马刺1998-99赛季实录（780+篇）

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-11, By Johnny Ludden

马刺痛惜关键时刻的失误

无法掩盖事实：蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)在三场比赛中错失了35次投篮。所以，他干脆直言不讳。

“我只是陷入了一个早期的低迷状态，”邓肯说道。

他并不孤单。在轻松赢下前两场比赛后，马刺在背靠背输给洛杉矶湖人和明尼苏达森林狼队的比赛中崩盘。

湖人队在周一以72-71领先时，在最后3分半钟内抢下6个进攻篮板，最终以80-75获胜。在周二对阵森林狼队的比赛中，马刺队在第四节也丢掉了6个进攻篮板，并在最后7分钟内出现了22次失误中的7次。

抹去这些失误，马刺队相信他们将保持不败。然而，他们将带着两连败的阴霾，在今晚6:30对阵克利夫兰骑士队，比赛将在冈德体育馆举行。

“这两场比赛我们本应该赢的，”大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)说道。“这让我们很受伤。该死，我们队中有那么多经验丰富的球员，在比赛结束时，我们本应该做得更好。”

马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)第一个赞同这个观点。马刺队的投篮命中率很糟糕（41%），但他们的对手表现更差（36.2%）。

森林狼队的球星斯蒂芬·马布里(Stephon Marbury)和凯文·加内特(Kevin Garnett)在周二合计错失了44次投篮中的32次。但马刺队却让两人在最后两分钟内依靠进攻篮板获得了关键的二次得分机会。

“失误和抢篮板失败比进攻问题更严重，”波波维奇说道。“尽管我们的进攻执行需要一些时间，但如果我们没有把球送给对手那么多次，现在我们将会处于一个非常好的状态。因为这样我们就不用再进行防守了。

“我对防守非常满意。我认为我们做得很好。在进攻执行方面，我们也在正轨上。这需要时间。你当然希望做到完美，但这需要时间。

“另一个方面——丢球——真的很让人沮丧。”

埃弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)表示，马刺队的一些篮板球问题可以追溯到防守轮换的失误。

“你必须让每个人都致力于争抢篮球，”波波维奇说道，“并意识到我们在这个方面存在问题，而实际上我们不应该存在问题。”

骑士队本赛季开局也遇到了不少麻烦。

克利夫兰队在周三以87-77击败夏洛特队后，包机飞回主场，赢得了本赛季的第一场胜利。在对阵黄蜂队之前，骑士队（1-3）场均得分仅为81.7分，在NBA中排名倒数第二，投篮命中率为41.5%。

马刺队显然也未能点燃得分火力。他们在以74-70输给森林狼队的比赛中的得分是自1997年3月25日以64分击败克利夫兰队以来最低的一次。

本赛季，邓肯、罗宾逊和肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)三人合计153次出手命中了64球（41.8%）。邓肯在上赛季的投篮命中率为54.9%，但在最近三场比赛中只投进了52球中的17球（32.7%）。他在对阵森林狼队的比赛中仅得到8分，追平了他的职业生涯最低得分。

“他们明显对他更加严防，”约翰逊说道。“蒂姆获得了大量的关注。整个夏天，人们都在阅读他有多棒的文章。他可能是联盟中第三或第四好的球员，人们想挑战他。”

森林狼队的运动能力给马刺队带来了麻烦。森林狼队用两三名防守球员包夹邓肯，但他们也很快跳出来，阻止了太多空位外线投篮。

“对手的身体对抗明显更加激烈，而且速度更快地逼近（邓肯），”波波维奇说道。“这使得完美的执行变得更加重要，因为其他人必须处于正确的位置。我们还没有达到那个状态。”

替补中锋威尔·珀杜(Will Perdue)在周三与球队一起抵达克利夫兰，但他整个训练都在尝试放松他的右脚踝。

珀杜在周六主场战胜森林狼队的比赛中第四节扭伤脚踝，错过了最近两场比赛。周二拍摄的X光片显示没有骨折。

“我认为他的状况并不好，”波波维奇说道。“他看起来仍然很痛苦。他仍然无法正常行走，更别说跑了。我对今晚他能上场比赛持悲观态度。”

点击查看原文：Spurs lament crunch-time failures

Spurs lament crunch-time failures

There’s no hiding from it. Tim Duncan has missed 35 shots in three games. So he might as well call it as he sees it.

“I’m just in an early slump,” Duncan said.

He isn’t alone. After winning their first two games fairly handily, the Spurs fell apart during the stretch in back-to-back losses against the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Lakers, clinging to a 72-71 lead Monday, put the game away with six offensive rebounds in the final 31/2 minutes of an 80-75 victory. Against the Timberwolves on Tuesday, the Spurs also surrendered six fourth-quarter offensive boards and committed seven of their 22 turnovers in the last seven minutes.

Erase the mistakes and the Spurs believe they would be unbeaten. Instead, they will be trying to shake a two-game funk at 6:30 tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Gund Arena.

“Those are two games we should have won,” David Robinson said. “And that hurts a lot. Dang, as much experience as we have on this team, we should be doing a little bit better job of that at the end of games.”

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich would be the first to agree. As bad as the Spurs have shot (41 percent), their opponents have been considerably worse (36.2).

Minnesota stars Stephon Marbury and Kevin Garnett combined to miss 32 of 44 shots Tuesday. But the Spurs let both make critical second-chance baskets after offensive rebounds in the final two minutes.

“The turnovers and the missed rebounds are more of a problem than the offense,” Popovich said. "Even though our offensive execution is going to take some time, we’d be in great shape right now had we not been giving the ball back so damn much. Because then we have to make another stop.

"I’m real pleased with the defense. I think we’re doing a great job. And we’re on track as far as offensive execution. It’s going to take time. You would like to be perfect, but it’s going to take time.

“The other part of it - giving the ball back - is real frustrating.”

Avery Johnson said some of the Spurs’ rebounding problems can be traced to breakdowns in their defensive rotations.

“You have to get everybody committed to pursuing the basketball,” Popovich said, “and (to) realizing we have a problem in that area, where we shouldn’t have a problem.”

The Cavaliers opened the season with enough troubles of their own.

Cleveland chartered a flight back home after picking up its first win of the season Wednesday, 87-77 over Charlotte. The Cavaliers (1-3) were averaging 81.7 points - second-worst in the NBA - and shooting 41.5 percent before facing the Hornets.

The Spurs obviously haven’t been lighting up the scoreboard, either. Their point total in the 74- 70 loss to Minnesota was the lowest since they set the franchise record of 64 in defeating Cleveland on March 25, 1997.

For the season, Duncan, Robinson and Sean Elliott are a combined 64 of 153 (41.8 percent). Duncan, who shot 54.9 percent last season, has made only 17 of 52 shots (32.7) in his last three games. His eight points against Minnesota matched a career low.

“They’re definitely coming at him harder,” Johnson said. “Tim’s gotten a lot of publicity. Guys have been sitting around all summer reading about how great he is. He’s probably the third- or fourth-best player in the league, and guys want to test him.”

Minnesota’s athletic ability gave the Spurs trouble. The Timberwolves swarmed Duncan with two or three defenders but also were quick to jump out and prevent too many open outside shots.

“Teams are being much, much more physical and coming at (Duncan) a lot more quickly,” Popovich said. “That puts more of a imperative on perfect execution because everybody else has to be in the right spots. We’re not quite there yet.”

Backup center Will Perdue met the team in Cleveland on Wednesday but spent the practice trying to loosen up his right ankle.

Perdue has missed the last two games after spraining the ankle in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s home win against Minnesota. X- rays taken Tuesday were negative.

“I don’t think he looks really good at all,” Popovich said. “He looks like he’s still in really a lot of pain. He’s still not able to walk with a regular gait, let alone run. I’m pessimistic about him being able to play (tonight).”

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-12, By Johnny Ludden

跌跌撞撞的马刺再遭打击 - 输给骑士遭遇三连败

“想要胜利”

“纪律”

“分享”

这些字用黑色记号笔，以不那么含蓄的大写字母写在一块木板上，挂在冈德球馆客队更衣室的一个角落。

“他们在比赛结束后贴了这些东西，”肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)说。

埃利奥特不需要解释。任何观看他们周四晚上以 99-89 输给克利夫兰的人都知道，马刺在开球前似乎并没有领会到这个信息。

马刺主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)说，听从这些建议对于今晚在费城避免第四场连败至关重要。

“克利夫兰比我们打得更积极，”波波维奇说。“他们比我们更想要胜利。他们的执行力比我们更好。

“我们没有付出足够的努力去赢球。我们的防守纪律完全崩溃了。我们打得自私。我们没有分享球。

“这是一场糟糕的比赛。我们应该被痛扁。”

这基本概括了整场比赛。马刺在本场比赛之前场均失误 18.9 次，周四又贡献了 18 次。这甚至还不是最尴尬的部分。

在将前四场对手的投篮命中率限制在联盟最佳的 .362 的情况下，马刺差点让克利夫兰——该队本场比赛之前场均得分联盟最低，仅为 83.0 分——得分突破三位数。马刺（2-3）让比赛变得有趣，仅用了七分钟多一点就把 20 分的差距缩小到 93-87，比赛还剩 1 分 3 秒。

然而，最终，这只是一场丑陋的比赛中的又一次丑陋的失利，整场比赛共计 71 次罚球。

当然，到场观赛的 14228 名球迷在比赛结果中看到了美感。这是克利夫兰队在过去 11 场比赛中首次战胜马刺。只有埃利奥特、大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)、艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)和丹尼·费里(Danny Ferry)参加了 1993 年 3 月 23 日的最后一场比赛。

蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)确实从他的小低迷中走出来，全场拿下 31 分和 14 个篮板。邓肯在过去三场比赛中仅投进 52 球中的 17 球，周四他投进了 30 球中的 15 球。但比赛结束后，成为人们关注焦点的是他的全队最高的 6 次失误，以及在双人包夹中传球的困难。

“蒂姆只需要想明白，”波波维奇说。“他需要学习。他持球时间太长，宇宙中所有星球的人都知道所有人都要过来。”

马刺似乎在进攻中速度很慢，并没有给邓肯太多帮助。在上半场结束前的不到三分钟内，马刺出现了四次失误，邓肯感到非常沮丧，以至于对约翰逊咆哮。

“我必须学会更快地传球，”邓肯说。“把球传出去，这样我们就能得到一些空位投篮，让他们付出代价。”

与此同时，肖恩·坎普(Shawn Kemp)尽管举起重物很费劲，但他还是尽了自己的力量。作为联盟曾经最具运动能力的球员之一，坎普——现在体重已经减轻到 280 磅——利用他新获得的体重优势，将马刺球员挤到一边，全队最高得 25 分和 12 个篮板。

坎普说，克利夫兰队——他们在开局三连败后取得了背靠背的胜利——通过改善那些现在困扰着马刺的基本功，解决了他们自己的问题。

“我认为我们现在打得更像一支球队，更多地分享球，”坎普说。“我们比前三场比赛更专注于做好那些细微的事情。”

罗宾逊因犯规麻烦，在三节比赛中仅出战 17 分钟，得到 8 分，但只投了 5 球。他还丢掉了两个传球，开启了骑士在下半场的进攻狂潮。

“我的强项是防守，”罗宾逊说。“我去盖帽。如果他们每次我碰到别人的皮肤就吹犯规，那就太难了。”

马刺的复苏之路看起来也不容易。

“我们已经明确了防守的任务，但我们只是没有正确地执行，”埃利奥特说。“在进攻端，我们只是站着不动。”

为什么？

“这是一个好问题，”埃利奥特说。“我不知道。”

点击查看原文：Stumbling Spurs take another hit - Loss to Cavs is 3rd straight

Stumbling Spurs take another hit - Loss to Cavs is 3rd straight

The words were written in not-so-subtle capital letters and black marker on a board hanging in a corner of the visitors’ locker room at Gund Arena.

WANT IT

DISCIPLINE

SHARE

“They put that up there after the game,” Sean Elliott said.

Elliott didn’t need to explain. Anyone who watched their 99-89 loss to Cleveland Thursday night knew the Spurs somehow didn’t get the message before tipoff.

Heeding the advice, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, is essential to avoiding their fourth consecutive loss tonight in Philadelphia.

“Cleveland played more aggressive than we did,” Popovich said. "They wanted it more than we did. They executed better than we did.

"We did not play hard enough to win. Our defensive discipline broke down completely. We played selfishly. We did not share the ball.

“It was an awful game. And we deserved to get our butts kicked.”

That about summed it up. The Spurs, averaging a league-worst 18.9 turnovers entering the game, committed 18 more Thursday. And that wasn’t even the embarrassing part.

After holding their first four opponents to a league-best .362 shooting, the Spurs almost allowed Cleveland - which entered the game averaging a league-low 83.0 points - to hang up triple digits. The Spurs (2-3) made it interesting, needing just over seven minutes to cut a 20-point lead to 93-87 with 1:03 remaining.

In the end, however, it was just another ugly loss in an ugly game that featured 71 total free throws.

The 14,228 fans in attendance, of course, saw beauty in the outcome. It was Cleveland’s first victory over the Spurs in 11 games. Only Elliott, David Robinson, Avery Johnson and Danny Ferry were around for the last one on March 23, 1993.

Tim Duncan did break out of his mini-slump with a game-high 31 points and 14 rebounds. Duncan, who had made just 17 of 52 shots over the last three games, hit 15 of 30 baskets Thursday. But it was his team-high six turnovers and trouble passing out of double teams that took center stage after the game.

“Tim is just going to have to figure it out,” Popovich said. “He’s going to have to learn. He’s holding the ball too long and everybody on every planet in the universe knows everybody’s going to come.”

The Spurs, who seemed slow to get in their offense, didn’t help Duncan much. After the Spurs committed four turnovers in less than three minutes to close the first half, Duncan was frustrated enough to bark at Johnson.

“I’ve got to learn to get the ball out of there sooner,” Duncan said. “And get it around so we can get some open shots and make them pay for it.”

Shawn Kemp, meanwhile, pulled his weight even if he had trouble lifting it. Once one of the league’s most athletic players, Kemp - now listed at a svelte 280 pounds - instead used his new-found girth to back down the Spurs for a team- best 25 points and 12 rebounds.

Kemp said Cleveland - which has won back-to-back games after opening the season with three losses - has solved its problems by improving the very same fundamentals now troubling the Spurs.

“I think we’re playing more as a team and sharing the ball more,” Kemp said. “We’re concentrating on doing the little things more than we did the first three games.”

Robinson, limited to 17 minutes and eight points through three quarters because of foul trouble, scored 16 points, but took only five shots. He also threw away two passes to start the second half that helped jump-start the Cavs’ surge.

“My game is defense,” Robinson said. “I go block shots. If they’re going to call me every time I graze my skin against somebody else’s skin, it’s going to be difficult.”

The Spurs’ road to recovery doesn’t look easy, either.

“We had our assignments on what we were supposed to do defensively, but we just weren’t doing it correctly,” Elliott said. “And offensively, we were just standing around a lot.”

Why?

“That’s a good question,” Elliott said. “I don’t know.”

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-13, By Johnny Ludden

马刺队依靠……令人惊叹的罗斯摆脱连败

马刺队在八天内打了六场比赛，遭遇三连败，疲惫和沮丧的情绪弥漫在他们之中。直到周五晚上，他们才找到解决问题的办法。

只要他们能解决一个小问题。

“现在我们唯一要做的，”威尔·珀杜(Will Perdue)说，“就是想办法把马利克(Malik Rose)的家人送到全国各地。”

在马利克·罗斯(Malik Rose)周五晚上在 98-94 击败费城 76 人队的比赛中几乎包办了所有事情之后，马刺队的训练师兼旅行主管威尔·塞文宁(Will Sevening)很乐意思考这个问题。

罗斯在费城第一联合中心(First Union Center)面前的 16892 名家乡球迷面前上场，其中 16828 名球迷没有从他那里获得免费门票。他至少在那一晚拯救了马刺队(3-3)摆脱了赛季初的困境。当他创职业生涯新高的 22 分无法拿下比赛时，罗斯凭借自己的防守将之前不败的 76 人队(3-1)逼平。

“马利克不是给我们带来了提升，”蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)说。“他为我们赢得了比赛。”

除了那件小小的停摆事件，周五晚上本该是这里全明星周末的开幕之夜。而由于邓肯和大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)大部分时间都陷入犯规麻烦，马刺队的替补替补前锋表现得最为出色。即使是费城后卫艾伦·艾弗森(Allen Iverson)，他在本场比赛中砍下 46 分，也在周五这场全国转播的戏剧性比赛之后，以配角的身份离开了球场。

“我宁愿得到 1 分，然后赢得比赛，也不愿得到 40 分，然后输掉比赛，”艾弗森说，他的得分与底特律的格兰特·希尔(Grant Hill)并列本赛季最高。“我们给自己挖了一个大坑，无法爬出来。”

他们应该感谢罗斯。在 76 人队将 15 分的领先优势缩小到 94-92，比赛还剩 45.3 秒时，艾弗森有机会将比分扳平。罗斯帮助将球从艾弗森手中拍走，然后迅速与 76 人队 7 英尺 1 英寸的中锋马特·盖格(Matt Geiger)绊在一起。

在艾弗森抢到跳球后，埃弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)断球并被犯规。他两次罚球都没有命中，但罗斯抢下了进攻篮板，叫了暂停，并举起拳头。史蒂夫·科尔(Steve Kerr)和肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)各罚中两球，将比赛锁定胜局。

罗斯在 28 分钟内 12 投 10 中，得到 22 分，并贡献 9 个篮板。他之前在 1996 年 1 月 29 日为夏洛特效力时，单场最高得分是 14 分。现在，他在 NBA 征战第三个赛季，在马刺队效力第二年，他在赛季的前四场比赛中总共只得到 6 分。

罗斯身高 6 英尺 7 英寸，被认为身高不足以打大前锋，而进攻端又过于依赖低位，无法成为一名全职小前锋。然而，他毫不费力地在 6 英尺 9 英寸的哈维·格兰特(Harvey Grant)和 6 英尺 8 英寸的乔治·林奇(George Lynch)面前找到自己的位置。他还在防守端的一部分时间里依靠着盖格。

“如果他不是最努力的球员，他也是球队中最努力的球员之一，”马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)说。“他并不总是得到很多上场时间，他一直都在寻找自己在 NBA 的位置。

“每个人都一直在问，‘他是（小前锋还是大前锋），他到底擅长什么？’他擅长的是打篮球。”

在周五晚上之前，罗斯主要以“小不点先生”著称，他是一位 24 岁的老兵，当他的银行账户余额不足时，他不得不搬回母亲和弟弟住处，睡在卡通床单上。

罗斯在费城的奥弗布鲁克高中和附近的德雷塞尔大学都是明星球员，他回到家乡去看望母亲和弟弟，并在比赛前买了几张 CD。最后，他总共为周五晚上的比赛购买了 64 张门票。

“这些钱花得很值，”罗斯说。

甚至球员协会主席比利·亨特(Billy Hunter)也赛前去看望了罗斯，他曾在工会谈判委员会任职。

“紧张是轻描淡写，”罗斯说。“我非常紧张。但当我进入状态后，我开始感觉好些了。

“我知道我在这个球队中的作用，我知道我能做到今晚所做的事情。”

罗斯的表现包括在 9 分钟内得到 11 分和 5 个篮板，帮助马刺队在上半场取得 49-46 的领先优势。邓肯、罗宾逊和约翰逊都得到 15 分。但由于马刺队的“双塔”因为犯规麻烦，每人只打了 28 分钟，所以这场比赛属于罗斯。

“我在这次客场之旅中一直没有笑过，”约翰逊说。“自从我们打湖人队以来，我就没有笑过。”

点击查看原文：Spurs stagger out of skid thanks to their ... Rambling Rose

Spurs stagger out of skid thanks to their … Rambling Rose

Tired and frustrated after six games in eight days and three straight losses, the Spurs finally found the answer to their troubles Friday night.

