马刺1998-99赛季实录（780+篇）

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-24, By Associated Press

横扫！马刺四场淘汰湖人

马刺势不可挡，挺进西部决赛。

蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)贡献33分、13个篮板和4次助攻，马刺在第四节开局阶段打出一波进攻高潮，最终以118-107战胜湖人，以4-0横扫对手，晋级西部决赛。

现在，圣安东尼奥将在与犹他爵士和波特兰开拓者系列赛的胜者交手之前，获得一些休息时间。目前开拓者以2-1领先。

洛杉矶湖人自1988年以来就再也没有夺得过总冠军，他们将迎来一个漫长的夏天，试图再次找出问题所在。

替补出场的贾伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson)手感火热，命中率极高，全场得到20分，其中包括6个三分球。

艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)为马刺贡献19分和10次助攻。马刺全场罚球54中39，而湖人仅36中23。

沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal)为湖人贡献36分和14个篮板。里克·福克斯(Rick Fox)得到17分，科比·布莱恩特(Kobe Bryant)得到16分和8个篮板。

马刺从比赛开始就一直领先，在第三节末段一度领先14分，比分来到86-72。

然而，在17505名观众的欢呼声中，湖人打出一波12-0的进攻高潮，将比分差距缩小到2分。

第四节开局阶段，马刺打出一波13-0的进攻高潮，彻底掌控了比赛。

马刺在整个季后赛中都拥有主场优势，此前他们从未打进过NBA总决赛。

点击查看原文：It's A Sweep! Spurs put L.A. away in four

It’s A Sweep! Spurs put L.A. away in four

It’s on to the Western Conference finals for the surging Spurs.

Tim Duncan had 33 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, and the Spurs broke open a tight game at the start of the fourth quarter in beating the Lakers 118-107 Sunday to complete a four-game sweep of the conference semifinals.

Now San Antonio gets some time off before facing the winner of the Utah-Portland series, which the Blazers lead 2-1.

Los Angeles, which hasn’t won a championship since 1988, has the summer to try and figure out what went wrong, again.

Guard Jaren Jackson held a sharp-shooting clinic, coming off the bench and scoring 20 points, including six three-pointers.

Avery Johnson had 19 points and 10 assists for the Spurs, who went 39-of-54 from the foul line compared to 23-of-36 for the Lakers.

Shaquille O’Neal led the Lakers with 36 points and 14 rebounds. Rick Fox added 17 points and Kobe Bryant had 16 points and eight rebounds for Los Angeles.

The Spurs, who never trailed, seemed to have the game well in hand late in the third quarter leading 86-72

But then, with the sellout crowd of 17,505 in a frenzy, the Lakers scored the final 12 points of the quarter to draw within two.

The Spurs went on a 13-0 run to start the fourth quarter and put the game away.

The Spurs, who have homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, have never advanced to the NBA Finals.

By Associated Press, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-24, By Staff Reports

备忘录

票务信息

圣安东尼奥马刺队宣布，西部决赛第一场和第二场比赛的球票将在今天上午开售。这两场比赛都将在阿拉莫穹顶球馆举行。

下层和俱乐部层票价范围为 15.50 美元至 65.50 美元。

球迷可以通过马刺队票务办公室、所有票务大师销售点或拨打 (210) 223-DUNK 电话购买球票。马刺队票务办公室位于阿拉莫穹顶球馆西南角，今天上午 8 点开放。所有票务大师销售点将于上午 10 点开放。

球迷怒火

马刺队后卫马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)一向直言不讳，他说他对那些在周日论坛球馆对科比·布莱恩特(Kobe Bryant)嘘声一片的球迷毫无尊重。

“这太没劲了，”埃利说。“我真受不了。科比很有天赋，他只是需要成长。几年后我退休了，我会买票去看他比赛。”

球迷们还向湖人队管理层表达了他们对将埃迪·琼斯(Eddie Jones)和埃尔登·坎贝尔(Elden Campbell)交易到夏洛特换取格伦·莱斯(Glen Rice)的交易的看法。他们在比赛中两次高喊“埃迪，埃迪，埃迪”。

克尔西的担忧

替补前锋杰罗姆·克尔西(Jerome Kersey)说，他在前三节坐在板凳上感到有些沮丧。

“所以当我上场的时候，我只想保持活跃，”他说。“艾弗里(Avery Johnson)传球给我，我得到了那次三分得分。”克尔西还提醒说，马刺队还有很长的路要走。

“我们还没有真正取得任何成就，”他说。“下一轮我们必须从头开始。我们仍然有让对手追分的倾向。在波特兰鼎盛时期，我们总是火力全开。我们知道在这里我们可以随时阻止对手，但当我们压制对手时，我们必须继续前进。”

罗斯的期待

替补前锋马利克·罗斯(Malik Rose)说，湖人队发起了一些强势的反扑，但他仍然期待着更强的侵略性。

“我以为会非常难看，”他说。“我以为他们会出来试图在精神上、身体上以及其他任何方式上阻止我们。

“泰隆·卢(Tyronn Lue)上场后展现了全部能量，向他们展示了他们交易埃迪·琼斯后失去了什么。”

杰克医生的诊断

杰克·拉姆齐(Jack Ramsay)是波特兰开拓者队的前教练，他说湖人队将埃迪·琼斯和埃尔登·坎贝尔交易到夏洛特黄蜂队是一个错误。

“我不认为这笔交易对他们有帮助，”拉姆齐说。“这伤害了他们。它伤害了他们的防守。它减少了他们为沙克提供的替补帮助，也减缓了他们的快攻。他们得到了一名优秀的射手（格伦·莱斯）。但如今的伟大球队都是建立在防守基础上的。”

点击查看原文：Notes

Notes

Ticket information: The San Antonio Spurs announced that tickets for Game 1 and Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, both to be played at the Alamodome, will go on sale this morning.

The ticket prices at the lower level and club level range from $15.50 to $65.50.

Tickets may be purchased at the Spurs ticket office, located in the southwest corner of the Alamodome, at all Ticketmaster outlets or by phone at (210) 223-DUNK.

The Spurs ticket office will be open today at 8 a.m. All Ticketmaster outlets will be open at 10 a.m.

- Angry at fans: Spurs guard Mario Elie, never one to hold back an opinion, said he had no respect for fans who booed Kobe Bryant on Sunday at The Forum.

“That was real weak,” Elie said. “I hated to hear that. Kobe is real talented, he just has to be brought along. When I retire, a few years from now, I’ll be buying tickets to watch him play.”

The fans also let Lakers management know what they thought of the trade that sent Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell to Charlotte for Glen Rice. They twice sent up chants of “Ed-die, Ed-die, Ed- die,” during the game.

- Kersey worried: Reserve forward Jerome Kersey said he got a little discouraged sitting on the bench through the first three quarters.

“So when I got in there, I just wanted to stay active,” he said. “Avery (Johnson) fed me and I got that three-point play.” Kersey also reminded that the Spurs have a long way to go.

“We really haven’t done anything yet,” he said. “We have to start all over again in the next round. We still have a tendency to let teams back into games. In Portland, during the heydays, we always kept going full throttle. We know here that we can always make stops but we’ve got to keep going when we get a team down.”

- Rose expected more: Reserve forward Malik Rose said the Lakers made some tough comeback attempts, but he still had anticipated more aggression.

“I thought it would be real ugly,” he said. "I thought they would come out and try to stop us mentally, physically and any other way.

“Tyronn Lue came in and showed all that energy, showed them what they lost when they traded Eddie Jones.”

- Dr. Jack’s diagnosis: Jack Ramsay, former coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, said the Lakers made a mistake in trading Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell to the Charlotte Hornets.

“I wasn’t one who thought the trade helped them,” said Ramsay, working Game 4 of the Spurs-Lakers series for ESPN radio. “It hurt. It hurt them defensively. It reduced their backup help for Shaq and it (slowed) their running game. They got a great shooter in (Glen) Rice. But great teams today are built on defense.” - Staff Reports

By Staff Reports, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-24, By Johnny Ludden

4-0 结论 - 马刺队关闭论坛球馆，洛杉矶队的希望破灭

说他们贪婪吧。在将洛杉矶湖人队从西部半决赛中横扫出去后，马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie) 还想要更多。

“我想要一块球场，”埃利说。“他们在关闭山顶球场时，我已经得到了一块红色的球场。现在我想要一块论坛的金色的球场。也许是‘L’。

“既然我们关闭了论坛球馆，我想得到一块地板。”

他们也许应该给埃利他想要的。马刺队已经从湖人队那里拿走了其他一切东西。沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal)。他们的尊严。可能还有他们的教练。当然还有他们的赛季。

周日下午，在 17,505 名球迷面前，马刺队以 118-107 的胜利，永久地将湖人队从大西部论坛中赶走，这些球迷似乎将他们一半的时间都花在了对金色和紫色的嘘声上。

“我们关闭了论坛（球馆），宝贝！”埃利在马刺队的更衣室里喊到。“我们关闭了论坛！我们是这个琐事问题的答案。我想要打开‘体育中心’并听到丹·帕特里克(Dan Patrick) 问道，‘哪支球队是最后一支在论坛球馆中击败湖人队的球队？’

“马刺队，就是他们。”

以下是一些更多小知识问题：马刺队还有多少次在季后赛中连胜两场？一次。他们还有多少次横扫七场制的系列赛？从未。

湖人队将在夏季忙于电影和音乐项目，并有可能进行教练搜寻，而马刺队将自 1995 年以来首次进军西部决赛。在那里，他们将面对犹他爵士队和波特兰开拓者队之间的胜者。

“这不是我决定的，”马刺队教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich) 说，“所以我真的不想打任何一支队伍。”

爵士队和开拓者队也可能不会充满热情。蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan) 在第三场比赛中得到 37 分后，在周日再次得到 33 分。贾伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson) 在第三场比赛中得到 22 分后，在周日再次得到 20 分。而马刺队则在洛杉矶队的每一次进攻之后都打出一波反击。

湖人队将首节的 11 分差距缩小到 3 分？杰克逊投进了一个三分球。

湖人队将第二节的差距缩小到 4 分？杰克逊投进了一个三分球。

湖人队将第三节的差距缩小到 4 分？邓肯投进了一个 9 英尺的勾手。艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson) 在底线投进了一个 18 英尺的投篮。邓肯投进了一个 4 英尺的勾手。约翰逊投进了一个疯狂的勾手，得到 3 分。

湖人队在第四节开始时将差距缩小到 2 分？杰克逊投进了一个三分球。杰罗姆·柯西(Jerome Kersey) 全场比赛首次替补上场，得到 9 分。

湖人队在比赛还剩 2 分 29 秒时将差距缩小到 8 分？杰克逊投进了一个三分球。

你发现趋势了吗？

“我们需要更多地来到洛杉矶，”埃利谈到杰克逊说，他在过去三场“天使之城”的比赛中得到 63 分。“杰罗姆告诉我，他只是希望能够上场。然后他就上场了，像个疯狂的女妖一样打球。”

湖人队失去控制，对裁判大喊大叫，他们自己也像个女妖一样。这足以让论坛的观众感到恶心——其中包括 NBA 总裁大卫·斯特恩(David Stern)、弗兰克·罗宾逊(Frank Robinson)、迈克尔·欧文(Michael Irvin) 和牧师杰西·杰克逊(Jesse Jackson)，但没有菲尔·杰克逊(Phil Jackson)。

湖人队的少年奇才科比·布莱恩特(Kobe Bryant) 被嘘声淹没。在介绍球员的时候。然后球迷开始高呼“埃迪，埃迪”，这是对防守悍将埃迪·琼斯(Eddie Jones) 的称呼，他在赛季中期被交易到夏洛特，与埃尔登·坎贝尔(Elden Campbell) 交换了格伦·莱斯(Glen Rice)。

然而，琼斯无处可寻。洛杉矶的防守也无处可寻。马刺队的 118 分是他们本赛季的第二高得分。

湖人队在前半场尝试阻止邓肯时变得非常沮丧，他们只是把马刺队送上了罚球线。一次又一次。又一次又一次。

马刺队在季后赛中创造了 54 次罚球的纪录。邓肯 14 投 11 中，与他在球场上的命中率相同。他还抢下了 14 个篮板。

“他经常这样做，”波波维奇说。“这不是突然发生的事。

“他只是很聪明。他天生就理解比赛。就像魔术师约翰逊(Magic Johnson) 天生就理解比赛，拉里·伯德(Larry Bird) 天生就理解比赛一样。”

奥尼尔最终爆发，得到 36 分，显然也明白周日的比赛意味着什么。又一次横扫。在 6 次季后赛中被横扫了 5 次，奥尼尔决定在比赛后期猛击大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson) 的后背。

“当一个人准备回家过暑假的时候，他们都会感到沮丧，”罗宾逊说。

奥尼尔在周日晚上回家度假，而马刺队则带着更多工作回家，论坛球馆的清洁人员清扫了球场。只剩下打包了。

点击查看原文：4-gone conclusion - Spurs close up Forum, L.A.'s hopes to stay alive

4-gone conclusion - Spurs close up Forum, L.A.'s hopes to stay alive

Talk about greedy. Thirty minutes after sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers out of the Western Conference semifinals, Mario Elie wanted more.

“I want a piece of the court,” Elie said. "I already have a red piece of the Summit when they closed that. Now I want a gold piece of the Forum. Maybe the ‘L.’

“Since we shut down the Forum, I want a piece of the floor.”

They might as well give Elie what he wants. The Spurs already took everything else from the Lakers. Shaquille O’Neal. Their dignity. Probably their coach. And, of course, their season.

With a 118- 107 victory that came in front of a sold-out crowd of 17,505 fans who seemingly spent half their time booing the gold and purple, the Spurs permanently brushed the Lakers out of the Great Western Forum on Sunday afternoon.

“We shut down the Forum, baby!” Elie yelled in the Spurs’ locker room. "We shut down the Forum! We’re the answer to the trivia question. I want to turn on ‘SportsCenter’ and hear Dan Patrick ask, ‘Who’s the last team to beat the Lakers in the Forum?’

“The Spurs, that’s who.”

Here are some more trivia questions: How many other times have the Spurs won two straight playoff series? Once. How many other times have they swept a best-of- seven series? Never.

While the Lakers prepare to spend the summer pursuing movie and music projects and quite possibly conducting a coaching search, the Spurs move on to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1995. There they will meet the winner of the Utah- Portland series.

“It’s not up to me,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, “so I really don’t want to play either.”

The Jazz and Trail Blazers also can’t be brimming with enthusiasm. Tim Duncan followed up his 37 points in Game 3 with 33 Sunday. Jaren Jackson followed up his 22 points in Game 3 with 20. And the Spurs followed up every Los Angeles run with a run of their own.

The Lakers trim an 11-point deficit to three in the first quarter? Jackson sticks a three-pointer.

The Lakers trim the deficit to four in the second quarter? Jackson sticks a three-pointer.

The Lakers trim the deficit to four in the third quarter? Duncan hits a 9-foot hook. Avery Johnson knocks down an 18-footer on the baseline. Duncan hits a 4-foot hook. Johnson throws in a wild hook for a three-point play.

The Lakers trim the deficit to two to start the fourth quarter? Jackson sticks a three-pointer. Jerome Kersey comes off the bench for the first time all game and scores nine points.

The Lakers trim the deficit to eight with 2:29 left? Jackson sticks a three-pointer.

Spot a trend yet?

“We need to come to L.A. more,” Elie said of Jackson, who has scored 63 points in his last three games in the ‘City of Angels.’ “Jerome told me he just hoped he got out on the floor. Then he goes out there and plays like a wild banshee.”

