马刺1998-99赛季实录（780+篇）

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-11, By Johnny Ludden and Jerry Briggs

笔记

经过进一步的回顾：马刺队在周二进行了一场轻量级的训练之前观看了大约 45 分钟的比赛录像。

“我们有机会看到我们没有做好的事情，”大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)说道。“比赛一开始，我们放任对手投出了太多空位跳投。我认为我们在下半场防守得更好，但我们需要在开局阶段更强势。

“一个假动作，一个突破，他们就得到了一次空位投篮的机会。”

明尼苏达队在周日投篮命中率为 45.8%（72 投 33 中），是本赛季对阵马刺的五场比赛中他们的最佳命中率。在常规赛的三场比赛中，马刺队将森林狼队的命中率限制在 40% 以下。

森林狼队在周日的第三节只投了 12 次球，并在第四节只命中了 16 投 6 中（37.5%）。

• 伤势困扰：肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)在最近几天一直戴着护具保护他的右肘，他在常规赛最后一战对阵金州勇士队的比赛中被击中了手臂。

“伸展它会有点疼，但护具可以保持它温暖，”埃利奥特说。“还好。”

埃利奥特在本赛季早些时候就受过手臂伤。

• 百发百中：埃利奥特和阿维里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)在周二的训练中联手命中了 40 个罚球。

考虑到马刺队在常规赛中罚球命中率排名联盟第 24 位（69.8%），这可不是一件容易的事。球队的三名首发球员——蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)（69.0%）、大卫·罗宾逊（65.8%）和约翰逊（56.8%）——的罚球命中率都低于 70%。

“这在赛季早期让我们输掉了很多比赛，”埃利奥特说。“我们简直糟糕透顶。

“但最近我们的罚球投得还不错。”

在两周前对阵洛杉矶快船和萨克拉门托的比赛中，马刺队仅投进了 60 个罚球中的 32 个（53.3%），但在常规赛的最后五场比赛中，他们的罚球命中率达到了 79.4%（165 投 131 中）。他们在周日投进了 22 个罚球中的 17 个（77.3%）。

• 未来队友：在观看了周日邓肯和凯文·加内特(Kevin Garnett)之间的较量后，马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)相信美国队在 2000 年奥运会上夺得金牌的希望很大。

邓肯和加内特是已经入选美国国家队的九名 NBA 球员中的两位。美国队将于 7 月在波多黎各圣胡安参加奥运会资格赛。

“我只是希望我能在那里观看他们互相练习，”埃利说。

• 气势如虹：加内特并没有回避他关于森林狼队将在首轮季后赛中“震惊世界”的言论。

他指出，森林狼队在五场三胜制的系列赛中只落后马刺队 1-0。“我绝对相信我们这里充满了决心，”加内特说。

• 客场之旅：森林狼队已经连续 11 场客场失利，包括常规赛最后 10 场比赛。如果明尼苏达队今晚获胜，这将是他们自 3 月 24 日以来的首场客场胜利。

• 孤星闪耀：森林狼队的新秀前锋安德烈·帕特森(Andrae Patterson)是得克萨斯州阿比林·库珀高中的一名前高中球星。去年夏天，森林狼队在第二轮（第 46 位）选中了来自印第安纳大学的帕特森。他在周日的首场 NBA 季后赛中上场 5 分钟，没有得分。

点击查看原文：Notes

Notes

Upon further review: The Spurs watched film for about 45 minutes Tuesday before going through a light workout.

“We got a chance to see some of the things we didn’t do well,” David Robinson said. "Early in the game we gave up way too many open jump shots. I thought we defended better the last half of the game, but we need to come out stronger early.

“One pump fake and a step through and they had a wide-open shot.”

Minnesota shot 45.8 percent (33 of 72) Sunday, the best it’s shot in five games against the Spurs this season. In three of the regular-season meetings, the Spurs held the Timberwolves below 40 percent.

Minnesota only took 12 shots in the third quarter Sunday, then made only 6 of 16 attempts (37.5 percent) in the final quarter.

- Banged up: Sean Elliott has worn a sleeve over his right elbow the past few days after getting hit in the arm in the final regular-season game against Golden State.

“It hurts a little bit to extend it, but the sleeve keeps it warm,” Elliott said. “It’s OK.”

Elliott originally hurt the arm earlier in the season.

- Dead aim: Elliott and Avery Johnson combined to make 40 straight free throws during Tuesday’s practice.

That’s no easy feat considering the Spurs finished the regular season ranked 24th in free-throw shooting (69.8 percent). Three of the team’s starters - Tim Duncan (69.0 percent), David Robinson (65.8 percent) and Johnson (56.8 percent) - shot below 70 percent.

“It cost us some games earlier in the season,” Elliott said. "We were atrocious.

“But lately we’ve been shooting pretty well.”

After making only 32 of 60 free throws (53.3 percent) in back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento two weeks ago, the Spurs shot 79.4 percent (131 of 165) from the line in their last five games of the regular season. They made 17 of 22 attempts (77.3 percent) Sunday.

- Future teammates: After watching Sunday’s battle between Duncan and Kevin Garnett, Mario Elie believes the United State’s hopes for a gold medal in the 2000 Olympics are in good hands.

Duncan and Garnett are two of nine NBA players already chosen to play on the U.S. national team. The United States will play in an Olympic qualifying tournament in July at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“I just wish I could be there to watch them practice against each other,” Elie said.

- Standing tall: Garnett isn’t backing down from his comments that the Timberwolves would “shock the world” by winning their first- round playoff series.

He noted that the Wolves are only down 1-0 to the Spurs in the best-of- five series. “I definitely believe we got a lot of determination in here,” Garnett said.

- Road woes: The Timberwolves have lost 11 in a row on the road, including 10 straight to close out the regular season. If Minnesota wins tonight, it would be the team’s first road victory since March 24.

- Lone star: Timberwolves rookie forward Andrae Patterson is a former high school star in Texas out of Abilene Cooper. Last summer, the Wolves picked Patterson in the second round (46th overall) out of Indiana University. He was scoreless in five minutes of his first NBA playoff game Sunday. - Johnny Ludden, Jerry Briggs

By Johnny Ludden and Jerry Briggs, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-11, By Buck Harvey

披着狼皮的羊？揭开表面

马刺队今晚麻烦大了。《体育画报》两年前就说过这话，然后，这本杂志就在封面上将特雷尔·布兰登 (Terrell Brandon) 评为“NBA 最佳控球后卫”。

封面就是对他实力的证明。照片中，布兰登腾空而起，击败了状元秀，将球送入篮筐。

这位状元秀就是乔·史密斯 (Joe Smith)。

这真是个莫大的讽刺。自 1997 年以来，布兰登和史密斯都换了两次球队，最终一起作为替补加盟森林狼队，填补斯蒂芬·马布里 (Stephon Marbury) 和汤姆·古格利奥塔 (Tom Gugliotta) 离开后的空缺。在凯文·加内特 (Kevin Garnett) 身边，他们的名声和实力看起来都不错。但就本轮系列赛而言：他们是否是马刺队没有陷入困境的真正原因？

史密斯的故事更为常见，他是一个被低估的孩子，他的能力远超那些评判他的人。一位马刺队的球探将他列为 1995 年的状元，选中他的勇士队也是如此。另一位马刺队的球探将他排在第三位，但即使这样也是错误的；在这份榜单上，史密斯仍然排在加内特和拉希德·华莱士 (Rasheed Wallace) 之前。

所以，当蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan) 还没有手持毕业证书等待的时候，那些选秀大会就像是一场猜谜游戏。而金州勇士队在史密斯身上猜错了。勇士队看到的是一个高大、灵活的运动员，符合他在电影中的角色。曾经，在一场关于纽约街头篮球传奇的电影中，加内特扮演威尔特·张伯伦 (Wilt Chamberlain)，而史密斯扮演康尼·霍金斯 (Connie Hawkins)。

加内特有时像张伯伦，而史密斯更像中华康妮 (Connie Chung)。史密斯有很多 NBA 球技，但没有一项是出类拔萃的。周日的比赛就证明了这一点。史密斯在肖恩·埃利奥特 (Sean Elliott) 的一次突破中完成了一记精彩的盖帽，但在其他方面，他看起来与他的绰号“野兽”截然相反。史密斯在 34 分钟内只得到 7 分和 5 个篮板。

至少史密斯没有辜负他的名声。他右臂上的一处纹身写着“永不道歉”，他在周一也没有道歉。“我只需要更有侵略性，”他说，“我需要让大卫·罗宾逊 (David Robinson) 做好防守。”

马刺队希望森林狼队的策略就是这样——让一个场均 13.7 分的得分手去面对联盟中可以说是最好的防守者。史密斯有能力做得更多，但他短暂的职业生涯中没有任何迹象表明他会像古格利奥塔那样改变这个系列赛。

本赛季史密斯只有 9 次得分达到或超过 20 分。而古格利奥塔在森林狼队的最后两年场均得分超过 20 分。

布兰登可以做得更多，而且他也做到过。他曾在克利夫兰骑士队两次入选全明星，马刺队在本赛季早些时候曾考虑过他。在马布里推动三方交易将布兰登从密尔沃基雄鹿队带到森林狼队之前，马刺队就考察过布兰登。据一位消息人士透露，罗宾逊的名字曾被当作交易筹码，而其他人则表示交易谈判从未进行到那一步。

无论如何，这都说明了《体育画报》在 1997 年试图量化的价值。当时，《体育画报》通过数据分析认定布兰登是最好的控球后卫，尽管没有人相信。而排名垫底的，甚至低于埃弗里·约翰逊 (Avery Johnson) 的，是阿伦·艾弗森 (Allen Iverson)、贾森·基德 (Jason Kidd) 和斯蒂芬·马布里等人。

还有比这更离谱的数据分析吗？马刺队在一个二月的夜晚被艾弗森狂砍 46 分。马刺队在四月祈祷着他们不必在五月去追逐基德。然后是马布里。

马布里可以冲击邓肯的胸膛，或许还能投出一记高抛打板，他可以做到任何马刺队的计划都无法应对的事情。如果他今晚拿下 35 分，周四再拿下 38 分怎么办？

森林狼队也在思考同样的问题。他们也在质疑今年夏天是否要与布兰登续约。

但就目前而言？他们只能尽力用现有的拼图去拼凑胜利。因为缺少能够击败头号种子的球星。

点击查看原文：Sheep in wolves' clothing? Away from the cover

Sheep in wolves’ clothing? Away from the cover

The Spurs are in trouble tonight. Sports Illustrated said that two years ago. Then the magazine named “The Best Point Guard in the NBA” on its cover.

Terrell Brandon.

The proof of his power was there on the same cover. Brandon, pictured in midair, had beaten the No. 1 overall draft pick to the hoop.

Joe Smith.

Talk about your jinxes. Since 1997 Brandon and Smith have each changed teams twice before ending up together as stand-ins for lost Wolves named Marbury and Gugliotta. They look good in name and reputation next to Kevin Garnett. But as far as this series goes: Are they the very reason the Spurs aren’t in trouble?

Smith is the more common story, about a kid who wasn’t nearly as faulty as those who judged his abilities. One Spurs scout ranked him as the top pick in 1995, as did the Warriors who took him there. Another Spurs scout had him third, but even that was wrong; on this list, Smith still rated ahead of Garnett and Rasheed Wallace.

So it’s a guessing game in those drafts when Tim Duncan isn’t waiting with diploma in hand. And Golden State guessed wrong on Smith. The Warriors saw a tall, agile athlete who matched his movie role. Once, in a film about a New York playground legend, Garnett pretended to be Wilt Chamberlain while Smith played Connie Hawkins.

Garnett’s been Wilt at times, Smith’s been Connie Chung. Smith has a lot of NBA skills, but none of them are exceptional. Sunday showcased that. Smith came up with an acrobatic block on a Sean Elliott drive, but otherwise he looked the opposite of his nickname, “The Beast.” Smith ended with only seven points and five rebounds in 34 minutes.

At least Smith comes as advertised. A tattoo on his right arm says “No apology,” and he didn’t offer one Monday. “I just need to be more aggressive,” he said. “I need to make David Robinson play some defense.”

The Spurs hope the Minnesota strategy will be just that - send a 13.7 scorer into the arms of arguably the league’s best defender. Smith is capable of more, but nothing he’s done in his short pro career indicates he will change this series as Tom Gugliotta could have.

Only nine times this season did Smith score 20 or more. Gugliotta averaged more than 20 his last two years in Minnesota.

Brandon could do more, and has. He was a two-time all-star in Cleveland who the Spurs considered earlier this season. Before Marbury forced the three- way trade that brought Brandon from Milwaukee, the Spurs looked into Brandon. According to one source, Robinson’s name was mentioned as bait, while others say it never got that far.

Either way, it says something about the same value that Sports Illustrated tried to quantify in 1997. Then S.I. crunched numbers and determined Brandon the best, though no one believed it. Ranked at the bottom, below Avery Johnson, were men named Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd and Stephon Marbury.

Do numbers ever lie more? The Spurs spent a February night chasing Iverson into 46 points. The Spurs spent April hoping they wouldn’t have to chase Kidd in May. And then there is Marbury.

Jumping into Duncan’s chest, maybe arcing a bank, Marbury could do things that no Spurs’ plan could counter. What if he went for 35 tonight, then 38 Thursday?

The Wolves wonder the same. They also question whether they want to re-sign Brandon this summer.

But for now? They try to survive with pieces. Without impact stars needed to upset a No. 1 seed.

By Buck Harvey, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-11, By Johnny Ludden

小将军崛起 - 约翰逊继续让对手付出代价

艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson) 势不可挡。比赛开始前几分钟，约翰逊正在进行他疯狂的赛前激励演说，将篮球和圣经融合在一起，只能用“比利·格雷厄姆(Billy Graham) 遇上 唐·金(Don King) 遇上 保罗·普鲁多姆(Paul Prudhomme)”来形容。

在过去的四天里，马刺队先后战胜了波特兰、犹他州和波特兰，距离联盟最佳战绩和季后赛主场优势只有一场之差。只有金州勇士队还挡在他们前进的道路上。

担心球队会松懈，约翰逊大声疾呼，告诉他的队友关于约书亚和以色列人，以及他们如何派出全部军队去攻占强大的城市耶利哥，以对抗强大的勇士。攻占耶利哥后，约书亚将目光投向了小小的艾城。他认为艾城太小，只派了一半的军队出战。

“你们知道发生了什么事吗？”约翰逊的声音越来越高，“他们被打得满嘴是血！”

“是的，”安东尼奥·丹尼尔斯(Antonio Daniels) 摇头说道，“被打得满嘴是血。那天早些时候我和 AJ 一起吃午饭，他跟我讲了耶利哥的战役。我当时心想，‘哇，这个故事真精彩。’但他没说有人被打得满嘴是血。我不知道他从哪里听来的。”

“这就是 AJ。你永远不会厌烦他。”

明尼苏达森林狼队似乎也认同这一点。在马刺队 99-86 获胜的星期天比赛中，约翰逊得到 21 分。好吧，森林狼队主教练弗利普·桑德斯(Flip Saunders) 说。让他多投几个。

今晚，在阿拉莫圆顶球场进行的五场系列赛第二场比赛前，森林狼队再次放任约翰逊来击败他们。

这对于马刺队的对手来说是一套老战术。也是一个合理的战术。约翰逊的一记投篮通常意味着蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan) 或大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson) 少一次触球。本赛季，在约翰逊至少出手 13 次的比赛中，马刺队取得了 8 胜 5 负。其中两场失利都败在了森林狼队手中。

“从球队防守的角度来看，”桑德斯说，“当大卫和蒂姆控球时，防守难度远高于艾弗里投篮时。”

希望约翰逊不会投进太多球。在去年的季后赛第一轮，菲尼克斯太阳队打起了类似的赌注，结果输了。约翰逊在系列赛中场均得到 20.5 分，在最后一场比赛中得到职业生涯最高的 30 分，马刺队以四场横扫太阳队。

“当人们在这个联盟里给你贴标签的时候，这个标签会伴随着你很长时间，”肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott) 说。“无论你做什么试图改变它，人们仍然认为艾弗里不会投篮。”

事实上，约翰逊可能是马刺队最有效的周边射手。他很少出手，除非机会非常空旷，他可以在底线附近 17 英尺左右的地方投篮，也可以在罚球线两侧投篮。

“当我站在球场上的位置时，”约翰逊说，“我感到很舒服。”

然而，在赛季初期，约翰逊看起来格格不入。在战绩跌至 6 胜 8 负之后，马刺队重新开始更多地使用挡拆战术。在赛季最后 36 场比赛中，约翰逊场均得到 10.1 分和 8.0 次助攻，投篮命中率为 49.5%。

整个赛季，约翰逊的投篮命中率为 47.3%，是他 8 个赛季以来的最低值。但除了他在罚球线上的表现（职业生涯罚球命中率为 70.8%，本赛季只有 56.8%）之外，大多数人认为这是约翰逊最全面的赛季之一。