As long as they take care of one little hitch.

“Now all we have to do,” Will Perdue said, “is figure out how to fly Malik’s family around the country.”

After Malik Rose took care of almost everything else Friday night in a 98-94 victory of the Philadelphia 76ers, Spurs trainer and director of travel Will Sevening will gladly ponder that problem.

Playing in front of a hometown crowd of 16,892 at First Union Center - 16,828 of which didn’t receive a free ticket from him - Rose rescued the Spurs (3-3) from their early-season misery for at least one night. When his career-high 22 points weren’t enough, Rose tied up the previously unbeaten 76ers (3-1) with his defense.

“Malik didn’t give us lift,” Tim Duncan said. “He won the game for us.”

Except for that little lockout thing, Friday night would have been the opening night of All-Star weekend here. And with Duncan and David Robinson in foul trouble for much of the night, the Spurs’ backup backup forward shone brightest. Even Philadelphia guard Allen Iverson, who exploded for 46 points, left the court in a supporting role after Friday’s nationally televised drama.

“I would rather have had a one- point performance and won than have a 40-point performance and lose,” said Iverson, who matched Detroit’s Grant Hill for the most points this season. “We dug ourselves a big hole and couldn’t get out of it.”

They can thank Rose for that. After the 76ers cut a 15-point lead to 94-92 with 45.3 seconds left, Iverson had a chance to tie the game. Rose helped knock the ball from Iverson and then quickly tied up 76ers 7-foot-1 center Matt Geiger.

After Iverson came up with the jump ball, Avery Johnson stripped him and was fouled. He missed both free throws, but Rose grabbed the offensive board, called timeout and pumped his fist in the air. Steve Kerr and Sean Elliott each sank a pair of free throws to put the game away.

Rose finished with 22 points in 28 minutes on 10-of-12 shooting and added nine rebounds. His previous high of 14 points came on Jan. 29, 1996, when he played for Charlotte. Now in his third year in the NBA and second with the Spurs, Rose had scored a total of six points in the first four games of the season.

Regarded as too short for power forward and too low-post oriented to be an everyday small forward, the 6-7 Rose had little trouble finding his away around 6-9 Harvey Grant and 6-8 George Lynch. He also spent part of the night leaning against Geiger on defense.

“If he’s not the hardest, he’s one of the hardest-working guys on the team,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He doesn’t always get a lot of minutes and he’s always on the verge of finding his place in the NBA.

“Everybody has always wondered, ‘Is he a (small forward or power forward), what does he do?’ What he does is play basketball.”

Prior to Friday night, Rose had primarily been known as Mr. Rugrat, a 24-year-old journeyman who slept on cartoon bed sheets after he was forced to move in with his mother and little brother when his bank account ran low.

Rose, who starred at Philadelphia’s Overbrook High and nearby Drexel University, returned home to visit his mother and brother and pick up a few compact discs before the game. He wound up buying 64 tickets total for Friday night.

“It was money well spent,” Rose said.

Even players association director Billy Hunter made a pregame visit to Rose, who served on the union’s negotiating committee.

“Nervous was an understatement,” Rose said. "I was very nervous. But once I got in the flow I started to feel better.

“I know my role on this team and I know I could do the things I did tonight.”

Included in Rose’s performance were 11 points and five rebounds in nine minutes to help the Spurs take a 49-46 lead at halftime. Duncan, Robinson and Johnson each finished with 15 points. But with the Spurs’ Twin Towers limited to 28 minutes apiece because of foul trouble, the night belonged to Rose.

“I haven’t smiled at all on this road trip,” Johnson said. “I haven’t smiled since we played the Lakers.”

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-13, By Buck Harvey

有什么新东西吗？唤醒觉醒

只有一个人，马利克·罗斯(Malik Rose)，曾在我走过更衣室时伸出他的手，渴望自我介绍。我没有录下来，但我认为他也叫我“先生”。

像这样优秀的男人并不常见。悲哀的是，当他们出现的时候，他们往往太矮了，无法打大个子，或者太慢了，无法打快攻。

这就是为什么罗斯通常坐在板凳上。最近，他也坐在安静、紧张的包机上，看着未来的名人堂成员疑惑他们怎么会输给一支雇佣丹尼·费里(Danny Ferry)的球队。罗斯有自己的看法。但他永远不会在波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)先生面前说出来。不，先生。

但随后，星期五晚上，在罗斯的家乡，对阵他在夏天与之对抗过的费城孩子们，在那一节观众席上坐满了家人，礼貌的胜利出现了。然后，罗斯穿过更衣室，伸出手，向马刺队介绍了一场他们暂时遗忘的比赛。

松球、补篮、篮板、激情。

“伙计，我们需要这个，”马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)赛后说。“我们需要再次享受比赛。我们一直在像商人一样。”

失败的商人。自从…好吧，自从上个赛季以来，马刺队还没有如此糟糕地开始一个赛季。然后他们以9胜10负的战绩开始，需要主场战胜快船队，才能阻止愤怒的村民手持火把向波波维奇家进军。

他们现在有类似的借口，因为他们再次试图让另外六个新面孔融入球队。然后还有这个：大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)和蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)找到了如何一起打球的方法，但只持续了大约四个月。然后他们休息了九个月。

罗斯了解停摆，因为他是在工会谈判委员会的。他是最低工资的代表，这意味着他每天都要接受礼貌的考验。但即使在那时，他也表现出同样的谦逊。他公开谈到搬回老家省钱（睡在Rugrats的枕头上），并承认他本可以更明智地节省自己的钱。

但即使在他列出自己的财务错误时，也没有包括太多德国汽车。罗斯把大部分钱都花在了给家人买房上。

所以他星期五回到家人和朋友身边，在比赛前坐在更衣室里，分发了64张票。“前排的两张票在这里，阳台上的五张票在那里…”直到他全部分配完毕。

就好像他知道接下来会发生什么。艾伦·艾弗森(Allen Iverson)摆脱了低迷，跳起来冲向马刺队。罗宾逊和邓肯陷入犯规麻烦。马刺队盯着第四场失利。

当被问及马刺队最近做错了什么时，罗斯说：“我认为我们一直在被对手压着打，被对手抢先一步。”所以罗斯在第一节末段上场，立即开始努力拼搏。

罗斯抓住了森林狼队和骑士队总是得到的松球，而且这种做法具有感染力。然后是最后的一分钟，艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)罚丢了两球后，罗斯跳起来抢下第二个球，争抢篮板球，并叫了暂停。回到教练席时，罗斯挥舞着拳头。

拉里·布朗(Larry Brown)说，他想要在停摆后签下罗斯，罗斯一直是波波维奇最喜欢的球员之一。尽管如此，两位教练都知道NBA的现实情况，罗斯的身材会在很多晚上限制他。但罗斯无视了所有这些预测，赛后他说：“我只想成为一个能完成任务的人。”

在这个夜晚，谁能反驳他？对于一支濒临自由落体的球队，他为他们争取了一些时间来找到自己。就介绍而言，他不再需要任何介绍了。

点击查看原文：Introducing something new? Spur awakening

Introducing something new? Spur awakening

Only one Spur has ever walked across the locker room with his hand out, eager to introduce himself to me. I don’t have it on tape, but I think Malik Rose also called me “sir.”

Great men like this don’t come along often enough. Sadly, when they do, they are often too short to play big, or too slow to play fast.

That’s why Rose usually sits on the bench. Lately, he’s also been sitting on quiet, tense charter flights as future Hall of Famers wondered how they could lose to a team that employs Danny Ferry. Rose had his opinions. But he would never voice them in front of Mr. Popovich. No sir.

But then came the triumph of politeness Friday night, in Rose’s hometown, against Philly kids he’d spent the summer banging against, with a section filled with family. Then, Rose came across the locker room, stuck out a hand and introduced the Spurs to a game they had temporarily forgotten.

Loose balls, putbacks, rebounds, emotion.

“Man, we needed that,” said Mario Elie afterward. “We needed to enjoy the game again. We’ve been acting like businessmen.”

Losing businessmen. The Spurs hadn’t started a season so poorly since, well, the previous one. Then they began 9-10 and needed a home win against the Clippers to stop angry villagers from marching on Popovich’s home with torches held high.

They have similar excuses now, since they are again trying to work in another half-dozen new faces. Then there is this: David Robinson and Tim Duncan figured out how to play together, but it lasted about four months. Then they took a break for nine months.

Rose knows all about the lockout, since he was on the union’s negotiating committee. He was the token minimum-wage voice, which meant his politeness was tested daily. But even then he showed the same humility. He openly told about moving back home to save money (and sleep on Rugrats pillow cases), and admitted he could have saved his money more wisely.

But even when he listed his fiscal mistakes, they didn’t include too many German cars. Rose spent most of his money on a house for his family.

So he came home to this family and friends Friday, and sat in the locker room before the game and divvied up 64 tickets. “The two front-row seats go here, the five in the balcony go …” until he had them all square.

It was if he knew what was coming. With Allen Iverson out of a slump and leaping down the Spurs throats. With Robinson and Duncan in foul trouble. With the Spurs staring at a fourth loss.

When asked what the Spurs had been doing wrong lately, Rose said, “I think we’ve been getting outworked and outhustled.” So Rose entered late in the first quarter and immediately began to work and hustle.

Rose grabbed the loose balls that the Timberwolves and Cavaliers always got, and it was contagious. Then there was the final minute, after Avery Johnson missed two free throws, Rose went up for the second, fought for the rebound and called time. Coming back to the huddle, Rose pumped a fist.

Larry Brown says he wanted to sign Rose after the lockout, and Rose has always been one of Popovich’s favorites. Still, both coaches know the NBA reality, how Rose’s size will limit him on many nights. But Rose ignored all such projections Friday, then said afterward, “I just want to be known as someone who gets the job done.”

Who could argue with him on this night? For a franchise dangerously close to free-fall, and bought them some time to find themselves. As far as introductions go, he doesn’t need one anymore.

By Buck Harvey, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-14, By Johnny Ludden

马刺队有50%的理由去提高

蒂姆·弗洛伊德(Tim Floyd)知道自己要面对的是什么。早在迈克尔·乔丹(Michael Jordan)退役之前，早在斯科蒂·皮蓬(Scottie Pippen)、丹尼斯·罗德曼(Dennis Rodman)、史蒂夫·科尔(Steve Kerr)和卢克·朗利(Luc Longley)被送走之前。

早在弗洛伊德在担任芝加哥公牛队主教练的首场比赛中抬头看到卡尔·马龙(Karl Malone)推搡马克·布莱恩特(Mark Bryant)之前。

“我是否宁愿说‘丹尼斯，上去搞定卡尔？’当然，每个人都会这样说，”弗洛伊德说。“但我认为我们的球迷足够现实，或者足够成熟，能够看到这种情况，这是一个适应期。”

当然，马刺队最近也意识到了这一点。芝加哥在升起最新的总冠军旗帜后几乎立即降低了预期，而马刺队可能从未想过在今天下午进入联合中心后会以3-3的战绩开局，要知道他们本赛季开局取得了两场胜利。

“我们对今年的自己抱有很高的期望，我认为我们在一些情况下太紧张了，”艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)说。“我们在（周五对阵费城）松懈了一些。效果不错。”

马刺队在周五以98-94战胜76人队的比赛中展现出了进步的迹象。尽管大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)和蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)大部分时间都陷入了犯规麻烦，但马刺队——在替补前锋马利克·罗斯(Malik Rose)创下职业生涯新高的22分带领下——全场比赛投篮命中率高达50%，仅有13次失误。

他们在几乎要放弃领先15分的第四节的情况下，在最后几分钟里团结一致。如果他们没有继续糟糕的罚球命中率，他们本可以领先更多。他们对阵76人队只命中了51罚中的28球。

“我们一直都在努力组建一支球队，”马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)说。“我们在客场经历了一些艰难的时刻。看到他们团结起来，打得很好，真是太好了。看到他们丢掉领先优势，然后坚持下去，真是太好了。”

在马刺队上周四输给克利夫兰队后，波波维奇提醒球队要对这个年轻的赛季保持客观。

“我们在周一输给湖人队后，感觉就像我们刚输掉了总冠军，”波波维奇说。“队员们垂头丧气。

“他们对那场失利太认真了。你想要认真对待失利，但我认为，由于他们对自己施加的期望，他们太快就变得不满意了。”

和大多数球队一样，马刺队仍在努力找到一个稳定的节奏，因为他们经历了七个月的停摆。科尔、马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)、杰罗姆·克西(Jerome Kersey)和安东尼奥·丹尼尔斯(Antonio Daniels)给马刺队带来了四张新面孔，球队需要时间去适应。罗宾逊和邓肯也仍在努力寻找与上赛季末期相同的舒适区。

“感觉我们还在季前训练营的第三周，”波波维奇说。“我们不能一直保持稳定，我们会冲刺一阵，然后又会停滞。”

与他们最近的失利形成对比的是，马刺队在周五的比赛中将球传导得更好，从而获得了更好的投篮机会。肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)在比赛还剩2分32秒时，在邓肯摆脱双人包夹后传球的情况下，投出了一记17英尺的跳投，将比分改写为91-88。

“我们希望在每场比赛的48分钟内都能做到这一点，”波波维奇说。“我们还没有达到那个水平。我们还没有稳定的空间。

“队员们仍在适应他们的队友。”

公牛队非常了解这一点。从去年的球队中，只有托尼·库科奇(Toni Kukoc)、罗恩·哈珀(Ron Harper)、比尔·温宁顿(Bill Wennington)、兰迪·布朗(Randy Brown)和迪基·辛普金斯(Dickey Simpkins)留了下来。

“如果换成其他人比赛，压力会落在我的肩上，”弗洛伊德说。“情况会完全不同。现在，我们想尽力打好。

“我们可能不会赢很多比赛。我认为人们都认识到这一点。”

• 马刺队消息：替补中锋威尔·珀杜(Will Perdue)今天比赛仍然出战成疑。

“威尔有所进步，但又有所退步，”波波维奇说。“我们不想让他太快复出，以免伤到他的跟腱。”

点击查看原文：Spurs have .500 reasons to improve

Spurs have .500 reasons to improve

Tim Floyd knew what he was getting into. Long before Michael Jordan retired. Long before Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr and Luc Longley were shipped out.

Long before he looked up in his first game as the Chicago Bulls’ head coach and saw Karl Malone pushing around Mark Bryant.

“Would I have rather have said, ‘Dennis go in and get Karl?’ Sure, everyone would,” Floyd said. “But I feel our fans are realistic enough, or sophisticated enough to see the situation, that it is an adjustment period.”

The Spurs, of course, have been recently reminded of that themselves. While Chicago almost immediately lowered its expectations after raising its most recent championship banner, the Spurs probably never figured to be walking into the United Center this afternoon 3-3 after starting the season with two wins.

“We expect so much of ourselves this year that I think we just got tight in some situations,” Avery Johnson said. “We loosened up a little bit (Friday against Philadelphia). And it worked out good.”

The Spurs showed signs of improvement in Friday’s 98-94 win against the 76ers. Despite having David Robinson and Tim Duncan in foul trouble most of the night, the Spurs - led by reserve forward Malik Rose’s career-high 22 points - shot a season-high 50 percent from the field and committed only 13 turnovers.

After almost coughing up a 15-point fourth- quarter lead, they pulled together in the final minutes. The Spurs would have enjoyed a much more comfortable cushion had they not continued their poor free-throw shooting, making only 28 of 51 against the 76ers.

“We’ve been struggling trying to put a team together,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “And we’ve had some tough, tough times here on the road. It was good to see them come together and play well. It was good to see them lose the lead and then stick with it.”

After the Spurs’ third straight loss Thursday against Cleveland, Popovich cautioned the team to keep the young season in perspective.

“After we lost to the Lakers Monday it was like we had just lost the championship,” Popovich said. "Guys were hanging their heads.

“They took that loss a little bit too hard. You want to take losses hard, but I think because of the expectations they put on themselves, they got too dissatisfied too soon.”

Like most teams, the Spurs are still trying to find a consistent rhythm after the seven-month lockout. Kerr, Mario Elie, Jerome Kersey and Antonio Daniels gave the Spurs four new faces to get used to. Robinson and Duncan also are still trying to find the same comfort zone they enjoyed together at the end of last season.

“It’s like we’re still in our third week of training camp,” Popovich said. “We don’t just roll. We roll then sputter, roll then sputter.”

In contrast to their recent losses, the Spurs moved the ball around to get better shots Friday. The 17-footer Sean Elliott hit for a 91-88 lead with 2:32 remaining came after Duncan kicked a pass out of a double team.

“That’s what we’re hoping to get for 48 minutes a night,” Popovich said. "We’re not there yet. We don’t have consistent spacing yet.

“Guys are still getting used to their partners out on the floor.”

The Bulls know that all too well. Only Toni Kukoc, Ron Harper, Bill Wennington, Randy Brown and Dickey Simpkins remain from last year’s team.

“The weight would have been on my shoulders if it were the other guys playing,” Floyd said. "It would have been a different deal. Right now, we want to go out and be as good as we can be.

“We’re probably not going to win a bunch. I think people recognize that.”

- Spurs notes: Backup center Will Perdue remains doubtful for today’s game.

“Will made some progress, but it’s tailed off a bit,” Popovich said. “We don’t want to bring him back too quickly and risk hurting his Achilles’.”