Running out of control and wailing at the officials, the Lakers didn’t do a bad banshee themselves. It was enough to make the Forum crowd - which included NBA commissioner David Stern, Frank Robinson, Michael Irvin and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, but not Phil Jackson - sick.

Lakers boy wonder Kobe Bryant was booed. During introductions. The fans then took to chanting, “Edd-ie, Edd-ie,” a reference to the defensive-mined Eddie Jones, who was sent at midseason to Charlotte along with Elden Campbell for Glen Rice.

Jones, however, was nowhere to be found. And neither was Los Angeles’ defense. The Spurs’ 118 points were their second-most all season.

The Lakers became so frustrated trying to stop Duncan in the first half, they just sent the Spurs to the free-throw line. Time and again. And again. And again.

The Spurs shot a playoff franchise-record 54 free throws. Duncan shot 11 of 14 from the line, the same he shot from the field. He also pulled down 14 rebounds.

“He’s done this a lot,” Popovich said. "This isn’t all of a sudden.

“He’s just smart. He just inherently understands the game. The way Magic Johnson inherently understood the game and the way Larry Bird inherently understood the game.”

O’Neal, who finally burst out for 36 points, apparently also understood what Sunday’s game meant. Another sweep. Swept out of five of his six playoff appearances, O’Neal decided to whack David Robinson in the back late in the game.

“Anytime someone’s getting ready to go home for the summer, they get frustrated,” Robinson said.

While O’Neal headed home for vacation Sunday evening and the Spurs headed home with more work ahead, the Forum’s cleanup crew swept the court. Packing it up was the only thing left.

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-24, By Jerry Briggs

读懂比赛，横扫对手 - 湖人队毫无魔力可言

周日，或许是最后一次从大西部论坛球馆(Great Western Forum)鱼贯而出，洛杉矶湖人队的球迷们抱怨着球队在本赛季表现不佳，毫无建树。

得出这一结论的理由很简单。去年春天，湖人队赢得了两轮季后赛，打入了西部决赛。

而本赛季，马刺队在西部半决赛中将他们淘汰出局。马刺队以118-107的比分赢得了第七场比赛的胜利，以令人震惊的4-0横扫了这个七局四胜制的系列赛。

然而，湖人球迷不应完全灰心丧气。在这个因停摆而缩短的赛季中，球队在几个方面都有所提升，尤其是在找借口、背后说坏话和互相指责方面。

“每个人都必须审视自己，”前湖人队球星埃尔文·“魔术师”·约翰逊(Earvin “Magic” Johnson)说。“与其指责别人，不如先检讨自己……我已经厌倦了所有人都在互相指责。”

约翰逊表示，如果湖人队老板杰里·巴斯(Jerry Buss)想和他谈谈明年的教练职位，他会认真考虑。他还说，球队经常为自己的失利寻找借口，而他们本应专注于篮球本身。

“我们总是在找借口，”身兼湖人队副总裁的约翰逊说。“这是一个团队——我不明白。每次我读报纸，都会看到‘我们要这样做’或者‘我们要那样做’。然后，当我们没有做到的时候，就是别人的错。”

“总是说，‘我不明白为什么’。该死，照照镜子吧。你应该知道为什么。”

湖人队管理层的所有人都承认，他们是被一支更优秀的球队击败了。从约翰逊到教练库特·兰比斯(Kurt Rambis)再到球队总裁杰里·韦斯特(Jerry West)，所有人都表示马刺队拥有球星和更强大的板凳深度，这些都是他们获胜的关键。

兰比斯下赛季可能不会再执教湖人队，他谈到了马刺队的“主要武器”以及他们的防守给湖人队带来的“巨大伤害”。

只有一位反对者对马刺队更胜一筹的说法提出了异议，他就是湖人队中锋沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal)，他在六次季后赛之旅中第五次遭遇被横扫出局的耻辱。

“他们是一支更聪明的球队，”得到36分和14个篮板的奥尼尔说。“他们找到了他们的王牌球员（蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)），其他所有人都在他身边打得很好。”

兰比斯说，如果马刺队最终赢得总冠军，他不会感到惊讶。他说，至少，这会让他在目睹马刺队在系列赛最后一场比赛中以60%的投篮命中率击溃了他疲惫的防守后感觉好一些。

“如果他们一路走下去，我会感到一丝安慰，”兰比斯说。“但他们打出了非常出色的篮球。他们的进攻执行力非常强。他们队中有一些主要武器，他们能够很好地处理比赛，并且配合默契。他们在防守端给了我们沉重的打击。”

韦斯特说，他认为马刺队很有机会打进NBA总决赛并赢得总冠军。

“我完全相信西部的一支球队会赢，”他说。“如果你看了季后赛，就会发现这里（西部）有很多球队比那边（东部）的球队要强。”

约翰逊说，湖人队在休赛期有很多工作要做。

“这太令人作呕了，”曾在20世纪80年代帮助湖人队五次夺冠的约翰逊说。“除非我们开始聪明地打球，充满激情和斗志，并且为了球队和胜利而战，否则这种情况还会再次发生。”

点击查看原文：Read it and Sweep - No Magic in these Lakers

Read it and Sweep - No Magic in these Lakers

Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers who filed out of the Great Western Forum, perhaps for the last time on Sunday, griped about underachievers who took a step backward in a bizarre season.

It was very simple math that led them to this conclusion. Last spring, the Lakers won two playoff series and reached the Western Conference finals.

This season, the Spurs knocked them out in the conference semifinals, completing a shocking 4-0 sweep of the best-of-seven series with a 118-107 victory.

Lakers fans shouldn’t be totally discouraged, however. The franchise upgraded in this lockout- shortened season on several levels, namely in the art of making excuses, back-biting and pointing fingers.

“Everybody has to look inside themselves,” said former Lakers great Earvin “Magic” Johnson. “Instead of pointing fingers at everyone else, they got to point fingers at themselves … I’m tired of everyone pointing fingers at everyone else.”

Johnson, who said he would listen if Lakers owner Jerry Buss wanted to talk with him about coaching next year, said the team too often searched for excuses when it should have concentrated on basketball.

“We look for excuses,” said Johnson, a Lakers vice president. "This is one team - I can’t understand it. Every time I read the paper, it’s ‘We’re going to do this, or we’re going to do that.’ Then, when we don’t do it, it was someone else’s fault.

“It was, ‘I can’t understand why.’ Hell, look in the mirror. You ought to know why.”

Everyone in Lakers management admitted that they were beaten by a better team. From Johnson, to Coach Kurt Rambis, to team president Jerry West, all said the Spurs had the stars and superior depth that helped carry them.

Rambis, who likely won’t be back as coach next season, discussed the Spurs’ “major guns” and the “major hurtin’” that their defense put on the Lakers.

There was only one dissenter who disputed the notion that the Spurs were simply better - Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal, who suffered the indignity of being swept out of the playoffs for the fifth time in six postseason trips.

“They were a smarter team,” said O’Neal, who finished with 36 points and 14 rebounds. “They went to their go-to guy (Tim Duncan) and everyone else just played well around him.”

Rambis said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Spurs went on to win the championship. At least, he said, it would make him feel better after the Spurs shot 60 percent from the field against his bedraggled defense in the series finale.

“It would be some solace if they went all the way,” Rambis said. “But they are playing some very good basketball. They execute the heck out of their offense. They’ve got some major guns on that team that really take care of business and play very well together. They put a major hurtin’ on you defensively.”

West said he thinks the Spurs have a fair shot to make the NBA Finals and win the title.

“I totally expect a team from the West to win,” he said. “If you watch the playoffs, I think there are a lot of teams from here (in the West) better than over there (in the East).”

Johnson said the Lakers have a lot of work to do in the off-season.

“It’s disgusting,” said Johnson, who helped win five titles in the 1980s. “Until we start playing smart, with passion and heart, and then (playing) for the sake of the team and of getting a win, this will always happen.”

By Jerry Briggs, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-24, By Glenn Rogers

杰克逊为马刺队贡献关键得分

杰伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson)在上周末卸下了肩上的重担，并将压力全部转移到了湖人队身上。

在周六和周日的下午，马刺队在论坛球馆横扫洛杉矶，杰克逊在这两场比赛中分别拿下22分和20分，为球队的胜利立下汗马功劳。

杰克逊已经在NBA征战了10个赛季，辗转多支球队，他一直在寻找稳定的投篮手感。

“他不再举那些重物了，”马利克·罗斯(Malik Rose)笑着看着杰克逊说道。“迈克（布伦加特，马刺队的体能教练）不会喜欢听到这话的，但他现在放松多了。”

马里奥·艾利(Mario Elie)开玩笑地表示同意。

“是啊，他不举重了，现在背也不疼了，”艾利说道。

杰克逊之前之所以把自己泡在体能训练室里，是因为他在季前训练营的表现没有达到理想的篮球状态。赛季初，他失去了首发位置，将机会让给了艾利，并一直在苦苦挣扎，但现在他被要求放手一搏。

“教练（格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)）告诉我，如果我放弃投篮，就会把我换下去，”杰克逊说道。“我想要上场，保持侵略性，获得投篮的机会。你知道，任何对这支球队的批评总是针对后场的。我希望我们能摆脱这一点。”

湖人队不会再把矛头指向那个方向。

周日，杰克逊让洛杉矶队措手不及。上半场，他狂砍11分，并命中3记三分球。第四节一开始，他就用一记远投帮助球队阻止了湖人队的反扑。在比赛的最后几分钟，他又一次命中关键球，帮助圣安东尼奥队取得了15分的领先优势。

“比赛用球归他了，”艾利说道。

过去，杰克逊也曾有过不确定自己是否还能上场的时刻，更不用说获得比赛用球的荣誉了。

“但是，不，我从未想过放弃努力。一次都没有，”他在谈到自己多年的辛酸历程时说道。“我一直认为这只是时间问题。有些球员认为自己可以成功，但最终却没有，这对他们打击很大。”

“他们会抱怨这个抱怨那个，这在精神上伤害了他们。但我很早就知道这是一个商业联盟，你无法控制外界的事情。教练做出这样的决定或那样的决定，你就会被淘汰。你不能因此而消沉。”

“你现在看到我在这里。我得到了机会，并且能够有所作为。”

杰克逊承认，机会有时候是随机的。

“我以前从未扮演过这样的角色，”他在谈到马刺队需要他的三分球时说道。“我一直梦想着这一点。这就是为什么那些被忽视的球员仍然在努力训练的原因。”

杰克逊一定很喜欢来洛杉矶。他上一次来这里的时候，在快船队头上砍下了21分。

这位新奥尔良人表示，马刺队的成功源于球员之间的相互信任。

“我效力过很多球队，我注意到一支球队是如何建立信任的，”他说道。“这里的球员之间真的很有默契，你能感受到他们的无私。即使是蒂姆（邓肯(Tim Duncan)）——我们希望他得分，带领我们前进——他也想分享球，看到其他人接球并投篮得分。”

信任将会持续下去。杰克逊只需要把这种投篮手感带到下一轮比赛中去。

点击查看原文：Jackson provides big shots for Spurs

Jackson provides big shots for Spurs

Jaren Jackson took a huge weight off his shoulders and then dropped it on the Lakers this past weekend.

Jackson put a lot of the straw in the brooms the Spurs used to sweep Los Angeles when he scored 22 and 20 points in Games 3 and 4, respectively, at the Forum Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Jackson, who has crisscrossed the country on various NBA teams for 10 seasons, had been searching for a consistent shot all season.

“He stopped lifting those weights,” said Malik Rose, laughing and looking over at Jackson. “Mike (Brungardt, the Spurs’ strength coach) isn’t going to like hearing that, but he’s more relaxed now.”

Mario Elie jokingly agreed.

“Yeah, he stopped lifting, and now his back isn’t so sore,” Elie said.

Jackson probably found himself deep in the conditioning laboratory because he appeared at preseason camp in less than ideal basketball condition. He lost his starting role to Elie early in the year and struggled, but now is being ordered to fire away.

“Coach (Gregg Popovich) told me he would yank me if I passed up shots,” Jackson said. “I wanted to get out there, be aggressive, just get some looks. You know, any criticism of this team always comes at the backcourt. I’m hoping we can get away from that.”

The Lakers won’t aim any criticism in that direction.

Jackson staggered Los Angeles on Sunday. He peppered them with 11 points and three threes in the first half. He helped stop a major Lakers rally with a long-distance bomb early in the fourth quarter. He hit another to give San Antonio a 15-point lead in the final minutes.

“He gets my game ball,” Elie said.

There were times in the past when Jackson wasn’t sure he’d ever get in another game, let alone be honored with the ball.

“But, no, I never considered giving up trying. Not once,” he said of his years of travail. "I just always thought it was a matter of time. It really hurt some guys, guys who thought they could make it but never did.

"They’d blame this and that, it hurt them mentally. But I learned long ago it was a business and that you can’t control outside things. A coach makes a decision this way or that and you’re out. You can’t let it get you down.

“You see me here now. I got a chance and I’ve been able to do something with it.”

Jackson acknowledged opportunities can be random at best.

“I’ve never been cast in this role before,” he said of the Spurs’ need for his three-pointers. “I’ve always dreamed of it. That’s why guys who are overlooked still work hard.”

Jackson must love coming to Los Angeles. The last visit here he put 21 points on the Clippers.

The native of New Orleans says the Spurs’ success is the result of the players’ trust in each other.

“I’ve been on a lot of teams and I’ve noticed how a team makes trust,” he said. “These guys in here really have it, you can sense the unselfishness. Even Tim (Duncan) - the guy we expect to score, to carry us - wants to share the ball, see others take and hit shots.”

The trust will stay. Jackson just has to carry that shot into the next round.

By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-24, By Arthur Garcia

关键对位

埃弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)对阵德里克·费舍尔(Derek Fisher)

埃弗里·约翰逊说，他在首轮对阵明尼苏达森林狼队的比赛中得分爆发，是因为他抓住了对手给他的机会——而他们给他的机会通常是一个无人防守的17英尺跳投。约翰逊在那个系列赛中场均得到19.5分和6.5次助攻。

在西部半决赛的前三场比赛中，湖人队齐心协力，不让约翰逊轻易出手。约翰逊没有强求，而是努力让队友参与进来，在马刺队取得的三场胜利中，他总共送出了25次助攻。在这三场胜利中，他场均得到8分。

在第四场比赛中，约翰逊早早就开始进攻，因为德里克·费舍尔在比赛开始时选择放空这位“小将军”去协防内线。约翰逊助攻蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)以一个近距离勾手得分，为比赛拉开序幕，随后又在费舍尔头上完成了一次突破上篮。

约翰逊在前3分半钟内就得到7分，其中包括他本赛季的第二个三分球。几秒钟后，约翰逊在中场附近从费舍尔手中断球，这位湖人队的控球后卫也因此吃到个人第二次犯规。

当费舍尔的替补泰伦·卢(Tyronn Lue)上场时，约翰逊也直接攻击了他，造成犯规并罚球命中，这是他在第一节得到的第10分。卢在12分钟的上场时间里得到8分，一度为湖人队带来了一些活力，但湖人队在半场结束时仍然落后14分。

约翰逊上半场得到12分和3次助攻，而费舍尔4投0中，只得到3分。

约翰逊在第三节得到5分，费舍尔仍然表现低迷，但卢在湖人队末节追分的过程中发挥了作用，他在比赛还剩1秒时命中一记跳投，将比分追至只差2分。

第四节一上来，约翰逊就连续送出助攻，帮助圣安东尼奥马刺队打出13-0的开局，一举拉开比分。约翰逊在本节送出6次助攻。

约翰逊在41分钟的上场时间里得到19分和10次助攻。费舍尔7投1中得到5分，而卢16投仅6中。

点击查看原文：Key matchup

Key matchup

Avery Johnson vs. Derek Fisher Avery Johnson said his first- round scoring outburst against Minnesota was a result of taking what the Timberwolves gave him - and what they gave him was usually an open 17-footer. Johnson hit them on his way to averaging 19.5 points and 6.5 assists in the series.

