I guess if you can use older players to win championships, then great. I'd like to see the Bulls pick up 60 year old Wilt Chamberlain for a center. He could probably help their team. I'm real glad to see Dominique join the Spurs, this could be one of their smarter moves. The guy has the potential to energize the team.

The Spurs will never be truly great as long as D. Robinson is on the team. Also as long as management thinks someone like the admiral should be their leader. Sorry, but I have ten times more respect for Worm than for the Admiral. I've never seen anyone point the finger more or more unwilling to accept responsibility. The Rockets on the other hand. . . The only question is can they all stay healthy at the same time, and do they have the depth?

Well they did get first pick in the draft.

Spurs take game one of the NBA finals, with Robinson and Duncan dominating the low post and the Spurs playing awesome defense. Did you make it to the game Ray? Spree and Houston didn't deliver as expected, and why was Larry Johnson in the game. And why don't they start Camby? The Knicks better wake up or they won't have a prayer. They at least need to help themselves. Duncan is bringing fundamentals back to basketball, which Jordan unintentionally has drawn kids away from for years. Like Duncan's soft bank shots from the side. You won't see Tim whooping and celebrating and gyrating from the rim, he's just a sound, fundamental guy.

Now they're up two games heading to NYC's Madison Square Garden for game 3 Monday night, hey, that's tonight. This is a real pivotal game because they'll either go up 3 zip or the Knicks will be back in the hunt down 1-2.

Game 3. I'm watching it. It's down the last minutes and the Knicks are doing the job tonight. 2:18 to go and the Knicks have an 8 point lead.

ouch.

They lost. But the Spurs are still up 2-1. But it may be an exciting series instead of a blowout sweep.

In an exciting final game last night, the Spurs finally found vindication. They brought home the Championship. The twin towers delivered with help from a gutty, scrapping secondary of Mario Elie, Avery Johnson, Sean Elliott. The Knicks really gave them a battle, with Latrell Sprewell trying to pick them up on his shoulders all night. But it all came down to one final shot and Latrell, with the clock ticking off the final seconds, couldn't get a good shot off over Duncan and Robinson. Good game and good ending to and NBA season. Now, watch all hell break loose in San Antonio . . .

... I hope not. Enough violence around as it is, one would guess...

... but then, you don't really have a sports hooliganism scene, do you?

Actually, San Antonio had a very nonviolent celebration, with the players floating along on boats. This is a very big deal for San Antonio to get it's first major sports title.

I'm happy for this beautiful city with its pretty and remarkable riverwalk! Say, didn't Ray say he was from there? What's he up to these days?

Celebrating maybe? Ray's a big Spurs fan.

Hallo Ray! Herzlichen Gl�ckwunsch! (Perhaps he's around and sees this... Hey Terry, but these two fellas they have, they really are, huh, tall or something!)

my parents called at 6am on Saturday morning to tell me the news... of course I called them at midnight when the Broncos won...

...so, are you still on talking terms? ;=}

Tim Duncan, one of San Antonios 7' twin towers, had a promising swim career when hurricane Hugo destroyed the pool he practiced in, so he started playing basketball. Now he's the new best player in the world, now that Michael's not playing. David Robinson is one of the most well developed humans alive.

Physically and mentally?

Physically for certain, he's overpowering. Mentally, he's one of the kindest and gentlest philanthropists San Antonios ever seen. There's a lot of hugging and good feelings going on down there, nothing like the melee and riots we've seen in other cities. No overturned cars and burnings.

Sounds like quite a sports person. Gotta look out for his bio on a cereal box!

Great Spurs game last night. David Robinson went all out, and kept up with Shaq and scored the decisive overtime points to give the Spurs home court in their opening playoff series against Phoenix. They ended up beating the Lakers in 3 out of 4 games this year. The Lakers as in the best record in the NBA!

Fantastic Game. Should be interesting now that the Lakers are not the only ones who know how to get the ball to drop!

It was a real chess match between Pop and the Zen Master. Pop won this time by keeping Robinson out and by Jackson's move to put Shaq back in forcing Pop to move David back on the board.

I caught the opening Spurs playoff game and it went right down to the buzzer, Sean Elliott got robbed of a foul call on a running jumper that would have brought a different outcome. Spurs lost by a point or two. Now the Jazz and Suns are going at it.

You should be dreaming hoops shortly. Are the Spurs out, now? Single elimination? If so, who else are we rooting for?

Nope, just game of of the best of 5. They'd have to lose two more to be out.

Oh Good! The matchup chart they had on the telly this morning looked suspicioulsly like single elimination. *whew*

No, it's actually a long drawn out affair. Till at least labor day. Elian Gonzales may be graduating from the University of Miami before it's over. The ancient, aging Jazz, Spurs, Pacers and Heat should benefit from the long gaps in between games. Enough time to check in and out of the rest home.

*lol* Longer than the College Big Dances?! I am all amazement. I guess they leave it on long enough that when they finally finish we are into Football and don't want to think about basketball anymore. I am glad I can get so much done without missing much.

Speaking of retirement homes, aging Karl Malone pumped in 50 in tonights win and the Heat are searing hot. Malone has a new, more rugged look with the shaved head and walrus mustache. Stockton and Hornicek are still hobbling up and down the court with their walkers. Malone had 48 and his team mates were determined to get him the extra two. And they did.

I saw that! Karl Malone is a phenom of the first order. Gets the job done without being bizarre about it. Karl just "do it."

Looks like SA will be minus Duncan for another game. The Spurs may be the team with the best chance to knock off the Lakers. But for one little detail, Phoenix.

On any given day... I think the Spurs can do it! It comes down to who wants it more with that talent available to both sides.

I just saw the Spurs make a "sensational" play, it was a fast break after Pop caught a technical. Behind the back pass to Robinson who slammed it. 47-37 Spurs with 40 secs. to go in the first half. And Robinson just hit a great fadeaway jumper for his 21st point. Then Avery races the court for a cuople of more 51-37. This is great Spurs basketball, a 19-5 run.

Robinson is awesome!!!

Yep, but Duncan is even more awesome, the Spurs are still alive as a contender this year.

What a game! It's the commercial. One second to go and the Spurs over the Lakers by two points! Kobie just doubled dribbled. Spurs in bound and Duncan gets fouled with .2 second remaining. The game's in LA. Spurs win 88-85!

Steve Kerr was amazing last night for the Spurs, in their win over the Dallas Mavericks. He's been "Ted Williams" on ice all season and then, in a crucial point of game six, he comes in and hits four for four from the three point line and makes a diving save on defense. The 47 year old huffed and puffed and blew the Dallas house down!

The Spurs are in it again this year.