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-14, By Buck Harvey

当戒指太紧：适应新环境？

史蒂夫·科尔(Steve Kerr)的小儿子做了爸爸做不到的事。他换心情就跟换球衣一样容易。

尼克·科尔(Nick Kerr)，6岁，周六穿着马刺队的T恤出现在训练场上，然后证明了自己对球队的热爱。他几乎叫出了爸爸所有新队友的名字。尼克名单上的第五个是谁？马利克·罗斯(Malik Rose)。

这孩子最近一直在关注球队。

所以科尔听到这个消息后，希望自己不是三个星期没见孩子们了。也希望自己能像儿子一样轻易地适应环境。史蒂夫·科尔一直在努力开始新的生活，但他似乎无法摆脱芝加哥的影子。他怀念他的老教练，他熟悉的老体系，他的老房子，还有他的老队友迈克尔。

这将科尔带到了今天。当公牛队向科尔颁发他的总冠军戒指时 - 当他亲眼看到昔日的辉煌已经成为过去 - 他会释怀吗？

科尔笑着点了点头。“这是一个重要的步骤，”他说。

公牛队宠坏了科尔，这真是讽刺。因为科尔是NBA中最不娇生惯养的球员之一。

“这令人害怕，”他最近说道。“我是一个新秀，在第二轮的末尾被选中，我只希望能够进入球队，这样我就能说我在NBA打过球。然后我被交易到克利夫兰，我得到了上场时间，我想，‘也许我可以在这个联盟打五六年。’然后我签了合同去公牛队，我想，‘这就是我的归宿了。’然后突然间我签了一份为期五年的合同（价值1100万美元），到最后我将在联盟打15年。这太令人震惊了。”

这就是科尔与菲尔·杰克逊(Phil Jackson)关系如此密切的原因。杰克逊也看到了他们世界中的荒谬与美好。

但科尔没有提到他故事中最精彩的部分。这位在第二轮末尾被选中的球员不仅在联盟中站稳了脚跟，他还与迈克尔·乔丹(Michael Jordan)并肩作战，赢得了冠军。他在艺术化的三角进攻中，灵活地穿梭于球场，他是芝加哥的球迷最爱，但他无法满足所有人的见面要求。难怪科尔现在正在阅读关于乔丹的最新书籍，“为了赢得一切”。

正如肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)谈论他这位朋友时所说：“史蒂夫的血液里依然流淌着芝加哥公牛队的血液。”

科尔人生中最美好的经历也让接下来的事情变得更加艰难。在所有乔丹时代的公牛球员中，也许科尔最希望这支球队永远在一起。当乔丹退役，球队阵容瓦解时，科尔别无选择，只能接受六份报价，选择了更高的薪水。

这就是为什么这与十年前马刺队交易来心烦意乱的莫里斯·奇克斯(Maurice Cheeks)不同。奇克斯也无法摆脱76人队的影子，但费城还是把他交易到了圣安东尼奥。科尔主动要求加盟，并从中获益。即使乔丹复出，芝加哥也不会给科尔一份为期五年的合同。

在加入公牛队之前的科尔会拥抱马刺队，他们拥有埃利奥特以及两位七尺高的首发球员。科尔努力回忆起那些时光，他说他会适应。

以下是一个他努力适应的迹象：他为其中一个孩子在圣安东尼奥报了一个幼儿园，尽管他的家人还没有能和他一起搬到德克萨斯州南部。然而，在报名时，科尔同意捐赠一个由他亲自管理的后院营地，这个营地已经在学校的年度募捐活动中被拍卖掉了。

所以给他一些时间。给他今天，让他正式向芝加哥的球迷告别。给他一个对阵爵士队或湖人队的季后赛系列赛，在比赛结束时，蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)看到科尔独自站在三分线外。

到那时，科尔会忘记芝加哥。谁知道呢？也许他人生中最美好的事情，将会再次发生在他身上。

点击查看原文：When a ring fits too tightly: Adjust-a-Bull?

When a ring fits too tightly: Adjust-a-Bull?

Steve Kerr’s little boy did what dad couldn’t do. He switched sentiments as easily as jerseys.

Nick Kerr, 6, showed at practice Saturday wearing a Spurs T-shirt, then proved worthy of the cloth. He named almost all of daddy’s new teammates. Fifth on Nick’s list? Malik Rose.

The kid’s been paying attention lately.

So dad hears this and wishes it hadn’t been three weeks since he’d last seen his children. And wishes the change could be as easy for him. Steve Kerr has been trying to get on with his life, but he can’t seem to get Chicago out of his head. He misses his old coach, his old system, his old house, his old Michael.

Which brings Kerr to today. When the Bulls present Kerr with his championship ring - when he sees firsthand that the gang is forever gone - won’t there be some closure?

Kerr smiled and nodded. “It’s a big step,” he said.

The Bulls spoiled him, which is some twist. Because this guy is among the NBA’s least spoiled.

“It’s scary,” he said recently. “I’m a rookie, late second-round pick, and I’m just hoping to make the team so I could say I played in the NBA. Then I get traded to Cleveland and I get some playing time and I’m thinking, ‘Maybe I can make a career of this, five or six years.’ Then I sign a contract to go to the Bulls and I figure, ‘This has to be it.’ And all of a sudden I sign a contract for five years (and $11 million) and at the end I’ll be in the league 15 years. It’s shocking.”

That’s why Kerr connected so well with Phil Jackson. Jackson, too, could see the wonderful absurdities of their world.

But Kerr leaves out the best part of his story. This late second-round pick didn’t just stick in the league. He played next to Michael Jordan and won titles. He did so in the artistic Triangle offense that let him cut and move, and he did so as a Chicago favorite who couldn’t meet all the appearance requests. No wonder Kerr is currently reading the latest book about Jordan, “Playing for Keeps.”

As Sean Elliott says of his friend: “Steve’s still got the Chicago Bulls in his blood.”

The best thing that ever happened to Kerr also made the next thing harder. Of all the Jordan Bulls, maybe Kerr wanted the group to stay together the most. And when Jordan retired and the roster splintered, Kerr had no choice but to field a half-dozen offers and take more money.

That’s why this isn’t a repeat of 10 years ago, when the Spurs traded for a brooding Maurice Cheeks. Cheeks couldn’t get the 76ers out of his blood, either, but Philly traded him to San Antonio. Kerr signed up to come, and benefited by it. Even had Jordan returned, Chicago wouldn’t have offered Kerr a five-year deal.

The pre-Chicago Kerr would have embraced the Spurs, what with one Elliott and two 7-foot starters. Kerr tries to remember that, and he says he will adjust.

Here’s a sign how much he’s trying: He signed up one of his children for a San Antonio pre- school, though his family hasn’t been able to join him yet in South Texas. Still, while enrolling, Kerr agreed to donate a personally run backyard camp that was already auctioned at the school’s annual fund-raiser.

So give him some time. Give him today, when he officially says goodbye to his Chicago fans. And give him a playoff series against the Jazz or the Lakers, when the clock is running down, and Tim Duncan sees Kerr standing alone at the three-point line.

Kerr will forget about Chicago then. And who knows? Maybe the best thing that ever happened to him, happens to him again.

By Buck Harvey, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-17, By Johnny Ludden

马刺脚步沉重 - 重振奔跑是战胜太阳的关键

在赛季开始的前10天，没有一支球队比马刺打得更多，也没有一支球队的里程数更多。

所以当马刺在结束四场客场比赛后终于获得了连续两天的休息时，他们喘了口气，揉了揉他们的腿筋，伸展了他们的双腿，并开始着手解决他们最大的问题之一。

中锋大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)表示，这个问题很容易诊断：马刺只需要停止在场上站着不动。

“我们的奔跑进攻几乎不存在，”罗宾逊说。“这使得比赛变得太难了。你必须得到一些轻松的得分。”

马刺没有区别对待。所有难度的得分都少之又少。进入周二的比赛，他们在联盟得分榜上排名第23位，场均得到88.2分。

如果马刺想要练习奔跑，他们找到了合适的对手。当然，前提是太阳还站着。

太阳将在三天内打第三场比赛，他们在周二以92-109输给休斯顿之前，场均得到101.1分，在联盟领先。太阳的快节奏也让对手获得投篮机会。只有掘金比太阳的100.6分让对手得到更多得分。

“不应该有任何借口，”马刺摇摆人马里奥·伊利(Mario Elie)说。“我们应该尝试去压制他们，让他们早早地疲劳。”

停摆后的NBA给得分带来了溢价。一周之后，各队的场均得分比上赛季减少了3.3分。虽然他们只被对手在暂停后超过了81-86，但马刺可以在解决半场进攻问题的同时，利用一些相对容易的得分。

“我们需要在早期进攻中更具侵略性，”罗宾逊说。“我们必须尽早尝试让我们的高个子球员进入低位。我们拭目以待。我们必须让它动起来。”

马刺的防守主要支撑着他们走到现在。他们将对手的投篮命中率限制在38.1%，在联盟中仅次于纽约。在周二的比赛之前，马刺在篮板球（48.4个）和盖帽（8.14个）方面也排名第一。

他们在抢夺篮板球和造成失误方面遇到了麻烦，而这些都是他们转换进攻所需要的。但即使他们在上赛季取得了56胜，马刺在造成失误方面也排名联盟最后。本赛季，他们的对手场均造成12.5次失误，在联盟中排名第二少。

控球后卫埃弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)表示，马刺（他们自己的场均失误为18.2次）需要专注于在快攻中保持自己的位置。

“太阳和爵士，从历史上看，都是以在快攻中组织性好而著称的球队，”约翰逊说。“这是我们必须改进的领域。”

太阳用汤姆·古格里奥塔(Tom Gugliotta)替换了前锋安东尼奥·麦克戴斯(Antonio McDyess)，并增加了中锋卢克·朗利(Luc Longley)，他们再次由全明星控球后卫杰森·基德(Jason Kidd)领衔。基德在周一战胜掘金的比赛中打出了三双，在对阵休斯顿之前，场均助攻数达到联盟最高的10.8次。

当马刺在上赛季季后赛首轮以4-0淘汰太阳时，约翰逊的表现不亚于基德，场均得到20.5分，投篮命中率为64.7%，还有6.0次助攻，仅有1.3次失误。基德有时会被马刺前锋蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)防守，场均得到14.3分，投篮命中率为37.9%，还有7.8次助攻、5.8个篮板、4.0次抢断和3.0次失误。

不再需要与凯文·约翰逊(Kevin Johnson)分享控球权，基德承担了更多的领导角色。他在休赛期增加了10磅肌肉，看起来比以往任何时候都更具侵略性。

“杰森·基德，我认为，是NBA中最优秀的运动员之一，”伊利说。“他总是毫不留情地推进球。这将迫使我们进行奔跑。希望我们能打出一场高分比赛，并延续这种势头。”

马刺观战

今晚：太阳 @ 马刺

时间、地点：晚上7:30，阿拉莫圆顶体育馆

战绩：马刺 4-3（中西部赛区第四名）；太阳 4-3（太平洋赛区并列第二名）

连胜场次：2场

电视：福克斯体育西南频道

广播：WOAI-AM 1200（西班牙语广播：KCOR-AM 1350）

点击查看原文：Spurs feeling too flat-footed - Rejuvenating running game goal vs. Suns

Spurs feeling too flat-footed - Rejuvenating running game goal vs. Suns

In the first 10 days of the season, no team played more games or logged more frequent-flier miles.

So when the Spurs, fresh off a four-game road trip, finally received two consecutive days off, they caught their breath, rubbed their hamstrings, stretched their legs and set about solving one of their biggest problems.

A problem, center David Robinson said, that has been too easy to diagnose: The Spurs simply need to stop standing around so much.

“Our running game has been nonexistent,” Robinson said. “It makes the game too hard. You’ve got to get some easy buckets.”

The Spurs haven’t discriminated. Buckets of all degrees of difficulty have been few and far between. Entering Tuesday’s games, they ranked 23rd in the league in scoring with 88.2 points a game.

And if it’s running the Spurs want to work on, they have found the right opponent. Provided, of course, Phoenix is still standing.

The Suns, who will be playing their third game in as many nights, led the NBA with 101.1 points per game before falling 109- 92 at Houston on Tuesday. Phoenix’s up-tempo pace also allows for opponents to get their shots. Only Denver is allowing more points than the Suns’ 100.6.

“There should be no excuses,” Spurs swingman Mario Elie said. “We should just try to push it at them and get them fatigued early.”

The post-lockout NBA has put a premium on scoring. After one week, teams were averaging 3.3 fewer points a game than last season. And though they have only been outscored 86-81 off the break, the Spurs could use some relatively easy points while ironing out the problems in their half-court offense.

“We need to be a little bit more aggressive in the early offense,” Robinson said. “We have to try to get our big guys down in the low post early. We’ll see what happens. We’ve got to get it going.”

The Spurs’ defense primarily has carried them this far. They have held opponents to 38.1-percent shooting, second in the league behind New York. The Spurs also ranked first in rebounding (48.4) and second in blocks (8.14) before Tuesday’s games.

They have had trouble coming up with the loose balls and turnovers needed to generate their transition game. But even when they won 56 games last season, the Spurs finished last in the league in turnovers forced. This season, their opponents are averaging 12.5 turnovers a game, second-fewest in the league.

Point guard Avery Johnson said the Spurs - averaging 18.2 turnovers themselves - need to focus on staying in their lanes on the break.

“Phoenix and Utah, historically, are teams that have always had good organization on their break,” Johnson said. “That’s an area we definitely have to improve on.”

The Suns, who replaced forward Antonio McDyess with Tom Gugliotta and have added center Luc Longley, are again paced by All-Star point guard Jason Kidd. Kidd, who had a triple-double in Monday’s win over Denver, was averaging a league-high 10.8 assists before playing Houston.

When the Spurs eliminated Phoenix in four games in the first round of last season’s playoffs, Johnson more than held his own, averaging 20.5 points on 64.7-percent shooting, 6.0 assists and only 1.3 turnovers. Kidd, who at times had Spurs forward Tim Duncan defending him, averaged 14.3 points on 37.9-percent shooting, 7.8 assists, 5.8 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 3.0 turnovers.

No longer having to share the reins with Kevin Johnson, Kidd has taken over more of a leadership role. He added 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason and appears to be playing more aggressive than ever.

“Jason Kidd, I think, is one of the best athletes in the NBA,” Elie said. “He just pushes the ball relentlessly. That is going to force us to run a little bit. Hopefully, we will have a high-scoring game that will carry over.”

* * *

Spurs watch

Tonight: Suns @Spurs

When, where: 7:30, Alamodome

Records: Spurs 4-3 (fourth in Midwest Division); Phoenix 4-3 (tied for second in Pacific)

Streak: Won 2

TV: Fox Sports Southwest

Radio: WOAI-AM 1200 (in Spanish on KCOR-AM 1350)

Online: www.expressnews.com/spurs

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-17, By Glenn Rogers

够了，防守，让我们看看进攻

联盟六个月的停摆给球迷们带来了一系列令人昏昏欲睡的比赛。

我们只能祈祷这些防守盛宴，就像辩护者们所说的那样，会随着进攻的燃起而结束。

“防守，防守”的呼喊在比赛的关键时刻是很好也很激动人心的，但在第四节中段比分是82-80的时候就显得多余了。

而且，前提是还有足够的人醒着来喊。

十年来，一直有人抱怨教练们扼杀了比赛的生命，因为得分一直降到90分以下。

上个赛季，在六七场比赛之后，联盟的平均得分是每场94.9分。这一次，毫无疑问是由于缺乏训练时间，在相同比赛数量的“连胜”之后，球队的得分降到了91.0分。

投篮命中率去年是44.3%，现在是42.4%。

罚球命中率，在这个早期阶段备受关注，并没有比去年同期差太多——今年是71.4%，去年是72.6%。

已经出现了一些激动人心的比赛——比如周日步行者队以101-99战胜湖人队。

问题是，我几乎能听到一些教练在比赛结束后哀叹：“我们防守失误太多了。”

- 他们能跑吗？：如果马刺队今晚不能在疲惫的太阳队面前创造出一批转换进攻得分，一些快速反击，那么我们就会知道这不在他们的战术手册里。

- 灵丹妙药还是毒药？：丹尼斯·罗德曼(Dennis Rodman)是一个篮板球奇才，并且是一位在骚扰、激怒方面拥有艺术天赋的球员，他善于用推搡、卡位和肘击。沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal)将享受篮板下以及球场上的助攻和皱眉帮助。

但是可怜的德尔·哈里斯(Del Harris)教练。他已经背负了那些在团队合作定义的突击测验中不及格的不成熟球员。好莱坞及其迷人的诱惑距离他们只有几步之遥，罗德曼将不断调整训练和比赛时间，以适应他放荡不羁的生活方式。

德尔将没有迈克尔·乔丹(Michael Jordan)那种凌厉的眼神和力量来对抗罗德曼的破坏欲。

哈里斯，就像他之前的教练一样，会对丹尼斯在球场上的接管能力感到惊叹——假设年龄没有让他衰退太多——并且只是恳求神灵赐予他和他球员们应对罗德曼的恶作剧的耐心。

- 输球的次数：马刺队的解说员出色地解释了球队经历了可能是最糟糕的赛季开局——10天内打了7场比赛。他们没有解释清楚为什么这会导致马刺队输掉第3、4、5场比赛，赢下第6、7场比赛。

- 伤病因素：这个缩短的赛季的早期阶段带来了许多伤病，但实际上并没有比以往的正常年份多。

这种情况可能会改变，一旦三场连赛或七场五赛开始增加。

更重要的是，球迷们将被迫忍受比赛的质量。疲惫的球员，他们将在整个赛季都保持疲惫，将导致长时间的半场阵地战，双方以及教练都愿意将比赛保持在可控范围内，直到最后几分钟。

比赛之间没有训练时间将鼓励教练将他们的战术手册缩减到尽可能多的基本战术，并减少选项，以保持最锐利的执行力。

说起来，这听起来很像球队在季后赛比赛中的战术。

- 攀登山峰：格兰特·希尔(Grant Hill)在换帅后爆发成统治力，让人想起魔术师·约翰逊(Magic Johnson)在湖人队用帕特·莱利(Pat Riley)替换了保罗·韦斯特黑德(Paul Westhead)之后充满热情的表现。

主要区别在于——希尔没有卡里姆·阿卜杜勒-贾巴尔(Kareem Abdul-Jabbar)在低位等待传球。

- 注意你的肘部：老鹰队的迪肯贝·穆托姆博(Dikembe Mutombo)在他多年的中锋生涯中，已经打歪了许多球员的鼻子，包括一些队友。他总是辩称自己无辜，坚称这些肘击是无意的，却忽略了其他中锋似乎都能控制住自己肘部的挥动方向。

也许如果他被一些无意的肘击击中，比如周日马特·盖格(Matt Geiger)的肘击击中他的眼睛，他就会明白过来。

点击查看原文：Enough with the defense, let's see some offense

Enough with the defense, let’s see some offense

The league’s six-month lockout has given its fans a series of brain-numbing games.

We can only pray these defensive treats, as the apologists would call them, will end as the offenses catch fire.

The chant of “defense, defense” is fine and exciting during crucial moments of a game but are redundant when the score is 82-80 midway through the final quarter.

And that’s assuming enough people are awake to do the chanting.

There have been cries throughout the decade about coaches throttling the life out of the game as scores keep dipping deeper into the low 90s.

Last season, after about six or seven games, the league was averaging 94.9 points per game. This time around, thanks no doubt to a lack of training time, the teams were at 91.0 points after the same “streak” of games.

Shooting percentage was 44.3 last year, 42.4 now.

The free-throw shooting, under the spotlight at this early stage, isn’t that much worse than last year at the same time - 71.4 percent this year, 72.6 last.

There have been a few exciting battles - the Pacers’ 101-99 victory over the Lakers on Sunday, for one.

Problem is, I can all but hear some of the coaches’ moans after it was in the books: “We had a few too many defensive breakdowns.”

- Can they run?: If the Spurs can’t generate a parcel of transition buckets, a few racing fast breaks, against the tired Suns tonight then we’ll know it just ain’t in the playbook.

- Cure or cancer?: Dennis Rodman is a rebounding marvel and an artist with harassing, irritating pushes, holds and elbows. Shaquille O’Neal will enjoy the help under the boards and the scowling assistance.

