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 High expectations Elie says chemistry key for Spurs in championship run
Posted: Thursday June 10, 1999 11:29 PM
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Although Mario Elie won two championships with the Houston Rockets, heading into the NBA Finals with the San Antonio Spurs is a new experience. The Spurs have a larger cast of contributors. They've lost only once so far in the playoffs, and they've got a unique chemistry. "It's mostly unity," Elie said Thursday. "We're playing well. We're all on the same page. We're a confident team. We're feeling good about ourselves." San Antonio, after sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers 4-0 to win the Western Conference title, must await the winner of the Eastern final between New York and Indiana. The Knicks lead 3-2. The NBA Finals begin Wednesday at the Alamodome. Elie joined the Spurs as a free agent this season, coming from Houston, where he played on the 1994 and 1995 title teams. The Rockets defeated New York in seven games to win the NBA championship in 1994 and beat Orlando 4-0 to win in 1995. Battling the Knicks again in the finals would be fun, said Elie, a New York native who grew up five minutes from Madison Square Garden. "I'd like to go back and play against the home team," he said. "I won my first championship against the Knicks. So it'd be nice to go there and know I'm going to play more, have a bigger role this time." Elie took over the starting job at off-guard after the season began, replacing Jaren Jackson, who now comes off the bench and has been an offensive force in several Spurs' playoff victories. One advantage the Spurs have had is getting point production consistently from several players. "With Houston, you'd know who's going to deliver every night -- Clyde [Drexler] and Dream [Hakeem Olajuwon] are always going to put up some numbers," Elie said, adding that several other Houston players stepped up and produced in certain games. The same is true with the Spurs, but more so, Elie said. "On this team, we just ride the hot hand," he said. "If a guy's hot, we keep going to him. Everybody's contributing." Coach Gregg Popovich agrees that's been part of the Spurs' success. "We don't have to rely on one person to get everything done every night," he said. "That does help us since we've got a lot of people who are willing to step up and to share in that." After going 6-8 in February, San Antonio went 31-5 the rest of the regular season to finish with the league's best record and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. The Spurs are 11-1 in the postseason. On Elie's Houston championship teams, the Rockets lost a few games in the early rounds. The fact that San Antonio is winning so much makes for high expectations, he said. "It's scary," he said. "We swept two good teams and everybody expects us to sweep again, but it's tough. It's ... a lot of pressure." Along with Will Perdue and Steve Kerr, who bring championship experience from their time with the Chicago Bulls, Elie is trying to prepare his teammates for the NBA Finals. He feels fortunate to have another chance at a title. "I've been lucky," he said. "I've been blessed getting on these good teams. I thought this was the best situation for me. It turned out to be terrific. I'm in the finals. I've got a chance to win three. It looks good."
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