约翰逊在上赛季因髋部问题困扰，部分原因是他的无休止的训练计划，最终他在场均出场时间方面以 33.4 分钟位居全队第二，仅次于邓肯。在赛季末关键阶段，马刺队夹在两场战胜波特兰队的比赛之间，还战胜了犹他爵士队，约翰逊在这段时期内总共出战了 149 分钟中的 126 分钟。

作为与罗宾逊共同的队长，约翰逊除了在球场上带领球队之外，还负责管理更衣室。他将丹尼尔斯带到自己的麾下，在比赛前和比赛后与他一起训练。他还经常给波波维奇(Popovich) 提建议。

“他会把自己的意见说出来，不管你是否想听，”波波维奇说。“我们认为，听他的建议是明智的，因为他的建议几乎总是正确的。”

尽管埃利奥特回归，还有马里奥·埃里(Mario Elie) 的加盟，约翰逊仍然是一个绝对的得分威胁。如果给他一条进入篮筐的路线，他会在对方中锋弯曲膝盖的精确时刻，投出他招牌式的跑动勾手。

“他知道人们会给他什么，”波波维奇说。“他做得很好，他骗过了人们。”

约翰逊的职业生涯也建立在证明人们错了的基础之上。他落选了选秀，在六个赛季中辗转了五支球队，直到 1994 年他第三次加盟马刺队，才签下了他的第一份有保障的合同。

达蒙·斯塔德迈尔(Damon Stoudamire) 只是众多认为马刺队不可能在约翰逊担任首发控卫的情况下赢得 NBA 冠军的人之一。在马刺队最近的两场对阵波特兰队的比赛中，约翰逊以 42-20 的比分战胜了斯塔德迈尔。

“那些没有被选中或者被选中较晚的球员，他们都有证明自己的动力，”埃里说，他是在约翰逊的招募下加盟马刺队的。“那些乐透秀赚了数百万美元，他们不必努力工作。他们只需签下一份大合同。”

“像我和艾弗里这样的球员，我们必须努力工作才能获得合同。每年我们都必须证明自己。……我们把这件事看得非常重要。”

约翰逊说：“人们根据你到过的地方来评判你。在我们赢得一切之前，我还没有证明自己。”

所以，约翰逊今晚带着怨恨再次踏上球场。带领他的军队。一位知道一战不等于战争的小将军。

马刺队 vs. 森林狼队

第一场：@马刺队 99，森林狼队 86

第二场：今晚 7 点 @阿拉莫圆顶球场；电视：付费观看

第三场：星期四下午 6 点 @明尼苏达；电视：KSAT

第四场*：星期六 @明尼苏达；电视：NBC 或 KSAT

第五场*：5 月 17 日 @阿拉莫圆顶球场；付费观看 *：如有必要

广播：WOAI-AM 1200；西班牙语：KCOR-AM 1350

点击查看原文：Little General rising - Johnson still making S.A. opponents pay

Little General rising - Johnson still making S.A. opponents pay

Avery Johnson was on a roll. Tip-off was only a few minutes away and Johnson was leading one of his furious pregame pep talks that combines basketball and scripture in a way that can only be described as Billy Graham meets Don King meets Paul Prudhomme.

In the past four days the Spurs had knocked off Portland, Utah and Portland again to move within one game of the NBA’s best record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Only Golden State still stood in their path.

Fearful of a letdown, Johnson talked loud and fast, telling his teammates about Joshua and the Israeli people and how they sent their entire army to capture the great city of Jericho against its mighty warriors. After taking over Jericho, Joshua then set his sights on the little town of Ai. Thinking it was so small, he ordered only half his men into battle.

“Do you know what happened?” Johnson said, his voice rising. “They got busted in the mouth!”

“Yes,” Antonio Daniels recalled, shaking his head, "busted in the mouth. AJ and I went to lunch earlier that day, and he told me about the battle of Jericho. I was like, ‘Man, that’s a good story.’ But he didn’t say anything about anybody getting busted in the mouth. I don’t know where he got that from.

“That’s just AJ. You can’t ever get enough of him.”

The Minnesota Timberwolves seem to agree. In the Spurs’ 99-86 victory Sunday, Johnson scored 21 points. Fine, Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. Let him shoot some more.

Heading into the second game of the best-of-five series tonight at the Alamodome, the Timberwolves are again daring Johnson to beat them.

It is an old strategy for Spurs’ opponents. A logical one, too. A shot by Johnson usually means one less touch for Tim Duncan or David Robinson. The Spurs went 8-5 this season in games where Johnson had at least 13 attempts. Two of the losses came at the hands of Minnesota.

“From a team-defense standpoint,” Saunders said, “it’s much more difficult when David and Tim have the ball in their hands than when Avery is making shots.”

The hope is that Johnson won’t make enough. In the first round of last year’s playoffs, Phoenix gambled on a similar plan and lost. Johnson averaged 20.5 points in the series, scoring a career-high 30 in the finale as the Spurs brushed aside the Suns in four games.

“When people label you in this league, it sticks with you for a long time,” Sean Elliott said. “I don’t care what you do to try to change it. And people still think Avery can’t shoot.”

In reality, Johnson may be the Spurs’ most efficient perimeter shooter. Rarely taking a shot unless it’s open, he can hit from about 17 feet along the baseline and from either side of the free-throw line.

“When I get to my spots on the floor,” Johnson said, “I feel comfortable.”

Early in the season, however, Johnson looked out of place. After slumping to 6-8, the Spurs went back to running more pick-and-roll. In the final 36 games of the season Johnson averaged 10.1 points and 8.0 assists while shooting 49.5 percent.

For the year Johnson shot 47.3 percent from the field, his lowest mark in eight seasons. But aside from his adventures at the free-throw line - a career 70.8-percent shooter, he made only 56.8 percent of his attempts - most consider this one of Johnson’s better all-around seasons.

Bothered last season by a hip problem that resulted in part from his relentless workout program, Johnson finished second on the team behind Duncan with an average of 33.4 minutes a game. He played 126 of a possible 149 minutes in the critical end-of-the-season stretch where the Spurs sandwiched a pair of wins over Portland around their Utah victory.

As a co-captain with Robinson, Johnson polices the locker room in addition to running the team on the court. He has taken Daniels under his wing, working with him before and after games. And he always has a suggestion for Popovich.

“He’s going to let his opinions be known whether you want to hear them or not,” Popovich said. “We just think it’s wise to listen because they’re almost always right.”

And despite the return of Elliott and the addition of Mario Elie, Johnson remains a definite scoring threat. Given a lane to the basket, he times his patented running hook at the precise moment opposing big men are bending their knees.

“He knows what people are going to give him,” Popovich said. “And he does a heck of a job of tricking people.”

Johnson also has built a career out of proving people wrong. Undrafted, he bounced between five teams in six seasons before signing his first guaranteed contract when he began his third stint with the Spurs in 1994.

Damon Stoudamire is just one of many who have said the Spurs could never win an NBA title with Johnson starting at point guard. In the Spurs’ last two games against Portland, Johnson outscored Stoudamire 42-20.

“Guys who don’t get drafted or get drafted late have a point to prove,” said Elie, who signed with the Spurs with the help of Johnson’s recruiting efforts. "You got all these lottery picks who make millions, and they don’t have to work for it. They just have to sign a big deal.

“Guys like myself and Avery have to work to get contracts. Every year we have to prove ourselves. … We take that personal.”

Said Johnson: “You’re judged by when you go somewhere you haven’t been before. I won’t have proven myself until we win it all.”

So Johnson will take the court again tonight with a grudge. Leading his army. A little general who knows one battle does not make a war.

Spurs vs. Timberwolves

Game 1: @Spurs 99, Timberwolves 86

Game 2: 7 tonight @Alamodome; TV: pay-per- view

Game 3: 6 p.m. Thursday @Minnesota; TV: KSAT

Game 4*: TBA Saturday @Minnesota; TV: NBC or KSAT

Game 5*: TBA May 17 @Alamodome; pay-per-view *: If necessary

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

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-12, By Jerry Briggs

狼队给马刺队上了一课：明尼苏达队在进攻篮板球方面以 19-11 领先

幸运的是，对于马刺队来说，明尼苏达森林狼队需要在这轮第一轮季后赛系列赛中再赢两场才能实现凯文·加内特(Kevin Garnett) 的“震惊世界”预言。

然而，森林狼队至少在周二晚上打出了一场令人震惊的比赛，他们在全场比赛中统治了进攻篮板球，以 80-71 击败了马刺队，比赛在阿拉莫穹顶球馆进行，吸引了 22,494 名球迷到场观赛。

加内特以全场最高的 23 分领衔球队取得了这场爆冷胜利，他说他在系列赛开始前说这句话只是为了好玩。

“但我会信守诺言，”加内特说，这位冉冉升起的新星距离他 23 岁生日还差一个星期。“我们打得很好。”

马刺队不会反驳这一点。

作为一支并不以防守见长的球队，第八顺位的森林狼队将实力强大的第一顺位马刺队压制至季后赛球队史上最低得分，并将五场三胜制的系列赛扳成 1-1 平。

系列赛将在明尼苏达州进行接下来的两场比赛，第三场将在周四晚上在目标中心球馆进行。

“这将会是一场狂欢，”加内特承诺道。“这将会是一场史诗般的比赛。”

森林狼队球员感觉到，他们的一些球迷在周日下午在穹顶球馆以 99-86 输掉比赛后，可能已经对他们失去了信心。他们也厌倦了听到马刺队球迷谈论他们，说他们只是一块通往 NBA 总冠军的绊脚石。

正是这种言论激发了森林狼队的感情，他们在进攻篮板球方面以 19-11 领先马刺队的明星内线组合大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson) 和蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)。

“我们知道在系列赛中落后 0-1 是什么感觉，”加内特说。“每个人都放弃了你，说‘这是横扫时刻’。这就像是在脸上吐口水一样。我们队有很多自豪感。我们都是竞争者。”

加内特在第一场比赛中被马刺队球迷嘲笑和嘘声，并因他的言论而遭到嘲讽，他回应了挑战。他在 22 次出手中命中 11 球，在第四节开始阶段连续命中了 4 个跳投。

加内特，一位 7 英尺高、第四年的球员，直接从芝加哥的一所高中进入 NBA，在 46 分钟的比赛中还贡献了 12 个篮板、3 次抢断和 2 次盖帽。

与第一场比赛不同，加内特这次得到了帮助。乔·史密斯(Joe Smith) 和迪安·加勒特(Dean Garrett) 两周内首次首发，合计贡献了 19 个篮板，其中 11 个来自进攻篮板。

虽然控球后卫特雷尔·布兰登(Terrell Brandon) 在连续第二场比赛中表现出色，贡献了 18 分、9 次助攻和 7 个篮板，但加勒特可能在第一节比赛进行到一半时就定下了比赛的基调，当时他将马刺队后卫埃弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson) 掀翻在地。

加勒特在这次犯规中被判犯规，他在约翰逊突破上篮时拉住了他，将他翻倒在地。这让人想起萨克拉门托国王队中锋克里斯·韦伯(Chris Webber) 在周一晚上国王队爆冷战胜犹他爵士队的比赛中对后卫约翰·斯托克顿(John Stockton) 的凶狠犯规。

“这两支球队都不是以身体对抗著称的球队，”加勒特说。“但埃弗里一直都在突破到篮下，没有人真的拦住过他。我并没有想伤害他。埃弗里知道这一点。我认识他，他也认识我。我们住在（休斯顿）大约两分钟的路程。”

加勒特说他看到了韦伯对斯托克顿犯规的回放。这件事让他印象深刻。

“嘿，这是季后赛，”他说。“我不想回家。”

在第二节，森林狼队让马刺队感到沮丧，并迫使他们打出了季后赛历史上最糟糕的一节比赛。

狼队在本节只让马刺队得到 10 分，只差一分就追平了球队单节得分最低纪录。这段 12 分钟的比赛看起来与 1994 年第一轮对阵犹他爵士队的 9 分惨败十分相似。

不幸的是，狼队的表现也并没有好多少，否则他们可能已经取得更大的领先优势。

在以 14-1 的比分结束进攻的同时，加内特命中了一记 18 英尺跳投、一记短勾手和另一记跳投，在半场结束时为球队贡献了 7 分，帮助狼队以 34-24 的比分取得了领先优势。

点击查看原文：Wolves give Spurs rebounding lesson - Minnesota dominates offensive glass 19-11

Wolves give Spurs rebounding lesson - Minnesota dominates offensive glass 19-11

Fortunately for the Spurs, it will take two more wins for the Minnesota Timberwolves in this first- round playoff series to fulfill Kevin Garnett’s “shock the world” prophecy.

But the Timberwolves at the very least applied a stunner Tuesday night, dominating the offensive glass all evening in an 80-71 victory over the Spurs in front of 22,494 fans at the Alamodome.

Garnett, who led the upset with a game-high 23 points, said he made the comment before the series just to have some fun.

“But I stick to my words,” said Garnett, a rising star who is a week shy of his 23rd birthday. “We’re playing good basketball.”

The Spurs wouldn’t argue that point.

Not known as defensive wonders, the eighth-seeded Timberwolves held the heavily favored No. 1 Spurs to a playoff franchise-low in points, and evened the best-of-five series at 1-1.

The series shifts to Minnesota for the next two games, with Game 3 scheduled for Thursday night at the Target Center.

“It’s going to be rockin’,” Garnett promised. “It’s going to be off the hook.”

Timberwolves players sensed that some of their own fans may have given up on them after they lost 99-86 Sunday afternoon at the dome. They also grew weary of hearing Spurs fans talk about them as little more than a speed-bump on the highway to an NBA championship.

It was that sort of rhetoric that unleashed an emotional response from the Timberwolves, who dominated the offensive glass 19-11 against the Spurs’ heralded front line of David Robinson and Tim Duncan.

“We know what it’s like to be down 0-1 (in a series),” Garnett said. “Everybody’s giving up on you, saying, ‘It’s sweep time.’ It’s sort of like a spit in the face, so to speak. We have a lot of pride on this team. We’re competitors.”

Heckled and booed by Spurs fans in Game 1 and ridiculed for his comments, Garnett answered the challenge. He shot 11 of 22 from the field, nailing four jumpers in a row early in the fourth quarter.

Garnett, a 7-foot, fourth-year player who came to the NBA directly out of a Chicago high school, also added 12 rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots in 46 minutes.

Unlike Game 1, Garnett had help this time. Joe Smith and Dean Garrett, starting for the first time in two weeks, combined for 19 rebounds - 11 off the offensive glass.

While point guard Terrell Brandon was solid for the second game in a row with 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, Garrett may have set the tone midway through the first quarter when he upended Spurs guard Avery Johnson.

Called for a flagrant foul on the play, Garrett hooked Johnson on a drive to the basket, flipping him on his back. It was reminiscent of Sacramento center Chris Webber’s hard foul on guard John Stockton early in the Kings’ upset win at Utah Monday night.

“Neither one of these teams are regarded as very physical,” Garrett said. “But Avery has been driving to the hole a lot and nobody had really stopped him. I didn’t intend to hurt him. Avery knows that. I know him, and he knows me. We live about two minutes from each other (in Houston).”

Garrett said he saw the replay of Webber’s foul on Stockton. It was on his mind.

“Hey, these are the playoffs,” he said. “I don’t want to go home yet.”

In the second period, the Timberwolves frustrated the Spurs into one of their worst quarters in playoff history.

The Wolves held the Spurs to 10 points in the quarter, one off the franchise record for fewest points in a period. It was a 12-minute stretch that looked similar to the record, nine-point debacle in the 1994 first round against Utah.

Unfortunately for the Wolves, they weren’t that much better, or else they might have built a bigger lead.

Capping a 14-1 run, Garnett hit an 18-footer, a short hook and another jumper and had seven points midway through the period as the Wolves seized control, 34-24.