But pity poor Coach Del Harris. He’s already saddled with immature players who fail surprise quizzes on the definition of team play. Hollywood and its siren call will be but blocks away, and Rodman will be constantly adjusting practice and game times to fit his life-on-the-wild side schedule.

Del won’t have Michael Jordan’s glare and force to counter-balance Rodman’s lust to disrupt.

Harris, like coaches before him, will marvel at Dennis’ takeover abilities on court - assuming age hasn’t eroded too much - and simply beg the gods that be to give him and his players patience to deal with Rodman’s shenanigans.

- When you lose counts: The Spurs announcers did a fine job explaining that the team endured perhaps the worst season beginning - seven games in 10 nights. They didn’t quite explain why that led to the Spurs losing games 3, 4 and 5 and winning games 6 and 7.

- Injury factor: The early stages of the abbreviated season have brought a number of injuries but really not any more than in previous normal years.

This could change, once the three games in three nights or five in seven begin to mount.

More important will be the quality of the play that fans will be asked to endure. Tired players, and they will remain tired throughout the season, will lead to long stretches of half-court, wind-the- clock down contests, with each side, and each coach, willing to keep the game within sight until the final minutes.

No practice time between games will encourage coaches to trim their playbooks to as many basic plays, with fewer options, as possible to maintain the sharpest execution possible.

Say, it sounds almost like the way the teams approach the playoff battles.

- Hill climbing: Grant Hill’s explosion into dominance after a change in coaches reminds one somewhat of Magic Johnson’s enthusiastic play after the Lakers replaced Paul Westhead with Pat Riley.

Major difference - Hill doesn’t have Kareem Abdul-Jabbar awaiting passes down low.

- Watch those elbows: The Hawks’ Dikembe Mutombo has rearranged the nose of many a player, including some of his teammates, during his years in the pivot. He’s always cried innocent, insisting the blows were inadvertent, ignoring the fact that other big men seem more than capable of controlling the flight of their elbows.

Maybe he’ll get the message if he catches a few of those inadvertent blasts, like on Sunday when Matt Geiger’s funny bone landed on Mutombo’s eye.

By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-18, By Johnny Ludden

太阳队反败为胜，压制马刺队 - 圣安东尼奥无法守住第四节的11分领先优势

马刺队没有料到会这样。即使他们拥有两天的休息时间，即使菲尼克斯在三天内打了三场比赛的情况下迷迷糊糊地来到阿拉莫圆顶球馆，即使他们带着11分的领先优势进入第四节。

但他们就在那里，在 16,419 名目瞪口呆的观众面前，默默地看着太阳队走下球场。菲尼克斯从他们的口袋里偷走了 79-76 的胜利。这场偷窃并没有被忽视。

控球后卫艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson) 说：“谢天谢地季后赛明天还没开始。”

以他们目前缓慢的速度，马刺队 (4-4) 明显有更迫切的担忧。弄清楚他们是如何在最后几分钟让一场看似稳操胜券的胜利蒸发，将是一个目标。避免重蹈覆辙将是另一个目标。

马刺队摇摆人马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie) 说：“我们领先了 11 分。我们有优势。我们有一个很好的比赛计划。”“然后突然之间，我们开始像在公园里散步一样四处走动。我们必须打满 48 分钟。你不能只打 24 分钟。你不能只打半场比赛。”

“这就是我们输给本该击败的球队的理由。”

当然，还有其他因素：第四节只得 8 分；最后 7 分 29 秒只投进一球；以及——最大的罪过——最后 3 分 11 秒一分未得。

那些据说疲惫不堪的太阳队找回了他们的腿和投篮。菲尼克斯在第三节还剩一分钟时落后 15 分，他们反扑了回来。

杰森·基德(Jason Kidd) 在比赛还剩 3 分 33 秒时投进了一记后仰跳投，让太阳队自第一节中段以来首次领先。大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson) 灌篮得分，蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan) 罚球得分后，汤姆·古格利奥塔(Tom Gugliotta) 命中了一记 16 英尺的跳投，让菲尼克斯以 77-76 领先。

马刺队就这样了。他们再也没有得分。肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott) 错失了三次投篮。邓肯错失了另一次投篮。

马刺队在比赛还剩 10.5 秒时叫了暂停，试图用三分球将比赛拖入加时赛。但由于埃利奥特、埃利和史蒂夫·科尔(Steve Kerr) 都被盯防，罗宾逊被迫投出一记 25 英尺的远投，球弹框而出。

马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich) 说：“这是一场非常艰难的失利。”“尤其是在你试图让球队团结起来的时候。”

在崩溃之前，马刺队看起来有所进步。他们传球更流畅，而且有时似乎很适应太阳队快节奏的打法。到中场休息时，他们领先了 12 分。在第三节还剩一分钟时，他们领先了 15 分。

然而，所有这些都在最后 12 分钟崩溃了，在这 12 分钟里，马刺队只投进了 16 球中的 2 球。罗宾逊在上半场得到 13 分和 8 个篮板，但由于犯规麻烦，他在第三节大部分时间都坐在板凳上，最终只得到 3 分和 1 个篮板。

邓肯说：“我们做了很多好事，但我们就是会出现失误。”“我们需要保持专注。我们现在非常沮丧。我们不能让沮丧情绪影响我们。我们必须扭转局面。”

“我们的进攻一直磕磕绊绊。”波波维奇说。“我们终于打起来了，但我们又因为罚球命中率只有 50% 而受到双重打击。”

“如果你将对手限制在 79 分，而你只得 8 分，罚球命中率只有 50%，那就很难赢球。”

基德在第四节率领太阳队反扑，赢得了本赛季的第二个三双（14 分，15 个篮板和 10 次助攻）。基德用高位挡拆折磨着马刺队，他在第四节得到 8 分，4 次助攻和 7 个篮板。菲尼克斯在决定性的第四节抢下了 15 个篮板，而马刺队只有 8 个。

太阳队主教练丹尼·安吉(Danny Ainge) 说：“他是一个战士。”“像他这样的人在关键时刻想要球，他也得到了球。我看到了他眼中的光芒和脸上的表情。”

“他就是有一种获胜的意志。我能从他脸上看出来。”

埃利说，马刺队也需要一点这种意志。

埃利说：“当我们看到血的时候，我们必须去抢。赛季很短，我们一直在落后。这不会变得更容易。我们接下来要面对湖人队、超音速队和爵士队。在接下来的几周里，我们将找到我们的球队身份。”

其他新闻

- 珀杜因伤缺阵：马刺队在周三的比赛前将替补中锋威尔·珀杜(Will Perdue) 放入了伤病名单。

这一举动意味着珀杜必须等到 2 月 26 日马刺队客场对阵超音速队的比赛才能复出。珀杜自 2 月 6 日对阵森林狼队的比赛中扭伤右脚踝以来一直缺阵。

珀杜在周一接受了第二次磁共振成像检查，结果显示轻微骨挫伤。马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇表示，珀杜可能要过四五天才能开始跑步。——约翰尼·路登(Johnny Ludden)

马刺队比赛观赛指南

周三：太阳队 79，@马刺队 76

得分最高者：马刺队 - 邓肯 20 分；太阳队 - 古格利奥塔 19 分

战绩：马刺队 4-4（并列中西部赛区第四名）；菲尼克斯 5-3（太平洋赛区第二名）

连胜纪录：输 1 场

下一场比赛：周五 @洛杉矶湖人队，晚上 9:30（电视：KRRT，TNT）

在线：www.expressnews.com/spurs

点击查看原文：Suns rally to shade Spurs - S.A. unable to hang on to 11-point edge in final period

Suns rally to shade Spurs - S.A. unable to hang on to 11-point edge in final period

The Spurs didn’t expect this. Not with two days of rest. Not with Phoenix sleepwalking into the Alamodome for its third game in as many nights.

And definitely not with an 11- point lead to start the final quarter.

But there they were, in front of a stunned crowd of 16,419, solemnly watching the Suns skip off the court. Phoenix had snatched a 79-76 win from their hip pocket. And the theft did not go unnoticed.

Said point guard Avery Johnson: “Thank God the playoffs don’t start tomorrow.”

At their current plodding pace, the Spurs (4-4) obviously have more immediate concerns. Finding out how they allowed a seemingly comfortable win to evaporate in the final few minutes would be one goal. Avoiding a repeat of the disaster would be another.

“We were up 11. We had a comfortable lead. We had a good game plan going,” Spurs swingman Mario Elie said. "Then all of a sudden we start walking around like it’s a walk in the park. We’ve got to play 48 tough minutes. You can’t play 24. You can’t play half the game.

“That’s why we lost to a team we should have beat.”

There, of course, were other factors: scoring eight points in the final quarter; making one shot in the final seven minutes, 29 seconds; and - the cardinal sin - going scoreless in the final 3:11.

The supposedly weary Suns, found their legs and their shot. Phoenix, down by 15 with a minute left in the third quarter, came roaring back.

Jason Kidd’s fallaway with 3:33 left gave the Suns’ their first lead since midway through the first quarter. After a dunk by David Robinson and a free throw by Tim Duncan, Tom Gugliotta knocked down a 16-footer for a 77-76 Phoenix advantage.

That was it for the Spurs. They never scored again. Sean Elliott missed three shots. Duncan missed another.

The Spurs called timeout with 10.5 seconds left to try to send the game into overtime with a three- pointer. But with Elliott, Elie and Steve Kerr covered, Robinson was forced to throw up a 25-footer that banged off the back of the rim.

“It’s a real tough loss,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “Especially when you’re trying to get things together.”

The Spurs looked like they had made improvement before unraveling. They moved the ball better and, at times, seemed comfortable playing at the Suns’ up-tempo pace. By halftime, they led by 12. With a minute left in the third, they led by 15.

All of that, however, fell apart in a horrendous final 12 minutes that saw the Spurs make only 2 of 16 shots. Robinson, who had 13 points and eight rebounds in the first half, sat most of the third period with foul trouble and finished with only three points and one board the rest of the way.

“We did a lot of things good, but we just have lapses,” said Duncan, who led the Spurs with 20 points and 12 boards. “We need to keep our focus. We are very frustrated right now. We can’t let the frustration get to us. We have to turn it around.”

“We’ve sputtered and stammered on offense all year,” Popovich said. "We finally get it going, and we get hit with a double whammy by shooting only 50 percent from the line.

“If you hold a team to 79 points, you can’t score eight points and shoot 50 percent from the line. It makes it very difficult to win.”

Kidd sparked the Suns in the final quarter en route to his second triple-double (14 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists) of the season. Torturing the Spurs with a high pick-and-roll, Kidd totaled eight points, four assists and seven boards in the final period. Phoenix outrebounded the Spurs 15-8 in the decisive quarter.

“He’s a warrior,” Suns coach Danny Ainge said. "A guy like that wants the ball in the clutch, and he got it. I could see the look in his eye and in his face.

“He just has that will to win. I could see it in his face.”

The Spurs, Elie said, could use a little of that themselves.

“When we see blood,” Elie said, “we have to go for it. It’s a short season, and we keep falling farther back and back. It doesn’t get any easier. We’ve got the Lakers, Seattle and Utah coming up. We’re going to find out our team identity in the next couple of weeks.”

Notes

- Perdue out: The Spurs placed backup center Will Perdue on the disabled list prior to Wednesday’s game.

The move means Perdue cannot return to the lineup until the Spurs play at Seattle Feb. 26. Perdue has been sidelined since spraining his right ankle in the fourth quarter against Minnesota on Feb. 6.

Perdue on Monday underwent a second magnetic resonance imaging which revealed a slight bone bruise. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Perdue probably won’t be cleared to begin running for four or five days. - Johnny Ludden

Spurs watch

Wednesday: Suns 79, @Spurs 76

Top scorers: Spurs - Duncan 20; Suns - Gugliotta 19

Records: Spurs 4-4 (tied for fourth in Midwest Division); Phoenix 5-3 (second in Pacific Division)

Streak: Lost 1

Next game: Friday @L.A. Lakers, 9:30 p.m. (TV: KRRT, TNT)

Online: www.expressnews.com/spurs

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-18, By Glenn Rogers

基德带队上演逆转好戏 - 高位挡拆战术成为太阳队反超关键

太阳队主教练丹尼·安吉(Danny Ainge) 在周三晚上对阵马刺队的比赛中，在比赛后期发现了自己一直想要的东西。

“我看到了杰森(Jason)眼中的坚定，”安吉谈到他的控球后卫基德时说道。

这种眼神让安吉决定将球队战术调整为高位挡拆进攻。

这使得太阳队上演了一场令人震惊的逆转，他们在最后时刻从落后11分的情况下，最终以79-76战胜了对手。现场16,419名观众都为之惊叹。

“我们在昨晚对阵火箭队的比赛中，在逆境中屈服了，”安吉谈到周二对阵火箭队的失利时说道，“但今晚我们没有，我们打乱了他们的快攻，并打出了强硬的防守。”

太阳队彻底压制了马刺队的进攻组织。马刺队在第四节仅投中2球，得到8分，这是太阳队史上对手单节最低得分。

太阳队在进入比赛前场均失分101分，排名联盟第二差。这已经是他们连续三天的第三场比赛。

“我们知道他们会尝试着打穿我们的防线，”基德谈到球队预计会出现的疲劳时说道，“我们一直在失太多分，但今晚我们证明了我们也能打出不错的防守。”

太阳队在上半场明显体力下降，他们的投篮命中率仅为40%，还出现了三次打铁，以及几次篮板球被弹回前框的情况。

马刺队则命中率高达51%，并在半场结束时领先12分。

基德在半场休息时承诺要带领球队战胜马刺队。他最终拿下了三双——15个篮板、10次助攻和14分。

“我告诉丹尼，我能从高位挡拆中获得一些投篮机会，”他说，“我说我会拼尽全力。即使我不得不爬着去飞机，我们也能抓住它。但我想要付出我全部的力量。”

马刺队未能调整防守来应对太阳队的进攻。

“杰森从挡拆中突出的速度太快了，他们无法阻止他，”卢克·朗利(Luc Longley)说道，“他们试图调整防守，但没有成功。我很高兴我们及时找到了这种战术。这是一个很好的教练安排。”

乔治·麦克劳德(George McCloud)用一记16尺跳投帮助太阳队取得了最终的领先。

“我知道（马刺队）会包夹我，但乔治让自己出现在了空位，”基德说道，他在这记助攻中送出了最后一次传球。

马刺队在比赛还剩10.2秒时，试图扳平比分。他们在逼迫太阳队出现24秒违例后，获得了最后的机会。

“我们想拖延时间，但我们最终没有投出球，”安吉说道。

当马刺队无法将球传到正确的位置时，他们的机会也就消失了。罗宾逊(Robinson)最终出手了三分球，这球如果命中就能帮助球队扳平比分。

“实际上，我们想犯规，但当（大卫）罗宾逊拿到球时，我们已经来不及犯规，否则他会获得三次罚球机会，”安吉说道，“然后蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)抢到了篮板球，我们很高兴他没有传球。替补席上所有的人都高喊着，‘投吧，现在就投吧！’”

邓肯错失了这记两分球，比赛时间也随之结束。

点击查看原文：Kidd makes child's play of comeback - High pick-and-roll key to Suns' surge

Kidd makes child’s play of comeback - High pick-and-roll key to Suns’ surge

Suns coach Danny Ainge found exactly what he was looking for late in the game against the Spurs Wednesday night at the Alamodome.

“I saw the look in Jason’s eyes,” Ainge said of his point guard, Kidd.

The look encouraged Ainge to shift his offense to an attack from the high pick-and-roll.

That led to a remarkable - shocking to the 16,419 in attendance - Phoenix rally from 11 points down in the final period to a 79-76 victory.

“We gave in to adversity in Houston last night,” Ainge said of the loss to the Rockets Tuesday. “Tonight we didn’t, we took them out of their transition game and played strong defense.”

The Suns took the Spurs out of any semblance of an organized offense. San Antonio hit 2 of 16 field goals and scored eight points in their hapless fourth quarter. The eight points allowed tied a Suns record for an opponent’s output.

The Suns had been giving up 101 points per game coming into the dome, second worst in the league. The game was their third in three nights.

“We read where they were going to try to run the ball down our throats,” Kidd said of the expected weariness that would hit his team. “We have been giving up too many points, but tonight we showed that we could play some defense.”

The Suns were noticeably dragging through the first half when they hit 40 percent of their shots, fired three airballs and bounced shots off the front rim.

The Spurs hit 51 percent and led by 12 at the intermission.

Kidd, who finished the game with a triple double - 15 rebounds, 10 assists and 14 points - vowed at halftime to take the game to the Spurs.

“I told Danny I could get some shots from the high pick-and-roll,” he said. “I said I was going to leave it all on the court. If I had to crawl to the airplane, we could hold it up. But I wanted to give it all I had.”

The Spurs failed to adjust to the Suns’ offense.

“Jason was coming off the pick so hard, so fast, they couldn’t contain him,” Luc Longley said. “They tried to adjust to it but couldn’t. I’m glad we found it in time. It was a good coaching call.”

George McCloud gave Phoenix the final lead with a 16-footer.

“I knew (the Spurs) would close in on me, but George made himself available,” said Kidd, who picked up his last assist with that pass.

The Spurs had a last-gasp try to tie the game with 10.2 seconds left. They had the time after they forced the Suns into a 24-second clock violation.

“We wanted to run the clock down, but then we couldn’t get a shot off,” Ainge said.

It didn’t matter when the Spurs couldn’t get the ball into the right hands at the other end. Robinson wound up taking the three-pointer that would’ve tied the game.

“Actually, we wanted to foul them but by the time (David) Robinson got it, we couldn’t get to him in time to foul him without giving him three foul shots,” Ainge said. “Then Tim (Duncan) got the rebound and we were happy that he didn’t kick it out. The bench was all shouting, ‘Shoot it, shoot it now,’” the coach said.

Duncan missed a two-pointer and time, like the game, was gone.

By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-18, By Buck Harvey

Not-so-great night of the Great Santini

Where do you start?

With rested Spurs and burned-out Suns? With free-throw shooting that wouldn’t win a stuffed bear at a carnival? With Sean Elliott getting three open looks in the final three minutes and clanging each?

You start with the Great Santini. Everybody does.

The hair gets shorter. Knit shirts replace a tie. And the military man in the military town, Gregg Popovich, morphs into a Pat Conroy character. You can almost see this Great Santini on his backyard court, hitting the Spurs with a basketball and calling them crybabies.

You can see the Great Santini angering his greatly talented family, doing it all wrong, because aren’t coaches always to blame when the better team snoozes with an eight-point fourth quarter? How else could the Spurs be beaten by one man, Jason Kidd, who had more energy than all the Spurs put together?

Phil Jackson would never let this happen, right?

“That’s a bad comparison,” said Steve Kerr. “Because we (the Bulls) had the greatest finisher in the history of the game.”

Michael Jordan might have taken a Big Bertha to his teammates if they’d done what the Spurs did at the end of the third quarter. Then, celebrating their own scoring binge, the Spurs let Tom Gugliotta throw in two ho- hum baskets, the last one at the buzzer.

Jordan knew about momentum and the need to step on a few necks to squash all hope. The Spurs? They let Chicago without Jordan hang around on Sunday, too.

So Chicago won titles because of Jordan. But what about Houston, the other winner of the '90s? Rudy Tomjanovich never would have allowed such a pathetic night, right?

