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Spurs 101

Yeah, San Antonio can be beat -- and here's how

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Posted: Friday June 18, 1999 08:33 AM

The San Antonio Spurs are everybody's favorites to win the NBA title. The way the Spurs tore through the Los Angeles Lakers, then the Portland Trail Blazers, makes them look awfully tough to beat when the NBA Finals start June 16 in San Antonio.

But you know, anything can happen in the playoffs. And you don't have to look any farther than the Eastern Conference to figure that out.

No one would have guessed the New York Knicks would get as far as they have. Who would have figured they'd make it to the Eastern Conference Finals? And the Indiana Pacers were cruising through the playoffs -- until they ran into the Knicks.

It just shows you that, come playoff time, strange things sometimes happen.

Still, the Spurs are tough. They have everything it takes to win the NBA title. If you're going to beat them, you've got to do just about everything right.

So here, class, are five things you have to do to knock off the Spurs.

• 1.) You gotta rebound. With the Spurs' Twin Towers of Tim Duncan and David Robinson, that's not going to be easy. You have to block them off the boards. You can't give up second shots to the Spurs. It's that simple.

• 2.) When you double, you have to get great rotation on the defense. You almost have to put two men on one of the Towers at one time or another -- and, probably, pretty much every time. That leaves three men to cover four, so the other defenders have to be quick. You have to get to the open Spurs, 'cause you know the Spurs are going to find the open man.

• 3.) You gotta hit the open shots. Everybody gets an open shot every once in a while, even against the Spurs. You have to hit them. You're not going to get more than one shot a trip with those big guys in there rebounding.

• 4.) Hope at least one of the Spurs' big guys gets into foul trouble. You just have to keep taking it inside and taking it to the big guys. Yeah, you're going to get it blocked once in a while. But you go inside, fake them, go up strong and try to get some cheap fouls.

• 5.) Stop their outside shooters. This isn't going to be easy, either, especially if you're doubling down on the big guys. But you don't leave Jaren Jackson open, and you have to get into Sean Elliott's face, too. Those guys can kill you from outside. Even Avery Johnson can knock them down. It goes back to getting good rotation on the defense.

Right now, the Spurs' opponent in the Finals is still up in the air. The Pacers probably match up against the Spurs' big men a little better. The Knicks are faster, though, so that could give the Spurs some trouble.

The Spurs are going to be tough to handle defensively for either team. Not only do they have the Towers, they have some great perimeter defenders. Mario Elie did a great job against Isaiah Rider of the Blazers, and Kobe Bryant of the Lakers.

I still favor the Spurs to win it all. They've been my team all year to win the NBA championship.

But, as I said, you never know.

Alex English is the NBA analyst for CNN/SI, the 24-hour sports news network from CNN and Sports Illustrated. Be sure to catch English on "This Week in the NBA" Sundays at 10:30 a.m., then replayed at 11:30 p.m. on CNN and CNN/SI.