By Jerry Briggs, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-12, By Cecilia Balli

贾德森的NBA季后赛可能会有所回报

第一轮季后赛已经过半，马刺队最难对付的对手可能是近700名贾德森高中(Judson Senior High School)的毕业生。

和往年一样，学校将在5月25日于阿拉莫穹顶(Alamodome)举行毕业典礼，而同一天，NBA希望将该场地用于马刺队的季后赛比赛，前提是实力强大的圣安东尼奥队能晋级第二轮。

贾德森校长埃迪·帕斯利(Eddie Parsley)将于今天宣布学校将如何应对这场突如其来的时间冲突。

贾德森发言人杰夫·杜菲尔德(Jeff Duffield)周二表示：“我们有可能(改变日期)，但目前还没有明确的计划。”

NBA负责赛程和比赛运营的副总裁马特·温内克(Matt Winneck)表示，他已经多次与帕斯利交谈，并口头提出支付学校3万美元，以便在5月25日腾出阿拉莫穹顶。

温内克说：“没有协商。我相信与帕斯利先生达成的协议将有效。”

问题是在几个星期前，NBA官员——他们的赛季因三个月的停摆而推迟，比赛日程也因此比往常晚——向阿拉莫穹顶官员提出租借5月25日的请求。

然而，贾德森学区早在几个月前就预定了这个时间段。尽管这类合同通常包含一项条款，赋予马刺队——阿拉莫穹顶的主要租户——优先选择权，但今年季后赛是否会如期举行尚不确定，这意味着贾德森可以毫无障碍地使用该场地。

阿拉莫穹顶主管迈克·阿宾顿(Mike Abington)说：“当(马刺队)最终确定了修改后的赛程时，这一天对他们变得非常重要。如果这一天在NBA的原始赛程中，我们绝不会把这个时间段给贾德森。”

从人数上看，贾德森的毕业典礼与马刺队的季后赛相比相形见绌。

虽然这是该市传统高中规模最大的毕业典礼，但活动吸引了4000到5000人，而第二轮季后赛的观众人数可达3万人。贾德森为当晚租借阿拉莫穹顶支付了5200美元，而职业体育队则要付出20倍的价钱。

但对于贾德森的学生、家长和管理人员来说，真正优先考虑的是已经寄出的闪闪发光的邀请函，从外地赶来的亲朋好友预订的不可退改的机票，以及从开学初就开始筹备的每年都会举行的毕业后夜间派对，即“毕业项目”。

杜菲尔德说：“在比赛即将结束的时候让我们陷入这种境地，真的太晚了。”

他说：“当所有纳税的家长都带着他们的孩子来参加毕业典礼时，你必须考虑他们的感受。当然，你可以想象，如果学校搞砸了马刺队的计划，将会受到多大的批评。所以我们现在处于进退两难的境地。”

阿宾顿说，在阿拉莫穹顶举办的所有不同类型的活动中，高中毕业典礼可能是最难更改的。

除了篮球季后赛，NBA可能会争辩。

东部联盟的比赛在周三、周五和周日进行，而马刺队属于西部联盟，必须在周二、周四和周六比赛。这种赛程安排部分由价值数亿美元的电视转播合同决定。

除此之外，马刺队本赛季拥有主场优势，这是他们在联盟中取得最佳战绩而获得的特权。这意味着他们更愿意在自己的主场进行第二轮季后赛的第五场比赛，即5月25日。

NBA的温内克说：“对他们来说，客场作战会让他们处于巨大的竞争劣势。”

马刺队最早可能在周四就知道他们是否能晋级第二轮。

与此同时，一位贾德森高中的毕业生——她的亲朋好友来自加州、路易斯安那州和德克萨斯州各地来参加她的毕业典礼——对马刺队在最后一刻提出的要求嗤之以鼻。

18岁的莎基拉·布朗(Shakira Brown)在毕业用品和邀请函上花费了超过170美元，她的母亲和祖母也早在几周前就请了假。

布朗周二在政府课上讨论时说，马刺队的球迷热衷于为了球队牺牲他们的时间。

但布朗不同意。

布朗说：“我对马刺队没有那么疯狂，不至于为了他们把我的毕业典礼改到其他时间。”

撰稿人詹妮弗·沃尔什(Jennifer Walsh)对本篇报道有贡献。

点击查看原文：NBA playoff could pay off for Judson

NBA playoff could pay off for Judson

Halfway through the first round of the playoffs, the Spurs’ toughest opponents could be nearly 700 Judson Senior High School candidates for graduation.

As it has done for years, the school is set to hold its graduation ceremony at the Alamodome on May 25 - the same day the NBA wants the place for a Spurs playoff game should the heavily favored San Antonio team make it to the second round.

Judson Principal Eddie Parsley is to announce today how the school plans to respond to the unexpected scheduling conflict.

“There’s a potential that we’ll have to (change dates), but at (this) time there’s no firm, definitive plan to do it,” Judson spokesman Jeff Duffield said Tuesday.

Matt Winneck, the NBA’s vice president for scheduling and game operations, said he has spoken to Parsley on several occasions, and verbally offered to pay the school $30,000 to clear the Alamodome on May 25.

“There was no negotiation,” Winneck said. “I have no reason to believe that the agreement I made with Mr. Parsley will not be in effect.”

The problem arose when NBA officials - whose season began with a three-month lockout and whose game schedule is consequently running later than usual - approached Alamodome officials several weeks ago asking for the May 25 date.

The Judson School District, however, had reserved that slot months earlier. And although such contracts usually include a clause granting first pick to the Spurs, the Alamodome’s main tenant, uncertainty over whether there actually would be playoffs this year meant Judson got the date free and clear.

“When (the Spurs) finally got to the amended schedule, that day became very, very important to them,” Alamodome Director Mike Abington said. “We would never have given Judson that day if it had been in the original NBA schedule.”

In numbers, Judson’s ceremony pales in comparison to a Spurs’ playoff game.

Although it’s the city’s largest graduation for a traditional high school, the event draws between 4,000 and 5,000 people, compared to as many as 30,000 for a second-round playoff game. Judson paid $5,200 to lease the Alamodome that night, while professional sports teams dish out 20 times that much.

But for Judson students, parents and administrators, the real priority is about shimmering invitations already in the mail, out-of-town relatives holding nonrefundable airline tickets, and a yearly overnight after- party, known as Project Graduation, in the making since the beginning of the school year.

“It’s really late in the ballgame to be put in this position,” Duffield said.

“When you’ve got all these parents that pay taxes and have their children graduating, you have to be considerate,” he said. “Of course, you can imagine the black eye the district would have if it fouls up the Spurs’ plans. So we’re kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

Of all the different kinds of events held at the Alamodome, Abington said, high school graduations probably are the hardest to change.

Except for basketball playoffs, the NBA might argue.

Eastern Conference games are played Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, so the Spurs, who are in the Western Conference, must play on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. That schedule is driven partially by television contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

On top of that, the Spurs have home-court advantage this season, a privilege they earned by holding the best record in the team’s conference. That means they’d rather play the fifth game of the second playoff round, set for May 25, in their own back yard.

“To them, to play that game on the road would put them at a severe competitor’s disadvantage,” the NBA’s Winneck said.

The Spurs may know as early as Thursday if the team is advancing to the second round.

Meanwhile, one Judson senior who has relatives coming in from California, Louisiana and throughout Texas for her graduation scoffed at the Spurs’ last-minute request.

Shakira Brown, 18, spent more than $170 on graduation supplies and invitations, and her mother and grandmother both requested the day off weeks in advance.

Brown said during a discussion in her government class Tuesday that Spurs fans were enthusiastic about sacrificing their day for the team.

But Brown disagreed.

“I’m not that crazy about the Spurs, not so much so I can move my graduation to another day,” Brown said.

Staff Writer Jennifer Walsh contributed to this report.

By Cecilia Balli, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-12, By Ihosvani Rodriguez

马刺球迷熟悉的感受

他们离开球馆，仍然在寻找着什么。

当然，这不是一场失利。

他们心爱的圣安东尼奥马刺队在周二晚上输掉了与明尼苏达森林狼队的五场系列赛第二场，最终比分 80-71。

他们肯定不是在寻找更多的悲伤。

当 22,494 名球迷离开阿拉莫圆顶球馆时，他们最渴望的，不仅仅是自豪地穿着他们最喜欢的球员的球衣。

“一路走到最后，这是最重要的，”自称马刺队头号球迷的查理·富勒 (Charlie Fuller) 说。“我们今年不会满足于再次被淘汰出局。”

像富勒一样，大多数球迷都以第一人称说话。他们使用“我们”这个词，仿佛他们是球场上罚球、封盖、眼窝被打的人。

为什么不呢？就连球员们自己也称圣安东尼奥的球迷是“第六人”。许多这些所谓的第六人，比现在一些马刺球员出生得还要早。

他们已经经历过季后赛失利。他们已经知道在第二场比赛结束后，他们开车去停车场的路上那种难受的感觉。

最重要的是，球迷们知道，在圆顶球馆悬挂的众多横幅中，唯独缺失了那块写着“NBA 冠军”的横幅。

当森林狼队中锋迪恩·加雷特 (Dean Garrett) 对马刺队后卫艾弗里·约翰逊 (Avery Johnson) 犯规时，球迷们记下了 22 号的姓名。

当马里奥·埃利 (Mario Elie) 在地板上滑翔，几乎在一次狂热的扣篮中将篮筐掀翻时，球迷们更是拍手叫好。

当主要的反派 - 凯文·加内特 (Kevin Garnett) - 在第四节开始时被吹罚走步时，圆顶球馆几乎要从它的轴线上倾倒了。

“他们知道我们在这里。毫无疑问，他们在无视我们，”另一位自称马刺队头号球迷的奥滕西亚·奎尼奥内斯 (Hortencia Quinones) 说。她可能指的是任何一支球队。

但比赛的关键时刻 - 当人群变成了一个准备扑向猎物的庞大、充满活力、会呼吸的实体 - 出现在第四节的后期。

马刺队在大部分时间里落后 11 分的情况下，努力追赶，最终将比分差距缩小到 4 分。正是这个时候，球迷们发挥了自己的作用。

但所有喘气、呻吟和叫喊都没有效果。球队只是时间不够了。

马刺队输了，球迷们心怀失望地离开了，被迫展望周四在明尼阿波利斯的复仇之战。

“现在就看他们的了，他们要克服这场失利，赢得这场比赛，”亚历克斯·洛萨诺 (Alex Lozano) 说。这位铁杆球迷总能坐在球场高高的看台上，在那里，球员看起来就像地板上的小点。

“我知道我在尽我的职责。我希望他们也能开始尽他们的职责。”

来自另一位自称马刺队头号球迷的严厉言辞。

点击查看原文：Spurs fans left with familiar feeling

Spurs fans left with familiar feeling

They left the joint still looking for something.

Certainly, it wasn’t a loss.

Their beloved San Antonio Spurs furnished that Tuesday night in losing Game 2 of their best-of-five playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves 80-71.

They definitely weren’t searching for more sorrow.

What the 22,494 fans craved the most as they left the Alamodome was something meatier than wearing their favorite player’s jersey with pride.

“Going all the way. That’s the most important,” said self-professed No. 1 Spurs fan Charlie Fuller. “We’re not going to settle for another playoff elimination this year.”

Like Fuller, most fans talk in the first person. They use the “we” as if they’re the ones on the court nailing free-throws, blocking shots, taking elbows to the eye-socket.

And why not? Even the players themselves call the San Antonio fans the “sixth man.” Many of those so-called sixth men were around before some of the current Spurs were born.

They already know about playoff losses. They already know the sick feeling they had on their way to the parking lot after Game 2.

Most of all, the fans know that missing among the many banners hanging in the dome is the one reading “NBA Champs.”

When Timberwolves center Dean Garrett collided with Spurs guard Avery Johnson with the foulest of fouls, the fans jotted down No. 22’s name.

When Mario Elie coasted across the floor, nearly tearing down the basket during a rambunctious slam dunk, the fans more than approved.

When the main villain - Kevin Garnett - was cited for traveling at the top of the fourth period, the dome nearly tilted on its axis.

“They know we’re here. There’s no doubt they’re ignoring us,” said another self-professed No. 1 Spurs fan, Hortencia Quinones, who could have been referring to either team.

But the pivotal point in the game - when the crowd became a monstrous, thriving, breathing entity ready to pounce - came late in the fourth quarter.

The Spurs had worked their way up to close within four points after trailing by 11 for what seemed like much of the game. It was then the fans did their part.

But all the gasping, moaning and yelling didn’t work. The team simply ran out of time.

The Spurs lost and the crowd left disgusted, forced to look ahead to some revenge at Thursday’s game in Minneapolis.

“It’s now up to them to do their part, come off this loss and win this thing for once,” said Alex Lozano, the perennial fan who can always be found sitting way up there where the players look like specs on the floor.

“I know I am doing my job. I wish they’d start doing theirs.”

Harsh words from another self- professed No. 1 Spurs fan.

By Ihosvani Rodriguez, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-12, By Johnny Ludden and Jerry Briggs

马刺备忘录

什么停摆？马刺队本赛季常规赛的观众人数在NBA排名第二，平均每场有21,094名球迷来到他们的主场阿拉莫穹顶球馆，一共进行了25场比赛。

这比上赛季增加了近2,000名球迷。马刺队还创造了NBA本赛季单场观众人数的纪录，5月2日，35,122名球迷观看他们战胜了爵士队。

芝加哥以场均22,400名球迷的观众人数位居联盟榜首。然而，公牛队的实际观众人数要低得多。球迷们必须在得知迈克尔·乔丹(Michael Jordan)退役之前续订他们的季票。

强势开局：埃弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)对冲着队友大喊大叫毫不道歉，他也不打算停止激进的打法。

“我告诉（马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)），驯服一只狮子比激励一只小猫咪更容易，”约翰逊说道。

宾至如归：明尼苏达队在本赛季的比赛中，主场与客场胜利之间的差距与纽约尼克斯队和达拉斯小牛队并列联盟第一。

森林狼队在明尼苏达目标中心球馆取得了18胜7负的战绩，但在客场仅取得了7胜18负，差距达到11场。

马刺队在目标中心球馆的两场比赛中都输了。明尼苏达队在常规赛最后10场客场比赛中全部告负。

穹顶球馆的威慑力：明尼苏达队助理教练格雷格·巴拉德(Greg Ballard)表示，他不认为阿拉莫穹顶球馆像以前的希米斯菲尔球馆那样具有威慑力。

“（希米斯菲尔球馆）更加亲密，”巴拉德说道，他曾在1970年代作为客队球员在那里为华盛顿子弹队效力。“球场回声更大。所以，当（主队）处于领先时，可能会领先更多。在这里，你也可以领先，但可能只是微弱的领先。球队不会像在更加亲密的球馆那样感到害怕，那里对球队的影响更大。

“事实上，我认为这就是圣安东尼奥想要一个新的球馆的原因。”

第一场比赛的魔力：自从1976-77赛季进入NBA以来，马刺队在赢得第一场比赛的情况下，赢得了13个系列赛中的9个。他们在输掉第一场比赛的情况下战绩为0胜14负。

马刺队上一次赢得季后赛首场却输掉系列赛是在1994年，当时约翰·卢卡斯(John Lucas)是主教练，丹尼斯·罗德曼(Dennis Rodman)担任首发大前锋。马刺队在阿拉莫穹顶球馆的揭幕战中以17分的优势战胜了爵士队，随后连续输掉了接下来的三场比赛。

彼得森的回忆：明尼苏达篮球电台分析师吉姆·彼得森(Jim Petersen)是1991年金州勇士队的一员，他们在那年季后赛首轮爆冷击败了马刺队。

彼得森还在1980年代与哈基姆·奥拉朱旺(Hakeem Olajuwon)和拉尔夫·桑普森(Ralph Sampson)一起效力于休斯敦火箭队。

点击查看原文：Spurs Notes

Spurs Notes

What lockout? The Spurs finished the regular season second in the NBA in attendance, drawing an average of 21,094 fans to their 25 Alamodome dates.

That’s an increase of almost 2,000 fans from last season. The Spurs also set the NBA’s single-game attendance mark for the season when 35,122 fans watched them beat Utah on May 2.

Chicago led the league in attendance, averaging 22,400 fans. The Bulls’ actual attendance, however, was considerably lower. Fans had to renew their season tickets before learning Michael Jordan retired.

Go in strong: Avery Johnson makes no apologies for yapping at his teammates. Nor does he plan to stop playing aggressively.

“I told (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) that it’s easier to tame a lion than to pump up a pussycat,” Johnson said.

Home, sweet home: Minnesota tied the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks for the NBA’s largest margin between home and road victories this season.

The Timberwolves went 18-7 at the Target Center, but only 7-18 on the road, a difference of 11 games.

The Spurs lost both of their games at the Target Center. Minnesota lost its last 10 regular-season games on the road.

Dome bashed: Minnesota assistant coach Greg Ballard said he doesn’t think the Alamodome carries as much of an intimidation factor as the old HemisFair Arena.

“(The HemisFair) was more intimate,” said Ballard, who played there as a visiting team player for the Washington Bullets in the 1970s. "You had more reverberation. So, when (the home) team gets on a run, it could be more of a big run. Here, you can get a run (going), but it may just be a small run. Teams aren’t as intimidated by that, vs. a more intimate setting, where it has more impact.

“In fact, I think that’s why San Antonio wants a new arena.”

Game 1 magic: Since their first year in the NBA in 1976-77, the Spurs have won nine of 13 series when they have won the first game. They are 0-14 when they have lost the first game.

The last time the Spurs won a playoff opener and lost the series was 1994, when John Lucas was the head coach and Dennis Rodman was starting at power forward. The Spurs whipped Utah by 17 in the opener at the Alamodome and then dropped the next three in a row.

Petersen remembers: Minneapolis basketball radio analyst Jim Petersen was a member of the 1991 Golden State Warriors, who upset the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.