“We had guys who were warriors,” said Mario Elie. “Rudy didn’t have to tell those guys what to do. I’m tired of the attitude here, that we’re the Spurs and all we have to do is walk out and play. It’s the guys’ demeanors, and I can’t change that. They tell me it’s been that way here for years.”

Elie has given variations of this speech before, and it’s generally been aimed at his frontline. Even after games the Spurs have won, Elie says he sits on the bench grinding his teeth, about to explode at the lack of emotion he sees.

So there he was Wednesday, grinding away again. Elie leaned over to Kerr early in the second half and said: If we let the Suns hang around, we’re stupid and we’re in trouble.

The Spurs came in wanting to run, and the Suns were the perfect patsies for the plan, since Phoenix came in without any legs. But sensing they had already won, the Spurs quit.

“We lacked the killer instinct,” said Kerr. “(The Suns) were ready to get blown out.”

Kidd would protest that. He was never ready. “I just said to myself when the second half started, ‘I’ve got 24 minutes left to play on this road trip and I’m going to leave it all out on the floor. They can carry me to the airplane.’”

They did. On their shoulders. The Suns scored every fourth-quarter basket because of either a Kidd shot or an assist. Afterward, when Danny Ainge searched for a word to describe his triple-doubling point guard, he chose the one Elie used for his former teammates. “Warrior.”

Ainge went on to say he could see the look in Kidd’s eyes. But a look was also in the Spurs’ eyes. It was the look of a wonderfully underachieving, overrated eighth seed.

On this night, they deserved to be called crybabies.

But as the fans filed out, one stopped outside the Spurs’ locker room to yell the usual. “Fire Gregg Popovich.”

You always start there, don’t you?

By Buck Harvey, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-19, By Johnny Ludden

马刺队试图避免恐怖电影续集

马刺队，一群以电影迷著称的球员，在飞往阳光明媚的电影和硅谷之都洛杉矶之前，于周四早上召集了一次最后的放映。

在从圣母大学（University of the Incarnate Word）大会中心（Convocation Center）的放映室退出来后，他们点头表示同意：他们在 12 分钟内看到的片段足以让恐怖片鼻祖韦斯·克雷文（Wes Craven）感到毛骨悚然。

“太难看了，”马里奥·埃利（Mario Elie）说。

马刺队很想把周三对阵菲尼克斯的第四节灾难性表现剪掉。那些画面太可怕了。21 次进攻，只有 2 个进球。11 分的领先优势变成了 3 分的失利。

“这是一堂如何自我毁灭的课程，”马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇（Gregg Popovich）说。

波波维奇重放了第四节的比赛片段，就是为了确保他今晚不会再次亲眼看到这场比赛，届时马刺队将在伟大的西部论坛（Great Western Forum）迎战洛杉矶湖人队。过去已经有很多干扰因素笼罩着这场比赛。

除了计划进行一项将埃尔登·坎贝尔（Elden Campbell）和埃迪·琼斯（Eddie Jones）送到夏洛特换取格伦·莱斯（Glen Rice）的交易之外，湖人队过去一周一直在与丹尼斯·罗德曼（Dennis Rodman）调情。洛杉矶官员尚未正式宣布签下罗德曼，但肖恩·埃利奥特（Sean Elliott）说，他不会感到惊讶，因为这位前马刺球员可能只是在等待今晚的全国电视转播比赛登场。

“丹尼斯是公关大师，”埃利奥特说。“这是他整个比赛计划。都是精心安排好的。”

“在某个时刻，他会冲出来，每个人都会对他疯狂。”

埃利说：“我希望他上场。他会带来一些刺激。我们还需要一些刺激。”

当然，罗德曼未来可能的队友之一已经煽风点火。沙奎尔·奥尼尔（Shaquille O’Neal）在他们 2 月 8 日的首场比赛之前给了马刺队比他们想听的还要多。然后，他在湖人队 80-75 的胜利中砍下 26 分，并在比赛结束时跑到记者席前大喊：“他们不想跟我有任何瓜葛！”

埃利说，那并不完全正确。

“奥尼尔一直在说垃圾话。他来我们主场打败了我们，”埃利说。“希望，我们能去他的主场打败他。”

为了做到这一点，马刺队需要找到他们失踪的进攻。他们在对阵太阳队的最后一节比赛中 16 投 2 中，同时还罚丢了一半的罚球。

埃利奥特以及马刺队其他首发阵容——大卫·罗宾逊（David Robinson）和蒂姆·邓肯（Tim Duncan）——合计贡献了球队 17 次失误中的 13 次。即使他们发现了菲尼克斯的包夹防守，罗宾逊和邓肯也难以传球，因为其他马刺球员没有合理地站位。

“我们必须保持自豪，”埃利说。“我们是一支老牌球队。我们需要停止犯菜鸟错误。”

埃利试图从马刺队缓慢的开局中找到一些乐观情绪。去年的球队在创造了 NBA 历史上最伟大的逆转之前战绩为 10 胜 10 负。马刺队 1994-95 赛季的 62 胜赛季也以 7 胜 9 负的开局为标志。

“我们很沮丧，”埃利奥特说。“但情况并不像过去那么糟糕。”

“去年我们输掉比赛的时候，分差都是 25 分或 30 分。今年，我们只输掉 2 分或 3 分。我们只是没有执行战术，也没有投进球。”

“我在（周三的）最后 3 分钟里投丢了 3 个球。我一直都在等待这种时刻。”

波波维奇说，马刺队目前的情况并不令人感到安慰。

“这是一个塑造性格的机会，”波波维奇说。“在这里比以 8-0 的战绩开局要困难得多。”

“在接下来的两三周内，这将告诉我们这支球队拥有怎样的性格。”

这支球队的自我任命看门狗表示同意。

“你可以说所有你想说的话，做所有你想做的激励演讲，”埃利说。“但那没有用。”

“你只需要做好自己的工作。我也是。我（周三）打得不好，但我（今晚）会打得更好。”

“每个人都需要照照镜子。”

即使他们不喜欢他们看到的东西。

埃利说：“录像不会说谎。”

点击查看原文：Spurs try to avoid horror-film sequel

Spurs try to avoid horror-film sequel

The Spurs, proud film buffs they are, gathered for one final screening Thursday morning before jetting off to this sun-splashed celluloid- and-silicone capital.

And after retreating from the viewing room at the University of the Incarnate Word’s Convocation Center they nodded in agreement: What they had just seen in 12 minutes was enough to make horror-flick patriarch Wes Craven flinch.

“It was ugly,” Mario Elie said.

The Spurs would love to leave Wednesday’s fourth-quarter fatality against Phoenix on the cutting-room floor. The scenes were far too grisly. Twenty-one possessions. Two baskets. An 11-point lead disintegrated into a three-point loss.

“It was an exercise in how to beat yourself,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

Popovich replayed footage of the final quarter expressly to make sure he doesn’t have to watch it firsthand again tonight when the Spurs meet the Los Angeles Lakers at the Great Western Forum. There are already too many past distractions clouding the game.

While also planning a future trade that would send Elden Campbell and Eddie Jones to Charlotte for Glen Rice, the Lakers have spent the past week flirting with Dennis Rodman. Los Angeles officials had yet to make an official announcement on Rodman’s signing, but Sean Elliott said he wouldn’t be surprised if the former Spur was just waiting to climb up on tonight’s nationally televised stage.

“Dennis is the master of p.r.,” Elliott said. "That’s his whole game plan. It’s all choreographed.

“At some point he’s going to run out and everyone is going to go ga-ga.”

Said Elie: “I hope he plays. He would add some spice. And we need things spiced up.”

Of course, one of Rodman’s possible future teammates has already fanned the flames. Shaquille O’Neal gave the Spurs more than they wanted to listen to before their first meeting on Feb. 8. Then he went out and scored 26 points in the Lakers’ 80- 75 win, running over to press row at the end of the game to yell, “They don’t want any part of me!”

That’s not exactly true, Elie said.

“Shaq’s been talking all that junk. He went in our house and beat us,” Elie said. “Hopefully, we’ll go into his house and beat him.”

To do that, the Spurs will need to locate their missing-in-action offense. They missed 14 of 16 shots - in addition to half their free throws - in the final quarter against the Suns.

Elliott and the rest of the Spurs’ starting frontline - David Robinson and Tim Duncan - combined for 13 of the team’s 17 turnovers. Even when they did recognize Phoenix’s double teams, Robinson and Duncan had trouble passing because the other Spurs were not spaced properly.

“We’ve just got to take pride,” Elie said. “We’re a veteran team. We need to stop making rookie mistakes.”

Elliott tried to find some optimism in the Spurs’ sluggish opening. Last year’s team went 10-10 before recording the greatest turnaround in NBA history. The Spurs’ 62-win season in 1994-95 also was marked by a 7-9 start.

“We’re frustrated,” Elliott said. "But it’s not as bad as it’s been in the past.

"Last year we were losing games by 25 or 30 points. This year, we’re losing by two or three. We’re just not executing or hitting our shots.

“I missed three shots (in the final three minutes Wednesday). And I had been waiting for that situation for a year.”

The Spurs’ present situation, Popovich said, isn’t too comforting.

“It’s a character-building situation,” Popovich said. "It’s a lot tougher to be here than to be 8-0.

“This should tell us over the next two or three weeks what kind of character we have in the group.”

The team’s self-appointed watch dog agreed.

“You can do all the talking and give all the motivational speeches you want,” Elie said. "But that’s not going to get it done.

"You’ve just got to do your job. Myself as well. I didn’t have a good game (Wednesday), but I’m going to play better (tonight).

“Guys need to look at themselves in the mirror.”

Even if they don’t like what they see.

Said Elie: “The film doesn’t lie.”

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-20, By Travis Poling

别太习惯便宜的马刺球票

圣安东尼奥马刺队竭尽全力吸引球迷回归。

马刺队在与湖人队的比赛中，将13,795人挤进了上层看台。球票价格为99美分，附赠一罐雪碧。开幕周末的“两场球票价格为一场”的优惠活动也吸引了球迷。

别习惯了。

“我们不得不采取一些创造性的措施，”马刺队商业运营执行副总裁鲁斯·布克宾德(Russ Bookbinder)说。“你不能只是打开大门，然后说‘欢迎回来’。”

“从收入角度来看，这些都是我们以前从未做过的事情，”他谈到降价促销时说。“我们让球迷回到了球馆。”

没有大幅降价的噱头，马刺队已经预售了周日对阵底特律活塞队的比赛的18,000张球票。到比赛当天，预计将座无虚席（上层看台关闭）。

布克宾德说，电视收视率也与去年持平。

所以优惠结束了。

“这不是我们销售产品的模式。这是一款优质产品，”布克宾德说。

长期进行促销只会贬低产品（并且会严重损害收入）。

全季都将提供通常的9美元家庭票，今年将有11场比赛提供5美元的上层看台票，主要是爵士、火箭和湖人队的比赛。

值得注意的是，公牛队没有出现在上层看台的开幕名单中。

布克宾德表示，迈克尔·乔丹(Michael Jordan)退出篮球以及公牛队的解体将对马刺队的财务造成损失。

在过去的几年里，将公牛队与马刺队的比赛纳入小型套票套餐，可以推动对其他比赛的销售。

在阿拉莫穹顶，有20,500个下层座位，马刺队每场主场比赛需要售出约12,000-14,000张单张或套票才能满座。季票持有者占其余部分。

布克宾德说，每场比赛的广告支出没有增加，以吸引球迷回归，但整个赛季的季票和形象宣传支出略有增加。

如果马刺队希望通过城市公投帮助建造一个新的球馆，形象将至关重要。

马刺队继续向奥斯汀市场示好，以帮助填满球馆。奥斯汀球迷，无论他们对NBA球员停摆有什么想法，他们都以与上赛季相同的数量回来了。

布克宾德表示，300名奥斯汀周末套票持有者已经续约本赛季，续约率约为95%。

此外，多达1700名奥斯汀人从马刺队的奥斯汀办公室购买了大多数周末比赛的单场球票。

点击查看原文：Don't get too accustomed to low-cost Spurs tickets

Don’t get too accustomed to low-cost Spurs tickets

The San Antonio Spurs organization pulled out all the stops to bring the fans back.

The Spurs packed 13,795 people into the upper deck for their matchup with the Lakers. The ticket cost 99 cents along with a Sprite can. A deal offering two games for the price of one on opening weekend also brought the fans in.

Don’t get used to it.

“We had to do some creative things,” said Russ Bookbinder, Spurs executive vice president of business operations. "You don’t just open the doors and say ‘welcome back.’

“From a revenue standpoint, these are things we have not normally done,” he said of discounting the product. “We got the people back in the building.”

Without deep discount gimmicks, the Spurs have pre-sold 18,000 tickets for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Pistons. A full house (with the upper deck closed) is expected by game day.

Television ratings also are holding up as well as last year, Bookbinder said.

So the deals are over.

“That’s not the way we sell this product. It’s a premium product,” Bookbinder said.

Doing deals for the long run would only cheapen the product (and are a killer on revenues).

The usual $9 family-priced seats will remain available throughout the season, and $5 upper-deck games will be available for 11 games this year - mainly Jazz, Rockets and Lakers matchups.

The notable absence from the upper-deck opening list is the Chicago Bulls.

Bookbinder said Michael Jordan’s exit from basketball and the dismantling of the Bulls will be a financial drain on the Spurs.

In past years, having a Bulls- Spurs rumble as part of a mini- package of tickets drove sales for lesser games.

In the Alamodome, with 20,500 lower-bowl seats, the Spurs have to move about 12,000-14,000 individual or package tickets each home game for a full house. Season ticket holders make up the remainder.

Advertising spending per game has not gone up to woo back the fans, but spending on the overall season-ticket and image campaigns is up slightly, Bookbinder said.

Image will be everything if the Spurs get their wish for a city referendum ballot to help build a new arena.

The Spurs continue court the Austin market to help fill the joint. Austin fans, whatever their feelings about the NBA player lockout, have returned in numbers equal to last season.

Bookbinder said 300 Austin weekend package-holders have renewed for this season, a renewal rate of about 95 percent.

In addition, as many as 1,700 Austinites buy single-game tickets from the Spurs’ Austin office for most weekend games.

By Travis Poling, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-20, By Johnny Ludden

湖人队加剧马刺队的痛楚 - 随着罗德曼即将加盟洛杉矶，- 圣安东尼奥再次陷入困惑

正如预期的那样，在全国电视观众的注视下，与他的前队友进行一场备受关注的比赛，丹尼斯·罗德曼(Dennis Rodman)终于在周五晚上进入了球馆。

他戴着一顶牛仔布和拼凑的帽子。他身穿洛杉矶湖人队的球衣可能要等到周末结束才能穿上。

但这并不重要。湖人队在将罗德曼的号码加入快速拨号名单之前就已掌握了马刺队的命脉。周五的情况也没有什么改变。

洛杉矶湖人队在主场大西部论坛以 106-94 的比分战胜马刺队，取得了对马刺队的六连胜，也是本赛季的第二场胜利。这场比赛吸引了 17,505 名观众，球馆座无虚席。马刺队本赛季首次让对手得分超过 100 分，战绩跌至令人不安的 4胜5负。

沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal)、科比·布莱恩特(Kobe Bryant)和埃迪·琼斯(Eddie Jones)在 2 月 8 日湖人队以 80-75 获胜的比赛中发挥了重要作用，他们再次带领湖人队 (6胜3负) 取得胜利，三人联手贡献了 65 分。但老将控球后卫德里克·哈珀(Derek Harper)可能才是最具破坏力的人物。

哈珀本场比赛 9 投 8 中，替补出场贡献 18 分和 6 次助攻。当马刺队在第一节试图拉开比分时，他替补上场，在不到 3 分钟的时间里就贡献了 8 分。

“德里克·哈珀发挥了巨大作用，”马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)说道。“如果没有他，我们应该能在半场取得更大的领先优势。

“我相信球迷们主要注意到他的进攻，但他防守也打得非常出色。”

事实确实如此。马刺队控球后卫艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson) 9 投 3 中，最终得到 6 分和 3 次助攻。马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)替补首发得分后卫贾伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson) 出战了大部分比赛，14 投 5 中得到 12 分。史蒂夫·科尔(Steve Kerr) 在 17 分钟的比赛中只出手 2 次。

半场落后 5 分的洛杉矶湖人队在第三节开局阶段拉开了比分，当时大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)——他似乎正在形成一种趋势——因为犯规麻烦被迫下场。

罗宾逊在第三节开始后几秒内就领到第四次犯规，湖人队随即打出一波 13-0 的攻势，将 7 分的落后变成了 58-52 的领先。罗宾逊的两张犯规都是对湖人队后卫犯下的。

“我相信他一定在后悔那些犯规，”波波维奇说道。“你想要让那些矮个子球员在你面前投篮。”

由于威尔·珀杜(Will Perdue)因伤缺阵，而且不想让蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)和罗宾逊一起坐在板凳席上，马刺队被迫派上杰拉德·金(Gerard King)或马利克·罗斯(Malik Rose)——身高 6 英尺 7 英寸——来防守奥尼尔和他的 7 英尺 1 英寸、315 磅的身躯。

这远远不够。奥尼尔全场得到全队最高的 28 分，其中下半场得到 18 分。

邓肯全场得到全队最高的 26 分，他在第三节得到 11 分，帮助马刺队保持着追赶的势头。他打成一次“3+1”，封盖了一次投篮，然后两罚全中，迅速将洛杉矶队的领先优势缩小到 71-70。然而，湖人队在第三节最后时刻连得 4 分。

马刺队在第四节始终未能将分差缩小到 4 分以内。

罗德曼，他一直在考虑加盟湖人队，在中场休息时出现在了球馆。他宣布将于周一在当地星球好莱坞酒店举行新闻发布会。

罗德曼周五早些时候表示，他可能在本赛季加盟湖人队或迈阿密热火队。而湖人队球迷表达了他们的愿望，在比赛还剩 1 分半钟时高呼“罗德曼！罗德曼！”。

这场闹剧已经分散了湖人队的注意力。洛杉矶湖人队总经理杰里·韦斯特(Jerry West)表示，他对这种情况感到“愤怒”，并将不再回答有关罗德曼的问题。湖人队主教练德尔·哈里斯(Del Harris)也要求他的球员这样做。

即使没有罗德曼，湖人队在比赛前也几乎需要为大前锋位置进行选秀。罗伯特·霍里(Robert Horry)因心律不齐连续缺席了第四场比赛，他将不会参加湖人队即将到来的三场客场比赛。由于替补前锋/中锋特拉维斯·奈特(Travis Knight)也因脚踝扭伤缺阵，科里·布朗特(Corey Blount)首发出场。

点击查看原文：Lakers add to Spurs' pain - With Rodman on the L.A. horizon, - San Antonio puzzled again

Lakers add to Spurs’ pain - With Rodman on the L.A. horizon, - San Antonio puzzled again

True to form, with a national-television audience watching and a high-profile meeting against his former teammates, Dennis Rodman finally entered the building Friday night.

In a denim-and-patchwork hat. His Los Angeles Lakers uniform may have to wait until the end of the weekend.