In the first three games of the Western Conference semifinals, the Lakers had made a concerted effort not to leave AJ alone. Johnson, not forcing the issue, worked to get his teammates involved, totaling 25 assists in three Spurs victories. He averaged eight points in those wins.

In Game 4, Johnson went on the attack early, as Derek Fisher started the game by backing off the Little General to help down low. Johnson set up Tim Duncan’s short hook to open the game and followed with a driving layup on Fisher.

Johnson had seven points in the first 31/2 minutes, including only his second three-pointer of the season. Seconds later, Johnson stole the ball from Fisher near midcourt and the Lakers point guard committed his second foul.

AJ also went right at Fisher’s backup, Tyronn Lue, when he entered, getting a foul call and hitting a free throw for his 10th first-period point. Lue initially gave Los Angeles a spark with eight points in his 12 minutes, but the Lakers still trailed by 14 at the half.

Johnson finished the first half with 12 points and three assists, while Fisher missed all four of his shot attempts, scoring only three.

Johnson scored five in the third and Fisher remained ineffective, but Lue was on the court for the Lakers’ late run and he hit a runner at the buzzer to pull Los Angeles within two.

Johnson opened the fourth with consecutive assists as San Antonio scored the first 13 points of the period to pull away. AJ had six assists in the quarter.

Johnson would finish the game with 19 points and 10 assists in 41 minutes. Fisher scored five points on 1-of-7 shooting and Lue missed 10 of 16 shots. - Arthur Garcia

By Arthur Garcia, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-24, By Arthur Garcia

球员登上演播室分析席

过去几周，在特纳体育对NBA季后赛的报道中，一批球员走进了演播室。加里·佩顿(Gary Payton)、埃迪·琼斯(Eddie Jones)、达雷尔·阿姆斯特朗(Darrell Armstrong)、查尔斯·奥克利(Charles Oakley)和特里·卡明斯(Terry Cummings)是众多坐在特纳体育的厄尼·约翰逊(Ernie Johnson)和肯尼·史密斯(Kenny Smith)身旁的嘉宾中的一部分。

找到这些球员的任务落在特纳体育的两个人身上——迈克尔·D·杰克逊(Michael D. Jackson)和埃里克·格雷厄姆(Erick Graham)。杰克逊，一位前球员，也是特纳体育总裁哈维·席勒(Harvey Schiller)的助手，以及格雷厄姆，一位研究员，他们在联盟中建立了广泛的联系，两人一起合作寻找合适的嘉宾。

“我们寻找的是拥有季后赛经验、能够洞悉比赛的人，”格雷厄姆说。“一支球队是依靠阵容搭配取胜，还是依靠无形的因素？”

格雷厄姆和杰克逊大约在常规赛结束前两周就开始制定他们的嘉宾愿望清单，预测哪些球队将无缘季后赛。在季后赛期间，他们的会议频率提升至每周一次，以邀请被淘汰球队的球员参加。

周二晚上的预定嘉宾是迈阿密的阿朗佐·莫宁(Alonzo Mourning)和明尼苏达的特雷尔·布兰登(Terrell Brandon)。两支球队都在首轮被淘汰。

“尽量邀请刚输掉系列赛的人，”杰克逊说。“他们可以表达出对手需要做些什么。”

他们首先寻找大牌明星，但有时像丹尼·沙耶斯(Danny Schayes)或卡明斯这样的角色球员也能提供独特的视角。

“我们希望邀请尽可能高知名度的球员，并为未来做准备，”杰克逊说。

杰克逊承认，这一切都有点像“试镜”。现任演播室分析师史密斯、比赛分析师道克·里弗斯(Doc Rivers)以及前比赛分析师丹尼·安吉(Danny Ainge)——现任菲尼克斯主教练——都是从特纳演播室嘉宾开始他们的职业生涯的。

像佩顿这样敢于直言不讳的球员很难找到。

“我们遇到过一些球员，他们不想说些让人生气的话，”约翰逊说，他是特纳体育NBA演播室主持人，已经担任了九年。“但下了节目之后，他们说的东西却好多了。”

约翰逊、史密斯和特纳体育的制片人会在节目开始前与嘉宾会面，共同确定主题和具体的环节，让球员进行分析。

尽管马刺队在本赛季似乎没有这个机会，但杰克逊的愿望清单上仍然有戴维·罗宾逊(David Robinson)、蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)、肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)、艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)和马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)。

这个国家确实需要更多艾弗里·约翰逊。

为什么选择付费观看？ 马刺队本可以在季后赛期间避免付费观看，但球队决定在常规赛没有付费观看后恢复付费观看。

尽管NBA与特纳体育的合同规定，所有马刺队的本土比赛必须在该网络上播出，并且在半径35英里的范围内进行屏蔽，但马刺队可以将比赛在其自己的电视部门播出。

马刺队的本土比赛可以在KSAT或KRRT播出，这两个频道都播出了常规赛比赛，即使有屏蔽规定。

只有三支球队——休斯敦、波特兰和圣安东尼奥——决定在季后赛中使用付费观看。

马刺队在常规赛期间高调宣布避免付费观看，这是他们在停摆后的一项球迷友好措施。情况发生了什么改变？

意识到这座城市对球队的热情正在高涨，马刺队官员可能认为大多数球迷已经消除了负面情绪，并愿意支付24.95美元观看比赛。

啊，强大的金钱力量。

点击查看原文：Studio analyst a hot seat for players

Studio analyst a hot seat for players

A parade a players has made its way into the studio during Turner Sports’ coverage of the NBA playoffs the last several weeks. Gary Payton, Eddie Jones, Darrell Armstrong, Charles Oakley and Terry Cummings are some of the many who have taken the desk alongside Turner’s Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith.

Getting those guys falls on the shoulders of two people at Turner - Michael D. Jackson and Erick Graham. Jackson, a former player and assistant to Turner Sports president Harvey Schiller, and Graham, a researcher, have developed numerous contacts throughout the league and the pair work together to secure talent.

“We’re looking for guys with playoff experience, guys with insight to break down what’s going on in a game,” Graham said. “Is a team winning because of matchups or because of intangibles?”

Graham and Jackson started to make their wish list of potential guests with about two weeks left in the regular season, anticipating which teams would miss the playoffs. During the postseason, their meetings moved up to every week to include players from teams eliminated.

Scheduled guests for Tuesday night are Miami’s Alonzo Mourning and Terrell Brandon of Minnesota. Both teams were knocked out in the first round.

“Try to get people who just lost a series,” Jackson said. “They can articulate what the other team has to do.”

They look to big names first, but sometimes a role player, like Danny Schayes or Cummings, offers a unique perspective.

“We want to get as high a profile player as possible and identify people for down the road,” Jackson said.

Jackson admits it all sort of works as an “audition.” Current studio analyst Smith, game analyst Doc Rivers and former game analyst Danny Ainge, now Phoenix’s coach, got their starts with Turner as studio guests.

Players who aren’t afraid to speak their mind, like Payton, can be hard to find.

“We’ve had players who didn’t want to say things to make people mad,” said Johnson, Turner’s NBA studio host for nine years. “But off the air they say things that are so much better.”

Johnson, Smith and Turner’s producers meet with the guests before the show to map out topics and specific segments for the player to break down.

Though the Spurs don’t seem an option this season, Jackson still has a wish list that includes David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Sean Elliott, Avery Johnson and Mario Elie.

The country does need a little more AJ.

Why pay-per-view?: The Spurs could have avoided pay-per-view during the playoffs, but the team decided to revert to it after a regular season without.

Though the NBA’s contract with Turner mandates all Spurs home games on that network be blacked out locally with 35 miles, the Spurs could have offered the games on their own TV arm.

Spurs home contests could be shown on KSAT or KRRT, two channels that carried regular season games, even with the blackout.

Only three teams - Houston, Portland and San Antonio - decided to use PPV in the playoffs.

The Spurs trumpeted their decision to avoid PPV during the regular season as a fan-friendly measure after the lockout. What changed?

Sensing the excitement brewing in the city for the team, Spurs officials probably figured the feelings of most fans were healed and they’d be willing to shell out the $24.95.

Ah, the mighty buck.

By Arthur Garcia, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-24, By Arthur Garcia

读它然后扫地 - 鲨鱼秀在五月收视率大战中被取消

五月收视率大战。

在电视界，这意味着一件事。对于沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal)来说，这意味着另一件事。

连续第二年，奥尼尔的湖人队在五月的季后赛中被对手横扫出局。周日，马刺队在大西部论坛球馆以118-107战胜了湖人队，这场比赛在17,505名愤怒的球迷面前进行，这标志着马刺队在西部半决赛中以4-0的比分横扫了湖人队。

“这非常尴尬，”奥尼尔说，他在决赛中得到全场最高的36分。“每次我被送回家都是被横扫。这非常尴尬。我讨厌说，‘好吧，我们努力了。’不，现在结束了。”

这场横扫标志着奥尼尔领衔的球队在六个季后赛赛季中第五次在最后一场季后赛中未能赢得一场比赛。奥尼尔作为奥兰多魔术队的一员被横扫过三次，包括在1995年的NBA总决赛中，现在在洛杉矶也经历了同样的命运。

直到周日的第四场比赛，奥尼尔才展现出他在第一轮对阵休斯顿时的强大实力。奥尼尔场均接近30分，10个篮板，带领洛杉矶以四场战胜火箭队。

在前三场对阵马刺队的比赛中，奥尼尔是洛杉矶的第三得分点，场均不到20分。虽然他在第四场比赛中终于找到了状态，但奥尼尔在第四节开始时就坐在板凳上，而马刺队则迅速得到6分，将领先优势扩大到8分。湖人队主教练科特·兰比斯(Kurt Rambis)很快就让奥尼尔重新上场，但为时已晚。

“马刺队打得很好，他们保持了冷静，投进了一些球，”奥尼尔谈到马刺队的开局，他们打出一波13-0的得分潮。“我们始终无法走出困境。”

奥尼尔对湖人管理层在休赛期可能采取的行动不置可否。

“那取决于杰里·韦斯特(Jerry West)和魔术师(Magic Johnson)以及那些人，”他说。“他们知道发生了什么，也知道我们需要什么，所以无论他们决定做什么，我们都可能不得不接受。”

湖人队是奥尼尔的球队，他肯定在任何变革中都有发言权，但他拒绝在比赛结束后透露自己的想法。当被问及是否希望看到兰比斯回归时，他说：“我不知道。”

当被问及他对兰比斯现状的看法时，他说：“没有。”

奥尼尔对一件事确实有自己的看法。人们对奥尼尔、科比·布莱恩特(Kobe Bryant)和格伦·莱斯(Glen Rice)的角色定位进行了很多讨论和报道。奥尼尔表示，这不是湖人队三巨头的责任。

“那取决于教练组让人们知道自己的角色，”他说。“这支球队中的每个人都知道自己的角色。管理层应该执行它。”

奥尼尔确实承认，许多变化，包括将埃迪·琼斯(Eddie Jones)和埃尔登·坎贝尔(Elden Campbell)交易到莱斯，丹尼斯·罗德曼(Dennis Rodman)的闹剧以及主教练德尔·哈里斯(Del Harris)在赛季初的解雇，都是非常有压力的。

湖人队还在赛季开始前将全明星控球后卫尼克·范·埃克塞尔(Nick Van Exel)交易出去，尽管他们在去年打进了西部决赛。犹他队以4-0的比分横扫了他们。

湖人队倒退了吗？

“我认为是的，”奥尼尔说。“随着所有变化的发生，我认为是的。”

湖人队在对阵马刺队的每一场比赛中，都出现了一些长时间的进攻无法执行的情况。

点击查看原文：Read it and Sweep - Shaq show canceled in May sweeps

Read it and Sweep - Shaq show canceled in May sweeps

May sweeps.

Out here in TV land that means one thing. To Shaquille O’Neal, it means something else.

For the second straight year, O’Neal’s Lakers were rudely swept right out of the playoffs in May. Sunday’s 118-107 Spurs romp before an angry 17,505 at the Great Western Forum finished off a 4-0 sweep for San Antonio in the Western Conference semifinals.

“It’s very embarrassing,” said O’Neal, who scored a series-high 36 in the finale. “Every time I’ve been sent home it’s a sweep. It’s very embarrassing. I hate saying, ‘Well, we played hard.’ No, now it’s over.”

The sweep marked the fifth time in six playoffs seasons that an O’Neal-led squad failed to win a game in its final playoff round. O’Neal was swept three times as a member of the Orlando Magic, including in the 1995 NBA Finals, and now twice in L.A.

Not until Sunday’s Game 4 did O’Neal emerge as the force he was in the first round against Houston. O’Neal averaged nearly 30 points and just over 10 rebounds in leading Los Angeles past the Rockets in four games.

In the first three games against the Spurs, O’Neal was Los Angeles’ third-leading scorer at just under 20 points per. Though he finally got going in Game 4, O’Neal was on the bench to start the fourth period and San Antonio scored six quick points to get the lead up to eight. Lakers coach Kurt Rambis quickly got O’Neal back in, but the damage had been done.

“The Spurs played well, they kept their composure, hit some shots,” said O’Neal of San Antonio’s opening run that stretched to 13 straight points. “We never could get out of the hole.”

O’Neal was non-committal on potential off-season moves by Lakers management.

“That’s up to Jerry West and Magic (Johnson) and those guys,” he said. “They know what’s going on and what we need, so whatever they decide to do we’ll probably have to deal with it.”

The Lakers are O’Neal’s team and surely he has a voice in any changes, but he refused to tip his hand after the game. Asked if he would like to see Rambis back, he said: “I don’t know.”

Asked if he had an opinion on Rambis’ status, he said: “Nope.”

O’Neal did have an opinion on one coaching matter. Much has been said and written on ironing out the roles for O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Glen Rice. O’Neal said that’s not the responsibility of the Lakers’ three stars.

“That’s up to the coaching staff to let people know their roles,” he said. “Everybody on this team knows their role. It’s up to management to enforce it.”

O’Neal did admit the many changes, which included trading Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell for Rice, the Dennis Rodman fiasco and coach Del Harris’ early season firing, were taxing.

The Lakers also traded away all-star point guard Nick Van Exel before the season, even though they reached the conference finals last year. Utah swept them in four.

Did the Lakers take a step back?

“I think so,” O’Neal said. “With the all the changes that went on, I think so.”

Each of the Lakers’ losses to San Antonio featured long stretches in which Los Angeles failed to execute.

By Arthur Garcia, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-25, By Johnny Ludden

马刺笔记

马刺现在暂时休息，脱掉鞋子。取决于犹他爵士和波特兰开拓者系列赛的进展，马刺可能会有很多时间休息。

在周一休息后，他们今天只安排了一次自愿的投篮训练。马刺将在周三恢复训练。

据报道，西部决赛最早也要到周六才会开始。

速度快：截至周一傍晚，马刺已经售出了超过28,000张西部决赛前两场主场比赛的门票。

第一场比赛还剩下大约9,000张上层座位票，第二场比赛还剩下11,500张上层座位票。

奖金：马刺进入西部决赛后，将获得NBA季后赛奖金池的另外213,750美元。

他们已经获得了进入分区半决赛的238,125美元。一旦NBA确定如何打破马刺和犹他争夺联盟最佳战绩的平局——他们不使用直接交锋战绩——马刺可能会再赚到450,000美元。

球员们投票决定如何分配这笔钱。设备经理和训练人员有时也会得到一部分。如果马刺最终赢得NBA总冠军，他们可以分享近220万美元。

妙语：马利克·罗斯觉得沙奎尔·奥尼尔抱怨马刺在西部半决赛中横扫洛杉矶时裁判的判罚很有趣。

奥尼尔认为马刺逃脱了太多没有被吹罚的犯规。

“我们应该是在联盟中最软弱的球队，”罗斯说道。“我们怎么可能犯规别人？”

点击查看原文：Spurs Notes

Spurs Notes

Spurs sit a spell, kick their shoes off Depending on the Utah-Portland series develops, the Spurs may have a lot of time to rest.