Petersen also played for the Houston Rockets alongside Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson in the 1980s. - Johnny Ludden, Jerry Briggs

By Johnny Ludden and Jerry Briggs, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-12, By Johnny Ludden

扔向狼群 - 明尼苏达森林狼，加内特偷走主场优势

这是肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)说的一句老乔治城大学的戏言。帕特里克·尤因(Patrick Ewing)会昂首阔步地走出来，把几个球拍到第三排，然后怒视对方。只是为了让每个人都知道他来了。

周二晚上，凯文·加内特(Kevin Garnett)也尝试了同样的策略。乔·史密斯(Joe Smith)也是。当迪安·加雷特(Dean Garrett)找不到球来拍打时，他把艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)按倒在地。

马刺队注意到森林狼队的存在了吗？

“是的，”埃利奥特说道。“他们无处不在。”

抢下篮板球，抢夺漏球，围攻蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)，封锁禁区。是的，森林狼队无处不在，他们比年长、经验丰富的季后赛对手更加努力，最终以 80-71 的比分赢得了比赛，让阿拉莫圆顶体育馆的 22,494 名观众鸦雀无声。

在他们的季后赛历史上，马刺队一直拥有主场优势，但他们已经七次输掉前两场比赛中的至少一场。他们最终输掉了所有这七个系列赛。再加上，森林狼队在常规赛的 25 场胜利中，有 18 场是在主场取得的。

“现在，”森林狼队主教练弗利普·桑德斯(Flip Saunders)说道，“我们有了系列赛。”

如果马刺队继续像周二在五场三胜制的首轮系列赛第二场比赛中那样表现，这场系列赛将不会持续太久。森林狼队抢下了 19 个进攻篮板。他们的助攻次数是马刺队的两倍多。他们限制了邓肯和大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)在头三节的总投篮次数，只有 14 次。

“人们希望他们不会能够与我们的激情和侵略性相匹敌，”马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)说道。“事实证明，我们没有与他们的激情和侵略性相匹敌。这是比赛结果的主要原因。一切都是从这里开始的。”

还有一些其他的因素。桑德斯启用大个阵容，让 6 英尺 11 英寸的加雷特首发，顶替了萨姆·米切尔(Sam Mitchell)。这将加内特从首发阵容中移到了小前锋的位置，让他可以防守埃利奥特，而不是邓肯。

森林狼队更加重视约翰逊。大卫·罗宾逊得到 11 分和 10 个篮板，但他只投了 6 次球。加内特还在最后几分钟内，在罗宾逊头上投进了两个重要的跳投。

“他们做得比我们都好，”罗宾逊说道。“他们在各个方面都比我们出色。我们没有投篮，我们没有抢篮板，我们没有抢到漏球，我们没有防守。”

这基本上涵盖了所有方面。但尽管如此，尽管他们在第二节开始到第三节结束的连续几个回合中都没有得分，尽管他们的投篮命中率只有 39.7%（25 投 63 中），但马刺队仍然有机会。

邓肯以 18 分和 16 个篮板领衔马刺队，他在第四节的第一个回合中就得分了。加内特挡掉了他的第一个投篮。然后是一个勾手。一个 17 英尺的擦板球。当他补篮得分后，马刺队将 9 分的落后差距缩小到了 64-59。

埃利奥特的一个扣篮本来可以将马刺队的比分追到 70-68，距离比赛结束还剩 3 分 50 秒，但裁判吹罚了埃利奥特推人犯规，判罚无效。加内特随后投进了一个 17 英尺的跳投，米切尔紧跟着投进了一个困难的后仰跳投。

在周日的第一场比赛中，邓肯在最后 21 分钟内砍下 14 分，而加内特在周二的第四节中得到 10 分。这一切都是在加内特上场了 48 分钟中的 46 分钟的情况下完成的。

“蒂姆·邓肯真的很厉害，我并没有贬低他，”加内特说道。“但我也不赖。”

事实证明，加内特的防守是马刺队最好的进攻。他们在糟糕的第二节中，只投进了 12 次中的 3 球，8 次罚球中的 4 球，并出现了 6 次失误。

邓肯错失了一个双手扣篮。杰罗姆·科西(Jerome Kersey)错失了一个快攻上篮。贾伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson)在禁区转身时丢掉了球。杰克逊的三分球击中篮筐前沿。安东尼奥·丹尼尔斯(Antonio Daniels)在出手前走出界外。埃利奥特的 19 英尺跳投弹出了篮筐。

这只是一段刺激的时刻。在连续的 11 个回合中，马刺队只得到 1 分。

埃利奥特在比赛还剩 2 分 58 秒时的一个扣篮，终于结束了马刺队 8 分钟 5 秒的得分荒。他们在本节中得到 10 分，距离他们在 2 月 17 日输给菲尼克斯太阳队的比赛中第四节的最低得分记录只差 2 分。

埃利奥特和马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)合计 22 投 6 中。波波维奇在第三节中段派上了史蒂夫·科尔(Steve Kerr)，但由于过去一周几乎没有上场时间，他五次出手全部偏出。

“我觉得我让球队失望了，”埃利说道。“我有空位投篮的机会，但我没有投进。我也错失了一些防守任务。”

他不是唯一一个。现在，随着桑德斯承诺更多改变，马刺队将前往明尼苏达，他们至少需要赢下一场胜利。

“无论如何，我们都必须在客场赢球，”约翰逊说道。“这将是对球队的考验。我期待着看到我们如何应对。”

马刺队对森林狼队

周二：第二场比赛 - 森林狼 80，@马刺 71

亮点：马刺队在第二节的 8 分钟 5 秒内没有投进任何球；球队季后赛最低得分。

得分最高者：马刺队 - 邓肯 18 分；森林狼队 - 加内特 23 分

系列赛（首轮，五场三胜制）：1-1 平

在线：expressnews.com/spurs

第三场比赛：周四下午 6 点，@明尼苏达（电视：KSAT）

第四场比赛：周六，@明尼苏达，时间待定（电视：NBC 或 KSAT）

第五场比赛*：周一，@圣安东尼奥，时间待定（电视：付费频道）*：如有必要

一览

（首轮，五场三胜制）

周二比赛

@奥兰多 79，费城 68（系列赛 1-1 平）

@印第安纳 108，密尔沃基 107（加时赛）（步行者队以 2-0 领先系列赛）

@洛杉矶湖人 110，休斯顿 98（湖人队以 2-0 领先系列赛）

今日比赛

亚特兰大 @ 底特律，下午 6 点（老鹰队以 2-0 领先系列赛 - 电视：TBS）

迈阿密 @ 纽约，下午 7 点（系列赛 1-1 平 - 电视：TNT）

波特兰 @ 菲尼克斯，晚上 8:30（开拓者队以 2-0 领先系列赛 - 电视：TBS）

犹他 @ 萨克拉门托，晚上 9:30（系列赛 1-1 平 - 电视：TNT）

点击查看原文：Thrown to the Wolfes - Minnesota, Garnett steal home edge from Spurs

Thrown to the Wolfes - Minnesota, Garnett steal home edge from Spurs

It was an old Georgetown trick, Sean Elliott said. Patrick Ewing would strut out, goal-tend a few shots into the third row and glare. Just to let everyone know he was there.

Kevin Garnett tried the same Tuesday night. So did Joe Smith. When Dean Garrett couldn’t find a shot to swat, he planted Avery Johnson into the floor.

Did the Spurs notice the Timberwolves’ presence?

“Yes,” Elliott said. “They were everywhere.”

Running down rebounds. Grabbing loose balls. Swarming Tim Duncan. Closing down the lane. Yes, the Timberwolves were everywhere, outworking their older, playoff-tested opponents for an 80-71 victory in front of a subdued Alamodome crowd of 22,494.either Thursday or Saturday at the Target Center, a location they have yet to win at this season.

In their playoff history, the Spurs have owned the home-court advantage and lost at least one of the first two games seven different times. They went on to lose all seven series. Then there’s the fact that 18 of Minnesota’s 25 regular-season victories came at home.

“Now,” Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said, “we have a series.”

If the Spurs continue to play like they did Tuesday in Game 2 of the best-of-five, first-round series, it won’t be much of one. The Timberwolves grabbed 19 offensive rebounds. They more than doubled the Spurs’ 11 assists. They limited Duncan and David Robinson to a total of 14 shots through the first three quarters.

“One would have hoped they wouldn’t have been able to match our emotion and aggression,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “The way it turned it out, we didn’t match their emotion and aggression. That was the main reason for the outcome of the game. Everything stems from that.”

There were a few other factors. Saunders went big, starting the 6- foot-11 Garrett in place of Sam Mitchell. That moved Kevin Garnett, who led all-scorers with 23 points, to small forward, allowing him to guard Elliott instead of Duncan.

The Timberwolves paid more attention to Johnson. David Robinson had 11 points and 10 boards, but got off just six shots. Garnett also drained a pair of big jumpers over Robinson in the final minutes.

“They did everything better than we did,” Robinson said. “They were better in every aspect. We didn’t shoot the ball. We didn’t rebound. We didn’t get loose balls. We didn’t defend.”

That pretty much covers everything. But despite all that, despite not scoring on consecutive possessions from the start of the second quarter to the end of the third quarter, despite shooting 39.7 percent (25 of 63) for the game, the Spurs still had a chance.

Duncan, who led the Spurs with 18 points and 16 rebounds, scored on the Spurs’ first four possessions of the fourth quarter. Garnett goal- tended his first shot. Then came a hook. A 17-footer off the glass. When he followed his own miss, the Spurs had cut a nine-point deficit to 64-59.

A dunk by Elliott would have brought the Spurs within 70- 68 with 3:50 left, but officials waved off the basket saying he pushed off. Garnett then hit a 17- footer and Mitchell followed with a tough fadeaway.

Outscored 14-0 by Duncan in the final 21 minutes of Sunday’s Game 1, Garnett totaled 10 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday. All this while playing all but two of a possible 48 minutes.

“Tim Duncan is really good, and I’m not taking anything away from him,” Garnett said. “But I’m pretty good, too.”

As it turned out, Garnett’s goal- tending was the Spurs’ best offense. In a horrendous second quarter, they made only 3 of 12 shots, 4 of 8 free throws and committed six turnovers.

Duncan blew a two-handed dunk. Jerome Kersey missed a fast- break layup. Jaren Jackson lost the ball while spinning in the lane. Jackson’s three-pointer banged off the front of the rim. Antonio Daniels stepped out of bounds before he could get off a shot. Elliott’s 19- footer skipped out.

And that was just one stimulating stretch. On 11 consecutive possessions, the Spurs totaled all of one point.

Elliott’s dunk with 2:58 left finally ended the Spurs eight-minute, five-second drought without a basket. They hung up 10 points in the quarter, two shy of the team-record low they scored in their final quarter of their Feb. 17 loss to Phoenix.

Elliott and Mario Elie combined to go 6 for 22. Popovich put in Steve Kerr midway through the third quarter, but, having played little in the past week, he missed all five of his shots.

“I feel like I let the team down,” Elie said. “I had open shots, and I didn’t knock them down. I also missed a couple of defensive assignments.”

He wasn’t the only one. Now, with Saunders promising more changes, the Spurs head to Minnesota needing at least one win.

“We had to go on the road and win anyway,” Johnson said. "This will be a good test for the team. I’m looking forward to seeing how we respond.

Spurs vs. T’wolves

Tuesday: Game 2 - Timberwolves 80, @Spurs 71

Highlights: Spurs endure 8:05 stretch in second period without a field goal; Point total a franchise low for playoffs.

Top scorers: Spurs - Duncan 18; Timberwolves - Garnett 23

Series (first round, best-of-five): Tied 1-1

Online: expressnews.com /spurs

Game 3: 6 p.m. Thursday @Minn. (TV: KSAT)

Game 4: Saturday @Minn., time TBA (TV: NBC or KSAT)

Game 5*: Monday @S.A., time TBA (TV: PPV) *: if necessary

At a glance

(First round, best-of-five)

TUESDAY’S GAMES

@Orlando 79, Philadelphia 68 (Series tied 1-1)

@Indiana 108,Milwaukee107(OT) (Pacers lead series 2-0)

@L.A. Lakers 110, Houston 98 (Lakers lead series 2-0)

TODAY’S GAMES

Atlanta @Detroit, 6 p.m. (Hawks lead series 2-0 - TV: TBS)

Miami @New York, 7 p.m. (Series tied 1-1 - TV: TNT)

Portland @Phoenix, 8:30 p.m. (Blazers lead series 2-0 - TV: TBS)

Utah @Sacramento, 9:30 p.m. (Series tied 1-1 - TV: TNT)

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-12, By Glenn Rogers

加内特战胜邓肯，带领森林狼取胜

明尼苏达的凯文·加内特(Kevin Garnett)曾说过他要震惊世界，而他做到了——至少在这一晚上。

森林狼的前锋回应了蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)，并且在阿拉莫圆顶体育馆的比赛最后时刻带领球队取得了胜利。

当马刺将比分追至66-62时，加内特带领球队走向胜利。他在比赛还剩3分16秒时连续命中3个跳投，将比分拉开至72-66。

当马刺在第四节开始时，邓肯似乎已经准备好赢得这场战斗，并且将比赛扭转为马刺的优势。落后60-51的情况下，圣安东尼奥在他们的前四次进攻中都将球传给了他们的强力前锋。邓肯连续得到8分，将比分追至64-59。

加内特试图立即回应这一波攻势，并得到4分，但被邓肯逼迫犯规，出现了走步违例。

森林狼对邓肯采取了双人包夹甚至三人包夹，不仅封锁了他的移动，还封锁了他试图传球出去的机会。马刺则让邓肯单防加内特，偶尔进行包夹，并迅速轮转防守加内特的传球。

在低比分、节奏缓慢的上半场，邓肯和加内特都没有取得太多成绩。邓肯得到8分，加内特得到11分。马刺的前锋只出手7次，错失了一次快攻扣篮，并出现了3次失误。

加内特错失了6次投篮。他得到1次盖帽，另有两次盖帽被判进攻干扰球。

邓肯可能在眼神对峙中占了上风。当加内特在第一节比赛中发球时，邓肯给了他一个长长的、平视的目光——就像一个拳击手盯着他的对手。

点击查看原文：Garnett answers call against Duncan, S.A.

Garnett answers call against Duncan, S.A.

Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett said he was going to shock the world, and he did - at least for one night.

The Wolves’ forward answered Tim Duncan and carried Minnesota home down the stretch at the Alamodome.

Garnett pushed his team toward victory after the Spurs had closed to 66-62. He hit three consecutive jumpers to put Minnesota up 72-66 with 3:16 left to play.

Duncan looked ready to win the battle and had turned the game the Spurs’ way when the team hit the floor in the fourth period. Down 60- 51, San Antonio went to its power forward on its first four possessions. Duncan scored eight straight points to bring the Spurs to 64-59.

Garnett tried to answer the onslaught right away and scored four points, but was forced into a traveling violation by Duncan.

The Wolves hit Duncan with double-and triple-teams, smothering not only his moves but his attempts to pitch it back out. The Spurs let Duncan handle Garnett with the occasional double, rotating hard to cover Garnett’s passes.

Neither Duncan nor Garnett accomplished much in the low-scoring, plodding first half. Duncan had eight points, Garnett 11. The Spurs’ forward took only seven shots, blew a fast-break dunk and had three turnovers.

Garnett missed six shots. He had one block and was called for offensive interference on two other swat attempts.

Duncan possibly got the edge in staring. He gave Garnett a long, level look in the eyes - like a fighter staring down his foe - when Garnett was inbounding in the opening quarter.

By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-12, By Glenn Rogers

圣安东尼奥马刺未能与森林狼匹敌，缺乏活力

周二晚上，在明尼苏达森林狼在阿拉莫穹顶以 80-71 击败圣安东尼奥马刺后，马刺队的更衣室空无一人，鸦雀无声。媒体们鱼贯而入。

然而，大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)、马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie) 和蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan) 已经坐在自己的储物柜前，准备解释究竟哪里出了问题。

基本上，问题很简单。马刺队被一群饥饿的狼袭击了。

“场上发生的事情就是一切，”罗宾逊说。“他们在比赛的各个环节都超越了我们。这是我们很长时间以来表现最差的一场比赛。”

马刺队在篮板、拼搏、渴望和最终得分上都落后于对手，最终以 80-71 告负。

罗宾逊和邓肯整场比赛都在与双人包夹和三人包夹作斗争。

“每次我转身，都会撞上两个人，”罗宾逊说。“我们必须改进我们的间距。我们的球员站得太近了。但这只是一场全面的糟糕表现。”

直到第四节还剩 7 分 10 秒，罗宾逊才上场。他在本节唯一的投篮命中，并抢下了 4 个篮板。

特雷尔·布兰登(Terrell Brandon) 和凯文·加内特(Kevin Garnett) 利用挡拆战术撕裂了马刺队的防守。加内特在罚球线附近空切到篮下，投出了跳投。他投中了。他得到 23 分，布兰登得到 18 分。

“他们抢下了所有活球，”罗宾逊说。“感觉就像他们打的是五打三。你知道，我们昨晚都看到了犹他队的比赛（爵士输给了国王队），所以我们知道会发生什么。我们知道他们会很强硬，但我们什么也没做对。我们很幸运，上半场还能保持在比赛中。”

埃利承认，自己有几次跟丢了安东尼·皮勒(Anthony Peeler)，打盹了。

“每次我这样做，都被他得分了，”他说。“所以我责怪自己很多。我有很多空位投篮机会，但我投不进。当蒂姆和大卫被如此频繁地包夹时，我们必须投进球。”

马刺队的替补球员在上周日下午的首场比赛中提高了侵略性和表现。周二，他们失灵，只得到 7 分。森林狼队的关键替补球员，萨姆·米切尔(Sam Mitchell) 和马利克·西利(Malik Sealy) 合计得到 17 分。

马刺队的防守并非不存在。他们帮助森林狼队的投篮命中率限制在 39.5%。通常，81 分不会输球。

但圣安东尼奥的进攻从一开始就难以抵挡明尼苏达队的猛烈火力。

“加内特开场就获得了两个进攻犯规，”埃利谈到加内特的前两次封盖尝试时说。“但他立即确立了自己的存在感。他封盖了我一次投篮，我直接将球投向篮板。裁判就在那里，但我只是马里奥·埃利，而他是凯文·加内特，一位明星球员。”

教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich) 试图在第三节末段让史蒂夫·科尔(Steve Kerr) 上场来注入一些进攻活力。但科尔手感冰冷。他 5 投全失，但罚球 4 中 4。

比赛结束时，皮勒在投篮计时器还剩 1 秒时投进了一个不平衡的三分球。这使得明尼苏达队领先了 10 分，比赛还剩 1 分 13 秒。穹顶内的观众意识到了这一点，开始退场。

“我们没有失去信心，”埃利说。“我们在客场打得很好。我之前也经历过这种情况，比如第七场比赛。我们会回来的。”

点击查看原文：San Antonio fails to match Wolves' intensity, energy

San Antonio fails to match Wolves’ intensity, energy

It was a thinned out and silent Spurs locker room when the media traipsed in after the Timberwolves humbled San Antonio 80-71 at the Alamodome on Tuesday night.