Not that it mattered. The Lakers had the Spurs’ number long before they put Rodman’s on speed dial. And little changed Friday.

Los Angeles beat the Spurs 106-94 for the sixth straight time - and the second this season - in front a sellout crowd of 17,505 at the Great Western Forum. In allowing a team to break the century mark for the first time this season, the Spurs fell to an unsettling 4-5.

Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Eddie Jones, who had a heavy hand in the Lakers’ 80-75 win on Feb. 8, again lifted the Lakers (6- 3), combining for 65 points. But veteran point guard Derek Harper may have done the most damage.

Harper, who missed only one of his nine shots, added 18 points and six assists off the bench for Los Angeles. When the Spurs were threatening to pull away in the first quarter, he replaced Derek Fisher and scored eight points in a little more than three minutes.

“Derek Harper was huge,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We would have had a bigger lead at the half if it wasn’t for him.

“I’m sure the fans will mainly notice his offense, but he also played tremendous defense.”

It showed. Spurs point guard Avery Johnson made only three of nine shots and finished with six points and three assists. Mario Elie, who played in place of starting off guard Jaren Jackson for most of the game, scored 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Steve Kerr only took two shots in 17 minutes.

Down by five at halftime, Los Angeles pulled away at the start of the third quarter when David Robinson - who appears to be making a trend of this - was forced to the bench in foul trouble.

After Robinson picked up his fourth foul seconds into the third quarter, the Lakers scored 13 straight points to turn a seven- point deficit into a 58-52 lead. Two of Robinson’s fouls came against Lakers guards.

“I’m sure he’s kicking himself over those,” Popovich said. “You want to make the little guys shoot over you.”

With Will Perdue on the injured list and not wanting Tim Duncan to join Robinson on the bench, the Spurs were forced to send in Gerard King or Malik Rose - generously listed at 6-foot-7 - to defend O’Neal and his 7-1, 315-pound frame.

It wasn’t nearly enough. O’Neal finished with game-high 28 points, 18 in the second half.

Duncan, who finished with a team-high 26 points, kept the Spurs within striking distance with 11 points in the third quarter. He converted a three-point play, blocked a shot and then sank two free throws to quickly trim Los Angeles’ advantage to 71-70. The Lakers, however, answered with the final four points of the quarter.

The Spurs never got closer than four in the final quarter.

Rodman, who has been toying with the idea of joining the Lakers, showed up at halftime. He announced he would hold a news conference at Planet Hollywood here Monday.

Rodman said earlier Friday that he may play for the Lakers or Miami this season. And the Lakers fans made their feelings known by shouting “Rodman! Rodman!” with 11/2 minutes remaining.

The melodrama has already distracted the Lakers. Los Angeles general manager Jerry West said he was “furious” with the situation and will no longer answer questions about Rodman. Lakers coach Del Harris also asked his players to do the same.

Even without Rodman, the Lakers almost needed to hold auditions at power forward prior to the game. Robert Horry missed his fourth consecutive game Friday because of an irregular heartbeat and won’t join the Lakers on their upcoming three-game road trip. And with backup forward/center Travis Knight also out with a sprained ankle, Corey Blount started.

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-21, By Glenn Rogers

马刺期待“疯狗”般凶狠——埃里今天进入首发阵容

在今天中午马刺对阵底特律活塞队的比赛中，球队将对阵容进行首次重大调整。

主教练格雷格·波波维奇在取得4胜5负的战绩并遭遇两连败后，将让马里奥·埃里作为得分后卫首发，贾伦·杰克逊替补出场。

“我只想让比赛打得更稳定一些。”周六下午球队在穹顶球场进行轻松训练后，波波维奇说道。“这将给杰杰时间放松下来，看看他是否能打得更舒服。上帝知道，贾伦一直全力以赴，希望把工作做好。”

上赛季，杰克逊接过文尼·德尔·内格罗的首发位置。他以充满激情的防守和在关键时刻投进大号三分球的能力，激发了马刺的士气，让对手从领先变成落后。

埃里从替补席上场时也做得很好，尽管这位前火箭队员在投篮方面也遇到了一些问题。

在过去的五场比赛中，杰克逊场均仅得到6分，而且不再像去年那样成为球队的防守屏障。

埃里在最近五场比赛中场均得到8分，但他能够在赛场上给马刺的后场施加更大的压力。马刺的后场一直饱受对手得分后卫的折磨。

“突然穿上黑色球衣让我有点震惊，”埃里在周六下午表示，当时他正在与首发队员一起比赛。“我只想努力比赛，激励他们。我们需要增强气势。我会用我惯常的‘疯狗’心态比赛，希望它能发挥作用。”埃里一直是球队缺乏激情表现最直言不讳的批评者。“但是球员们必须自己领悟到这种（品质）。”

埃里表示，他其实很喜欢替补出场。

“我可以坐在那里，观察比赛的进程，看看需要什么，”他说。“我们仍然需要杰杰。希望在不久的将来，他能够再次成为首发。他只需要学会更早地进入状态。”

训练结束后，杰克逊在马刺的更衣室待了一个多小时，观看比赛录像。

“我们会拭目以待，”他说。“我必须专注于我的比赛。失望吗？我对自己感到失望，而不是对教练感到失望。他必须做出这样的决定。我们必须尝试一些办法来改变局面。也许这会对我有帮助。”

本赛季原本被期待成争夺NBA冠军的有力竞争者的马刺，却从赛季之初就开始挣扎。场均只能得到87.6分的进攻表现失常。球队的防守虽然将对手的得分限制在85.9分，但却一直无法将这种压力转化为转换篮筐。

球队在周五晚上洛杉矶的比赛中以一定程度打破了僵局，但仍然以106-104输给了湖人队。

“是的，那是场艰苦的比赛。”大卫·罗宾逊说，他因犯规麻烦只出场了26分钟。“湖人投进了几个高难度的球，而我陷入犯规麻烦并没有帮助球队。努力仍在，但我们正在犯一些小错误，这些错误真的伤害了我们。”他说道。“我们确实希望变得越来越好，但那还不是全部。我们需要赢得比赛来增强我们的信心。”

罗宾逊在最近的五场比赛中有四场都陷入犯规麻烦，但他表示这是可以解决的问题。

“对阵湖人的两个犯规只是愚蠢，我伸手犯规了，”他说。“但在其他比赛中，一些犯规来自一些糟糕的判罚。”

- 马刺新闻：活塞队的战绩也是4胜5负。他们连续输掉了五场比赛，但在周五以一场漂亮的胜利击败了菲尼克斯太阳队。

但他们内部也出现了一些问题。

明星格兰特·希尔饱受髋部疼痛困扰，但仍预计会在今天的比赛中出场，他开始对拜森·戴尔的比赛表现感到厌烦。

“他必须上场，”希尔说。“如果他不愿意，我们就得让他下场。我们可以让（新秀）米基·摩尔上场，至少他能给我们带来一些能量。如果拜森不想付出努力和精力，我们应该让他坐在场下。”

拜森的回答：“我不会说可以责怪一个人。我们一开始打得像一个有凝聚力的整体，但我们不再那样做了。”

底特律有些人，也许最明显的是杰里·斯塔克豪斯，认为希尔正在成为一个球霸。

“格兰特为我们球队贡献了很多得分，但我不认为这正是我们球队需要的，”斯塔克豪斯说。“我认为我们球队需要他更多地成为他曾经的三双选手。”

当然，斯塔克豪斯经历了一段35次投篮只命中7次的低迷时期，这让他不太讨传球者喜欢。

“我认为我们看他比赛时会停滞不前，”斯塔克豪斯说。“如果你一路突破，而在过去的两次或三次突破中都没有触球，那么很难再下去追赶一个人，并做你需要做的所有小事。我想要更多球权。”

马刺看点

今天的比赛：马刺对阵活塞队，中午，穹顶球场

战绩：马刺4胜5负，活塞队4胜5负

连胜记录：中断2场

值得注意的是：马里奥·埃里将取代贾伦·杰克逊出任首发后卫。

电视转播：NBC

调频收音机：WOAI-AM 1200；西班牙语，KCOR-AM 1350

比赛概览

系列赛：马刺队在所有比赛中以31胜21负领先。两支球队在去个赛季分庭抗礼。马刺队于1998年2月17日在穹顶球场以95-94获胜。底特律队于1998年3月25日在奥本山宫殿以103-94获胜。

球探报告：底特律队在周五以101-93击败菲尼克斯队，结束了五连败。格兰特·希尔在联盟得分榜上排名第二。唐·里德在首发阵容中取代了自由球员洛伊·沃特，担任大前锋。希尔批评了拜森·戴尔在中锋位置上的不稳定表现。戴尔在对阵太阳队的比赛中表现出他最好的状态之一，得到16分和11个篮板。

伤病：马刺队——威尔·帕杜（右脚踝扭伤）和布兰登·威廉姆斯（右脚足底筋膜炎）在伤病名单中。活塞队——格兰特·希尔（左髋）出场可能。史蒂夫·亨森（腰部下部肌肉拉伤）、克里斯汀·莱特纳（右跟腱撕裂）和科利昂·扬（背部痉挛）在伤病名单中。

赔率：马刺队领先7分

预测首发阵容

底特律活塞队 圣安东尼奥马刺队

球衣号 球员 身高 年份 位置 球衣号 球员 身高 年份

33 格兰特·希尔 6-8 5年 F 32 肖恩·艾利奥特 6-8 10年

52 唐·里德 6-8 4年 F 21 蒂姆·邓肯 7-0 2年

8 拜森·戴尔 6-11 8年 C 50 大卫·罗宾逊 7-1 10年

1 林赛·亨特 6-2 6年 G 17 马里奥·埃里 6-5 9年

42 杰里·斯塔克豪斯 6-6 4年 G 6 艾弗里·约翰逊 5-11 11年

底特律队替补球员 马刺队替补球员

4 - 科里·贝克，G，6-3，3年 33 - 安东尼奥·丹尼尔斯，G，6-4，2年

30 - 贾德·布赫勒，G，6-6，9年 10 - 安德鲁·加泽，G/F，6-6，2年

4 - 乔·杜马斯，G，6-3，14年 2 - 贾伦·杰克逊，G，6-6，9年

12 - 史蒂夫·亨森，G，6-1，7年 4 - 史蒂夫·科尔，G，6-3，11年

0 - 埃里克·蒙特罗斯，C，7-0，5年 25 - 杰罗姆·科西，F，6-7，15年

5 - 查尔斯·奥班农，G，6-5，2年 54 - 杰拉德·金，F，6-9，1年

35 - 洛伊·沃特，F，6-9，9年 31 - 马利克·罗斯，F，

点击查看原文：Spurs look for 'mad-dog' bite - Elie moves into starting lineup today

Spurs look for ‘mad-dog’ bite - Elie moves into starting lineup today

The first major tinkering with the Spurs’ lineup will take place when the team plays the Detroit Pistons at noon today at the Alamodome.

Coach Gregg Popovich, sitting with a 4-5 record and two consecutive losses, will start Mario Elie at shooting guard and bring Jaren Jackson off the bench.

“I just want to get a little more consistent play,” Popovich said after the team’s light workout at the dome Saturday afternoon. "This will give JJ time to relax and see if he can get more comfortable.

“Lord knows, Jaren has worked his butt off and wants to get the job done,” the coach said.

Jackson took over the starting job from Vinny Del Negro last season. He fired up the Spurs with energetic defense and an ability to hit big shots that switched momentum from opponents back to San Antonio.

Pretty much what Elie has been doing coming off the bench, although the former Rocket also is having his problems shooting.

Jackson has averaged just six points through the last five games and has not been the defensive stopper he was last year.

Elie is averaging eight points through the last five games but has been able to apply more physical pressure on backcourts that have been lacerating the San Antonio defensive schemes.

“It was kind of a shock, all of a sudden wearing the black jersey,” Elie said of his playing with the starters Saturday afternoon. "I’m just going to try to play hard, fire them up. We need a boost in energy.

“I’ll play with my usual mad-dog mentality and hope it rubs off,” said Elie, who has been one of the most vocal critics of the team’s dispassionate play. “But these guys have to get that (quality) from themselves.”

Elie said he actually enjoys coming off the bench.

“I can sit there, watch what’s going on and see what’s needed,” he said. “We still need JJ. Hopefully, down the road, he’ll be the starter again. He just has to learn to get it going earlier.”

Jackson spent an extra hour or so in the Spurs’ lockerroom watching game films after the workout.

“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “I have to concentrate on my game. Disappointed? I’m disappointed in myself, not in Coach. He has to make these types of decisions. We have to try something to get the ball rolling. Perhaps this will help me.”

The Spurs, expected to be a serious contender for the NBA title this season, have struggled from the season’s start. The offense, generating 87.6 points per game, is out of sync. The defense is helping to hold foes to 85.9 points but has been unable to turn that pressure into transition baskets.

The team broke out somewhat in Los Angeles Friday night but still succumbed to the Lakers, 106-104.

“Yes, that was a tough loss,” said David Robinson, who only played 26 minutes because of foul trouble. "The Lakers made some difficult shots and my being in foul trouble didn’t help.

“The effort is there but we’re making little mistakes that really hurt us,” he said. “We do want to keep getting better and better but it’s not just that. We need to win games to get our confidence going.”

Robinson has been in foul trouble in four of the last five games but said it was something that would be worked out.

“Two fouls against the Lakers were just dumb, I reached in,” he said. “But some of those others (in other games) came from some bad calls.”

- Spurs Notes: The Pistons also have a 4-5 record. They lost five straight but righted themselves with a nice win over the Suns in Phoenix on Friday.

But, they have had their share of turmoil.

Star Grant Hill, suffering from a sore hip but listed as probable for today’s game, was beginning to tire of Bison Dele’s play.

“He’s got to play,” Hill said. “If he doesn’t, we have to put him down. We could put (rookie) Mikki Moore out there and he’d at least give us some energy. If Bison doesn’t want to put out the effort and energy, we should sit him down.”

Bison’s reply: “I wouldn’t say you could blame one guy. We started out playing as a cohesive unit but we don’t do that anymore.”

Some in Detroit, perhaps most notably Jerry Stackhouse, figure Hill is becoming a ball hog.

“Grant’s been scoring a lot for our team, but I don’t think that’s exactly what our team needs,” Stackhouse said. “I think our team needs him to be more of the triple-double guy he used to be.”

Of course, Stackhouse went through a 7-of-35 shooting period, not exactly endearing him to passers.

“I think we become stagnant watching him,” Stackhouse says. “If you’re coming down the court and you haven’t touched the ball the last two or three times down, it’s hard to go down and chase a guy and do all the little things you have to do. I want the ball more.”

Spurs watch

Today’s game: Spurs vs. Pistons, noon, Alamodome

Records: Spurs 4-5, Pistons 4-5

Streak: Lost 2

Notable: Mario Elie will replace Jaren Jackson at guard in the starting lineup.

TV: NBC

Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; in Spanish, KCOR-AM 1350

Game at a glance

Series: The Spurs lead all-time 31-21. The teams split a pair of games last season. Spurs won 95-94 on Feb. 17, 1998, at the Alamodome. Detroit won 103-94 on March 25, 1998, at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Scouting report: Detroit snapped a five-game losing streak with a 101-93 win at Phoenix Friday. Grant Hill ranks second in the league in scoring. Don Reid has replaced free-agent pickup Loy Vaught in the starting lineup at power forward. Hill has criticized Bison Dele for his inconsistent play at center. Dele turned in one of his better games with 16 points and 11 boards against the Suns.

Injuries: Spurs - Will Perdue (sprained right foot) and Brandon Williams (plantar facitis, right foot) are on the injured list. Pistons - Grant Hill (left hip) is probable. Steve Henson (lower-back strain), Christian Laettner (torn right Achille’s tendon) and Korleone Young (back spasms) are on the injured list.

The line: Spurs by 7

Probable starting lineups

Detroit Pistons San Antonio Spurs

No. Player Ht. Yr.Pos.No.Player Ht. Yr.

33 Grant Hill 6-8 5th F

32 Sean Elliott 6-8 10th

52 Don Reid 6-8 4th F

21 Tim Duncan 7-0 2nd

8 Bison Dele 6-11 8th C

50 David Robinson 7-1 10th

1 Lindsey Hunter 6-2 6th G

17 Mario Elie 6-5 9th

42 Jerry Stackhouse 6-6 4th G

6 Avery Johnson 5-11 11th

Pistons reserves Spurs reserves

4 - Corey Beck, G, 6-3, 3rd year

33 - Antonio Daniels, G, 6-4, 2nd year

30 - Jud Buechler, G, 6-6, 9th year

10 - Andrew Gaze, G/F, 6-6, 2nd year

4 - Joe Dumars, G, 6-3, 14th year

2 - Jaren Jackson, G, 6-6, 9th year

12 - Steve Henson, G, 6-1, 7th year

4 - Steve Kerr, G, 6-3, 11th year

0 - Eric Montross, C, 7-0, 5th year

25 - Jerome Kersey, F, 6-7, 15th year

5 - Charles O’Bannon, G, 6-5, 2nd year

54 - Gerald King, F, 6-9, 1st year

35 - Loy Vaught, F, 6-9, 9th year

31 - Malik Rose, F, 6-7, 3rd year

13 - Jerome Williams, F, 6-9, 3rd year

Coach: Alvin Gentry Gregg Popovich.