After taking Monday off, they only have a voluntary shootaround scheduled for today. The Spurs will resume practicing Wednesday.

The Western Conference finals reportedly are not scheduled to begin until Saturday at the earliest.

Going fast: The Spurs sold more the 28,000 tickets for the first two home games of the Western Conference finals by late Monday afternoon.

About 9,000 upper-level tickets remained for Game 1, and 11,500 upper-level tickets remained for Game 2.

Bonus money: By reaching the Western Conference finals, the Spurs will receive another $213,750 as part of the NBA’s playoff pool.

They have already earned $238,125 for reaching the conference semifinals. Once the NBA determines how to break the tie for the league’s best record - they don’t use a head-to- head matchup - between the Spurs and Utah, the Spurs could earn as much as $450,000 more.

The players vote to determine how to share the money. Equipment managers and the training staff sometimes receive a take. If the Spurs go on to win the NBA championship, they could share almost $2.2 million.

Touche: Malik Rose found it humorous that Shaquille O’Neal complained about the officiating in the Spurs’ Western Conference semifinal sweep of Los Angeles.

O’Neal believed the Spurs got away with too many uncalled fouls.

“We’re supposed to be the softest team in the league,” Rose said. “How could we mug somebody?” - Johnny Ludden

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-25, By Russell Gold

日出时为球票的争夺战开始

忠实的球迷们穿着各种服装：军装、护士服、短裤和凉鞋、熨烫过的白衬衫和领带。

他们来自摩天大楼和城镇。

他们正进行着一场现代朝圣之旅。

前往阿拉莫圆顶球馆，为 NBA 西部决赛的球票。

周一早上 6:37 分，太阳升起，照亮了数百名站在排队等票的马刺球迷。早上 9 点，安保人员说，人群高峰时达到了约 1000 人。

史蒂芬·巴雷拉 (Stephen Barrera) 和格雷斯·坎图 (Grace Cantu) 在日出后不久到达。三个小时后，他们拿着前两场比赛的球票离开了。

有什么遗憾吗？

“只是我们没有早点来，这样就能拿到更好的座位，”巴雷拉说。

他们对于 NBA 总决赛的计划是：“一旦西部决赛的终场哨声响起，我们就会去露营，”巴雷拉说，他是一名大学生，有充足的时间。

贝琳达·加西亚 (Belinda Garcia) 上午 7 点结束在基督圣罗莎儿童医院的护士值班，直接前往售票窗口。三个小时后，当太阳从圆顶上方升起，开始照射在她身上时，她仍然在排队，毫不畏惧。

“每个人都在谈论大球队——洛杉矶、纽约和芝加哥。圣安东尼奥能与那些球队和城市并肩作战，这将是一件好事，”她热切地说。“体育对于城市的声望至关重要。”

随着队伍慢慢向前移动，球迷们开始互相交谈。他们计划去比尔·米勒烤肉店喝冰茶。他们互相传递手机，让配偶知道他们为了买票花费了一个小时的旅程被延长了。延长到两个小时。或者三个小时。

人们互相交流着关于球队最近的英雄事迹。人们普遍认为，马刺队的锋线球员蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan) 非常出色。他们也表达了一些不满。

“我找不到马利克·罗斯 (Malik Rose) 的球衣出售，”里克·埃尔南德斯 (Rick Hernandez) 抱怨道，他几个月来一直在寻找一件 31 号球衣。

他认为缩短的赛季有利于马刺队。

“他们通常表现不错，然后在最后时刻掉链子，”埃尔南德斯说。“由于赛季较短，也许这就是他们表现如此好的原因。他们仍在巅峰状态。至少在理发店里是这样说的。”

埃尔南德斯是卡内斯县小城瀑布城的理发师。

马刺队副总裁兼销售总监乔·克拉克 (Joe Clark) 表示，截至下午，前两场主场比赛已售出超过 28,000 张球票。

下层和俱乐部级别的球票已经售罄，但顶层球票仍在出售。

他说，本轮第三轮系列赛的票价有所上涨。

5 美元的球票现在涨价至 8 美元；24 美元的球票涨价至 33 美元；53 美元的球票现在涨价至 63 美元。

马刺队在第一轮和第二轮中分别战胜了明尼苏达森林狼队和洛杉矶湖人队。他们将面对犹他爵士队和波特兰开拓者队七场系列赛的胜者。波特兰队以 3-1 领先。

伯纳黛特·卡斯蒂列哈 (Bernadette Castilleja) 是马刺队的铁杆粉丝。她脖子上戴着一个金色的吊坠，上面印着球队标志。但她没有料到自己会在周一早上排队。

她原本打算通过电话从她的会计公司秘书职位上申请球票。她的老板否决了她的计划。“他说，‘如果你能帮我弄到票，我就让你去，”她说。

于是她出发了。

就卡斯蒂列哈而言，这不仅仅是一场篮球季后赛。这关系到更大的问题。

“球队将赢得尊重，”卡斯蒂列哈说，她梦想着球队夺冠。“这座城市将获得认可，马刺队将获得他们想要的球馆。我认为在此时此刻，没有人会反对他们。”

点击查看原文：Scramble begins at sunrise for tickets to next round

Scramble begins at sunrise for tickets to next round

The faithful came in full fatigues and nurse’s scrubs, in shorts and sandals and in pressed white shirts and ties.

They came from skyscrapers and small towns.

They were on a modern-day pilgrimage.

To the Alamodome. For tickets to the NBA Western Conference Finals.

The sun rose Monday at 6:37 a.m. and lit up several hundred Spurs fans standing in line for tickets. By 9 a.m., security guards said, the crowd peaked at about 1,000 people.

Stephen Barrera and Grace Cantu arrived shortly after sunrise. They left, with tickets to the first two games, three hours later.

Any regrets?

“Just that we didn’t get here earlier so we would get better seats,” Barrera said.

Their plan for the National Basketball Association championship: “As soon as the buzzer ends the conference finals, we are going to camp out,” said Barrera, a college student with time to burn.

Belinda Garcia ended her shift as a nurse at Christus Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital at 7 a.m. and headed straight for the ticket windows. She still was in line - undaunted - as the sun rose over the dome and began beating down on her three hours later.

“Everybody is always talking about the big teams - Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. It would be good for San Antonio to be up there with those other teams and cities,” she said fervently. “Sports is big when it comes to how cities are looked at.”

As the lines inched forward, fans bonded. Trips to Bill Miller Bar-B- Q for iced tea were planned. Cell phones were passed around to let the spouse know that the hourlong trip to get tickets had been extended. To two hours. Or three.

Folks traded stories about recent team heroics. Spurs forward Tim Duncan, it generally was agreed, is brilliant. They also aired gripes.

“I can’t find a Malik Rose jersey for sale,” complained Rick Hernandez, who has been hunting a No. 31 for months.

He theorized the strike-shortened season had helped the Spurs.

“They’re usually pretty good, then they choke at the end,” Hernandez said. “With the short season, maybe that’s why they are doing so well. They are still peaking. At least that’s what they say in the barbershop.”

Hernandez is the barber in Falls City, a small town in Karnes County.

More than 28,000 tickets had been sold by the afternoon for the first two home games of the conference finals, Spurs Vice President for Sales Joe Clark said.

The lower and club-level tickets were gone, but the top tier still was on sale.

Prices increased for this third- round series, he said.

Tickets that went for $5 now are $8; $24 tickets are up to $33; and $53 tickets now cost $63.

The Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers in the first two rounds. They will face the winner of the seven-game Utah Jazz-Portland Trailblazers series. Portland leads 3-1.

Bernadette Castilleja is a big- time Spurs fan. She wears a golden pendant around her neck with the team logo on it. But she didn’t expect to be in the line Monday morning.

She was going to try to get through by phone from her job as a secretary for an accounting firm. Her boss shot down her plans. “He said, ‘I’ll let you go if you get me tickets, too,’” she said.

Off she went.

As far as Castilleja was concerned, this was more than a basketball playoff. There was something bigger at stake.

“The team would gain the respect,” said Castilleja, daydreaming of a championship. “The city would get recognition and the Spurs would get the arena they want. I don’t think anyone would tell them no at this point.”

By Russell Gold, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-25, By Johnny Ludden

死敌变榜样：马刺效仿爵士

周日晚上，洛杉矶湖人队副总裁杰里·韦斯特(Jerry West)被一群电视摄像机和麦克风包围，他平静地回答了一个接一个关于沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal)的未来、库特·兰比斯(Kurt Rambis)的未来、格伦·莱斯(Glen Rice)的未来、球队未来的以及他个人未来的问题。

但当有人问他如何看待马刺队以4-0横扫湖人队时，韦斯特却将目光投向了过往。

“去年，”韦斯特说，“我们和爵士队打的时候，感觉很像去年。”

韦斯特实际上想说的是，连续两个赛季，洛杉矶队都在实力不如但更具纪律性的球队手中溃败。这也许是马刺队收到的最大赞誉。

马刺队显然还没有达到爵士队的水平。爵士队凭借其扎实的战术体系，连续两年打进NBA总决赛，而马刺队则等待着爵士队或开拓者队，准备在西部决赛中与他们决战。

但与此同时，马刺队并不介意以他们曾经的对手为榜样。

“我觉得我们正在学习爵士队的战术，”马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)说，“我们从那些家伙那里学到了很多，比如精神韧性，坚持战术，不超出自己的能力范围。”

就像过去的爵士队一样，马刺队在季后赛中表现得游刃有余。该赢的比赛他们都赢了，不该赢的比赛他们也赢了。

作为马刺队的总经理，格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)组建了一支能够与爵士队抗衡的阵容。作为教练，他灌输了防守优先的理念，现在这一理念正帮助他们战胜爵士队。

突然之间，马刺队被形容为聪明，甚至强硬。这些都是用来形容爵士队的词语。

当爵士队发挥最佳水平时，马刺队可能无法比拟他们的进攻效率。当马刺队发挥最佳水平时，爵士队可能无法比拟他们的防守强度。

但两支球队都拥有共同的特点——所有优秀的球队都拥有的特点，也是大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)所说过去马刺队所缺乏的特点——那就是彼此之间的互助精神。

“建立起来的信任关系非常重要，”罗宾逊说，“想要建立这种信任关系，需要一次又一次地赢得关键比赛，创造奇迹，有人挺身而出。然后你开始相信，每当上场时，你都能赢得比赛。

“这就是我们这支球队的感受。即使我们客场作战，我们也觉得每场比赛都能赢。这是一种很棒的感觉。

“在比赛的最后时刻，我们一次又一次地证明了这一点。”

在比赛的最后时刻，他们确实做到了。马刺队在最近的12场比赛中赢了11场。在这11场比赛中，他们在落后于第四节的情况下反败为胜，其中7场都做到了。这还不包括4月16日对开拓者队的比赛，他们在最后5秒落后，以及两天后对火箭队的比赛，他们在比赛中落后了23分。

“赛季开始的时候，如果我们输掉了一场势均力敌的比赛，我们会有点慌，互相争吵，”埃利说。“但现在我们作为一个整体在战斗。

“当湖人队发起进攻时，我们非常冷静。每个人都保持着同样的表情。我们只是坐在板凳上，波波维奇安排了几套战术。然后我们上场打了一波（13）-0的进攻。”

波波维奇说：“我们的执行力远远不及爵士队，但我们相信我们的防守，我们相信我们能够阻止对手得分……我认为这是我们能够坚持下去的原因，因为我们的进攻并不出色。”

就像波波维奇所说，马刺队远非完美。他们的进攻在某些时候仍然会陷入混乱，而且他们很少能在比赛结束前将对手彻底击垮。但最近，他们在比赛的最后时刻表现出色。

他们艰苦地赢下了对森林狼队的系列赛，将对方淘汰出局。然后，当湖人队自乱阵脚的时候，马刺队利用蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)在最后时刻的钩射球赢下了第二场比赛。他们打进了第三场比赛最后13分的得分。

然后是第四场比赛。替补控球后卫泰伦·卢(Tyronn Lue)在第三节比赛结束前将马刺队领先的15分缩小到2分。

“他们很兴奋，”埃利说。“但我们队没有兴奋，我们只是执行战术。”

点击查看原文：Rivals now role models: Spurs acting like Utah

Rivals now role models: Spurs acting like Utah

Pinned in a drab corner of the Great Western Forum on Sunday evening by a brigade of television cameras and microphones, Los Angeles Lakers vice president Jerry West calmly answered question after question about the future of Shaquille O’Neal, the future of Kurt Rambis, the future of Glen Rice, the future of the franchise and, of course, his own future.

But when someone wanted to know what he thought of the Spurs’ four-game sweep of the Lakers, West instead looked to the past.

“Last year,” West said. “It looked a lot like last year when we played Utah.”

What West, in effect, said was, for the second straight season, Los Angeles unraveled at the hands of a lesser-talented but more-disciplined team. And that might be as big a compliment as the Spurs have received.

The Spurs obviously aren’t the Jazz yet. Utah rode its fundamentally sound system to the last two NBA Finals while San Antonio, awaiting either the Jazz or Portland for their date in the Western Conference finals, remains one step away.

In the meantime, however, the Spurs don’t mind using their bitter rivals as role models.

“I feel we’re taking a page out of the book of Utah,” Mario Elie said. “We’re learning from those guys. Mental toughness. Sticking to your game plan. Not getting out of your element.”

Like the Jazz of the past, the Spurs have looked right at home in the playoffs. They win when they should. They win when they shouldn’t.

As the Spurs’ general manager, Gregg Popovich put together a roster to contend with Utah. As coach, he preached the defense-first mentality now being counted on to carry them past the Jazz.

Suddenly the Spurs are being described as smart. Even physical. The same words used to describe Utah.

When the Jazz are at their best, the Spurs probably can’t match their efficiency on offense. When the Spurs are at their best, the Jazz probably can’t match the stiffness of their defense.

But what the two share - what all good teams share and what David Robinson said Spurs teams in the past lacked - is the willingness to help each other.

“The trust level that’s been built is big,” Robinson said. "The only way you can build that is time after time winning close games. Making things happen. Somebody stepping up. Then you start believing that every time you go on the floor you can win a game.

"That’s just the feeling we have with this group. Even when we go on the road, we feel we can win every game. That’s a great feeling.

“Down the stretch, we proved it to ourselves again and again.”

Down the stretch, they did. The Spurs have won 11 of their last 12 games. In seven of those 11, they rallied after trailing in the fourth quarter. And that doesn’t include the April 16 win over Portland when they trailed in the final five seconds or the win over Houston two days later when they trailed by 23 points.

“At beginning of the season when we would give up a close lead, we would get sort of rattled and argue with each other,” Elie said. "But we’re playing as a unit now.

“When the Lakers made their run, we were so cool. Everybody kept their same expression. We just sat on the bench and Pop ran a couple of plays. Then we went out there and went on a (13)-0 run.”

Said Popovich: “We don’t execute any way close to the way Utah executes. But we do believe in our defense. We do believe we can make stops. … And I think that’s what sustains us, because we’re not that great offensively.”

