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 Walking the talk Fiery Elie has shown San Antonio the way
Posted: Friday June 18, 1999 02:22 PM
By John Donovan, CNN/SI SAN ANTONIO -- Mario Elie has a touch of gray in his stubble, a few hard years on his broad face. He isn't so much talking at these NBA Finals as he's simply holding court. He's a teacher in this classroom, a historian, a basketball expert. He is the voice of reason in a hyped-up, over-exposed, made-for-TV extravaganza. Elie is one man here who knows what is involved in winning an NBA championship. He did it twice as a member of the Houston Rockets earlier this decade, and he's spent much of the year clueing in his Spurs teammates on how it's done. Now, with the Spurs on the verge of something great, Elie wants to make sure his guys don't forget his lessons. "I'm always telling them, 'We're in the Finals now,'" says Elie, slumped comfortably in a courtside chair at the Alamodome after a practice. "We can't let up now." The Spurs are a collection of young talent and old talent, and Elie knows exactly where he fits in that mix. He is 35 years old. He's played in Europe and in the CBA and bounced around the NBA, first in Golden State, then a stop in Portland, followed by his five-year stint in Houston and now his stay in San Antonio. He's been there and done that. All of it. And that's why Elie was brought into San Antonio in the first place. He was signed to provide leadership, show the youngsters about hard work -- and to help the Spurs get to the NBA Finals. If game jerseys had sleeves, you'd know where to find Elie's heart. It's there for all to see. Late in Game 1, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich pulled Elie in favor of Jaren Jackson. Elie steamed about it, though his displeasure was salved when Jackson nailed three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to seal the Spurs' win. "Mario's never happy," said point guard Avery Johnson. "Only time he is happy is maybe if you bring him some food at night, his favorite -- fried shrimp or something. "But other than that, he's never happy. He's not happy to start the game, to come out of the game. That's something that we've had to deal with. And we like it that way."
Johnson and Elie both live in Sugarland Texas, and they spend time together in the off-season. After Elie became a free-agent this off-season, Johnson suggested to the Spurs that they go after his friend. They did -- and the Spurs got off to a 6-8 start. That's when Elie stepped in. "I challenged our big guys. I told them 'As they go, we go,'" Elie said. "I said 'You guys are not playing up to your capabilities.' I said what I said. And it was the truth." At one point, center David Robinson asked Johnson why Elie was so mad. He even wondered whether Elie was really happy in San Antonio. Johnson told Robinson that Elie was hacked off because Robinson wasn't playing well. "Avery told him, just like that," Elie said. "But we turned it around because of them [Robinson and Tim Duncan]. Tim took it to another level, and Dave stepped back and became the second man behind Tim." Since the slow start, the Spurs have won 43 of their last 49 -- including 11 straight in the playoffs. More than anyone else on the team, Elie is credited with turning the previously "soft" Spurs into the power that they are. "They have more fire, and they are hungry now," said the Knicks' Latrell Sprewell, who often played against the old Spurs when he was with Golden State. "They are playing with a confidence now that I hadn't seen when I was on the West Coast." Elie averaged only 9.7 points a game this season. But he has been a defensive force all along, and his hard-nosed play on New York's Allan Houston in Game 1 was a big reason the Spurs won. He was there right after Game 1, too, telling his team that it was only one game, and that the Knicks would not go quietly. Now, of course, the Spurs are listening. And so is everyone else.
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