By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-21, By Buck Harvey

文尼，维迪，埃利耶？失误招致正确结果

贾伦·杰克逊前往替补席，文尼·德尔·内格罗前往名人堂。他们会在那里树立一座有标志的五天胡须文尼雕塑，还有一块低调的牌匾。

牌匾上会写一些关于如果德尔·内格罗留在圣安东尼奥，马刺队将保持不败，并即将向格兰特·希展示如何冲向篮筐的内容。

但牌匾也必须写一些关于杰克逊没取代德尔·内格罗名单位置的内容。在一月份的疯狂日子，在停摆后世界对分钟内合同的渴望，马刺队发现了一名意志坚定、充满活力、善于空位投篮的球员。

马里奥·埃利耶。他于一月份在名单上取代了德尔·内格罗，今天在阵容中替换了杰克逊。而如果你看到了周五马刺队输给湖人队的比赛，那么你可能也有同感：你现在用两个德尔·内格罗也不会交易埃利耶。

埃利耶不仅追随湖人队，最后，他的队友们也受到了他的鼓舞。这就是为什么马刺队为自己能感到自豪的失利而努力，他们失利不是因为他们做错了什么，而是因为科比·布莱恩特、埃迪·琼斯和德里克·哈珀投入了他们触碰的一切。如果湖人队以这种方式打到六月，他们将赢得总冠军。

但很多人不会看到这一点，因为马刺队的比分是 4-5，有可能在类似达拉斯-丹佛的三月份之前达到 5-10。他们也不太会记得上赛季这段时间的积分情况，当时爵士队在其分区中排名第三，公牛队在其分区中排名第四。步行者队？最终的东部决赛队员印第安纳州步行者队开局比分是 4-5。

但去年并不意味着什么，正如杰克逊一场场比赛证明的那样。去年他比德尔·内格罗先参加了更多的比赛，并且多打了 500 分钟。在比任何马刺队球员都投中更多三分球的同时，杰克逊还发挥了一些强硬的防守。当他在首发阵容中时，马刺队的比分是 34-11。

这就是为什么马刺队在停摆期间最大的担忧是留住杰克逊。他们知道他们有能力与德尔·内格罗重新签约，但杰克逊获得了最低工资，可能会去别的地方获得更高的薪水。因此，一旦显然新的集体谈判协议将提高杰克逊等老将的最低工资，马刺队就与他达成协议。

与德尔·内格罗在一起似乎同样容易。马刺队想要他回来，德尔·内格罗也想要回来。8 月 27 日发行的 Express-News 中的一篇文章援引了德尔·内格罗的经纪人杰克·马林的话说，“马刺队指出了他们将提供的合同参数，并且是可以接受的。停摆干预了，但基本上做出了承诺。”

据报道，该承诺是一份价值在 600 万美元到 700 万美元之间的两年期协议。但是当 Marin 推理说马刺队不再需要为蒂姆·邓肯储备资金时，Marin 的参数随着新协议而改变。

接着是马林和格雷格·波波维奇之间的一顿著名晚餐。马林告诉波波维奇，德尔·内格罗有杠杆作用，其他球队也在追逐他，包括意大利的一支球队。马刺队表示，马林的合同要求从五年 2480 万美元到五年 2690 万美元不等。相信你愿意相信的数字，但事实就是：波波维奇离开那次会议时感到他必须找到其他人。

马刺队有两个候选人（史蒂夫·科尔和埃利耶），并且给予了一个 175 万美元的例外。没有其他选择，波波维奇会把那份薪水给科尔，然后回去与德尔·内格罗讨价还价。但是，当芝加哥开始进行一系列签约交易时，这使波波维奇得以交易得到科尔，然后将例外情况交给埃利耶。

当德尔·内格罗听到这个消息时，他致电跨大西洋的马刺队以确保仍有可能达成协议。马林显然虚张声势，并且在那一点上，德尔·内格罗无处可去。马刺队四处寻找签约交易，但找不到。

那么，几乎可以以任何价格获得德尔·内格罗，为什么不把他加入到名单中呢？

马刺队认为德尔·内格罗以低价替补出场不会感到高兴。此外，他从未完全接受波波维奇的计划。德尔·内格罗最终与密尔沃基签约，在那里他担任替补，但他拿到了原本可以从马刺队那里得到的钱的一半左右。如果德尔·内格罗应该对任何人感到不安，那应该是他的经纪人。

但马刺队也认为杰克逊将在投三分球时增加防守。现在的情况是，一个脾气暴躁的兼职德尔·内格罗会好得多。

如果没有德尔·内格罗，马刺队别无选择。当杰克逊低迷时，马刺队被迫求助于自 90 年代以来为马刺队提供最强后卫、最佳首发阵容、最佳获胜机会的人。

德尔·内格罗的牌匾也需要写明这一点。

点击查看原文：Vinny, vidi Elie? Wrongs make a right

Vinny, vidi Elie? Wrongs make a right

Jaren Jackson heads to the bench, and Vinny Del Negro to the Hall of Fame. There they will erect a bust of Vin with the standard five-day beard, along with an understated plaque.

The plaque would say something about how, if Del Negro had only stayed in San Antonio, the Spurs would be undefeated and about to show Grant Hill how to soar to the hoop.

But the plaque would have to say something else, too, about how Jackson didn’t take Del Negro’s roster spot. In the crazy days of January, when the post-lockout world cried for a contract-a- minute, the Spurs found a tough- minded, energetic, spot-up shooter.

Mario Elie. He replaced Del Negro on the roster in January, and replaces Jackson in the lineup today. And if you saw the Spurs’ loss Friday to the Lakers, then you probably feel this way, too: You wouldn’t trade Elie now for two Del Negros.

Elie not only chased the Lakers, but, finally, his teammates caught his fire. That’s why the Spurs earned a loss they can be proud of. They went down not because of what they did wrong, but because Kobe Bryant, Eddie Jones and Derek Harper threw in everything they touched. If the Lakers play that way through June, they will win the title.

But a lot of people won’t see that, since the Spurs sit at 4-5 with a chance to go 5-10 before a Dallas- Denver kind of March. They also don’t remember the standings this time last season, when the Jazz were in third place in their division and the Bulls were in fourth place in theirs. The Pacers? Eventual Eastern Conference finalist Indiana started 4-5.

But last year doesn’t mean anything, as Jackson proves game after game. Last year he started more games than Del Negro, and played 500 more minutes. While making more treys than any Spur, Jackson also played some rugged defense. The Spurs were 34-11 with him in the starting lineup.

That’s why the Spurs’ big concern of the lockout was keeping Jackson. They knew they’d have the ability to re-sign Del Negro, but Jackson earned the minimum and might go elsewhere to get a better salary. So as soon as it became clear the new collective bargaining agreement would raise the minimum for a veteran such as Jackson, the Spurs came to an agreement with him.

It seemed as easy with Del Negro. The Spurs wanted him back, and Del Negro wanted to be back. A story in the Aug. 27 editions of the Express-News quoted Del Negro’s agent, Jack Marin, saying “The Spurs indicated the parameters of a contract that they will offer, and they are acceptable. The lockout intervened but the promise was essentially made.”

That promise reportedly was a two-year deal worth between $6 million and $7 million. But Marin’s parameters changed with the new agreement, when Marin reasoned the Spurs no longer had to stockpile money for Tim Duncan.

Then came a famous dinner between Marin and Gregg Popovich. Marin told Popovich that Del Negro had leverage, and that other teams were after him, including one in Italy. The Spurs say Marin’s contract requests ranged from $24.8 million over five years to $26.9 million over five. Believe who you wish about the numbers, but here’s the fact: Popovich left that meeting feeling he had to find someone else.

The Spurs had two candidates (Steve Kerr and Elie) and one $1.75 million exception to give. Given no other options, Popovich would have given that salary to Kerr and gone back to bargain with Del Negro. But when Chicago started a series of sign-and-trades, that freed Popovich to trade for Kerr, then give the exception to Elie.

When Del Negro heard the news, he called the Spurs trans-Atlantic to make sure something couldn’t still be worked out. Marin had apparently bluffed, and, at that point, Del Negro had no place to go. The Spurs looked around for a sign-and-trade deal and couldn’t find one.

Then, able to get Del Negro at almost any price, why not add him to the roster?

The Spurs figured Del Negro wouldn’t be happy coming off the bench at a bargain price. Besides, he’d never completely bought into Popovich’s program. Del Negro eventually signed with Milwaukee, where he’s working out as a backup, but he took about half the money he originally could have gotten with the Spurs. If Del Negro should be upset with anyone, it should be with his agent.

But the Spurs also figured Jackson would add defense while shooting threes. The way it is now, a grumpy, part-time Del Negro would be far better.

Without Del Negro, the Spurs had no choice. When Jackson slumped the Spurs were forced to turn to someone who gives the Spurs their toughest guard since Doc Rivers, their best starting unit in the '90s, their best chance to win.

Del Negro’s plaque needs to say that, too.

By Buck Harvey, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-22, By Johnny Ludden

艾利点燃马刺 - 老将的狡猾帮助圣安东尼奥扼杀活塞

这是一个对马刺来说具有历史意义的下午，比赛在全国电视上直播。为了永远留住这场令人满意的胜利，马里奥·艾利(Mario Elie) 计划将这些具有里程碑意义的细节记录下来。

2 月 21 日，1999 年 / 马刺 85，活塞 64 - 蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan) 在球队暂停时大声说话。… 大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson) 沮丧地冲到板凳席上。甚至还大喊“该死！”… 四次胸部撞击。… 四次胸部撞击！

“这是圣安东尼奥的纪录，”艾利说道。“如果我再得到几次（胸部撞击），我就要打电话给吉尼斯世界纪录了。”

有人还需要拨打 NBA 电话。在星期天阿拉莫穹顶的 19,495 名观众面前，马刺队的表现不仅限于指指点点和肘击。

在取得了三场比赛以来的第一场胜利后，他们将活塞队的投篮命中率限制在 25.9%，从而创造了球队纪录。当然，这可能与活塞在本周第二次打破得分纪录低点有关。

艾利，已经成为球队历史学家和常驻抱怨者的他，在星期天的新工作中表现出色。他第一次取代贾伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson) 首发上场，得到了 16 分、5 个篮板（包括 3 个进攻篮板）、2 个抢断、2 次助攻，以及一次拍打埃弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson) 的脑袋。在整个赛季的大部分时间里，艾利都一直在对队友们关于他们的渴望进行咆哮，他利用自己的 27 分钟上场时间阐述了自己的观点。

“他们厌倦了我的唠叨。年轻人们会嘲笑我，”艾利说。“但我只是想激发这些家伙。

“这是一场有趣的比赛。要想赢得任何东西，都需要一些激情和勇气。做一个好人很好，但你不能永远做一个好人。

“这是世界上最好的工作。你出现在电视上。有数百万球迷在看着你。投入进去。”

星期天的比赛相对轻松，似乎给马刺队（5-5）带来了一些活力。在第四节开始的几分钟里，史蒂夫·科尔(Steve Kerr) 将球传给了罗宾逊，罗宾逊当时正站在场边准备上场。在领先 16 分的情况下，科尔只是笑了笑。

“我们需要这场胜利，”马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich) 说。“我们一直在挣扎，我无法用语言形容。”

在七场比赛中输掉第六场后，活塞队（4-6）对他们自己的问题进行了理论分析。前锋格兰特·希尔(Grant Hill) 和后卫杰瑞·斯塔克豪斯(Jerry Stackhouse) 和林赛·亨特(Lindsey Hunter) 三人合计 44 投 10 中。

“也许市中心的建筑需要更多砖块，”希尔说，他以联盟第二高的得分来到比赛，但 21 投 5 中，只得到 16 分。“我们今晚肯定提供了。”

活塞队在第四节的前 15 次投篮全部偏出，直到比赛还剩 3 分 07 秒才命中一球。当活塞队从第一节结束到第二节开始连续投失九球时，马刺队打出一波 16-0 的攻击，拉开了比分。

“也许篮筐比球小，”活塞队中锋比森·德莱(Bison Dele) 说。“算数吗？”

可能不算。马刺队没有遇到同样的麻烦。他们的投篮命中率为 47.8%，甚至罚球命中率也相当高（20 投 15 中）。邓肯以 17 分和 14 个篮板领跑全队，他连续五罚全中，然后才终于失手。

肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)，他也是帮助防守希尔的球员，七投六中，得到 14 分。杰克逊替补出场后，早早命中了几个三分球。马利克·罗斯(Malik Rose) 和杰罗姆·科西(Jerome Kersey) 帮助填补了犯规缠身的罗宾逊的空缺，两人合计得到 11 分和 12 个篮板。

“当球在场上流动时，比赛要有趣得多，”埃利奥特说。“我们有一些球，五个球员都触碰到了球。

“当每个人都有机会触球，每个人都有机会投篮时，球队更容易进入节奏。”

然而，罗宾逊仍然不在状态。连续第二场比赛，他在下半场开局的第一回合就犯下了第四次犯规。他只打了 15 分钟，得到 10 分，只抢到 1 个篮板。

罗宾逊在场下时，活塞队在进攻篮板方面以 24-10 的优势压制马刺队。罗宾逊本赛季大部分时间都深陷犯规麻烦，过去五场比赛中只有一场比赛打满了 30 分钟。

“失望甚至不足以形容我对这些裁判判罚比赛的方式的感受，”罗宾逊说。“当他们在第四节来找我，说‘嘿，我吹错了’，那就太晚了。太晚了。”

这一天并没有完全失去。

“我听到大卫说‘该死！’”艾利说。“我希望能听到他说另一句话，但没关系。

“我们正在走向正轨。”

马刺队观察

星期天：@马刺 85，活塞 64

亮点：马里奥·艾利充分利用了他的首发角色，得到 16 分，并以嬉戏的方式粗暴地对待队友，给马刺队的进攻增添了急需的激情。

纪录：马刺 5-5；活塞 4-6

下一场比赛：今天在明尼苏达州，下午 7 点。

电视：福克斯体育西南频道

广播：WOAI-AM 1200；西班牙语：KCOR-AM 1350

在线：www.expressnews.com/spurs

笔记

客场比赛：在星期天的比赛获胜后，马刺队乘坐包机飞往明尼苏达州。他们将在今晚在目标中心对阵森林狼队。

这是两队本赛季的第三次交手。马刺队在 2 月 9 日在明尼苏达州背靠背的第二场比赛中也打过比赛。他们在最后七分钟内出现了七次失误，最终输掉了比赛。

“我们（星期天）在进攻方面做得更好，”蒂姆·邓肯说，他在对森林狼队的比赛中 10 投 2 中，得到 8 分，追平了个人职业生涯的最低得分。“我们必须把这一点带到（今天的）比赛中。

“如果我们继续推进球，并打出良好的球的移动，我们就会没事的。”

点击查看原文：Elie gets Spurs started - Crafty veteran helps S.A. suffocate Pistons

Elie gets Spurs started - Crafty veteran helps S.A. suffocate Pistons

It was a history-making afternoon for the Spurs, played out on national television. And to forever preserve the satisfying victory, Mario Elie planned to write down the landmark details.

Feb. 21, 1999/Spurs 85, Detroit 64 - Tim Duncan spoke up in the team huddle. … David Robinson stormed to the bench in frustration. Even screamed, “Darn!” … Four chest bumps. … Four chest bumps!

“That’s a San Antonio record,” Elie said. “If I get a couple more (chest bumps), I’m going to have to call the Guinness Book.”

Someone also needs to dial up the NBA. Playing in front of 19,495 Sunday at the Alamodome, the Spurs didn’t limit their exploits to finger pointing and forearm bashes.

With their first win in three games, they set a franchise record by holding the Pistons to 25.9-percent shooting. That, of course, may have had a little to do with Detroit also breaking its record low for points for the second time this week.

Elie, already team historian and resident grump, looked good in his new job Sunday. Replacing Jaren Jackson in the starting lineup for the first time, he totaled 16 points, five rebounds - three offensive - two steals, two assists and one head slap to Avery Johnson. After spending most of the season barking at teammates about their desire, Elie used his allotted 27 minutes to spell out his case.

“They get tired of me talking. The young guys get on me and mock me,” Elie said. "But I’m just trying to get a charge out of these guys.

"This is a fun game. And it takes a little emotion and heart to win anything. It’s good to be a nice guy, but you can’t be a nice guy forever.

“This is the best job in the world. You’re on TV. You’ve got millions of fans watching you. Get into it.”

Sunday’s relatively easy win seemed to bring some life to the Spurs (5-5). In the opening minutes of the final quarter, Steve Kerr passed to Robinson, who was standing on the sidelines waiting to check into the game. With a 16- point lead, Kerr just laughed.

“We needed this win,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We’ve been struggling in ways I can’t describe.”

After losing for the sixth time in seven games, the Pistons (4-6) theorized about their own problems. Forward Grant Hill and guards Jerry Stackhouse and Lindsey Hunter combined to shoot 10 of 44.

“Maybe the construction downtown needed some more bricks,” said Hill, who came into the game second in the league in scoring, but made only 5 of 21 shots for 16 points. “We sure provided some tonight.”

Detroit missed its first 15 shots of the fourth quarter and didn’t make a basket until only 3:07 remained. When the Pistons missed nine straight from the end of the first period to the start of the second, the Spurs pulled away with 16 unanswered points.

“Maybe the hoop was smaller than the ball,” Detroit center Bison Dele said. “Would that count?”

Probably not. The Spurs didn’t encounter the same trouble. They shot 47.8 percent from the field and even made their free throws (15 of 20). Duncan, who led the way with 17 points and 14 rebounds, sank five straight from the line before finally missing.

Sean Elliott, who also helped guard Hill, made all but one of his seven shots for 14 points. Jackson knocked down a couple of early three-pointers off the bench. And Malik Rose and Jerome Kersey, who helped fill in for the foul- plagued Robinson, combined for 11 points and 12 boards.

“It’s a lot more fun when the ball moves around,” Elliott said. "We had some plays where all five guys touched the ball.

“When everyone gets a chance to touch it and everyone gets a chance to shoot, it’s a lot easier for the team to get into a rhythm.”

Robinson, however, remained off-beat. For the second straight game, he picked up his fourth foul on the first possession of the second half. He played only 15 minutes, finishing with 10 points and only one rebound.

With Robinson on the bench, Detroit pounded the Spurs on the offensive glass 24-10. Mired in foul trouble for much of the season, Robinson has reached the 30-minute mark only once in the last five games.

“Disappointing doesn’t even describe how I feel about the way these refs are calling the game,” Robinson said. “It’s too late when they come to me in the fourth quarter and say, ‘Hey, I blew the call.’ That’s too late.”

The day wasn’t completely lost.

“I heard Dave say, ‘Darn!’” Elie said. "I would like to hear him say another word, but that’s OK.

“We’re getting there.”

Spurs watch

Sunday: @Spurs 85, Pistons 64

Highlights: Mario Elie makes the most of his starting role by scoring 16 points and playfully roughing up his teammates to add some much-needed emotion to the Spurs’ attack.

Records: Spurs 5-5; Pistons 4-6

Next game: Today at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

TV: Fox Sports Southwest

Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; in Spanish, KCOR-AM 1350

Online: www.expressnews .com/spurs

Notes

On the road: After Sunday’s win, the Spurs took a charter flight to Minnesota. They will play the Timberwolves tonight at the Target Center.

It is the third meeting this season between the two teams. The Spurs also played on the second of back-to-back games at Minnesota on Feb. 9. They lost after committing seven turnovers in the final seven minutes.

“We did some things better offensively (Sunday),” said Tim Duncan, who missed 8 of 10 shots and matched his career low with eight points in the loss to the Timberwolves. "We have to take that into our game (today).