Like Popovich said, the Spurs are hardly flawless. Their offense still gets muddled during stretches and they rarely put a team away until the final minutes. But, of late, it’s the final minutes when they have been at their best.

They grinded out the close-out win over Minnesota. Then, while the Lakers bungled about, the Spurs used Tim Duncan’s hook shot in the final seconds to win Game 2. They scored the final 13 points of Game 3.

Then came Game 4. With a backup backup point guard named Tyronn Lue cutting a 15-point Spurs’ lead to two at the third-quarter buzzer.

“They got pumped,” Elie said. “But our team doesn’t get excited. We just execute.”

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-26, By Jerry Briggs

杰克逊的投篮点燃了马刺

如果你是一名马刺球迷，并且决定谈论上个春季季后赛被犹他爵士淘汰的话，讨论将立即转向盐湖城体育馆的第1场比赛或第2场比赛。

马刺队可能——甚至应该——在盐湖城赢下一场或两场。

蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)，当时是NBA年度最佳新秀，在终场哨响前15英尺处投篮偏出，导致爵士以83-82的比分险胜首场比赛。

邓肯在第二场比赛结束时从双人包夹中摆脱，将球传给了贾伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson)准备投出潜在的制胜球。但杰克逊的三分球出手偏出，比赛进入加时赛，爵士最终以109-106战胜马刺。

爵士队最终在五场比赛中赢得了这个七场四胜制的系列赛。

当时，球迷们认为邓肯将在他的职业生涯中为马刺赢得更多季后赛比赛——事实也确实如此。这位7英尺的大前锋在最近以4-0的比分横扫西部半决赛中对阵洛杉矶湖人队的四场比赛中狂砍116分。

但球迷们有理由怀疑杰克逊，这位30多岁的、以连贯的投篮而闻名的流浪球员。他还能在马刺队的季后赛比赛中再次获得关键时刻的出场时间吗？

杰克逊对阵湖人队时做出了肯定的回应，在该系列赛的最后两场比赛中替补出场并贡献了42分。

他在第三场比赛和第四场比赛中合计27投16中，帮助马刺队自1995年以来首次晋级西部决赛。

“我只是想确保我尽了我的职责，”杰克逊说。“我在第二场比赛中表现挣扎。我只想确保回来并达到预期水平。只是我恰好比预期发挥得更好。”

杰克逊在周六的103-91胜利中创下了季后赛生涯最高的22分。他在周日的118-107比赛中再次贡献了20分，帮助马刺队最终击败了湖人队。

“我只是让自己的比赛自然发生，”他说。“我的投篮更加果断，即使是在一些快攻中也是如此。”

如果杰克逊能够继续投进三分球——他在最近两场在论坛球馆的比赛中17投8中——马刺队在下轮比赛中将会更加难以战胜。

马刺队将面对波特兰开拓者队或爵士队。波特兰队在周二晚上进入另一场西部半决赛时以3-1领先于犹他队。

“贾伦的任务就是投篮，”马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)说。“如果他不投篮，我就把他换下来。这是他最擅长的。如果他空位，我希望他出手，因为这是他最擅长的，投进三分球。

“如果他们要对蒂姆进行重点防守(包夹)，(杰克逊)必须做好准备并做好空位投篮的准备。他(对阵湖人队)做到了，并且充满自信地做到了。”

看着杰克逊用远程投篮轰炸湖人队，湖人队有理由感到震惊。这位球员曾在前八年的职业生涯中效力过八支球队，职业生涯三分球命中率为39%，曾在维奇塔福尔斯和拉克罗斯等CBA球队效力过。

杰克逊在本赛季初期是首发球员，但在本赛季中期被降到替补席上。尽管他的出场时间在季后赛临近时有所增加，但他并没有以最佳状态进入季后赛，在周六之前的前八场比赛中只投进了47球中的13球。

那么，他觉得自己已经准备好爆发并创下职业生涯新高了吗？好吧，并没有。对于杰克逊来说，他只是很高兴摆脱背部疼痛，这种疼痛一直让他感到不舒服。

“从身体方面来说，我感觉很好，”他说。“我开玩笑地跟队友们说，我在第二场比赛中的感觉。我感觉进入比赛时有点僵硬。…我的背部在第二场比赛中有点不舒服，但当我来到洛杉矶后，我能够得到一些休息。我感觉身体状况好多了，我从那时起就放开了。”

去年夏天，杰克逊并没有花时间去想他对阵爵士队时投出的那个24英尺的球，那个球本来可能改变马刺队季后赛历史的轨迹。

“说实话，没有，”他说。“在洛杉矶有人提到了这件事。(但我)真的放下了上赛季。如果我仍然执着于上赛季，我会变得情绪崩溃。”

杰克逊在轰炸湖人队时也没有想起对阵爵士队的比赛。

“那是过去，”他说。“我对此无能为力。我甚至没有想过。我让去年成为过去。”

——马刺队新闻：周二，包括首发控球后卫埃弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)在内的9名球员参加了可选训练。其他球员包括贾伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson)、威尔·珀杜(Will Perdue)、杰罗姆·克西(Jerome Kersey)、史蒂夫·科尔(Steve Kerr)、马利克·罗斯(Malik Rose)、杰拉德·金(Gerard King)、安德鲁·盖斯(Andrew Gaze)和布兰登·威廉姆斯(Brandon Williams)。

马刺队将于今天恢复全速训练。

罗斯说，“暴徒”——他的替补球员绰号——需要明智地利用系列赛之间的休假时间。

点击查看原文：Jackson's shooting sparking the Spurs

Jackson’s shooting sparking the Spurs

If you’re a Spurs fan and decide to talk about last spring’s playoff elimination against the Utah Jazz, the discussion immediately turns to either Game 1 or Game 2 at the Delta Center.

The Spurs could - and possibly should - have won one or both of the games at Salt Lake City.

Tim Duncan, then an NBA Rookie of the Year, misfired from 15 feet at the buzzer as the

Online: expressnews.com/spurs Jazz escaped in the opener 83-82.

Duncan, falling away from double coverage at the end of Game 2, passed to Jaren Jackson for a potential game-winning jumper. But Jackson misfired on a three-pointer, sending it to overtime, where the Jazz outlasted the Spurs 109-106.

The Jazz went on to win the best- of-seven series in five games.

At the time, fans figured that Duncan would go on to win several more playoff games for the Spurs during his career - and he has. The 7-foot power forward torched the Los Angeles Lakers for 116 points in a recent four-game sweep of the Western Conference semifinals.

But fans had a right to wonder about Jackson, a 30-something, streak-shooting journeyman guard. Would he ever get another crack at crunch-time minutes in a playoff game for the Spurs?

Jackson answered that question in the affirmative against the Lakers, scoring 42 points off the bench in the final two games of the series.

He turned out the lights on the pro basketball-era at the Great Western Forum with a combined 16-of-27 shooting in Games 3 and 4, helping boost the Spurs to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1995.

“I just wanted to make sure I did my share,” Jackson said. “I struggled in the second game (of the series). I just wanted to make sure to come back and perform up to par. It just so happened I did a little more than I expected.”

Jackson scored a playoff career- high 22 points in a 103-91 victory Saturday. He added 20 when the Spurs polished off the Lakers 118- 107 Sunday.

“I just let my game come to me,” he said. “I was a little more aggressive on my shot, even during some of the fast breaks.”

If Jackson can continue hitting the trey - he made 8 of 17 in the last two games at the Forum - the Spurs could be especially tough to beat in the next round.

The Spurs will play either the Portland Trail Blazers or the Jazz. Portland led Utah 3-1 in the other conference semifinal going into Tuesday night.

“Jaren’s job is to shoot,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "If he doesn’t shoot it, I’m going to sit him. It’s the best thing he does. If he’s open, I want him to let it fly because that’s the best thing he does, knock down that three.

“If they’re going to go at Tim hard (on double-teams), (Jackson) has got to be prepared and spaced to shoot. He did it (against the Lakers), and did it with confidence.”

The Lakers had a right to feel shell-shocked watching Jackson burn them with the long bombs. This was the same player who had played for eight teams in his first eight years in the league, a career 39-percent shooter who had seen CBA outposts such as Wichita Falls and La Crosse, Wis.

Jackson, a starter earlier in the season, was buried on the bench in midseason this year. And even though his minutes increased as the playoffs approached, he didn’t exactly come into the postseason on a roll, having hit 13 of 47 shots in his previous eight games leading into Saturday.

So, did he feel like he was prepared to break out with a career high? Well, no. For Jackson, he was just happy to shake the back pain that had been causing him some discomfort.

“I felt real good, as far as my body,” he said. “I was teasing the guys, as far as how I felt in Game 2. I felt kind of stiff coming into the game. … My back was bothering me in Game 2, but I was able to get some rest when I got out to L.A. I felt much better physically, and I just let it go from there.”

Last summer, Jackson didn’t spend any time thinking about his miss on that 24-footer against the Jazz that might have altered the course of Spurs’ playoff history.

“To be honest with you, no,” he said. “Someone else brought it up in L.A. (But) I really let last season go. If I got caught up into last season, I’d be an emotional wreck.”

And Jackson also didn’t think back to the Jazz series when he was torching the Lakers.

“That’s old,” he said. “I can’t do anything about it. I wasn’t even thinking about that. I let last year be last year.”

- Spurs notes: Nine players took the floor in an optional practice Tuesday, including starting point guard Avery Johnson. Others were Jaren Jackson, Will Perdue, Jerome Kersey, Steve Kerr, Malik Rose, Gerard King, Andrew Gaze and Brandon Williams.

The Spurs will resume full-speed practice today.

Rose said the “Bum Rushers,” his nickname for the bench players, need to spend their off time between series wisely.

By Jerry Briggs, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-27, By Arthur Garcia

马刺队备战笔记

马刺队在周日战胜洛杉矶湖人队后结束了系列赛，并于周三早上在圣安东尼奥大学(University of the Incarnate Word)恢复了训练。

“你会开始觉得赛季结束了，”马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)说。“你休息两天，然后就坐立不安。让大家回到球场上的感觉真好。最重要的是进行了一次高强度的训练，没有出现伤病。”

球队训练了近两个小时。

“我们很久没有进行过这样的训练了，”大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)说。“能够在这里训练，互相拼杀的感觉很好。”

马刺队最早也要等到周六才能比赛，前提是波特兰队今晚战胜犹他队。如果这个系列赛打到周六的第七场，西部决赛将于周一开打。前两场比赛将在阿拉莫竞技场(Alamodome)进行。

“我们不想无所事事，变得迟钝，”肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)说。“我们可以无所事事，进行轻松的训练，但到了比赛时间我们就没有准备好了。”

• 爵士队和开拓者队之争：目前，马刺队只能观望犹他队和波特兰队的争斗。

当被问及是否观看了周二晚上的爵士队比赛时，马刺队后卫艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)打趣道：“没有，我看了两小时的《巴尼》(Barney)。当然，我看了比赛。

“这两支球队都很强硬。他们都有自己的优缺点。而现在到了这个阶段，这两支球队都很强硬，所有人都能赢得总冠军 - 剩下的四支球队。”

不出所料，没有人会说他们更愿意和哪支球队比赛。

“没有偏好，”波波维奇说。“也无法控制。我们只会做好准备，确保我们能正确地完成我们的工作。

“当我们知道对手是谁时，我们就可以针对那支球队进行针对性的训练。”

• 秘密会议：马刺队在训练期间用遮蔽物遮住了圣安东尼奥大学麦克德莫特中心(McDermott Center)大厅的窗户。虽然整个赛季的训练都对公众封闭，但周三是第一次用锡箔纸和报纸遮住窗户。

点击查看原文：Spurs Notes

Spurs Notes

Spurs trying to stay sharp during layoff Off since Sunday’s series-clinching win against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Spurs returned to practice Wednesday morning at the University of the Incarnate Word.

“You start to feel like the season’s over,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “You take two days off, you sit there and you just get really antsy. It was great to get everybody back on the court. The best thing was to have a hard practice and not get anybody hurt.”

The team practiced for nearly two hours.

“We haven’t had a practice like this in a long time,” David Robinson said. “It was nice to get in here and work and beat up on each other a little bit.”

The Spurs won’t play again until Saturday at the earliest, should Portland beat Utah tonight. If that series goes to a seventh game Saturday, the Western Conference finals will begin Monday. The first two games will be in the Alamodome.

“We don’t want to sit around and get stagnant,” Sean Elliott said. “We could sit around and have easy practices and come game time we won’t be prepared.”

- Jazz-Blazers watching: For now, all the Spurs can do is watch Utah and Portland slug it out.

When asked if he caught Tuesday night’s Jazz win, Spurs guard Avery Johnson quipped: "No, I was watching ‘Barney’ for two hours. Yeah, I watched the game.

“Both of those teams are very tough. Both of them have their strengths and weaknesses. And right now when you get to this point, both teams are tough and everybody is capable of winning a championship - the four teams that are going to be left.”

As expected, no one would say which team they’d rather play.

“Don’t have any preference,” Popovich said. "Don’t have any control over it. We’ll just prepare as well as we can to make sure we’re doing our things correctly.

“When we find out who we’re going to play, we can prepare on the court for that team.”

- Secret proceedings: The Spurs covered the windows in the lobby of UIW’s McDermott Center during practice. Though practices have been closed all season, Wednesday marked the first time the windows - draped in foil and newspaper - were blocked. - Arthur Garcia

By Arthur Garcia, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-27, By Arthur Garcia

马刺这次感觉准备好了 - 上次西决之旅并不美好

慢热开局，快速收尾。中西部赛区冠军。NBA 最佳战绩，季后赛一路领跑。MVP 候选人。大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)，肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott) 和艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson) 作为关键球员。

这是对 1994-95 赛季的快速回顾 - 马刺队史上唯一一次打进西部决赛。那一春，圣安东尼奥掀起了马刺热，打进 NBA 总决赛似乎只是时间问题。

快进到 1999 年，与那一年至少表面上有一些相似之处。

圣安东尼奥在 94-95 赛季常规赛取得了 62胜20负，而这次缩水赛季取得了 37胜13负，两支球队都是联盟最佳。今年的球队开局 6胜8负，之后才迎来爆发，而上支球队开局 7胜9负。四年前罗宾逊获得了 MVP，而蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan) 有机会冲击今年的 MVP。

但很多事情都变了。九名球员，主教练和很多天真无邪的球员都不在了。

“上次我们只是庆祝我们走到这一步，”埃利奥特说，他是 94-95 赛季马刺队仅有的三位幸存者之一。“我们真的不知道会发生什么。我们真的以为我们会赢。我们并没有为西部决赛带来的所有喧嚣做好准备。”

喧嚣——还有休斯敦火箭队——让马刺队难以克服。圣安东尼奥队首次在季后赛中连续两轮获胜，但他们以 2-4 的比分输给了休斯敦。

火箭队随后在总决赛中横扫奥兰多魔术队，获得了他们的第二个 NBA 冠军。

马刺队开始反思哪里出了问题。尽管他们取得了队史最佳战绩，但还是存在一些问题——其中大部分都集中在一个色彩斑斓、纹身满身的大前锋身上。

丹尼斯·罗德曼(Dennis Rodman)——鲍勃·希尔(Bob Hill)——格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich) 的组合在季后赛期间达到了崩溃边缘——罗德曼在第二轮对阵洛杉矶湖人队的一场比赛中被罚坐冷板凳——而其他球员也为此付出了代价。

马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)，这两支休斯敦冠军队的成员，表示火箭队利用了“大虫”在第一场比赛结束时拒绝防守的弱点。

“我记得丹尼斯·罗德曼没有站在球队的战术讨论区里，也没有执行自己的任务，”埃利说，他是在赛季前被圣安东尼奥队签下的自由球员。“他在篮下，罗伯特·霍里(Robert Horry) 说，‘嘿，我太开阔了，我要再运球一下。’然后他就投进了。这有点为整场比赛定下了基调。”

火箭队以 94-93 的比分赢得了第一场比赛，并在回到休斯敦后取得了 2-0 的领先优势。圣安东尼奥队在客场赢了两场，但火箭队在阿拉莫穹顶队取得了一场大胜，并在休斯敦队赢了一场接近的比赛。

“尽管他们卷土重来，战胜了我们两次，但我认为他们在回到主场后变得过于自满，”埃利说。“我们回来了，并在阿拉莫穹顶痛击了他们。”

埃利奥特不希望今年的西部决赛在对阵波特兰或犹他时重演休斯敦系列赛的剧情。这支马刺队希望走到这一步——并且他们正计划继续前进。

“这次我们准备得更充分了，”埃利奥特说。“我们战胜湖人队后并没有过分庆祝。我们只是知道我们应该挺过这一轮。”

而且，丹尼斯·罗德曼不在了。这使得工作环境变得好了一些。

“毫无疑问，我们现在更加团结，”埃利奥特说。“我们都站在同一个阵线上，没有隐藏的议程。丹尼斯有自己的计划。他擅长为自己争取广告、电影或他想要做的任何事情的机会。其他球员都没有这样做。”

埃利奥特认为这支球队有一个明确的目标，而不断逼近的机遇之窗让他的许多队友感到压力。

“现在球队里有许多老将；他们知道我们可能没有第二次机会了，”他说。“西部会有很多强队出现，能走到这一步很难。

“这可能是我们最后的机会，我们不会因为太过兴奋而毁掉它。想要击败我们，必须有人比我们表现得更好。”

点击查看原文：Spurs feel ready this time around - Last trip to Western finals not a good one

Spurs feel ready this time around - Last trip to Western finals not a good one

Slow start. Fast finish. Midwest Division champs. Best record in the NBA and top seed throughout the playoffs. MVP candidate. David Robinson, Sean Elliott and Avery Johnson as key players.