But David Robinson, Mario Elie and Tim Duncan were plunked down in front of their lockers, ready to perform the function of trying to explain exactly what went wrong.

Basically, it was pretty simple. The Spurs were attacked by a gang of hungry Wolves.

“It was the same thing you saw out there,” Robinson said. “They outplayed us in every phase of the game. It was our worst game in a long, long time.”

The Spurs were outrebounded, outhustled, outdesired and finally outscored 80-71.

Robinson and Duncan spent the night fighting their way through double-and triple-teams.

“Every time I spun around, I spun into two guys,” Robinson said. “We have to work on our spacing. Our guys were standing too close together. But it was just an all-around poor effort.”

Robinson didn’t get into the fourth quarter until the 7:10 mark. He hit his only field goal of the quarter and had four rebounds.

Terrell Brandon and Kevin Garnett ripped into the Spurs’ defense off the pick-and-roll. Garnett popped free into the lane near the free-throw line for jumpers. He hit 'em. He had 23 points and Brandon had 18.

“They beat us to every loose ball,” Robinson said. “It was like they were playing five on three. You know, we all saw the Utah game last night (the Jazz fell to Sacramento), so we knew what could happen. We knew they would be aggressive, but nothing we did turned out right. We were fortunate to still be in the game at the half.”

Elie admitted to losing track of Anthony Peeler a few times, falling asleep at the wheel.

“Every time I did, I got burned,” he said. “So I blame myself for a lot that went wrong. I had a lot of open looks and I couldn’t put the shot down. When Tim and David are being double-teamed that much, we have to put down the shots.”

The Spurs’ bench raised the bar of aggression and performance in their opening win Sunday afternoon. They malfunctioned Tuesday, scoring seven points. The Wolves’ key reserves, Sam Mitchell and Malik Sealy, combined for 17.

The Spurs’ defense was far from nonexistent. It helped hold the Wolves to 39.5-percent shooting. And 81 points normally won’t win a game.

But San Antonio’s offense struggled from the outset against the Minnesota fire.

“Garnett had two offensive interference calls right at the start of the game,” Elie said of the forward’s first two attempted rejections. “But he established a presence right away. He got a block on one of my shots that I put right up on the glass. The ref was standing right there, but I’m just Mario Elie and he’s Kevin Garnett, a marquee player.”

Coach Gregg Popovich tried to inject some offensive juice by putting Steve Kerr in the game late in the third quarter. But Kerr was cold. He missed all five of his shots, but did hit his four free throws.

The end came when Peeler buried an off-balance three-pointer with one second left on the shot clock. It gave Minnesota a 10-point lead with 1:13 left in the game. The dome crowd knew it and started filing out.

“We haven’t lost our confidence,” Elie said. “We play well on the road. Myself, I’ve been in these situations before, in Game 7s. We’ll be back.”

By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-12, By Buck Harvey

欢迎垫子：再次被擦拭，带个星号

马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)，欢迎加入俱乐部。格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)，欢迎来到你的噩梦。大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)，欢迎回来。

圣安东尼奥？欢迎来到你们非常熟悉的场景。当困难来临的时候，马刺队就去打高尔夫球。如果他们快一点，星期天就能到拉坎特拉(La Cantera)了。

但如果他们恢复理智，如果他们记得他们在盐湖城和波特兰度过的一个月，努力成为马刺队从未成为的样子，那么打得平淡一晚上并不算罪过。

现在，离开才是罪过。

犹他州也经历过这种感觉，他们在主场也输过球，东部头号种子热火也一样。这种情况会发生，虽然不像马刺队那么频繁。

所以波波维奇站在镜头前说出了杰里·斯隆(Jerry Sloan)前一天晚上说的话。“对方打得更努力，”波波维奇说，“我想我已经一年没说这句话了。”

斯隆的爵士队十年来一直在应对这种挑战。例如，去年在阿拉莫体育场(Alamodome)只得了64分，他们赢得了下一场比赛，然后赢得了系列赛。他们也可能在萨克拉门托获胜。这是他们的性格。

马刺队的性格在他们哭泣的时候通常会变得模糊。埃利在休斯顿观看了这场表演，对此感到厌恶，然后他来了，立刻加入了这场娱乐。今年最佳贾伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson)模仿秀：埃利12投2中。埃利还抢到了一个重要的篮板球。这是数据统计。

至少罗宾逊身处熟悉的环境。如果他仍然想要更多球权，可以尝试伸手去拿。他令人难忘的数字？0次封盖。

凯文·加内特(Kevin Garnett)赛后说，森林狼队专注于这场系列赛。加内特说：“我们吃饭、睡觉都在想着蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)、大卫·罗宾逊、肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)、艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)……”

他们大多数时候只是在吃东西，尤其是在篮板球方面。你让对方抢到19个进攻篮板球，你已经输了。“我们非常具有侵略性，”加内特说。“问题是，谁抢篮板球？谁卡位？谁更渴望胜利？”

马刺队像过去一样回答了这个问题。而周二的具体情况只有长期圣安东尼奥人才能理解。曾经在主场取得14连胜的同一支马刺队输给了客场11连败的球队。

尽管马刺队表现糟糕，但正如弗利普·桑德斯(Flip Saunders)所说，“这对我们来说是命中注定。”

邓肯的一次双手暴扣飞出去了。史蒂夫·科尔(Steve Kerr)5投0中。一次恶意犯规判罚给了马刺队两次罚球和球权，他们却一分也没得到。然后是最后几分钟，明尼苏达队在24秒结束时从25英尺外投进了一记三分球，特雷尔·布兰登(Terrell Brandon)突破上篮，球打在了篮板板顶端，掉了下来。

这与马刺队在达拉斯和萨克拉门托的两次失利很相似。但在这两场比赛周围，他们赢得了对西区所有竞争者的比赛。

赛季结束的连胜原本是为了争夺主场优势，就像它在周二那样重要。但球员和球迷都把这场连胜看作是完全不同的东西。经历了犹他州和俄勒冈州，与通常会打败他们的球队交手后，马刺队似乎不再是他们自己了。

因此，这场看起来和任何一场比赛一样糟糕的失利应该加个星号。马刺队必须至少在客场赢一场，因为他们在那里输了两场，作为一名处于挣扎状态的头号种子。

如果他们是过去的马刺队，他们会输。如果他们是过去一个月的马刺队，他们应该迎接这个时刻。

点击查看原文：Welcome mats: Wiped on again, with an asterisk

Welcome mats: Wiped on again, with an asterisk

Mario Elie, welcome to the club. Gregg Popovich, welcome to your nightmare. David Robinson, welcome back.

And San Antonio? Welcome to something you know all too well. When the going gets tough, the Spurs get tee times. If they hurry, they could be at La Cantera by Sunday.

But if they regain their senses - if they remember how they spent the past month in Salt Lake City and Portland working to be everything the Spurs have never been - then going flat for a night wasn’t a crime.

Going away, now, would be.

Utah knows this feeling, having also lost at home already, as did the No. 1 seed in the east, the Heat. It happens, albeit not always with the regularity of the Spurs.

So Popovich stood in front of cameras and said what Jerry Sloan said the night before. “The other team played harder,” Popovich said, “and I think I might have said that maybe once all year.”

Sloan’s Jazz have responded to such challenges for a decade. Held to just 64 points last year in the Alamodome, for example, they won the next game and then the series. They probably will in Sacramento, too. It is their makeup.

The Spurs’ makeup usually smears when they cry. Elie watched this show from Houston and was disgusted by it, then arrived and immediately joined in the fun. This year’s best Jaren Jackson impersonation: Elie’s 2 for 12. Elie also came up with one, huge rebound. So says the stat sheet.

At least Robinson was on familiar ground. If he still wants some more touches, he could try reaching. His memorable number? Zero blocks.

Kevin Garnett was talking afterward how the Timberwolves were consumed with this series. Garnett said, “We were drinking, eating, sleeping Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Sean Elliott, Avery Johnson …”

Mostly they were just eating, especially under the boards. You give up 19 offensive rebounds, you’ve given up. “We were totally aggressive,” Garnett said. “Thing is, who gets the rebounds? Who boxes out? Who wants is more?”

The Spurs answered that as they have in the past. And the specifics of Tuesday are only something a longtime San Antonian could embrace. The same Spurs who had won 14 straight at home lost to a team that had lost 11 straight on the road.

Still, as awful as the Spurs were, it was as Flip Saunders said it was. “For us, it was kind of meant to be.”

A two-handed Duncan dunk flew out. Steve Kerr went 0 for 5. A flagrant-foul call gave the Spurs two free throws and the ball, and they didn’t get a point from it. And then there were the final minutes, when a Minnesota trey swished from 25 feet at the 24-second buzzer, when a Terrell Brandon drive hit off the top of the backboard and fell.

It’s not unlike the way the Spurs lost in Dallas and Sacramento, too, in their two previous losses. But surrounding those games were wins against every contender in the West.

The season-ending streak was supposed to be about home-court advantage, as much as it meant Tuesday. But the players and fans alike saw the run as something else entirely. Having gone through Utah and Oregon - having banged with franchises that usually bang them - the Spurs supposedly weren’t themselves anymore.

Thus an asterisk should go next to a loss that looks as miserable as any. The Spurs have to win on the road at least once, where they lost twice this year, as a No. 1 seed in choke position.

If they are the Spurs of the past, they will lose. If they are the Spurs of the past month, they should welcome the moment.

By Buck Harvey, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-12, By Glenn Rogers

选择，季后赛预测，沉重的负担

我的耳朵里还嗡嗡作响，那是在我未将蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)评为MVP时，遭受黄蜂球迷攻击留下的余音。

每个人都有自己的另一个自我，而普遍的不安迫使这位作者醒来，将鼻子伸进这场风波。

另一个自我：你最近因为选择卡尔·马龙(Karl Malone)而被抨击。我希望你不会认输。

作者：嘿，这是工作的一部分。做出决定，然后接受一切可能发生的事。

另一个自我：当然。那些恶毒的电子邮件怎么样？有些人称你真的很蠢，还有其他无法印刷的内容。我会反击他们的。

作者：这正是你应该保持沉默的原因。我反击了。

另一个自我：你真的做到了？怎么做到的？

作者：哈哈。首先，我将邮件全部扔进了垃圾桶。然后，我将它们化为电子碎片。

另一个自我：你真是个硬汉。我还有其他想法。

作者：跟踪会让你进监狱，把那些想法从我脑海里赶出去。

另一个自我：那些在你“CallNotes”里批评你的狂热球迷怎么办？我听到了他们的声音，他们很粗鲁。

作者：你是说那些马刺队的女性球迷？她们中有些人提出了很好的观点。有些人很粗鲁，有些人建议我搬到另一个州，有些人建议我更永久地离开。

另一个自我：我可以猜到是哪个州——山峦起伏，是“肘击先生”的故乡。回电给他们，给他们一记双重打击。

作者：我很享受按下删除键的感觉。

另一个自我：情况会变得更糟。

作者：我只希望马龙在其他系列赛中表现出色。

另一个自我：你最好祈祷他在季后赛中不会碰到马刺，而且不要表现得太好。不过，我更倾向于欢迎这些对抗。

另一个自我：那么，你是怎么选择MVP的呢？

作者：显然，选错了。我只是列出了最热门的候选人，将他们从各自的球队中移除，然后推测这些球队没有他们会如何表现。

另一个自我：听起来太分析了。你需要更大胆的策略，比如我可以选择谁来激怒最多的人。但继续吧。

作者：如果没有了他们的明星球员，湖人、76人和爵士会大幅下滑，开始觊觎顶级选秀权，就像马刺队在大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)受伤时那样。

这三支球队中，爵士打得最好，所以，瞧，你知道谁的名字旁边打了个勾。

另一个自我：你得到的不仅仅是名字旁边的勾。我仍然希望你能让我帮忙处理一些邮件。顺便说一句，看起来你的男孩可能遇到了点麻烦。

作者：是啊。爵士队开始看起来有点疲惫不堪。也许那个挡拆战术变得有点太熟悉了。但是犹他队通常在首轮比赛中表现不佳，有点像一个震荡系列赛。

另一个自我：周一晚上的比赛震动了三角洲中心球场的观众——让那些观众沉默了。国王队可能只是太年轻了，太有活力了，太不害怕输给老将了。

作者：我仍然相信爵士队会闯关成功，但当他们遇到波特兰时，他们将面临更大的挑战，波特兰是一支同样好斗的球队，拥有很多强壮的球员。

另一个自我：看起来你用下巴领球了，当你选择活塞队爆冷战胜老鹰队时。

作者：我准备承受10次打击。但我喜欢教练阿尔文·詹特里(Alvin Gentry)的处理方式。当他说表现令人尴尬时，他也包括了自己。

通常，教练会表现得很强硬，说“我们必须变得更强硬，更有激情，更努力，更渴望胜利。”“我们”是球员的代名词。

另一个自我：76人队可能会让你看起来很聪明，至少有一两分钟。

作者：嘿，我们不是先知。但艾伦·艾弗森(Allen Iverson)制造了很多麻烦，76人队可以得分，这对教练查克·戴利(Chuck Daly)来说是禁忌。魔术队在客场有严重的问题，费城球迷会让佩妮·哈达威(Penny Hardaway)等人明白他们在哪里比赛。

我认为会爆冷。

另一个自我：你选择了迈阿密，但尼克斯队凭借主场优势强势进入比赛。看起来你对开拓者队还算满意，尽管他们可能对你选择他们感到畏缩。

作者：我仍然坚持热火队，当湖人队最终战胜我的选择——休斯敦队时，我会承受批评。你猜怎么着？斯科蒂·皮蓬(Scottie Pippen)，火箭队必须得到的那个人，最终成了最丢脸的人。

另一个自我：如果沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal)在比赛最后时刻站在罚球线上，还有很多鸡蛋留给他。

点击查看原文：Choices, postseason predictions a heavy burden

Choices, postseason predictions a heavy burden

There’s still a buzzing sound in my ears, a resonance from that hornets attack I endured when I didn’t vote for Tim Duncan for MVP honors.

Every man has his alter ego, and the general unrest compelled this writer to awake and stick his nose into the affair.

Alter ego: You’ve been smacked around lately for picking Karl Malone. I hope you’re not taking it lying down.

Writer: Hey, it’s part of the business. Make a decision and come what may.

Alter ego: Sure. How about those nasty e-mails? Some called you really dumb, among other unprintables. I would have gone after 'em.

Writer: That’s precisely why you stay submerged. I got back.

Alter ego: Sure you did. How?

Writer: Ha. First, I blitzed the mail into the trash. Then I blasted it into electronic smithereens.

Alter ego: You’re a really tough guy. I had something else in mind.

Writer: Stalking gets you behind bars, and keep those ideas out of my head.

Alter ego: How about all those sopranos who dissed you on your CallNotes? I heard them, they were rough.

Writer: You mean the female Spurs fans? Some of them had pretty good points. Some were rough, some advised my moving to another state, some suggested a more permanent removal.

Alter ego: I can guess which state - pretty mountainous and the home of “Mr. Elbow.” Call them all back and give them both barrels.

Writer: I enjoyed punching the delete button.

Alter ego: It’s going to get worse.

Writer: I can only hope Malone does well in those other series.