“If we keep pushing the ball and get good ball movement, we’ll be OK.” - Johnny Ludden

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-22, By Glenn Rogers

活塞进攻哑火，不敌马刺

底特律主教练阿尔文·詹特里(Alvin Gentry)在圣安东尼奥度过了许多愉快的周日下午。

这位前马刺助理教练在阿拉莫穹顶球馆度过了一个令人沮丧的下午，他竭尽全力试图让活塞球员把球投进篮筐，但收效甚微。

“说实话，如果你只命中25%的投篮，你不可能战胜圣玛丽大学，更别说是NBA球队了，”詹特里在马刺以85-64获胜后说道。“我可能不应该这么说，因为（教练）巴迪·迈尔斯会生气的。”

活塞队的进攻创造了很多空位投篮，但球员们投出的铁饼足以开一家铸造厂。

“你想听一个理论吗？也许球筐比球还小，”比森·德莱(Bison Dele)开玩笑地说，他试图制造X档案式的幻觉。德莱10投3中得到5分。

格兰特·希尔(Grant Hill)在比赛初期受到髋部疼痛的困扰，命中率低迷，21投5中。

“我真的不知道为什么我们的投篮命中率会从菲尼克斯的良好状态降到这种水平，”希尔说。“我们就是投不进球。你知道，这不是马刺打得多么出色，而是我们一直认为一两个人会打出状态，但最终没有人做到。

“我们在场上做了很多好事，我们的努力是好的，我们的防守也还可以。如果你早些告诉我我们会把这支天赋异禀的圣安东尼奥球队限制在85分，我会接受的。”

活塞还以49-45的篮板数领先圣安东尼奥。

希尔的上半场大多数投篮都打铁，球从篮筐前沿弹出来。其他的球则偏向一边。圣安东尼奥的防守也紧贴着活塞队的球星，几次用夹击的方式将他逼出球。

他在前两节12投2中。他说他的髋部在上半场有点僵硬，但在中场休息时得到了缓解。

“但是，没有借口，”希尔说。“每个人都或多或少有些伤病，这是职业运动员的生活。”

詹特里和希尔对裁判的执法都不满意。詹特里在替补席上对裁判大声抗议，但最终他笑着默认了那些他认为漏判的判罚。

“嘿，大卫有七次犯规，”他在比赛后期大喊，当时他认为应该吹罚犯规。

但是罗宾逊本赛季犯规次数已经很多了，他在周日再次只打了15分钟，因为他在第三节早期就领到了第四次犯规。

罗宾逊对第四次犯规强烈抗议，一位裁判后来走近他，承认自己漏判了一次。

“但我不会卷入裁判的纠纷，”詹特里说。“我没钱付1万美元的罚款。但令我惊讶的是，希尔几乎每次突破上篮都能被犯规，但只得到6次罚球。你自己算算吧。”

希尔说：“如果这是一场势均力敌的比赛，情况就不同了，但你不能把20分的失利归咎于裁判。对此你真的无能为力。也许我应该更大声抗议，但（裁判比尔·斯普纳）是我去年被罚下场的那位裁判。也许当我像大卫那么大年纪的时候，我会得到更多的犯规。”

正如希尔所说，裁判唯一能帮助活塞的方法就是为他们投几个三分球。

“我们不想关注为什么投篮不进，”德莱说。“那样做毫无意义。当他们领先15分的时候，我们无法对他们施加压力，我们总是落后。”

德莱和希尔也建议蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)去修理一下指甲。他们两人都留下了被马刺前锋抓伤的痕迹。

“是啊，也许我会把一些指甲刀送去他们的更衣室，”希尔说。“都是那些来自维克森林大学的家伙。”

“我想这就是他的最后一道防线，”德莱笑着说，指的是邓肯的指甲。

点击查看原文：Pistons' offense can't catch fire vs. Spurs

Pistons’ offense can’t catch fire vs. Spurs

Detroit coach Alvin Gentry has spent a lot more enjoyable Sunday afternoons in the Alamo City.

The former Spurs assistant coach spent a frustrating afternoon on the sidelines in the Alamodome trying but failing to will Pistons shots into the bucket.

“Let’s face it, you can’t beat St. Mary’s when you shoot 25 percent, let alone an NBA team,” Gentry said after the Spurs had salted away an 85-64 victory. “I probably shouldn’t say that because (Coach) Buddy Meyers will get mad at me.”

The Pistons offense generated open shots, but the shooters forged enough iron to open their own foundry.

“You want a theory? How about, the hoop was smaller than the ball,” offered Bison Dele, toying with X-Files type illusions. Dele scored five points on 3-of-10 shooting.

Grant Hill, bothered early by a hip pointer, staggered through a 5-for-21 shooting spree.

“I really don’t have an answer to why our shooting can go from fine in Phoenix to this,” Hill said. "We just couldn’t hit anything. You know, it’s not like the Spurs played great. We kept thinking that one or two guys would get going, but nobody ever did.

“We were doing a lot of good things out there, our effort was good, our defense was OK. I’d have taken it if you had told me earlier that we would hold this talented San Antonio team to 85 points.”

The Pistons also outrebounded San Antonio 49-45.

Most of Hill’s shots came up short through the first half, bouncing off the front rim. Others angled off to the side. The San Antonio defense also maintained close contact with the Pistons’ star, manhandling him a couple of times in sandwich traps.

He was 2 for 12 through the first two quarters. He said the hip was a little stiff in the first half but got it rubbed out during intermission.

“But, there’s no excuse,” Hill said. “Everybody is hurting some; it’s the life of a professional athlete.”

Neither Gentry nor Hill was pleased by the officiating. Gentry hectored the refs from the sidelines, but finally settled into resigned smiling at what he considered missed calls.

“Hey, David has seven fouls,” he shouted late in the game when he thought a whistle should have blasted.

But Robinson has had more than his share of foul troubles this season and again played only 15 minutes Sunday when he picked up his fourth early in the third period.

Robinson vehemently protested the fourth foul and a ref did approach him late and admit he had blown one of the calls.

“But I’m not getting into that (referee) situation,” Gentry said. “I don’t have $10,000 to spare. But it is amazing to me that Hill can drive to the basket on almost every play and get just six free throws. So you figure it out.”

Said Hill: “It would be different if it was a close game, but you can’t blame a 20- point loss on the refs. There’s really not much you can do about it. Maybe I should be more vocal but (ref Bill Spooner) was the guy who tossed me once last year. Maybe I’ll get more calls when I’m David’s age.”

As Hill suggested, the only way the refs could have helped the Pistons on Sunday was to shoot a few three-pointers for them.

“We don’t want to focus on why the shots didn’t go down,” Dele said. “We won’t get anywhere doing that. We just couldn’t put any pressure on them when they went up by 15. We were always back on our heels.”

Dele and Hill also are suggesting that Tim Duncan take a file to his fingernails. Each sported scratch marks courtesy of the Spurs forward.

“Yeah, maybe I’ll send some of those (fingernail clippers) over to the (Spurs’) locker room,” Hill said. “It’s those Wake Forest guys.”

“I guess that’s his last line of defense,” Dele joked of Duncan’s nails.

By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-22, By Arthur Garcia

马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)的公开抱怨：多克·里弗斯(Doc Rivers)认为无伤大雅

如果你在周日观看了NBC的NBA赛前节目，你可能又听到了马刺后卫马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)批评队友缺乏努力。

担任节目解说的多克·里弗斯(Doc Rivers)表示，马刺可能并不欢迎埃利的言论，但球队不应该因此分心。

“当他们听到这些言论时，这些话已经在更衣室里说过了，”里弗斯说道，他尽管是特纳体育的常客，但还是为NBC解说了这场比赛。“我不喜欢这些东西被公开。作为一名球员，我从来不喜欢，因为我一直认为应该把家事留在家里。但当这些事情被公开时，球员们处理得还不错。这不是什么大事。”

里弗斯也是马刺电视台的解说员，他说他本赛季可能会为NBC解说几场球赛。随着NBA赛季的加速和NBC额外增加的三重赛，里弗斯很乐意为“孔雀”网络解说更多比赛。

为ESPN广播解说比赛的杰克·拉姆齐(Jack Ramsey)指出，埃利是马刺以85-64战胜对手的关键。

“马里奥·埃利似乎在首发阵容中给了他们一个提升，这也让贾伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson)更容易、更自信地进入比赛，”拉姆齐说。“我认为这是一个不错的选择。今天，它发挥了最好的效果。我认为从长远来看，它会继续对他们有利。”

尽管圣安东尼奥开局5胜5负，拉姆齐表示现在按下恐慌按钮还为时过早。

“如果他们像今天这样打球，他们将处于争夺战中，”这位名人堂教练说。“他们每晚都防守出色。我认为只要他们抢下防守篮板并进入转换进攻，他们将难以被击败。

“球队在赛季初期会有起起伏伏。这种情况已经发生了。迈阿密在纠正自身之前战绩是1胜3负。现在他们已经取得了五连胜。但你必须保持状态，因为球队竞争激烈，每个人都有机会战胜其他人。如果你没有打好比赛，你就会被击败。”

• ESPN vs. 福克斯：今晚播出的HBO节目“与布莱恩特·甘贝尔(Bryant Gumbel)一起的真实体育”(Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel)的新剧集将重点关注ESPN和福克斯在体育媒体领域的竞争。

节目一开始是对凯斯·奥伯曼(Keith Olbermann)和丹·帕特里克(Dan Patrick)的采访，他们是ESPN“体育中心”(SportsCenter)的前搭档。奥伯曼最近以高调的方式加入了“福克斯体育新闻黄金时间”(Fox Sports News Primetime)。

“就像运动员一样，你想要赢，”奥伯曼告诉HBO记者亚美尼亚·凯提扬(Armen Keteyian)。“现在有了竞争，而两年前还没有。”

帕特里克说：“福克斯希望这是一场战争，但他们希望被注意到。我理解这种逻辑。但这从来不是我们的风格。这从来不是我们的策略。”

ESPN希望比福克斯更优雅，拒绝与新对手进行辱骂式的交流。但凯提扬很好地激怒了ESPN执行官史蒂夫·博恩斯坦(Steve Bornstein)，显然他已经厌倦了福克斯的言语攻击。

节目中还包括关于众多奥运丑闻和NBA停摆的后续报道。

• 圣安东尼奥热爱足球：“体育商业日报”(The Sports Business Daily)上周发布的尼尔森收视率显示，圣安东尼奥的收视率超过了NFL市场的一半。

圣安东尼奥1998赛季的平均尼尔森收视率为13.8，高于30支NFL球队中15支球队的收视率。圣安东尼奥的收视率也高于克利夫兰，克利夫兰将在今年秋季迎来一支扩张球队。

在德克萨斯州，达拉斯/沃斯堡（牛仔队的所在地）的收视率为20.7。奥斯汀的收视率为15.1，休斯顿的收视率为12.7。

点击查看原文：Rivers: Elie's aired gripes no problem

Rivers: Elie’s aired gripes no problem

If you caught NBC’s NBA pregame show Sunday, you probably heard Spurs guard Mario Elie again criticizing his teammates for their lack of effort.

Doc Rivers, who did color fill-in work for the broadcast, said the Spurs probably didn’t welcome Elie’s comments but that the team shouldn’t be distracted by them.

“By the time they hear it on the air, it’s already been said in the locker room,” said Rivers, who did the game for NBC despite being a regular for Turner Sports. “I don’t like when that stuff gets out. As a player I never liked it because I always thought you keep your family business in the family. But when it does come out, players handle in pretty well. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Rivers, who also does color for the Spurs television network, said he may do a couple more games for NBC this season. With the accelerated NBA season and the extra NBC tripleheaders, Rivers would welcome the opportunity to do more games for the peacock network.

Jack Ramsey, who was doing the game for ESPN radio, pointed to Elie as a key in the Spurs’ 85-64 victory.

“Mario Elie seemed to give them a boost being in the starting lineup, and it also seemed to allow Jaren Jackson to get into the game and play with a little more ease and confidence,” Ramsey said. “I think it’s a good move. Today, it couldn’t have worked better. I think over the long haul it’ll continue to work well for them.”

Despite San Antonio’s 5-5 start, Ramsey said it’s too early to press the panic button.

“If they play like they did today, they’re going to be right in the hunt,” the Hall of Fame coach said. "They defend well every night. I think as long as they rebound the defensive board and get in the transition game, they’re going to be hard to beat.

“Teams are going to go up and down in the early season. That’s already happened. Miami was 1-3 before they righted themselves. Now they’ve won five in a row. But you’ve got to stay on your game because teams are very competitive, and everybody is within reach of everybody else. If you don’t play your game well, you’re going to get knocked on your butt.”

- ESPN vs. Fox: Tonight’s new installment of HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” features an excellent piece on the ESPN-Fox battle for sports media supremacy.

The segment begins with interviews with Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick, former “tag-team” partners on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” Olbermann recently joined “Fox Sports News Primetime” in a highly trumpeted hire.

“It’s just like the athletes, you want to win,” Olbermann told HBO reporter Armen Keteyian. “And there is now a competition when there was not two years ago.”

Said Patrick: “Fox wants this to be a war, but they want to be noticed. I understand that logic. That’s never been our style. That’s never been our tact.”

ESPN wants to come off as having more class than Fox by refusing to get into a name-calling exchange with its new rival. But Keteyian does a good job of getting under the skin of ESPN executive Steve Bornstein, who is obviously tired of the verbal attacks from Fox.

Also included in the show are segments on the numerous Olympic scandals and fallout from the NBA lockout.

- S.A. loves football: The Alamo City bettered half the NFL markets in Nielsen ratings released last week by “The Sports Business Daily.”

San Antonio’s average Nielsen for the 1998 season was 13.8, higher than numbers in the home markets of 15 of the 30 NFL teams. San Antonio also did better than Cleveland, which will have an expansion team this fall.

In Texas, Dallas/Fort Worth - stomping ground of the Cowboys - pulled a 20.7 rating. Austin had 15.1 and Houston had 12.7.

By Arthur Garcia, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-02-22, By Buck Harvey

合唱团成员？马里奥是如何为艾弗里唱歌的

接下来，马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)要解决球馆的问题。

他会把你们这些人给整顿好。

然后，他会继续参与其他城市项目，或者可能做一些国际事务。埃利会说一些西班牙语、葡萄牙语和法语，这意味着他能煽动来自不同文化的人。

所以，埃利对大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)所说的话具有一定的价值，尤其对于NBC赛前节目制作人而言。但埃利的能力更有价值，比如周日，他通过抢篮板和突破上篮，为首发球员注入了能量。

而受益最大的马刺球员可能不是罗宾逊。也许是那个说服他来到圣安东尼奥的人，他的朋友，艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)。

一个能说会道的人，遇到了另一个能说会道的人。

这对罗宾逊来说太多了，他突然感觉到了裁判的注视和所有人的议论。多年来，罗宾逊因缺乏情绪而受到批评——从特里·卡明斯(Terry Cummings)到丹尼斯·罗德曼(Dennis Rodman)，再到艾弗里——现在，这种批评像包夹一样，每天都降临在他头上。

如果罗宾逊对这些议论感到生气，马刺队可能会给他一个击掌。如果罗宾逊不改变，那么也许更衣室已经变了。随着埃利加入艾弗里，成为球队的“情绪代言人”，马刺队至少拥有了一支默契的后场组合。

这就是为什么艾弗里在停摆期间一直在寻找一个加入他“合唱团”的人。从八月开始，约翰逊和埃利每周都会在休斯顿一起训练四天。当艾弗里没有传球给埃利时，他就在为圣安东尼奥说服他。

即使没有艾弗里，埃利也可能签下马刺队。格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)一直渴望得到埃利。此外，其他对埃利最感兴趣的球队——犹他爵士和迈阿密热火——离他休斯顿的家都不止三个小时的车程。

但当被问到如果没有艾弗里的招募，埃利是否会加盟马刺队时，艾弗里停顿了一下，思考了一会儿。然后宣布：“不会。”问题之一是马刺队本身。埃利在季后赛中足够近距离地观察过他们，他知道他不喜欢他们的冷酷。艾弗里没有争辩，而是说服埃利，马刺队需要像他这样的人，一个会挥拳庆祝或者对低迷表现咆哮的人。

如果埃利现在能给更衣室带来这种能量，他就能为艾弗里带来更多。当贾伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson)陷入低迷时，艾弗里也跟他一起低迷。“艾伦·艾弗森(Allen Iverson)和谁在一起都能打得很好，”艾弗里说。“他很独立。我依赖别人。我需要球员让我看起来更好。”

艾弗里的“连线游戏”需要一些纪律和思考，而今年，艾弗里太多次尝试成为斯蒂芬·马布里(Stephon Marbury)。在上个赛季的季后赛中，他面对太阳队时场均得分并没有超过20分，因为他偏离了进攻体系。艾弗里只是利用了太阳队提供的空位。

这个赛季，艾弗里的传球和决策都不够犀利。两周前在明尼阿波利斯，这种情况尤其明显。他的数据还不错。但在最后七分钟——当马刺队需要他们的控球后卫来控制混乱局面时——艾弗里出现了三次失误。再加上两次24秒违例和一个打破平局的马布里跳投，艾弗里离开了球馆，摇头晃脑。

所以，艾弗里需要一个了解他的比赛和如何配合他的人。“我们彼此了解，”埃利说，“首先，我们彼此喜欢。”

周日，艾弗里并没有让人眼前一亮。他在只得到两分的过程中又错失了一个上篮。但他表示，他的控场能力比以往都要出色，一次失误就说明了这一点。

所以今天，当他再次回到纽约去看马布里时，艾弗里不仅有一个朋友为他说话。他还有一个可以与他并肩作战的后卫。

点击查看原文：Choirboys? How Mario sings for AJ

Choirboys? How Mario sings for AJ

Next up for Mario Elie: the arena issue.

He’s going to straighten you people out.

Then he will go on to other city projects, or maybe something international. Elie speaks some Spanish, Portuguese and French, meaning he can goad people from many cultures.

So there’s some value in what Elie says about David Robinson, especially for the NBC pregame producers. But there’s more value in what Elie can do, such as on Sunday, when he brought energy to the starters by grabbing rebounds and driving to the hoop.

And maybe the Spur who benefits the most isn’t Robinson. Maybe that would be the guy who talked him into San Antonio, his friend, Avery Johnson.

One talker to another.

That’s two too many for Robinson, who suddenly feels the eyes of the refs and the mouths of everyone else. Robinson has been criticized for years for his lack of emotion - from Terry Cummings to Dennis Rodman to AJ - and now it’s coming every night like double teams.

If Robinson gets mad at the talk, the Spurs might high-five. And if Robinson doesn’t change, then maybe the locker room already has. As Elie joins AJ as the emotional voices of the team, the Spurs at least have a backcourt in unison.

That’s why AJ spent the lockout searching for someone to join his chorus. Johnson and Elie were together four days a week, from August on, working out in Houston. When AJ wasn’t passing to Elie, he was selling him on San Antonio.

Elie might have signed with the Spurs even without AJ. Gregg Popovich always coveted Elie. Besides, the other franchises who were most interested in Elie - Utah and Miami - aren’t a three- hour drive from his Houston home.

But when asked if Elie would have joined the Spurs without AJ recruiting him, AJ paused and thought about it. Then announced, “No.” Among the issues were the Spurs themselves. Elie had seen them close enough in playoff games to know he didn’t like their coolness. Instead of arguing the point, AJ convinced Elie that the Spurs needed someone just like him, someone who would pump a fist or growl at a letdown.

If Elie gives that now to the locker room, he gives more to AJ. When Jaren Jackson slumped, AJ slumped next to him. “Allen Iverson can look good with anyone around him,” said AJ. “He’s independent. I’m dependent. I need players to make me look good.”

AJ’s connect-the-dots game demands some discipline and thought, and too many times this year AJ has tried to be Stephon Marbury. He didn’t average more than 20 points against Phoenix in the playoffs last season because he broke from the offense. AJ simply took the openings the Suns offered.

This season neither AJ’s passes nor his decisions have been sharp. And no night showed that more than two weeks ago in Minneapolis. His stats were fine. But in the final seven minutes - when the Spurs needed their point guard to control the chaos - AJ committed three turnovers. Add two 24-second violations and a Marbury jumper to break the tie, and AJ left the building shaking his head.

So AJ needs someone next to him who knows his game and how to play off it. “We have a good feel for each other,” said Elie, “because first of all, we like each other.”

AJ didn’t wow anyone Sunday. He missed another runner on his way to only two points. But he says he directed the floor game better than he has, and one turnover says as much.

So today, as he heads back to see Marbury again, AJ not only has a friend to do some talking for him. He also has a guard who can play next to him.

By Buck Harvey, via San Antonio Express-News