That’s a quick recap of the 1994- 95 season - the Spurs’ only other team to reach the Western Conference finals. San Antonio caught Spurs fever that spring and a trip to the NBA Finals seemed only a formality.

Fast forward to 1999 and similarities to that year - at least on the surface - are there.

San Antonio went 62-20 during the '94-95 regular season and 37-13 this lockout-shortened campaign - both NBA bests. This year’s team started the now-celebrated 6- 8, the previous team 7-9. Robinson claimed the MVP four years ago, Tim Duncan has a shot at this year’s.

But a lot has changed. Gone are nine players, the coach and a lot of naivete.

“Last time we were celebrating that we got that far,” said Elliott, one of only three holdovers from the '94-95 Spurs team. “We really didn’t know what to expect. We really thought we were going to win it. We weren’t really prepared for all the hoopla involved with the Western Conference finals.”

The hoopla - and the Houston Rockets - were too much for the Spurs to overcome. San Antonio, which had won two playoff rounds for the first time in franchise history, lost the series to Houston 4-2.

The Rockets went on to win their second straight NBA title, sweeping the Orlando Magic in the finals.

The Spurs were left to ponder what went wrong. Despite posting a franchise-best record, there were problems - and most centered on a multicolored, tattooed power forward.

The Dennis Rodman-Bob Hill- Gregg Popovich marriage reached the breaking point during the playoffs - Rodman was benched for a game against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round - and the rest of the team suffered for it.

Mario Elie, a member of both Houston championship teams, said the Rockets took advantage of the Worm’s refusal to play defense at the end of Game 1.

“I remember Dennis Rodman not being in the huddle and missing his assignment,” said Elie, a free-agent signing by San Antonio before the season. “He’s under the basket and Robert Horry said, ‘Hey, I’m so wide open I’m going to take another dribble.’ Then he hit it. That sort of set the tone for the series.”

The Rockets won the first game 94-93 and took a 2-0 lead back to Houston. San Antonio did win two on the road, but the Rockets closed it out with a rout in the Alamodome and a close win in Houston.

“Even though they came back and beat us twice, I thought they just got a little too comfortable when they came back home,” Elie said. “And we came back and spanked them again in the Alamodome.”

Elliott doesn’t expect a repeat performance of that Houston series against either Portland or Utah in this year’s Western finals. This Spurs team expects to be this far - and it’s planning to move on.

“This time around we’re just more prepared,” Elliott said. “We didn’t celebrate a whole lot after we got past the Lakers. We just know we should advance past this round.”

And there’s no Dennis. Makes for a little better working environment.

“Absolutely we’re more together, no question about it,” Elliott said. “We’re all on the same page, there’s no hidden agendas. Dennis had his own thing going on. He was good at setting himself up for commercials, movies or whatever he wanted to do. None of the other guys were trying to do that.”

Elliott sees a definite purpose for this group and the ever-closing window of opportunity is on the minds of many of his teammates.

“Right now there’s a lot of veterans on this team; guys that know we may not get another chance,” he said. "There’s going to be some good teams coming up in the West and it’s hard to get this far.

“This could be our last chance and we’re not going to blow it getting too caught up in hype. Somebody is going to have to really outplay us to beat us.”

- For more on the NBA playoffs from the Express-News, New York Times, Salt Lake Tribune, Portland Oregonian and Indianapolis Star-News, go to hoopsnews.com.

By Arthur Garcia, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-27, By From Wire Reports

1999 季后赛报道笔记

帕金斯已燃尽：老将还有一个目标

山姆·帕金斯(Sam Perkins)，印第安纳步行者队中最老的球员，在 NBA 历史上仅次于两位球员，在没有获得总冠军的情况下，参加了最多的季后赛比赛。

如果步行者队击败纽约尼克斯队获得东部联盟冠军，他将距离他的最终目标只有一轮系列赛。同时，距离退役也只有四场胜利。

“我现在已经燃尽了，只剩下最后一口气了，”这位 15 年的老将周三训练结束后承认。“如果我们赢了，我再也不会回到这里了。为了什么？”

步行者队与尼克斯队的七场系列赛将于周日开始，比赛地点是印第安纳波利斯的市场广场竞技场。

“我尽我所能，为了赢得这个戒指，我已经失败了几次，所以（退役）是有道理的，”帕金斯说，他将在下个月满 38 岁。“我不会为了钱留下来。钱很好，别误会，但如果我们赢了，我会退役。”

帕金斯曾四次与达拉斯、湖人队和西雅图队一起进入西部联盟决赛。1996 年，超音速队在总决赛中输给了芝加哥公牛队，帕金斯在上赛季结束后以自由球员身份离开了西雅图，并与步行者队签署了一份为期两年的合同。

“我们签下山姆帮助我们赢得了一些常规赛，但我们签他主要是为了季后赛，”步行者队主教练拉里·伯德说。“如果他能上场命中一些球帮助我们，这将使我们的替补席更加强大。”

帕金斯在本赛季的 50 场比赛中出场了 48 场，场均得分创职业生涯新低，为 5 分。他在七场季后赛中场均得到 4.7 分。

由于印第安纳队在首轮和第二轮中分别横扫密尔沃基队和费城队，帕金斯在他的职业生涯中已经参加了 135 场季后赛。在没有获得总冠军的情况下参加更多季后赛的球员只有犹他队的约翰·斯托克顿（156 场）和卡尔·马龙（146 场），他们有可能在战胜波特兰队和马刺队后在西部决赛中面对帕金斯和步行者队。

- 工会关注经纪人： 国家篮球运动员协会表示，他们正在监控 NBA 最佳新秀文斯·卡特(Vince Carter)的经纪人，上周，调查人员从他的办公室查获了文件，调查对象是针对大学橄榄球球员的非法招募。

来自南卡罗来纳州、佛罗里达大学和佛罗里达州的执法人员于上周五对威廉·布莱克(William Black)的办公室执行搜查令，以获取有关他招募佛罗里达球员和处理客户事务的信息。

NFL 球员协会对布莱克提起了一项纪律处分投诉，指控他在大学球员失去参赛资格之前向他们提供现金和汽车。

布莱克周三拒绝发表评论，并将问题转给了他的律师莱昂纳德·蒙戈(Leonard Mungo)。蒙戈表示，整个调查是“荒谬的”，并补充说，“这是一个自由的国家，NBA 工会可以监控它想要监控的任何东西”。

工会负责经纪人监管的官员罗伯特·加德森(Robert Gadson)无法立即联系到，但一位球员协会发言人表示，布莱克可能会被要求提供书面解释，说明为什么他正在接受 NFL 工会的调查。

布莱克代理了几位前佛罗里达橄榄球球员，包括杰克逊维尔美洲虎队的跑卫弗雷德·泰勒(Fred Taylor)、纽约巨人队的接球手艾克·希利亚德(Ike Hilliard)和坦帕湾海盗队的接球手雷德尔·安东尼(Reidel Anthony)和雅各布斯·格林(Jacquez Green)。

他唯一的 NBA 委托人就是多伦多猛龙队的卡特。

- 奇才队正在与赫德交谈： 加里·赫德(Gar Heard)，前费城助理教练，在 1997-98 赛季结束后离开球队前往底特律，预计今天将与华盛顿奇才队总经理韦斯·昂塞尔德(Wes Unseld)会面，讨论他们空缺的主教练职位。

51 岁的赫德在 1993 年至 1997 年间担任印第安纳州 76 人队主教练拉里·布朗(Larry Brown)的助理，并在上个赛季跟随布朗前往费城。据说他是奇才队教练职位的第一人选。76 人队助理教练莫·奇克斯(Mo Cheeks)和 TNT 解说员道克·里弗斯(Doc Rivers)也被考虑在内，尽管赫德已经被告知，他将是最后一位接受面试的候选人。

赫德于 1970 年以第三轮选秀的身份从俄克拉荷马州进入 NBA。他作为球员的 11 年职业生涯中，最值得注意的是他在 1976 年与菲尼克斯太阳队一起参加了 NBA 总决赛。- 来自电线报道

点击查看原文：1999 Playoff Report Notes

1999 Playoff Report Notes

Perkins on empty: The old man has one more goal.

Sam Perkins, the oldest Indiana Pacer, has appeared in more playoff games without winning the championship than all but two players in NBA history.

If the Pacers beat the New York Knicks for the Eastern Conference title, he will be one series away from reaching his ultimate goal. And also four victories away from retirement.

“I’m running on empty now. I’m running on fumes,” the 15- year veteran admitted after practice Wednesday. “If we win this all, I’ll never be back here again. What for?”

The best-of-seven series against the Knicks begins Sunday at Indianapolis’ Market Square Arena.

“I’m playing as long as I can to obtain this ring and fell short a couple of times, so it makes sense (to retire),” said Perkins, who will turn 38 next month. “I wouldn’t stay around just for the money. The money’s good, don’t get me wrong, but I would retire if we won.”

Perkins was in the Western Conference finals four times with Dallas, the Lakers and Seattle. The Sonics lost in the championship series to the Chicago Bulls in 1996, and Perkins left Seattle as a free agent after last season and signed a two-year contract with the Pacers.

“We got Sam to help us to win some regular-season games, but we got him mostly for the playoffs,” Pacers coach Larry Bird said. “If he can come in and hit some shots that help us along the way, it just makes our bench that much stronger.”

Perkins played in 48 of the 50 games and averaged a career- low five points. He is averaging 4.7 points through seven playoff games.

With Indiana’s sweeps of Milwaukee and Philadelphia in the first two rounds, Perkins has appeared in 135 career playoff games. The only players who have been in more postseason games without winning the championship are Utah’s John Stockton (156) and Karl Malone (146), and they could face Perkins and the Pacers by beating Portland and then the Spurs in the West.

- Union watching agent: The National Basketball Players Association said it is monitoring NBA Rookie of the Year Vince Carter’s agent, who last week had records seized from his office by investigators looking into the illegal recruitment of college football players.

Authorities from South Carolina, the University of Florida and the state of Florida executed a search warrant on the office of William Black on Friday for information into his recruitment of Florida players and handling of his clients’ affairs.

The NFL Players Association filed a disciplinary complaint against Black, who goes by the name Tank, accusing him of providing cash and automobiles to college players before their eligibility had expired.

Black on Wednesday declined to comment, and referred questions to his attorney, Leonard Mungo. Mungo said the entire investigation is “ludicrous,” adding that “it’s a free country and the NBA union can monitor whatever it wants.”

Robert Gadson, the union official in charge of agent regulations, couldn’t immediately be reached, although a spokesman for the players association said Black probably will be asked to provide a written explanation of why he is being investigated by the NFL union.

Black represents several former Florida football players, including Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, New York Giants receiver Ike Hilliard and Tampa Bay Buccaneers receivers Reidel Anthony and Jacquez Green.

His only NBA client is the Toronto Raptors’ Carter.

- Wizards talking to Heard: Gar Heard, a former Philadelphia assistant who departed after the 1997-98 season for Detroit, is expected to meet today with Washington Wizards general manager Wes Unseld regarding their vacant head coaching job.

Heard, 51, served as an assistant under 76ers coach Larry Brown in Indiana from '93 to ‘97 before following Brown to Philadelphia last season. He is said to be the leading candidate for the Wizards’ job. Sixers assistant Mo Cheeks and TNT analyst Doc Rivers are also being considered, although Heard has been told he will be the last candidate to be interviewed.

Heard entered the NBA in 1970 as a third-round pick out of Oklahoma. He highlighted his 11-year career as a player with an appearance in the 1976 NBA Finals with the Phoenix Suns. - From Wire Reports

By From Wire Reports, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-28, By Tim Griffin

马刺队成为拉斯维加斯夺冠热门

忘记那些来自全国媒体的“轻视”吧。圣安东尼奥马刺队(San Antonio Spurs)是拉斯维加斯目前最看好夺得首个NBA总冠军的球队。

随着本周末NBA分区决赛的开始，马刺队的夺冠赔率在所有剩余季后赛球队中最低。

根据拉斯维加斯体育顾问的赔率，马刺队的夺冠赔率为6比5。该顾问为各大赌场提供赛果赔率设置方面的建议。

拉斯维加斯体育顾问的赔率经理塞萨尔·罗拜纳(Cesar Robaina)说：“他们理所当然地成为了所有剩余球队中的夺冠热门。他们在联盟中拥有最好的战绩，他们在季后赛剩余比赛中拥有主场优势，并且拥有一些优秀的球员，例如蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)、大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)和肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)。”

其他剩余球队以及他们的赔率，包括周四尤特和波特兰的晚场比赛，分别是：印第安纳队5比2，波特兰队7比2，纽约队6比1，犹特队12比1。

这些赔率是马刺队历史上最低的，并且与本赛季早些时候相比大幅下降。在缩短的赛季开始时，马刺队的夺冠赔率在大多数赌场中为7比1。

犹特队在本赛季开始时被视为季前赛夺冠热门，赔率为3比1，而其他一些球队则以5比1到7比1的赔率被视为竞争者。

尽管马刺队最近取得了一连串胜利，但他们在拉斯维加斯的主要体育博彩公司中并没有吸引到很多赌客的兴趣。

米拉奇酒店的竞赛和体育博彩主管罗伯特·沃克(Robert Walker)说：“他们有几个超级巨星，但他们没有像艾伦·艾弗森(Allen Iverson)或沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal)那样强势的球员。就我们而言，他们并没有得到太多关注。”

“在某种程度上，他们让我想起了去年的亚特兰大猎鹰队(Atlanta Falcons)（在NFL中）。当然，他们拥有良好的战绩，并打进了超级碗，但如果有可能，人们仍然更愿意押注旧金山49人队。”

根据对几家赌场的非正式调查，罢工和迈克尔·乔丹(Michael Jordan)的退役都导致拉斯维加斯NBA赌博数量下降。

马刺队作为夺冠热门的赔率与过去两年相比大幅下降。拥有乔丹的芝加哥公牛队(Chicago Bulls)以前在季后赛的当前阶段是压倒性的夺冠热门。

罗拜纳说：“虽然圣安东尼奥的赔率看起来很低，但与过去几年相比，它们实际上并不低。芝加哥在季后赛开始时的赔率为1比2或1比3。”

沃克说：“具有讽刺意味的是，我认为马刺队或开拓者队可以给（乔丹时代的）公牛队带来很大的挑战。太可惜了，今年的球队永远都会被贴上没有机会与迈克尔球队比赛的标签。”

点击查看原文：Spurs are odds-on favorites in Las - Vegas

Spurs are odds-on favorites in Las - Vegas

Forget those perceived slights from the national media. The San Antonio Spurs are Las Vegas’ current choice to claim their first NBA championship.