Alter ego: You just better hope that he doesn’t meet up with the Spurs in the playoffs and do a little too well. Although, I’d tend to welcome the confrontations.

Writer: You would.

Alter ego: So, how did you arrive at your choice for MVP?

Writer: Apparently, the wrong way. I just listed the top candidates, removed them from their teams and figured how those teams would do without them.

Alter ego: Sounds too analytical. You need bolder strokes such as who can I pick that will enrage the most people. But, go ahead.

Writer: The Lakers, Sixers and Jazz would plummet the most without their big guns and start ogling the top draft picks, just like the Spurs did when David Robinson went down.

The Jazz were playing the best of those three so, presto, you know who got a check next to his name.

Alter ego: You’re getting a lot more than checks next to your name. I still wish you’d let men handle some of that mail. By the way, in passing, it looks like your boy might be in a little trouble.

Writer: Yeah. The Jazz are beginning to look a little worn around the edges. Maybe that pick-and-roll is becoming a tad too familiar. But Utah often has trouble in the first round, kind of like a little shake-down series.

Alter ego: That game Monday night shook up the Delta Center crowd - silenced that crowd. The Kings might just be a little too young, too feisty, too unafraid to lose for the old-timers to handle.

Writer: I’m sticking with the Jazz to pull through, but more trouble awaits when they meet Portland, a similarly rambunctious team with a lot of large bodies.

Alter ego: It looks like you led with your chin when you picked the Pistons to upset the Hawks.

Writer: I’m ready to take the 10-count. But I liked the way Coach Alvin Gentry handled it. He included himself when he said the performances were all-around embarrassing.

Normally, coaches come out really hard-nosed, talking about how “we have to get tougher, have more passion, go harder, want it more.” The “we” is a stand-in for the players.

Alter ego: The Sixers might make you look really smart, for a moment or two.

Writer: Hey, we’re not oracles. But Allen Iverson creates a lot of problems and the Sixers can score points, anathema to Coach Chuck Daly. The Magic have serious problems on the road, and the crowds in Philly will remind Penny Hardaway & Co. exactly where they’re playing.

I see the upset.

Alter ego: You picked Miami, but the Knicks bullied their way into the home-court advantage. It looks like you’re going to be OK with the Blazers, although they must have shuddered when you picked them.

Writer: I’ll stick with the Heat and take the heat when the Lakers wind up beating my choice, Houston. Wouldn’t you know it? Scottie Pippen, the guy the Rockets had to have, winds up with the most egg on his face.

Alter ego: There’s plenty of egg left for Shaquille O’Neal, if he’s at the line down the stretch.

By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-13, By Cecilia Balli

学校为马刺队让出体育场 - 高年级学生同意推迟毕业典礼

Judson 高级中学(Judson Senior High School) 的高年级学生在周三进行投票，结果以 2 比 1 的比例同意将原定于 5 月 25 日的毕业典礼推迟一天，以便马刺队(Spurs) 能够在该校位于 Alamodome 的体育场举行比赛，前提是马刺队能够晋级 NBA 季后赛第二轮。

大约 400 名高年级学生在午休时间填写了纸质选票，占毕业班 700 名学生的近乎一半。

对于一些 Judson 家长来说，投票结果可能会让他们花费数百美元更改外地亲戚的机票，更改住宿预订，甚至一位来自加州的曾祖母不得不选择在她两个曾孙的毕业典礼中只参加一个。

但 Judson 校长埃迪·帕斯利(Eddie Parsley) 表示，让学生们选择在 5 月 26 日星期三保留 Alamodome 体育场还是在 5 月 25 日星期二将典礼移至 Judson 足球场，是应对这一突发困境的最佳折衷方案。

“我不想让人们觉得我们只是在屈服于马刺队，”帕斯利说，但他补充说，考虑到全城的球迷和对这支职业篮球队的支持， “我们知道社区对此有着极大的兴趣。”

“从我今天接到的电话来看，我知道这不会让所有人都满意，”他说。

家长们今天会收到一封信，信中说明如果马刺队没有晋级第二轮，毕业典礼仍将在 5 月 25 日举行。

最终的结果最早可能在周六揭晓，最迟可能在下一周二揭晓，具体取决于马刺队在接下来的三场比赛中如何应对明尼苏达森林狼队的挑战。目前双方在五场制的系列赛中战成 1 比 1 平。

作为合作的回报，无论毕业典礼最终是否更改，NBA 将向该校区支付 30,000 美元。

这笔钱的一部分将用于支付重新安排“毕业项目”(Project Graduation) 的相关费用。这是一个传统的毕业后派对，会持续到第二天早上，包括音乐和模拟赌场游戏。

其余的将用于帮助建立 Judson 教育基金会(Judson Education Foundation)，该基金会将为整个学区提供奖学金、教师补助金和其他项目。

帕斯利在 NBA 官员向他询问具体金额时提出了这 30,000 美元的金额。

“我当时没有意识到有多少资金可用，所以我提议了 5,000 美元用于我们的‘毕业项目’……然后 25,000 美元用于帮助启动我们的基金会，”他说。“他们问，‘你们是要一张支票还是两张支票？’”

问题产生于 NBA 三个月的停摆，导致 NBA 的赛程落后，直到几周前才发布季后赛日期。

通常情况下，Judson 的管理人员至少会在一年之前预订三个可能的毕业典礼日期。在典礼之前的 3 月份，NBA 会发布最终的季后赛赛程，学校会确定剩下的日期之一，并在发送邀请函之前确认下来。

“马刺队、NBA 和我们都非常擅长安排日程。我们已经这样做很多年了，”Alamodome 体育场馆经理迈克·阿宾顿(Mike Abington) 说。“但这件事确实给一些球队的日程安排带来了麻烦。”

NBA 预订和比赛运营副总裁马特·温内克(Matt Winneck) 表示，其他球队也面临着日程安排问题。

“同一栋建筑里的两个租户想要同一个日期，这种情况相当常见，”温内克说。“我认为每年都会有独特的问题。”

但每个问题都会产生非常个人的连锁反应，一些愤怒的家长和学生在周三表示。

在一个传真给帕斯利和 Judson 校长盖伦·埃洛尔夫(Galen Elolf) 的信中，一位 Judson 高年级学生的姑姑辛迪·赫夫(Cindi Huff) 表示，她儿子将在 5 月 26 日星期三从 Churchill 高级中学毕业。

“我还没有像所罗门那样智慧，所以我还没有想出如何将参加这两个毕业典礼的所有人一分为二，”赫夫写道。“不仅是我直系亲属和姐姐一家，还有祖父母、阿姨、叔叔，以及从加州来的曾祖母，她想参加她两个曾孙的毕业典礼。”

但投票支持将典礼推迟到星期三的高年级学生表示，他们宁愿选择 Alamodome 体育场，也不愿在炎热的体育场里举行毕业典礼。一些人认为，为城市举办第二轮季后赛比赛不会造成任何损失。

“我不知道这是否公平，但它很好，”17 岁的瓦妮莎·瓦斯克斯(Vanessa Vasquez) 在谈到可能的日期变更时说。“我认为这会带来一些旅游业。”

点击查看原文：School giving court to Spurs - Seniors OK delay of graduation

School giving court to Spurs - Seniors OK delay of graduation

Judson Senior High School seniors voted two-to-one Wednesday to push their May 25 graduation ceremony a day so the Spurs can have the Alamodome if the team advances to Round 2 of the NBA playoffs.

Some 400 of the 700 seniors in the graduating class filled out paper ballots during their lunch hour.

For some Judson families, the vote’s outcome could translate to up to hundreds of dollars worth of flight changes for out-of-town relatives, shifting contracts for an overnight party, and, in one case, a great-grandmother from California having to choose between her two great-grandsons’ graduations.

But Judson Principal Eddie Parsley said letting students choose between keeping the event in the Alamodome on Wednesday, May 26, or holding it Tuesday, May 25 in the Judson football stadium, was the best compromise for a difficult and unexpected dilemma.

“I don’t want people to think that we’re just giving in to the Spurs,” Parsley said, but added that given citywide fandom and commitment to the professional basketball team, “we know the community has a vested interest.”

“I know from the telephone calls I’ve gotten today that this isn’t going to please everybody,” he said.

Parents will receive a letter today explaining that if the Spurs don’t advance to the second round, the graduation still will be held May 25.

The final outcome could be known as early as Saturday or as late as next Tuesday, depending on how the Spurs fare in the next three games against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The best-of-five series is tied 1-1.

In return for cooperating, the NBA is paying the district $30,000, whether the graduation ceremony ends up being changed or not.

Part of that sum will cover costs associated with rescheduling Project Graduation, a traditional post- graduation party that lasts into the morning and includes music and simulated casino games.

The rest will be used to help establish the Judson Education Foundation, which will fund scholarships, teacher grants and other programs for the entire district.

Parsley proposed the $30,000 payment when NBA officials asked him for a figure.

“Not realizing how much money was available, I said $5,000 for our Project Graduation … and then $25,000 to help start our foundation,” he said. “They asked, ‘Do you want that in one check or two?’”

The problem arose because a three-month lockout set the NBA behind schedule, leading it to request playoff dates just several weeks ago.

Normally, Judson administrators reserve three potential graduation dates at least a year in advance. The March before the ceremony, the NBA releases its final playoff schedule, and the school finalizes one of the remaining dates in time to send out invitations.

“The Spurs, the NBA and us are very good at scheduling. We have done this for years,” Alamodome Director Mike Abington said. “But this has just kind of thrown a wrench in some teams’ scheduling.”

Matt Winneck, the NBA’s vice president for scheduling and game operations, said other teams also are facing scheduling issues.

“Two tenants in the same building looking for the same date - that’s a fairly common occurrence,” Winneck said. “I think every year has unique problems.”

But each problem has a very personal ripple effect, irate parents and students said Wednesday.

In a letter faxed to Parsley and Judson Superintendent Galen Elolf, Cindi Huff, the aunt of a Judson senior, said her son graduates from Churchill High School on Wednesday, May 26.

“Myself not having the Wisdom of Solomon, I have not figured out yet how to split in half all of the individuals that would be attending both of these graduation ceremonies,” Huff wrote. “Not only my immediate family and my sister’s family, but also grandparents, aunts and uncles, and a great- grandmother coming from California who wants to see both of her great-grandsons graduate.”

But seniors who voted to bump the ceremony to Wednesday said they’ll take the Alamodome over their hot stadium any day. And some think it won’t hurt the city to host a second-round playoff game.

“I don’t know if it was fair, but it was good,” Vanessa Vasquez, 17, said of the possible date switch. “I think it’ll bring some tourism.”

By Cecilia Balli, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-13, By Glenn Rogers

狼队渴望胜利 - 桑德斯认为主场观众是关键

马刺队在周三下午晚些时候抵达了狼穴。

狼城。第一轮五场制的季后赛系列赛第三场和第四场的举办地。

目前双方战成1比1平。令人意外的是，森林狼队有机会在这里结束比赛，并试图在西部半决赛中赢得荣耀。

同样重要的是，他们有绝佳的机会再次将这座密西西比河畔的城市变成沸腾的NBA狂热之地。

就像当年斯蒂芬·马布里(Stephon Marbury)和汤姆·古格里奥塔(Tom Gugliotta)与球队领袖凯文·加内特(Kevin Garnett)并肩作战时一样。

到目前为止，这座城市在周三的暴雨中，并没有感受到这种狂热。它想念马布里和古格里奥塔，这对曾经给球队带来无限希望的组合。他们还没有接受特雷尔·布兰登(Terrell Brandon)和乔·史密斯(Joe Smith)。

周二晚上第二场比赛之前，目标中心球馆第三场比赛有超过3000张门票可供出售。尽管森林狼队在第二场比赛中对马刺队造成了很大威胁，但周三只售出了1000张门票。

如果森林狼队再次战胜马刺队，将他们推向系列赛胜利的边缘，可能会再次让球迷们在城市的大街小巷中欢呼雀跃。

但这并不意味着球馆里不会有16000或17000名狂热的球迷。主教练弗利普·桑德斯(Flip Saunders)相信球迷们会满意的回家。

桑德斯在圣安东尼奥告诉他的球员，他不相信马刺队能在明尼苏达赢球。

“我们的球迷必须帮助我们创造这种局面。如果我们没有爆满的球馆，我会很失望，”桑德斯说。

桑德斯还警告马刺队不要期待森林狼队在胜利中所使用的相同进攻和防守策略。

“我们必须再次调整和适应，”他说。“我们不会坐以待毙。我们不会再以同样的方式出场。”

桑德斯指出，森林狼队已经经受住了伤病的考验，以及用布兰登交易马布里的事件，这支球队仅仅在一起打了几周。

“所以，每次我们踏上球场，我们的进步曲线都有很大的上升空间，”他说。“其他球队往往更加稳定。但我们对马刺队抱有极大的尊重。他们成为联盟的头号种子是有原因的。”

周三训练结束后，球员们转而采取了低调的态度。不再有“震惊世界”或“我们将像神一样”之类的言论。

“我们的心情比周一好多了，但当我们在主场作战时，我们仍然不想过于自信或放松，”前锋乔·史密斯说。“轮到他们做出调整了，他们会做到的。

“我们只赢了一场比赛，这不会改变任何人对我们球队的看法。如果我们能赢得下一场比赛，也许会改变。”

点击查看原文：T'wolves hungry for a win - Saunders believes home crowd the key

T’wolves hungry for a win - Saunders believes home crowd the key

The Spurs arrived in the lair late Wednesday afternoon.

Wolves City. Site for Games 3 and 4 of the first-round, best-of-five playoff series.

It stands knotted at one game apiece. The Timberwolves, unexpectedly, can end this affair right here and attempt to find glory in the Western Conference semifinals.

Equally important, they have the golden opportunity to once again turn this city on the banks of the Mississippi into a boiling cauldron of NBA fever.

Just like it was when Stephon Marbury and Tom Gugliotta played alongside pack leader Kevin Garnett.

Thus far, the city, awash in a rainstorm Wednesday, hasn’t caught the fever. It misses Marbury and Gugliotta, the pair that had given so much promise to the franchise. They haven’t embraced Terrell Brandon and Joe Smith.

There were more than 3,000 tickets available for Game 3 at the Target Center before Game 2 on Tuesday night. The Timberwolves took a huge bite out of the Spurs in Game 2, yet only 1,000 tickets were sold Wednesday.

Another victory over the Spurs, sending the Wolves to the brink of a series victory, might just send fans once again howling through the byways and highways.

This doesn’t mean that there won’t be 16,000 or 17,000 rambunctious fans at the center for the game. And Coach Flip Saunders believes the crowd will go home satisfied.

Saunders told his players in San Antonio that he didn’t believe the Spurs could win in Minnesota.

“Our crowd has to help put us in that situation. I will be disappointed if we don’t have a sellout crowd,” Saunders said.

Saunders also warned the Spurs not to expect the same offensive and defensive tactics applied during the Wolves’ victory.

“We have to adjust and adapt again,” he said. “We won’t sit back. We’re not going to come out and play the same way again.”

Saunders noted that the Wolves have dealt with injuries as well as the trading of Marbury for Brandon, and that this team has only played together for a few weeks.

“So, each time we step on the floor, our curve to improve has a very large upside,” he said. “Other teams tend to be more level. But we have tremendous respect for the Spurs. There is a reason why they are the league’s No. 1 seed.”

The players switched to a low- key approach after their practice Wednesday. No more “shock the world” or “we’ll be like gods” statements.

“Our mood is a lot better than it was Monday, but we still don’t want to be too confident or relaxed when we play at home,” forward Joe Smith said. "It’s their turn to make adjustments and they will make them.

“We just won one game and it doesn’t change anybody’s perception of our team. Maybe it will change if we can win the next one.”

By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-13, By Glenn Rogers

马刺笔记

生日女孩: 明尼苏达主教练弗利普·桑德斯(Flip Saunders) 恰好赶回家，于周三庆祝了女儿的生日。

桑德斯教练有两个双胞胎女儿，瑞秋和金伯利。

糟糕的认知: 桑德斯表示他理解为什么很少有人认为森林狼有机会击败马刺。

“我们在客场输掉了最近的10场比赛，最终取得了25胜25负的战绩，”他说，“但我们在主场是18胜7负，并且在过去六场比赛中五次战胜了马刺。”

史密斯喜欢主场优势: 明尼苏达前锋乔·史密斯(Joe Smith) 说森林狼必须非常重视主场优势。

“他们（马刺）把主场优势给了我们，现在我们必须更好地利用它，”他说，“我们必须像第二场比赛那样全力以赴。我们不想回到圣安东尼奥。”

史密斯在面对马刺的强大锋线时得分困难。在四场常规赛中，他分别得到了11分、9分、8分和5分，而在两场季后赛中，他分别得到了7分和4分。

点击查看原文：Spurs Notes

Spurs Notes

Birthday girls: Minnesota coach Flip Saunders arrived back home just in time to celebrate his daughters’ birthday Wednesday.

The coach has twin girls, Rachel and Kimberly.

Poor perception: Saunders says he understands why few give the Wolves much chance to upset the Spurs.