Heading into the weekend’s opening of the NBA conference finals, the Spurs have the shortest odds of any of the teams still remaining in the playoffs.

The Spurs are listed as a 6-to-5 pick to claim the NBA title, according to odds listed by the Las Vegas Sports Consultants, who advise the major casinos in how to set the numbers for their wagering.

“They deservedly are the favorite of the teams that are left,” said Cesar Robaina, Las Vegas Sports Consultant’s odds manager. 'They have the best record in the league, they have homecourt throughout the rest of the playoffs and they have some nice players like Tim Duncan, David Robinson and Sean Elliott."

Other remaining teams and their odds, heading into Thursday’s late game between Utah and Portland include Indiana at 5-2, Portland at 7-2, New York at 6-1 and Utah at 12-1.

Those odds are the shortest for a Spurs team in history and a big reduction from earlier in the season. The Spurs were a 7-1 choice at the start of the strike-shortened season at most casinos.

Utah entered the season as the preseason favorite at 3-1 and a group of several other teams were clumped as the next contenders at between 5-1 and 7-1.

Despite their recent streak, the Spurs aren’t attracting much interest from gamblers at the major Las Vegas sports books.

“They have a couple of superstars, but none of them are an in-your-face guy like Allen Iverson or Shaquille O’Neal,” said Robert Walker, the race and sports book director at the Mirage. “They aren’t getting a lot of play as far as we are concerned.”

“In a way, they kind of remind me of the Atlanta Falcons last year (in the NFL). Sure, they had a good record and made it to the Super Bowl, but people still would rather bet on the San Francisco 49ers if they had a chance.”

The strike and the retirement of Michael Jordan both have contributed to a down year in NBA betting in Las Vegas, according to an informal survey of several casinos.

The Spurs’ numbers as a favorite are a big reduction from the past two years. The Chicago Bulls with Jordan were overwhelming favorites at the current point of the playoffs.

“While those numbers for San Antonio seem pretty slim, they really aren’t compared to the last couple of years,” Robaina said. “Chicago would start the playoffs at 1-to-2 or 1-to-3.”

“Ironically, I think the Spurs or the Blazers could give the Bulls (of Jordan’s tenure) all they wanted,” Walker said. “It’s too bad there will always be a stigma of teams from this year that didn’t get a chance to play against Michael’s teams.”

By Tim Griffin, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-28, By Johnny Ludden

马刺队的珀杜展现出对胜利的嗅觉

赛季还没过完1场半，255磅的蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)就重重地倒在了威尔·珀杜(Will Perdue)的右腿上。再见了脚踝，你好伤病名单。

接下来是肋骨挫伤。在珀杜重返阵容两周周年纪念日，他挺身而出，对萨克拉门托犯规。他得到了劳伦斯·方德伯克(Lawrence Funderburke)的膝盖作为回报。

在一个月后休斯顿的比赛中，马利克·罗斯(Malik Rose)不小心用他的前臂击中了珀杜的脸。珀杜鼻子骨折，但避免了手术。

持续了八天。

然后，波特兰的拉希德·华莱士(Rasheed Wallace)不知何故将手指深深地插入了珀杜防护面具的眼洞，导致他的鼻子在另一个位置骨折。为了修复这种错位的骨折——他职业生涯中的第五次骨折——珀杜被迫进行手术。

“这真是糟糕的一年，如果这不是一件事，那就是另一件事，”珀杜说。“我刚从一项伤病中恢复过来，另一项伤病就发生了。”

“有些年，这些伤病似乎一下子都来了。有些年，似乎一点事都没有。似乎没有规律可循。我想这都取决于你怎么看待。”

尽管这一年对他的健康保险来说是艰难的，但珀杜试图看到这一年本来面目：马刺队历史上最成功的赛季之一。

“我和威尔不会向任何人抱怨我们的问题或其他任何事情，”史蒂夫·科尔(Steve Kerr)说，他和珀杜一样，个人都度过了一个令人沮丧的一年。“我们正在前进，所以我们会享受它。”

尽管场均上场时间只有12分钟，是他五年来最低的，但珀杜还是试图做到这一点。随着肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)的回归，以及马刺队“三塔”阵容的结束，珀杜的出场时间预计今年会略有下降。他没想到的是伤病。

珀杜在赛季前两场比赛中总共得到15分和18个篮板，但在阿拉莫穹顶对阵明尼苏达的第二场比赛中，他伤了右脚。骨挫伤使得伤病的严重程度难以诊断——最初被认为是轻微的扭伤。

珀杜错过了接下来的12场比赛——几乎占缩短的赛季的四分之一——激活后仍然难以发力。他只在第一次鼻子骨折时缺席了一场比赛，但在常规赛最后15场比赛中，只有5场比赛上场时间超过10分钟。

在对阵明尼苏达的第一轮系列赛中，场均只有4.3分钟——几乎不足以给凯文·加内特(Kevin Garnett)来个痛快地耳光——珀杜在对阵洛杉矶的揭幕战中，全队最高，得到9个篮板和6分。然而，在第二场比赛中，他迅速回到替补席，因为很快就犯了三次犯规。

“我对在对阵明尼苏达的比赛中没有更多出场时间感到失望，”珀杜说。“但如果我更年轻，我可能不会真正理解，因为我不会花时间坐下来思考。我会认为也许我被坑了，或者背后有什么阴谋。”

“但我已经在联盟里待了足够长的时间，可以意识到正在发生的事情。”

罗斯的崛起发生了。珀杜因伤缺阵，罗斯替补邓肯和大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)，成长为一名可靠且充满活力的篮板手。

与此同时，珀杜并没有抱怨因为罗斯，他最亲密的朋友之一，而减少出场时间。两人每天比赛日都会一起吃早餐。比赛期间，珀杜是第一个替补上场的球员，他会给罗斯提供如何防守温哥华的托尼·马森伯格(Tony Massenburg)的建议，或者祝贺安东尼奥·丹尼尔斯(Antonio Daniels)在对阵明尼苏达的特雷尔·布兰登(Terrell Brandon)的防守中发挥出色。

“我记得我年轻的时候，”珀杜说。“我和比尔·卡特赖特(Bill Cartwright)一起出去玩，问他问题。”

罗斯说：“这可能是NBA历史上最友好的出场时间之争。威尔一直是一名真正的职业球员。他尽其所能帮助我。”

即使这意味着珀杜必须从他的《宋飞正传》收藏中找出一段他著名的克莱默(Kramer)模仿。

“当我从糟糕的约会回来时，”罗斯说，“他总是有乔治·康斯坦扎(George Costanza)的故事。”

尽管本赛季可能会对他的市场价值产生一些影响，但珀杜——与康斯坦扎不同——预计不会在找工作方面遇到麻烦。萨克拉门托、波士顿和多伦多——所有这些球队都在寻找替补中锋——预计将在7月他成为自由球员时向他询问情况。马刺队在本赛季之前行使了珀杜420万美元的选项，也将考虑重新签下他。

“考虑到我们拥有的球员核心，以及我们今年的比赛方式，我希望回来继续下去，”珀杜说。“如果不能，你就会珍惜你和这些家伙一起度过的时光……我有幸与联盟中50大球星之一（罗宾逊）一起打球，最终蒂姆会把某人从这个榜单上踢出去。”

目前，珀杜期待着西部决赛。犹他州和波特兰都有身高。而且强大的对手可能意味着更多的上场时间。

珀杜说：“我只需要看看我是否能把鼻子从不该去的地方拿开。”

点击查看原文：Spurs' Perdue shows a nose for victories

Spurs’ Perdue shows a nose for victories

The season wasn’t even 11/2 games old when 255 pounds of Tim Duncan came crashing down on Will Perdue’s right leg. Good-bye ankle. Hello injured list.

The bruised ribs came next. On the two-week anniversary of his return to the lineup, Perdue stepped up to take a charge against Sacramento. He got Lawrence Funderburke’s knee in return.

In a game at Houston less than a month later, Malik Rose inadvertently introduced his forearm to Perdue’s face. Perdue broke his nose but avoided surgery.

For eight days.

Then Portland’s Rasheed Wallace somehow jammed his finger into the eye hole of Perdue’s protective mask hard enough to break his nose in a different location. To repair the displaced fracture - the fifth of his career - Perdue was forced under the knife.

“It was just one of those years where if it’s not one thing, it’s another,” Perdue said. "As soon as I kind of got over one injury something else happened.

“In some years it seems to happen all at once. In some years it seems to not happen at all. It seems like there’s no rhyme or reason for it. I guess it all depends on how you look at it.”

And as hard as this year has been on his health insurance, Perdue tries to see this year for what it is: One of the best seasons in Spurs history.

“Will and I are not going to start lamenting to anybody about our problems or anything else,” said Steve Kerr, who, like Perdue, has had a frustrating year individually. “We’re rolling so we’re going to enjoy it.”

Perdue has tried to do that, despite averaging 12 minutes a game, his lowest in five seasons. With the return of Sean Elliott and the end of the Spurs’ Tri- Towers lineup, Perdue’s playing time figured to decline somewhat this year. What he didn’t count on was the injuries.

Perdue totaled 15 points and 18 rebounds in the first two games of the season, but it was that second game against Minnesota at the Alamodome when he hurt his right foot. A bone bruise made the severity of the injury - first believed to be a mild sprain - difficult to diagnose.

Perdue missed the next 12 games - almost a quarter of the shortened season - and still had trouble pushing off when he was activated. He sat out only one other game when he first broke his nose, but logged more than 10 minutes in just five of the final 15 games of the regular season.

After averaging 4.3 minutes - barely long enough to give Kevin Garnett a nice hard smack in the face - in the first-round series against Minnesota, Perdue totaled a team-high nine rebounds and six points in the opener against Los Angeles. In Game 2, however, he quickly returned to the bench after drawing three quick fouls.

“I was disappointed about not playing more against Minnesota,” Perdue said. "But if I was younger I wouldn’t really understand because I wouldn’t take the time to sit back and think about it. I would think that maybe I was getting screwed or that there was something behind the real picture.

“But I’ve been in the league long enough to realize what was going on.”

Rose’s blossoming was what happened. With Perdue unavailable, Rose spotted both Duncan and David Robinson, and developed into a dependable, high- energy rebounder.

Perdue, meanwhile, didn’t complain about losing minutes to Rose, one of his closest friends. The two eat breakfast together every game day. During games Perdue is the first guy off the bench, giving Rose tips on how to play Vancouver’s Tony Massenburg or congratulating Antonio Daniels on his full- court defense against Minnesota’s Terrell Brandon.

“I remember back in the days when I was younger,” Perdue said. “I was hanging out with Bill Cartwright and asking him questions.”

Said Rose: “It might be the most amicable fight for playing time in NBA history. Will’s been a true professional. He’s done everything he can to help me.”

Even if that means Perdue must dig into his “Seinfeld” library for one of his infamous Kramer impersonations.

“When I come in after a bad date,” Rose said, “he’s always got some George Costanza story.”

Though this season likely will have some impact on his marketability, Perdue - unlike Costanza - doesn’t figure to have trouble finding employment. Sacramento, Boston and Toronto - all in the market for a backup center - figure to inquire about him when he becomes a free agent in July. The Spurs, who exercised a $4.2 million option on Perdue prior to this season, also will look at re-signing him.

“Considering the nucleus of the group of guys we have and considering the way we are playing this year, I would like to come back and continue this,” Perdue said. “If it doesn’t happen, you relish the time you spent with these guys. … I got the pleasure of playing with one of the Top 50 guys in the league (Robinson) and eventually Tim is going to bump somebody off that list.”

For now, Perdue is looking forward to the Western Conference finals. Utah and Portland both have size. And big opponents could mean bigger minutes.

Said Perdue: “I just need to see if I can keep my nose out of where it doesn’t belong.”

By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-29, By Roy Bragg

马刺热潮来袭

圣安东尼奥星期五见证了一场大规模的马刺热潮爆发。

随着今天在阿拉莫穹顶举行的第一场比赛的开球时间临近，球迷们仅仅想到马刺队将与波特兰开拓者队进行的七场四胜制的季后赛系列赛，就兴奋得快要发疯了。

例如，在德克萨斯文化研究所，来自里弗赛德公园小学和马弗里克小学的学生们在一个简易的马刺队加油会上，在博物馆的多媒体穹顶下，陷入疯狂，引发了中午时分的狂热感染。

马刺队吉祥物土狼，在体育赛事中被称为“那首‘嘿’的歌曲”的“摇滚乐第二部分”的音乐声中，带领着孩子们进行小型疯狂舞蹈。

孩子们挥舞着蓬松的球球，挥舞着“Go Spurs Go”的标语牌，并随着音乐节奏高喊着口号。

“如果现在能坐下，”活动主持人，该研究所志愿者服务主管莎莉·维斯曼(Sally Wiskemann)对着麦克风大喊。“你们要去参观了！”

派对结束了，但热潮却持续着。这座城市到处都有迹象——确实是如此。

在市中心弗罗斯特银行大厦顶端附近，悬挂着一条“Go Spurs Go”的旗帜，而在北星购物中心两座巨大的牛仔靴之间，也悬挂着类似的横幅。

星期三，位于西大道的预算标牌公司的保罗·罗尔夫斯(Paul Rohlfs)受雇为一些客户制作了一些印有“Go Spurs Go”口号的乙烯基标牌。

工作人员认为这可能是一笔利润丰厚的生意，于是说服罗尔夫斯制作了一些印有该口号的保险杠贴纸，并以每张 2 美元的价格出售。

“我当时说‘没门，’”罗尔夫斯自己也陷入了热潮之中。“我们来制作一些可以免费送给人们的东西吧。”

罗尔夫斯和他的员工给广播电台打电话，让丝网印刷机超负荷运转，并且凭直觉雇佣了一名下班的警官来处理交通。

好主意。到星期四下午 6:30，他们在临时设立的路边车道式窗口发放了 4000 张贴纸——一次发放一张或两张。

这座城市“今年的兴奋程度比我们上次进入联盟决赛时还要高，”罗尔夫斯说道。“你真的能感觉到空气中的气氛。”

星期五早些时候，大约 300 名员工及其家人聚集在圣安东尼奥东南部的霍尔特公司，聆听马刺队主席兼控股股东彼得·霍尔特(Peter Holt)为球队加油。

马刺队的银色舞者本来要出现，但只有少数人找到了地方。土狼到处跑，能够参加并与他的老板开玩笑。

在这个信息时代，这场瘟疫的第一批迹象出现在午夜过后不久的互联网上，这一点不足为奇。

一小部分网民——其中包括“书虫”，他显然是开拓者队的球迷；以及“马刺队球迷”，他确实是一位——在圣安东尼奥快报的在线马刺队论坛上进行了一系列的口头冲突。

争论很长，很有说服力，有时还很粗俗。以下是总结：

马刺队球迷：马刺队会赢。

书虫：不，他们不会。

争论一直持续到黎明前。

员工作家雅克·克劳斯(Jacque Crouse)为本文做出了贡献。

点击查看原文：Spurs fever rises as game time nears

Spurs fever rises as game time nears

San Antonio witnessed a major outbreak of Spurs fever Friday.

With tipoff of the first game set for today at the Alamodome, fans were downright delirious just thinking about the Spurs’ best-of- seven playoff series against the Portland Trailblazers.

There was, for example, a major midday contagion at the Institute of Texan Cultures when students from Riverside Park and Maverick elementary schools worked themselves into a frenzy at an impromptu Spurs pep rally under the museum’s multimedia dome.

The Spurs Coyote mascot was leading a pint-sized mosh to the sounds of “Rock 'n Roll Part 2,” also known as “that ‘Hey’ song” played at sporting events.

Kids swished pompons back and forth, waved “Go Spurs Go” signs and chanted the slogan in time with the song.

“If you could sit down now,” emcee Sally Wiskemann, institute director of volunteer services, shouted into the microphone. “You’re going to take a tour!”

The party ended, but the fever didn’t. The city bore all of the signs - literally.

There was a “Go Spurs Go” pennant hanging near the top of the Frost Bank building downtown, and a similar banner draped between the two giant cowboy boots outside North Star Mall.

Paul Rohlfs of Budget Signs on West Avenue was hired Wednesday to make some vinyl signs bearing the “Go Spurs Go” slogan for a few customers.

Staffers got the idea this might be a lucrative deal, so they convinced Rohlfs to make some bumper stickers with the slogan and sell them for $2 each.

“I said ‘No way,’” Rohlfs said, himself in the throes of the fever. “Let’s make something we can give away to people.”

Rohlfs and his staff called radio stations, put the silk-screening machine into overdrive, and, on a wild hunch, hired an off-duty police officer to handle traffic.

Good idea. By 6:30 p.m. Thursday, they had handed out 4,000 stickers - one or two at a time - at a makeshift curb drive-through.

The city’s excitement “is stronger this year than the last time we were in the conference finals,” Rohlfs said. “You can really feel it in the air.”

Earlier Friday, about 300 employees and their families gathered at Holt Cos. in Southeast San Antonio to hear Spurs chairman and majority owner Peter Holt cheer on the team.

The Spurs’ Silver Dancers were scheduled to appear, but only a few of them could find the place. The Coyote, who gets around, was able to attend and jab a bit with his boss.

This being the Information Age, it’s no surprise the first signs of the plague appeared shortly after midnight on the Internet.

A handful of Web surfers - among them “bookworm,” who’s apparently a Blazers fan; and “Spurs Fan,” who is one - kept up a series of verbal skirmishes in the San Antonio Express-News’ online Spurs forum.

The arguments were long, derived and sometimes obscene. Here’s a distillation:

Spurs Fan: The Spurs will win.

Bookworm: No they won’t.

It went on like that until just before dawn.

Staff Writer Jacque Crouse contributed to this report.

By Roy Bragg, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-29, By Associated Press

爵士的冠军梦以不确定的音符结束 - 仅五名球员拥有下赛季的合同

犹他爵士已有四年没有经历过如此漫长、寒冷的夏季了。

周五，在波特兰玫瑰花园球馆的赛季结束仅仅几个小时后，爵士球员们清理了更衣柜，并在寂静的三角洲中心球馆告别了彼此。开拓者以 92-80 的比分战胜了爵士，将他们淘汰出局，并将这支老迈的球队推向了一个充满变革的休赛期。

“我知道回来的不会是同样的阵容，”布莱恩·拉塞尔 (Bryon Russell) 说，他是下赛季爵士队仅有的五位拥有合同的球员之一。“当你遭遇这样的挫折时，就必须做出改变。”

爵士又一次未能实现他们那“像西西弗斯一样徒劳无功”的夺冠梦想，但他们承认，本赛季的结果——自 1995 年以来最糟糕的季后赛表现——是他们迄今为止最令人失望的。

芝加哥公牛队在过去两个赛季的 NBA 总决赛的第六场终结了爵士队。但随着迈克尔·乔丹 (Michael Jordan) 的退役，聚光灯似乎转向了卡尔·马龙 (Karl Malone) 和约翰·斯托克顿 (John Stockton) 身上，这两位球员在联盟历史上比任何人都更渴望举起那座银色的冠军奖杯。

凭借着连续两年的西部冠军以及几乎没有变化的经验丰富的老将阵容，爵士队在停摆缩短的赛季开始之前，被大多数人认为是夺取后乔丹时代第一个总冠军的有力争夺者。在大部分的常规赛中，爵士队都保持着联盟最佳战绩。

然而，从 4 月 20 日开始，在爵士队主场以 11 连胜的势头被圣安东尼奥马刺队终结之后，他们的赛季开始走下坡路。在最后 10 场常规赛中，爵士队仅仅取得了 5 胜 5 负的战绩，而马刺队则与他们并驾齐驱，以 37 胜 13 负的战绩领跑联盟，并夺走了西部的头号种子。

爵士队在季后赛首轮系列赛中惊险战胜了萨克拉门托国王队，他们从 1-2 的落后中奋起反击，两次在国王队可能终结系列赛的投篮失手时，都悬着一颗心。爵士队的进攻曾经是稳定和沉着典范，但在季后赛中却经常变得不稳定。

在面对年轻、健康且充满斗志的开拓者时，爵士队真的毫无招架之力。爵士队在第一场比赛中惊险地赢得了胜利，但随后连续输掉了三场比赛。

爵士队在第五场比赛中强势反弹，赢得了比赛。但在周四，他们又打了一场糟糕的进攻比赛，而马龙——最有力的联盟最有价值球员候选人——本赛季以 16 投 3 中的糟糕表现结束了他的赛季。

“我真的认为我已经竭尽全力地推动了他们，”主教练杰里·斯隆 (Jerry Sloan) 说，他的球员们表示，他几乎肯定会继续执教，成为 NBA 历史上任期最长的教练。“从精神和身体上来说，你不能以相同的方式，以相同的强度年复一年地这样下去。”

随着赛季的结束，盐湖城围绕着马龙、斯托克顿和杰夫·霍纳塞克 (Jeff Hornacek) 三位标志性老将的命运展开了猜测，他们三人拥有 436 场季后赛经验，但却没有一枚冠军戒指。他们三人将在今夏成为自由球员。这位 14 年职业生涯的老将表示，他“仍然不习惯成为自由球员，所以我会先体验一下这种感觉”。

37 岁的斯托克顿是联盟历史上助攻和抢断次数最多的球员，他周五表示，他打算在犹他队效力第 16 个赛季。

“赢得比赛的时候更有趣，但现在我仍然感觉很好，”斯托克顿说，他仍然不知道自己何时会准备退役。“没有人能像五年前那样感觉良好……但我希望能够回来再试一次。”

在停摆缩短了常规赛之前，霍纳塞克曾计划在 1999 年退役。现在，他渴望再次征战。

“我们所有的球员都会回来，”霍纳塞克说。“没有人想就这样离开。”

除了这三巨头之外，爵士队的自由球员还有山顿·安德森 (Shandon Anderson)、托德·富勒 (Todd Fuller)、格雷格·福斯特 (Greg Foster) 和瑟尔·贝利 (Thurl Bailey)。

点击查看原文：Jazz' title quest ends on uncertain note - Only 5 players have contracts for next year

Jazz’ title quest ends on uncertain note - Only 5 players have contracts for next year

It has been four years since the Utah Jazz had such a long, cold summer ahead.

The Jazz cleaned out their lockers and said their goodbyes at the quiet Delta Center on Friday, just hours after their season came to an end in Portland’s Rose Garden. The Trail Blazers’ 92-80 win knocked Utah out of the playoffs and pushed the aging team into an offseason of certain change.

“I know it won’t be the same bunch coming back,” said Bryon Russell, one of just five Jazz players under contract for next season. “When you take a step back like that, you have to change things.”

Utah failed yet again in its Sisyphean quest for its first NBA title, but the Jazz admit this season’s result, their earliest playoff exit since 1995, was the most disappointing yet.

The Chicago Bulls ended Utah’s last two seasons in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. But with Michael Jordan in retirement, the spotlight seemed pointed at Karl Malone and John Stockton, the players who have waited longer than any in league history for their chance to lift that silver trophy.

With two straight Western Conference championships and a largely unchanged roster of veterans, Utah began the lockout-shortened season as a team most thought could win the first title of the post-Jordan era. For much of the regular season, Utah held the league’s best record.

But starting April 20, when the Jazz had an 11-game winning streak snapped at home by San Antonio, Utah’s season began sliding downhill. The Jazz went just 5-5 in their last 10 regular season games as the Spurs matched their league- best 37-13 record and took away the West’s top playoff seed.

The Jazz narrowly survived their first-round series with Sacramento, rallying from a 2-1 deficit and twice holding their breath as potential series-ending Kings shots missed. Utah’s offense, once the model of consistency and poise, was frequently erratic in the postseason.

The Jazz were really no match for the younger, healthier and angrier Trail Blazers. Utah squeaked out a win in Game 1, but the Jazz were then beaten three straight times.

Utah recovered to win Game 5 convincingly. But on Thursday, the Jazz played another poor offensive game, and Malone - the likely league Most Valuable Player - capped his season with a 3-of-16 shooting performance.

“I really think I pushed them as hard as I could push them,” said Coach Jerry Sloan, who his players say is almost certain to continue his run as the NBA’s longest-tenured coach.

“Mentally and physically, you just can’t continue to do this the same way and at the same intensity year in and year out.”

With the season’s end, speculation in Salt Lake City turns to the fates of Malone, Stockton and Jeff Hornacek, Utah’s signature veteran trio with 436 games of playoff experience and no championship rings. All three become free agents this summer.14-year career, said he’s “still not used to being a free agent, so I’m going to see what that’s like for a little while.”

The 37-year-old Stockton, the league’s career leader in assists and steals, said Friday he intends to be back for a 16th season with Utah.

“It’s a lot more fun when you’re winning, but right now, I still feel pretty good,” said Stockton, who still says he has no idea when he might be ready to retire. “Nobody feels as good as they did five years ago … but I would hope to be back and try it another time.”

Before the lockout shortened the regular season, Hornacek had planned to retire in 1999. Now, he is looking forward to another run.

“All of our guys will be back,” Hornacek said. “Nobody wants to leave it like this.”

In addition to the Big Three, Utah’s free agents are Shandon Anderson, Todd Fuller, Greg Foster and Thurl Bailey.

By Associated Press, via San Antonio Express-News

[这也将成为过去]

1999-05-30

聚焦：NBA 季后赛

奶酪配抱怨？

我们刚刚读到沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal)的言论，他认为任何成功防守他的球队——就像圣安东尼奥马刺队在与洛杉矶湖人队的第一场比赛中所做的那样——从定义上来说都是违反了NBA规则。

我们也注意到，湖人队破坏了阿拉莫穹顶球馆客队更衣室里的电视和录像机。

嘿，沙奎尔！想来点奶酪配抱怨吗？

我们猜想，电视也无法防守他。迈克尔·安东尼、巴里·戈特尔、艾伦·阿什沃斯

电视停播令人失望

我对于马刺队管理层停播季后赛比赛感到非常失望。

我是一名退役的残疾老兵，我和我的家人一直支持马刺队。

我们使用帕拉冈有线电视，但我们住在布尔维德，无法使用付费观看的选项，因为在我们这个地区没有。

也许我们应该开始支持其他球队。至少我们可以观看他们的比赛。杰弗里·R·贝克，布尔维德

NBC 解说员令人羞耻

KMOL-TV（4频道）的工作人员应该为他们的母公司NBC在洛杉矶比赛期间轻视马刺队感到羞愧。

鲍勃·科斯塔斯尤其令人讨厌。

马刺队痛击湖人队。很明显，马刺队是绝对的强队。玛丽·克拉多克

NBA 缺乏风度和信誉

尽管人们普遍认为，并不是所有圣安东尼奥人都支持马刺队——即使当地媒体认为如果他们不断地向你灌输这种想法，你最终也会被说服。

和全国范围内越来越多的人一样，我看到了NBA的真实面目：一个贪婪的组织，除了专业之外，什么都有。

从球赛中的斗殴、吸毒者、罢工到各种各样的闹剧，NBA已经失去了所有的风度和信誉。

对贾德森高中毕业班的待遇表明了这个城市真正的优先事项。不遵守之前与阿拉莫穹顶球馆关于毕业典礼的协议，传递了一个强烈的信号，说明什么才是最重要的。

当然，你们这些忠实的球迷得到了一个24美元的付费观看的优惠价格。

在最近的《快报-新闻》体育专栏中，丹·库克将NBA比作职业摔跤。我认为这很恰当。

在去年的球馆之争中，有人提到“为了让马刺队保持竞争力，他们必须拥有一个新的球馆”。每年赚取数百万美元的薪水却无法“保持竞争力”，这足以说明你的信誉问题。选择观看或不观看，选择成为球迷或不成为球迷，是我的权利。我选择后者。瑞克·彼得森，康弗斯

点击查看原文：FOCUS: NBA playoffs

FOCUS: NBA playoffs

Cheese with that whine?

We just read Shaq’s quote that any team who successfully guarded him – as the San Antonio Spurs did in their first game with the Los Angeles Lakers – was by definition breaking the NBA rules.

We also note that the Lakers destroyed the TV and VCR in the visiting teams’ locker room at the Alamodome.

Hey, Shaq! Want a little cheese with that whine?

We guess the TV couldn’t guard him, either. Michael Anthony, Barry Goettl, Alan Ashworth

TV blackout disappointing

I am truly disappointed that the Spurs management would black out playoff games.

I am a retired disabled vet, and my family and I always have supported the Spurs.

We have Paragon Cable, but we live in Bulverde and cannot utilize the option of Pay Per View because it doesn’t exist in our area.

Maybe we should start supporting other teams. At least we could watch them play. Jeffrey R. Baker, Bulverde

NBC announcers shameful

The people at KMOL-TV, Channel 4, should be a little ashamed of their parent network, NBC, for slighting the Spurs during the Los Angeles games.

Bob Costas was especially obnoxious.

The Spurs beat the heck out of the Lakers. It was clear that the Spurs were very much the superior team. Mary Craddock

NBA lacks class, credibility

Despite popular belief, not everybody in San Antonio is a Spurs fan – eventhough the local media believes that if they ram it down your throat far enough, you will be converted.

Like the growing number of folks nationwide, I see the NBA for what it really is: An anything but professional greedy organization with a wide variety of characters.

Between the fights, drug abusers, strike and assorted sideshows, the NBA has lost all class and credibility.

The treatment of the Judson High School graduating class shows whatthe real priorities are in this city. Not honoring a previous agreement with the Alamodome for graduation ceremonies sends a powerful message of what’s most important.

And, of course, you really loyal fans were rewarded with a $24 Pay-Per-View bargain.

In a recent Express-News sports column, Dan Cook equates the NBA to professional wrestling. Sounds about right to me.

During last year’s arena battle, it was mentioned that “in order for the Spurs to be competitive, they must have a new arena.” Not being “competitive” for a multimillion-dollar yearly salary says a whole lot about your credibility. It’s my choice to watch or not, be a fan or not. I choose the latter. Rick Peterson, Converse

via San Antonio Express-News