“We lost our last 10 games on the road, we finished with a 25-25 record,” he said. “But we are 18-7 at home and we have beaten the Spurs five out of the last six times at our place.”

Smith likes advantage: Minnesota forward Joe Smith says the Wolves have to treat the home-court advantage with a great deal of respect.

“They (Spurs) gave the home-court advantage to us, now we have to take better care of it,” he said. “We have to play with the same effort we showed in Game 2. We don’t want to go back to San Antonio.”

Smith has problems scoring against the Spurs’ big frontline. He scored 11, nine, eight and five points in the four regular-season games and seven and four points in the two playoff games. - Glenn Rogers

By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-13, By Johnny Ludden

灾难恢复计划：打得更好

这是一场 45 分钟的录像观摩会，据艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)所说，感觉像是四个小时。马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)称之为恐怖片。大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)说它比比赛本身更糟糕。

“更丑陋的是，”罗宾逊说，“因为我们知道结果会怎样。”

早上开始的方式，比在巨型屏幕电视上回放你前一晚的尴尬经历要好得多。然而，马刺队却无法避免这种情况。

在明尼苏达队以 80-71 的比分战胜马刺队，将五场三胜制的首轮系列赛扳成平局仅仅 12 个小时后，马刺队回到阿拉莫圆顶体育场，清理他们留下的烂摊子。他们希望在今晚前往明尼苏达的目标中心体育场进行第三场比赛之前解决他们的问题。

“我们会尽量避免养成这种习惯，”马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)说。“如果你养成了这种习惯，那么你就去度假吧。”

在球队观看完比赛录像后，埃利发现自己比赛中的一些地方需要改进。他说，他可以开始投进一些球了。打一点防守也不错。篮板球也是必不可少的。

“录像不会说谎，”埃利说。“我想给自己一拳。”

马刺队为他们的努力，或者说缺乏努力而受到的惩罚并不严重——“与其他时候相比，波波对我们很宽容，”罗宾逊说——但他们无法承受周二晚上的重演。至少，他们必须在今天或周六赢得比赛，才能避免成为第二支在首轮被淘汰的一号种子球队。森林狼队在本赛季的主场比赛中取得了 18 勝 7 負的战绩，在 2 月份的目标中心体育场两次击败马刺队。

“比赛结束后，我告诉我们的球员，我们击败了联盟中最棒的球队，”明尼苏达队主教练弗利普·桑德斯(Flip Saunders)说。“现在我们拥有主场优势。”

周三，马刺队并没有真正地按下恐慌按钮。他们本赛季拥有联盟最好的客场战绩（16 勝 9 負），而且自从 2 月底以来就没有连续输过两场比赛。

“没有人想要输球，但我认为输球有时会让你冷静下来，让你思考自己的处境，”罗宾逊说。“我们赛季开始时取得了 6 勝 8 負的战绩。如果我们赛季开始时没有取得 6 勝 8 負的战绩，我们可能就不会拥有现在的这种精神。

“我们需要认识到，我们不是一支强大的、势不可挡的球队。我们是一支如果执行得当，做好自己的工作，就能取胜的球队。”

周二，马刺队没有做到这两点，明尼苏达队将他们限制在季后赛比赛中球队得分史上最低的纪录。森林狼队再次锁死了蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)。他们还迫使约翰逊传球，在底线将他困住。

由于他们在可预测的进攻中需要空间，当森林狼队排出他们的大个阵容时，马刺队难以拉开明尼苏达队的防守：凯文·加内特(Kevin Garnett)和乔·史密斯(Joe Smith)两位前锋，以及中锋迪安·加勒特(Dean Garrett)。马刺队只投进了 3 个超过 12 英尺的球，8 次三分球全部投失。他们还开始放弃投篮。

“我们错失了很多空位投篮，”约翰逊说。“波波（周三）告诉我们继续投相同的球。”

“并非所有投篮都是空位，”肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)说。“那些家伙又高又壮，他们不需要跑多远就能伸手干扰你的投篮。”

埃利 12 投 2 中。安东尼·皮勒(Anthony Peeler)和特雷尔·布兰登(Terrell Brandon)也以 12-1 的比分抢下埃利和约翰逊的篮板。皮勒拿下了明尼苏达队 19 个进攻篮板中的 3 个。

“很多时候，我没有举起手或者贴身防守，”埃利说。“这种情况不会再发生了。”

马刺队将明尼苏达队的投篮命中率限制在 39.5%，但他们在防守加内特和布兰登的挡拆配合方面遇到了麻烦。他们还以 40-46 输掉了篮板球，并且只有 4 次盖帽，而本赛季的场均盖帽数为联盟最高的 7.02 次。

在第二场比赛中，约翰逊 8 投 4 中——球队 32 投 21 中，命中率为 65.6%——在周三的训练结束后，约翰逊又在罚球线上额外练习了 20 分钟。然后，他表示了一些乐观情绪。

“在季后赛中，谁赢了一场比赛或两场比赛并不重要，”约翰逊说。“重要的是谁赢得了系列赛。”

马刺队对森林狼队

今天：马刺队 @ 明尼苏达，下午 6 点（系列赛战成 1-1 平）

电视：KSAT

广播：WOAI-AM 1200；西班牙语：KCOR-AM 1350

第四场比赛：周六 @ 明尼苏达，时间待定（电视：NBC 或 KSAT）

第五场比赛*：周一 @ 圣安东尼奥，时间待定（电视：付费频道）*：如有必要

点击查看原文：Disaster recovery plan: Play better

Disaster recovery plan: Play better

It was a 45-minute film session that, according to Avery Johnson, felt like four hours. Mario Elie called it a horror show. David Robinson said it was worse than the game itself.

“It was even more ugly,” Robinson said, “because we knew what the outcome was.”

There are better ways to start the morning than having your embarrassing escapades from the previous night replayed on a giant-screen television. The Spurs, however, couldn’t avoid it.

A little more than 12 hours after Minnesota humbled them 80-71 to even the best-of-five, first-round series, the Spurs returned to the Alamodome to clean up the mess they left behind. They hope to have disposed of their problems before gathering at the Target Center tonight for Game 3.

“We’ll try not to make it a habit,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “If you make it a habit, then you’re on summer vacation.”

After the team watched tape of the game, Elie saw a few things in his own game needing improvement. He could start hitting a few shots, he said. And playing a little defense. Rebounding wouldn’t hurt, either.

“The film doesn’t lie,” Elie said. “I wanted to kick myself in the head.”

The Spurs’ punishment for their effort, or lack of it, wasn’t that severe - “Pop took it easy on us compared to some other times,” Robinson said - but they can ill-afford a repeat of Tuesday night. At the least, they have to win either today or Saturday to avoid becoming only the second No. 1 seed to get bounced out of the first round. The Timberwolves, who went 18-7 at home this season, beat the Spurs twice at the Target Center in February.

“After the game I told our guys we beat the best team in the NBA,” Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. “And now we have home court.”

The Spurs weren’t exactly pushing the panic button themselves Wednesday. They had the league’s best road record (16-9) this season and they haven’t lost two consecutive games since the end of February.

“Nobody ever wants to have a loss, but I think losses sometimes put you in check and make you think about where you are,” Robinson said. "We started off the season 6-8. If we didn’t start off the season 6-8, we might not have some of the character we have now.

“We need to realize that we’re not a great, overpowering team. We’re a team that if we execute and do our job, we’ll win.”

To Spurs did little of either Tuesday when Minnesota held them to a franchise-record low for points in a playoff game. The Timberwolves once again clamped down on Tim Duncan. They also forced Johnson to pass out, trapping him on the baseline.

With spacing essential in their predictable offense, the Spurs struggled to extend Minnesota’s defense after the Timberwolves started their big lineup: forwards Kevin Garnett and Joe Smith and center Dean Garrett. The Spurs made only three shots from more than 12 feet and missed all eight of their three-pointers. They also started turning down shots.

“We missed a lot of wide-open shots,” Johnson said. “Pop told us (Wednesday) to keep taking the same shots.”

“Not all of the shots were open,” Sean Elliott said. “Those guys are so big and long that they don’t have to run far to get a hand in your face.”

Elie missed 10 of his 12 attempts. Anthony Peeler and Terrell Brandon also outrebounded Elie and Johnson 12-1. Peeler had three of Minnesota’s 19 offensive rebounds.

“A lot of times I didn’t put a hand up or put a body on someone,” Elie said. “That won’t happen again.”

The Spurs held Minnesota to 39.5-percent shooting, but had trouble defending the pick and roll with Garnett and Brandon. They also were outrebounded 46-40 and had just four blocks after averaging a league-best 7.02 for the season.

After making half his eight free throws in Game 2 - the team made 21 of 32, 65.6 percent - Johnson spent an extra 20 minutes at the line after Wednesday’s practice. Then he offered some optimism.

“In the playoffs it’s not about who wins one game or two games,” Johnson said. “It’s about who wins the series.”

Spurs vs. T’wolves

Today: Spurs @Minn., 6 p.m. (series tied 1-1)

TV: KSAT

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

Game 4: Saturday @Minnesota, time TBA (TV: NBC or KSAT)

Game 5*: Monday @S.A., time TBA (TV: PPV) *: if necessary

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-14, By Johnny Ludden

时来运转 - 马刺队赢下第三场比赛，重新掌控局面

周四上午，迪恩·加勒特(Dean Garrett)信心满满。他信心十足地对更衣室里的一众记者说，明尼苏达森林狼队非常庆幸能在首轮比赛中抽到圣安东尼奥马刺队作为对手。

“我们想要对阵马刺队，”加勒特说。“我们知道我们能打败他们。以我们现在的状态，我们可不想面对波特兰开拓者队或犹他爵士队。”

这样评价联盟战绩最佳的球队合适吗？马刺队显然不这么认为。

在周四晚上的标靶中心球馆，马刺队以 85-71 的比分战胜了森林狼队，赢得了五局三胜系列赛的第三场比赛，看起来更像西部联盟的头号种子了。这场胜利让马刺队重新获得了主场优势，但如果他们在周六下午客场拿下森林狼队，他们甚至都不需要主场优势了。

在周二晚上的比赛中，森林狼队以 80-71 的比分获胜后，森林狼队主教练菲利普·桑德斯(Flip Saunders)说，这个系列赛就像是一场国际象棋比赛。如果是这样的话，那么马刺队在周四的比赛中拿起棋盘，反复地敲打着森林狼队的脑袋。

在第二场比赛中，马刺队在拼抢和篮板上都输给了对手，而且总体表现糟糕，这让“软弱”的标签再次被贴在了他们身上。然而在第三场比赛中，大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)一扫第二场比赛中大部分时间里如同雕塑般迟钝的状态，全场砍下 17 分、18 个篮板、7 次助攻和 3 次盖帽。

马里奥·艾利(Mario Elie)在周二的比赛中 12 投仅 2 中，只抢到 1 个篮板，而在这场比赛中他得到了 9 分和 6 个篮板。杰罗姆·科尔西(Jerome Kersey)替补出场抢下了 6 个篮板，最终马刺队在篮板上以 47-37 领先森林狼队。

和罗宾逊一样，蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)在得到 15 分、7 个篮板和 5 次盖帽的同时，也送出了 7 次助攻。

凯文·加内特(Kevin Garnett)和特雷尔·布兰登(Terrell Brandon)联手贡献了森林狼队 39 分，但他们得到的帮助微乎其微。森林狼队全场 80 投仅 28 中，命中率只有 35%。

周四的比赛几乎是周二比赛的翻版。马刺队在第二场比赛的第二节只得到可怜的 10 分，而森林狼队在第三场比赛的第二节也差点步了他们的后尘。森林狼队在第二节只得到 12 分。他们上半场 28 分的得分也创造了马刺队季后赛对手的最低得分纪录。

马刺队在得分方面则没有遇到任何麻烦。在第二节初落后一分的情况下，他们在半场结束时打出了一波 25-8 的攻击波。

罗宾逊一次艰难的转身勾手命中后，约翰逊(Avery Johnson)断下了对手的边线球，沿着底线晃过了乔·史密斯(Joe Smith)，在上半场结束的哨声响起前将球轻轻送入篮筐，马刺队带着 44-28 的领先优势进入下半场。森林狼队在前两节的投篮命中率只有 26.2%（42 投 11 中），在稀稀拉拉的嘘声中走进了更衣室。

在第三节初段，标靶中心球馆的球迷们也没有什么值得欢呼的。肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)先是一记三分命中，随后又中了一记中距离跳投。在本节中段，当艾利再次命中一记远投时，马刺队的领先优势已经扩大到 23 分。

森林狼队在最后一分钟连得 8 分，将分差缩小到 63-48 进入第四节。但这对于森林狼队来说，实在是太少，也太晚了。在比赛还剩 10 分钟时，加内特替补出场命中一记远投，一位球迷大声喊道：“我们就要追上了！我们就要追上了！”

森林狼队确实一度将分差缩小到 15 分以内。但这并没有持续多久。约翰逊很快又命中一记 18 英尺的跳投。

在周二抢下 19 个进攻篮板后，森林狼队在本场比赛中再次在篮板上给了马刺队很大压力。在第一节结束时，他们已经抢下了 5 个进攻篮板。而马刺队呢？一个也没有。

当马刺队的首发球员下场休息时，马利克·罗斯(Malik Rose)鼓励队友们开始卡位。他们照做了。在第二节，马刺队一共抢下了 6 个进攻篮板，而森林狼队只有 2 个。上半场结束时，他们在篮板球方面以 25-19 领先。

点击查看原文：Reversal of Fortune - Spurs back in control with Game 3 win

Reversal of Fortune - Spurs back in control with Game 3 win

Dean Garrett was confident Thursday morning. So confident he told a locker room full of reporters how much Minnesota appreciated drawing the Spurs as their first-round matchup.

“We wanted San Antonio,” Garrett said. “We knew we could beat them. With the way we had been playing, we didn’t want to face Portland or Utah.”

Is that any way to treat the team with the NBA’s best record? The Spurs apparently didn’t think so.

Looking a little more like the Western Conference’s top seed, they dumped the Timberwolves 85- 71 in Game 3 of the best-of-five series Thursday night at the Target Center. The Spurs regained home- court advantage with the victory, but they won’t even need that if they can close out Minnesota here Saturday afternoon.

After Minnesota claimed an 80- 71 victory Tuesday night, Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said the series was a chess match. If so, the Spurs picked up the game board Thursday and repeatedly whacked Minnesota over the head.

Outhustled, outrebounded and generally embarrassed in Game 2, the Spurs shed their “too-soft” label Thursday. After looking like a statue for much of Game 2, David Robinson totaled 17 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks in Game 3.

Mario Elie, who made only 2 of 12 shots Tuesday while pulling down a single rebound, had nine points and six rebounds. Jerome Kersey came off the bench to pull down six more boards as the Spurs outrebounded Minnesota 47-37.

Like Robinson, Tim Duncan had seven assists to go with his 15 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.

Kevin Garnett and Terrell Brandon accounted for 39 of the Timberwolves’ total points, but they got little help. Minnesota made only 28 of 80 shots (35 percent).

Thursday was almost a reversal of Tuesday. After the Spurs fumbled their way to only 10 points in the second quarter in Game 2, Minnesota almost matched them in Game 3. The Timberwolves scored 12 points in the second quarter. Their first-half total (28) set a Spurs’ playoff opponent record for fewest points.

The Spurs had no such trouble finding the basket. Trailing by one early in the second quarter, they outscored Minnesota 25-8 the rest of the half.

After Robinson hit a tough twisting hook, Johnson intercepted the inbounds pass, faked Joe Smith along the baseline and softly laid in a basket at the first-half buzzer for a 44-28 Spurs lead. After shooting only 26.2 percent (11 of 42) in the first two quarters, the Timberwolves exited to the locker room under a smattering of boos.

The Target Center crowd didn’t have much to cheer about early in the third quarter, either. Sean Elliott followed a three-pointer with a 20-footer. When Elie canned another long jumper in the middle of the quarter, the Spurs’ lead had grown to 23.

Minnesota scored the final eight points to trim its deficit to 63-48 heading into the final quarter. But it was too little, too late. After Garnett came off the bench to hit a long jumper with 10 minutes left, a fan yelled, “We’re right there! We’re right there!”

The Timberwolves were right within 15. And that didn’t last long. Johnson quickly canned another 18 footer.

After pulling down 19 offensive rebounds Tuesday, the Timberwolves again started beating up the Spurs on the boards. At the end of the first quarter, they had five offensive rebounds. The Spurs? Zip.

When the Spurs’ starters went to the sideline for a timeout, Malik Rose coaxed them to start boxing out. They did. In the second quarter the Spurs totaled six offensive boards to Minnesota’s two. They also held a 25-19 overall rebounding advantage at halftime.

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-14, By Glenn Rogers

毫无威胁 - 狼队未能将马刺逼入绝境

教练弗利普·桑德斯(Flip Saunders) 应该在周二晚上阿拉莫圆顶球场继续沿用之前奏效的战术。

但他没有。

桑德斯向马刺保证，他们周四晚上将不会看到同样的狼队表现。马刺看到了他们想看到的东西，并以 85-71 的比分大胜。

这场胜利让圣安东尼奥在五场三胜制系列赛中取得了 2-1 的领先优势，为周六晚上在这里赢得首轮比赛奠定了基础。奇怪的是，71 分是明尼苏达队在季后赛中的最低得分。马刺在周二的比赛中也只得了 71 分，这也是他们的最低得分。

桑德斯表示，尽管他在圣安东尼奥取得了胜利，但他会做出调整。他还指出，马刺很难做出调整，因为他们的进攻和防守都太过依赖驱动球。

马刺依然固守驱动球，而狼队却毫无根基。

在第二场比赛中盛行全队的拼搏精神在第三场比赛中消失了。

是马刺而不是狼队在拼抢球，迫使对手失误，封锁着进攻路线。

是马刺而不是狼队在篮下忙碌着抢篮板。

“他们抢下了篮板，然后就跑掉了，”狼队中锋迪恩·加雷特(Dean Garrett) 说。“他们把我们限制在一次进攻，而不是我们之前得到的两到三次进攻。”

而狼队通常会错过那唯一的一投。

在阿拉莫圆顶球场，球迷们不是向马刺投去嘘声，而是将嘘声投向了在目标中心球场的狼队。球迷们在第四节比赛进行到一半时就开始退场。

“是啊，我从没想过会看到这种情况，”狼队前锋乔·史密斯(Joe Smith) 说。史密斯只投进了 9 投 2 中，这加速了球迷的退场。

狼队在第三节后半段发起了一些反击，但比赛基本上在前半场就已经决定了，当时圣安东尼奥建立了 44-28 的领先优势。

圣安东尼奥打出了强硬的防守，封锁了内线，但明尼苏达队就是投不进，无论是空位还是有防守的情况下。

狼队在前半场命中率仅为 28%，42 投 11 中。

但尽管投篮不准，整体拼搏精神也欠缺，狼队还是将他们的问题归咎于一个人——艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)。

“当一个人像他一样手握球权，并命中了 15 投 12 中，那将是场灾难，”加雷特说。“我们更希望他投篮，而不是蒂姆(Duncan) 或戴夫(Robinson)，这就是比赛计划。现在他要让我们改变比赛计划。”

“艾弗里简直杀疯了，”狼队后卫安东尼·皮勒(Anthony Peeler) 说。“他们知道我们会轮转到他们的射手身上，他们把球传给了艾弗里，他投进了。”

“我认为让蒂姆和戴维斯两人联手只得到 32 分，已经足够赢得比赛了，”史密斯说。“但艾弗里却投进了每一球。”

桑德斯说，他很遗憾防守轮转没有及时跟上约翰逊。但正是桑德斯在第二场比赛中没有担心这场特别的轮转，他表示他更希望看到球在约翰逊手中，而不是邓肯或罗宾逊手中。

这又是明尼苏达教练需要做出的一项调整。

点击查看原文：Nothing to howl about - Wolves fail to put Spurs in deep hole

Nothing to howl about - Wolves fail to put Spurs in deep hole

Coach Flip Saunders should have stayed with what he had going Tuesday night at the Alamodome.

But he didn’t.

Saunders assured the Spurs that they wouldn’t see the same Wolf production Thursday night. What the Spurs saw, they liked and romped to an 85-71 victory at the Target Center.

The win gave San Antonio a 2-1 lead in this best-of-five series and set the stage for a first-round victory Saturday night here. Oddly enough, the 71 points were a Minnesota franchise low in playoff action. The 71 points the Spurs scored Tuesday were their franchise low.

Saunders said he would make adjustments despite his victory in San Antonio. He also noted that the Spurs would have trouble making adjustments because they were so rooted to power ball on offense and defense.

The Spurs remained rooted, the Wolves rootless.

The hustle that was endemic to the Wolves in Game 2 vanished in Game 3.

It was Spurs instead of Wolves hounding down loose balls, forcing turnovers, closing down lanes.

It was the Spurs bustling under the hoop and scooping rebounds instead of the Wolves.

“They rebounded and they were gone,” Wolves center Dean Garrett said. “They were limiting us to one shot instead of the two or three we were getting.”

And the Wolves usually missed that one.

Instead of boos swirling down on the heads of Spurs in the Alamodome, there were boos boiling around the Wolves in the Target Center. The fans started filing out midway through the fourth quarter.

“Yeah, I never thought I’d see that happen,” Wolves forward Joe Smith said. Smith helped spur the exodus by hitting just two of his nine shots.

The Wolves spurted some late in the third period, but the game was essentially decided in the first half when San Antonio built a 44-28 lead.

San Antonio played intense defense, shutting down the interior, but Minnesota simply couldn’t hit a shot, open or contested.

The Wolves hit a dismal 28 percent in the opening half, putting down just 11 of 42 shots.

But despite the errant shooting and lack of all-around hustle, the Wolves pointed to one man as the main cause of their problems - Avery Johnson.

“When somebody who has the ball in his hands as much as he does hits 12 of 15 shots, that’s trouble,” Garrett said. “We preferred him to shoot instead of Tim (Duncan) or Dave (Robinson), that was the game plan. Now he’ll make us change the game plan.”

“Avery just killed us,” Wolves guard Anthony Peeler said. “They knew we would rotate to their shooters, and they got the ball to Avery and he hit them.”

“I think holding Tim and David to a combined 32 points is enough to win a game,” said Smith. “But Avery was knocking down every shot.”

Saunders said he was sorry the defensive rotation wasn’t getting to Johnson in time. But it was Saunders who didn’t worry about that particular rotation in Game 2, noting he preferred to see the ball in Johnson’s hands rather than Duncan’s or Robinson’s.

Still another adjustment for the Minnesota coach to make.

By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-14, By Buck Harvey

恐惧、厌恶和回忆：响应时间

他们事后嘲笑了艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)，这并没有让今天变得有多不同。这一次，他们说的是他周二之后有多么生气。

他在这架包机上哪怕笑过一次吗？他到达后不是对着一个电视记者大发脾气了吗？

“我们输球后，他就会对我们所有人生气，”格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)说。

但真正伴随着马刺队前往雨水浸透的北方的情绪，并不是愤怒。这是一种马刺队几个月来都没有感受到的东西：恐惧。“非常恐惧，”肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)说。

周二过后——在那场定义了马刺队过去的失利之后——他们开始害怕，也许森林狼队已经摸清了他们的套路。也许关于马刺队不适合季后赛的说法有那么点道理。如果犹他爵士队能在萨克拉门托面临被淘汰的境地，那么马刺队在明尼苏达州也可能面临同样的命运。

周四晚上 6:42（或前后），马刺队抛开了所有的恐惧，再次怒火中烧。他们对自己的愚蠢感到愤怒。他们怎么会这么愚蠢，让事情发展到这一步？艾弗里·约翰逊投进几个跳投，大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)重返地球，这台在 3 月和 4 月吞噬联盟的南德克萨斯机器又回来了。

看看整个 NBA，没有人——无论是奥兰多魔术队、迈阿密热火队，还是强大的犹他爵士队——能像马刺队那样对主场失利做出如此强烈的回应。

这当然是一个奇迹，考虑到弗利普·桑德斯(Flip Saunders)的天才。周二，他在谈到自己所做的诸多调整时说，周四他会采取完全不同的策略。

我的天，他确实做到了。他的微妙战术之一是让艾弗里·约翰逊在 17 英尺左右的位置无人防守。“他们防守我的方式和第二场比赛不同，”艾弗里·约翰逊说。“我想他们是想让我们措手不及。”

结果呢？措手不及。艾弗里·约翰逊 15 投 12 中，打出了他本赛季最出色的投篮表现之一。

“我们没有轮转，”桑德斯事后说道，他说的没错。森林狼队始终没有盯防艾弗里·约翰逊，让人感觉好像没人应该轮转。然后，桑德斯差点说出了类似鲍勃·希尔(Bob Hill)的话。“比赛计划是不让他们获得空位投篮机会，”他说，就像希尔曾经为他的比赛计划辩护一样。

桑德斯继续说：“那些投篮，”他指的是艾弗里·约翰逊的跳投，“当你领先 20 分时，要容易得多。”也许吧，但艾弗里·约翰逊什么时候投进了三个这样的跳投，并打出了气势？是在前 9 分钟。

但这与桑德斯无关，甚至与艾弗里·约翰逊的表现无关。这是关于马刺队打防守，让罗宾逊积极抢下 18 个篮板，这是关于马刺队对季后赛挑战的反应，就像其他球队曾经对他们做出反应一样。在取得一场乏味的胜利和一场尴尬的失利之后，马刺队在这轮系列赛中找回了他们过去两个月所拥有的优势。

没人能保证他们会重回巅峰，埃利奥特和罗宾逊都太清楚那种糟糕的感受。1991 年，作为第二种子，马刺队在系列赛的第二场比赛中输给了第七种子勇士队。马刺队前往奥克兰，他们遇到了喧闹的球迷，但却没有找到自己的状态。NBA 历史上只有过一次更大的季后赛爆冷。

“那支球队没有这支球队的化学反应，”埃利奥特说。“但我再三告诉自己，你永远不知道。”

到了下半场，他们知道了。森林狼队和他们失望的球迷也知道了。艾弗里·约翰逊几乎是在戏弄那些想要与马刺队交手的森林狼队，他左右横移，在禁区里轻松地投篮，找到了罗宾逊。比赛还剩两分钟左右的时候，艾弗里·约翰逊投进最后一个跳投，然后在首发球员被换下时离开了球场。

这就是答案。一个微笑。愤怒和恐惧让位于解脱，还有一些自豪。

点击查看原文：Fear, loathing and memories: Respond time

Fear, loathing and memories: Respond time

They laughed about Avery Johnson afterward, which didn’t make this day much different. This time it was about how mad he had been after Tuesday.

Did he smile even once on the charter? Didn’t he snap at a TV reporter upon arrival?

“He’s mad at all of us after we lose,” said Gregg Popovich.

But the real emotion that accompanied the Spurs to the rainy north wasn’t anger. It was something the Spurs hadn’t known for a few months. Fear. “A lot of fear,” said Sean Elliott.

After Tuesday - after a loss that defined the Spurs’ past - there was the fear that maybe the Timberwolves had figured them out. That maybe there was something to the idea that the Spurs weren’t made for the playoffs. And that if Utah could face elimination in Sacramento, then so could the Spurs in Minnesota.

Thursday at 6:42 p.m. (or there about) the Spurs lost any fear and got mad again. At themselves. How could they have been so stupid to let it come to this? AJ tossed in a few jumpers, David Robinson returned to planet Earth and the South Texas machine that chewed up the league in March and April came back.

Look around the NBA. No one - not Orlando or Miami or mighty Utah - has responded to a home shock as the Spurs did.

It’s a miracle it happened, naturally, given the genius of Flip Saunders. While talking about his many adjustments on Tuesday, he said he’d do everything differently on Thursday.

Gawd, did he ever right. Among his subtle maneuvers was to leave AJ open from about 17 feet. “They played me differently than they did in Game 2,” said AJ. “I guess they wanted to keep us off guard.”

The result? On guard. AJ went 12 for 15 in one of his best shooting performances of the season

“We did not rotate,” said Saunders afterward, and he’s right. At no time were Wolves coming at AJ, leaving the impression that no one was supposed to rotate. And then Saunders came dangerously close to sounding like Bob Hill. “The gameplan was not to give them open shots,” he said as Hill once defended his gameplans.

Saunders continued. “Those shots,” he said of AJ’s jumpers, “are a lot easier to make when you are up by 20.” Maybe so, but when did AJ swish three such jumpers and set a tone? In the first nine minutes.

But this wasn’t about Saunders, or even AJ being on. This was about the Spurs playing defense, getting Robinson active with 18 rebounds, with the Spurs reacting to a playoff challenge as other teams used to react to them. After a sluggish win and an embarrassing loss, the Spurs found the edge in this series they had owned for two months.

There were no guarantees it was coming back, and both Elliott and Robinson knew too well how awful that can be. In 1991, as the second seed, the Spurs lost the second game of that series to the seventh- seeded Warriors. The Spurs went to Oakland and found loud crowds, but not their game. Only one playoff upset has ever been bigger in NBA history.

“That team didn’t have the chemistry of this one,” said Elliott. “But as much as I told myself that, you never know.”

By the second half they knew. So did the Timberwolves, as well as their disgusted crowd. AJ almost toyed with the same Timberwolves who had said they wanted to play the Spurs, stutter- stepping into the lane for soft runners, finding Robinson. AJ threw in one last jumper, with about two minutes left, and left as the starters were pulled.

There it was. A smile. The anger and fear had given way to relief, and some pride, too.

By Buck Harvey, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-14, By Glenn Rogers

笔记

就像这场比赛一样，森林狼队中锋迪安·加勒特(Dean Garrett)表示，他们在季后赛首轮碰上了最合适的对手。

“我一直说我们对阵这支球队表现最好，”加勒特在森林狼以 85-71 大比分输掉第三场比赛之前谈到马刺队时说道，“我认为我们对阵开拓者或爵士的比赛开局没有打出最佳状态。爵士队非常高大，开拓者队有很多高个子球员，而且他们非常有运动能力。我认为马刺队无法应对凯文·加内特(Kevin Garnett)的运动能力。

“我们和圣安东尼奥队很般配，我真的不认为我们在圣安东尼奥会输掉任何一场比赛。”

加勒特也是马刺队球员艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)的朋友。他说，在第一场比赛中对他犯规导致约翰逊跌倒后，他并没有对怀有敌意。

“艾弗里喜欢突破，他只是突破得有点过头了，”加勒特谈到约翰逊的突破时说道，“我知道他还会继续突破，但他现在知道我在那里了。”

翻译：森林狼队主教练弗利普·桑德斯(Flip Saunders)试图澄清凯文·加内特的“我们将震惊世界”的言论，指的是他预测森林狼队将击败马刺队的言论。

“他说他会震惊世界，但不是这支球队，”桑德斯说，“这支球队一直都认为他们会打得很好。”

桑德斯认为，马刺队在系列赛中调整进攻会更加困难。

“他们在场上两端都打 power ball，”他说，“他们真的不能改变太多。”

马刺队在周四晚上并没有改变太多，除了他们的强度，而且这已经足够了。

别着急：森林狼队在第三场比赛中没有采用他们通常的快攻战术，也没有快速投篮。安东尼·皮勒(Anthony Peeler)说，他们想让凯文·加内特在防守端稍微休息一下。

“如果我们快速投篮，凯文就得快速回防，然后在内线与那些大个子球员对抗，”皮勒说，“所以我们试图让他们多防守一下。”

太多砖块：马利克·西利(Malik Sealy)指出，第二节的失误投篮是森林狼队厄运的预兆。

“如果你连续投丢 11 次投篮，你必须努力让他们也连续投丢 11 次。这在 NBA，尤其是在季后赛中太难了，”西利说，“但我相信这支球队中没有人会放弃。从上到下都是这样。”

点击查看原文：NOTES

NOTES

Like this draw: Center Dean Garrett said the Timberwolves got exactly the right opponent for them in the opening round of the playoffs.

“I’ve always said this is the team we play best against,” Garrett said of the Spurs before Minnesota’s lopsided 85-71 loss in Game 3. "I didn’t think we were playing well enough to start against Portland or Utah. Utah is very big, Portland has a lot of big guys, and they are very athletic. I just don’t think the Spurs can handle Kevin Garnett’s athleticism.

“We match up well against San Antonio. I really didn’t think we’d lose a game in San Antonio.”

Garrett also is a friend of the Spurs’ Avery Johnson. He said he had no animosity toward Johnson when he flipped him over with a hard foul in Game 1.

“Avery likes to go to the hole, and he was just going there a little too much,” Garrett said of Johnson’s drives. “I know he’ll still keep doing it, but now he knows I’m there.”

Translation: Minnesota coach Flip Saunders tried to clarify Kevin Garnett’s “we’ll-shock- the-world” statement, referring to his prediction that the Wolves would knock off the Spurs.

“He was saying that he’d shock the world but not this team,” Saunders said. “This team always felt it would play well against the Spurs.”

Saunders believed the Spurs would have a more difficult time adjusting offenses during the series.

“They play power ball at both ends of the floor,” he said. “They really can’t change a lot.”

The Spurs didn’t change much Thursday night, other than their intensity - and that was enough.

Not so fast: The Wolves didn’t take their usual, fast- break, quick shots in Game 3. Anthony Peeler said they wanted to give Kevin Garnett a bit of a break on defense.

“If we take the quick shots, Kevin has to get back on defense quickly and battle the big guys in the post,” Peeler said. “So we tried to make them play defense a little bit.”

Too many bricks: Malik Sealy pointed to the missed shots in the second quarter as the harbinger of doom for the Timberwolves.

“You miss 11 straight shots, you have to try to make them miss 11 straight. That’s just too tough in the NBA, especially in the playoffs,” Sealy said. “But I know there is no one on this team ready to quit. That’s from top to bottom.” - Glenn Rogers D

By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News