This Johnny Ludden is fooling himself. The Spurs are in the Championship b/c of Tim Ducan. David Robinson has been a NON-FACTOR the past couple of seasons. He should not even be one the 50 greatest players. Category: Spurs Spurs' big men learned working together pays off By Johnny Ludden San Antonio Express-News Web Posted : 06/03/2003 12:00 AM The way David Robinson remembers it, he was walking down the street in Kapolei, Hawaii. He knows he wasn't sitting in front of the TV. Or waiting for the phone to ring. And he certainly wasn't carrying a rabbit's foot or some other lucky charm. It was May 18, 1997, and as best as Robinson can recall, he was simply enjoying another beautiful afternoon on the Big Island until a passer-by recognized him. "Hey David! You guys won the lottery! You're getting Tim Duncan!" Robinson thanked the man for the news and continued on his way. He didn't know a lot about Duncan, but he liked what he had seen a year earlier when a team of college stars almost upset the Dream Team in a tune-up game for the Olympics. Duncan wasn't flashy, just solid. He more than held his own against Robinson, Shaquille O'Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon. "I remember thinking in my head, 'Boy, this guy is going to be pretty good when he gets in the league,'" Robinson said. "Lo and behold, he comes to my team." Six years later, it has become their team. The partnership that some doubted could ever work has prospered. Duncan and Robinson did not become Ewing and Cartwright or Chamberlain and Thurmond or even Olajuwon and Sampson. They have succeeded where other tower tandems failed. Together, Duncan and Robinson have produced the Spurs' only NBA championship. Three times in their six years, they have finished with the league's best record. They helped deliver a new arena that ensured the franchise's viability in San Antonio. This week they are back in the NBA Finals. And even now, with Robinson less than three weeks away from retirement, with both his minutes and production down, each says he owes much of his success to the other. "It was like a dream my entire life to play with somebody as skilled as David and my size, too," Duncan said. "I just thought we would win like that. I didn't see why not." Neither did Robinson or Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. When Boston coach Rick Pitino, according to Popovich, called "three minutes and 48 seconds" after the Spurs had won the lottery to offer anyone on his roster for the rights to Duncan, Popovich quickly declined. Two days later, Popovich flew to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands to chat up Duncan. Not too long after the draft, Popovich asked Duncan if he would play on the Spurs' summer-league team in Salt Lake City — an unusual request of a No. 1 pick. "It took me about three seconds to convince him to go," Popovich said. "That told me what kind of person I was dealing with." Neither Duncan nor Robinson hesitated when Popovich asked them to get together for the first time later that summer in a gym in Aspen, Colo. Will Perdue, the Spurs' backup center, joined in the workouts, which included a series of one-on-one games. Popovich joked that Robinson, who was coming off back and foot injuries, "dominated so much I wished I had drafted (Scot) Pollard." In truth, Popovich could already see how Duncan and Robinson would complement each other. Duncan, far more fundamentally sound, could alleviate the beatings Robinson was taking in the low post. Both were versatile enough to play facing the basket, and Robinson had enjoyed his greatest success positioned at the elbow of the lane where he could shoot his jumper or take his defender off the dribble. Popovich, like his former boss, Larry Brown, also long believed Robinson best impacted a game defensively. In addition to being one of the game's greatest shot-blockers, Robinson was athletic enough to jump out on the perimeter. Robinson began to see the same. When training camp began, former Spurs forward Chuck Person quickly nicknamed Duncan "The Waiter." "He keeps serving everyone up," Person said, "on a platter." Others still had their doubts. Though Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon — then the most heralded combo of 7-footers — took Houston to the Finals in 1986, they also began to get in each other's way after Sampson was slowed by a knee injury. "(Duncan)'s a bonus for them, a helluva bonus," said then-Houston guard Eddie Johnson after seeing Duncan in a preseason game his rookie year. "But to me, it remains to be seen if the twin-towers concept can work. Even when the Rockets had it with Ralph and Hakeem, it worked for a while, but then they struggled. I refuse to believe that this is going to put the Spurs head and shoulders above the other teams in the West." "The difference with our team is that Charles (Barkley) has deferred to Dream. He knows Hakeem is going to get the low post most of the time and Charles is OK with that. How is David going to be able to do that? I don't know." It turned out Robinson, who had averaged 25.5 points and 11.7 rebounds in his first eight seasons, was also agreeable to deferring. Popovich never declared Duncan had supplanted Robinson as the focal point of the Spurs' offense, but it became evident midway through the 1997-98 season when Duncan's shot total began to increase. "I spent zero sleepless nights wondering how I was going to convince David that Tim was going to be our go-to guy," Popovich said. "It was never a long discussion, never a persuasion deal. David was an incredible study in realizing what was best for the team." Robinson never complained, but the adjustment wasn't painless. With the offense running through Duncan, Robinson had fewer shots to find his rhythm. As recently as last season, Robinson, in a slump, spoke to Popovich about clarifying his role. Nothing had changed, Popovich said. He wanted him to focus on his strengths: defending and rebounding. "One of the things about this league is you have to know who you are," Robinson said. "You have to know what talents you have and bring them to the table. For my first eight years, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to make this team better. That's been my role, my mentality. I've never been a Michael Jordan type of player. That's not my game. So I guess in some ways Tim kind of let me find my own place." Robinson did the same for Duncan. Instead of mentoring Duncan, Robinson told him only, "If you ever need anything, I'll be here for you." "That was big for me," Duncan said, "because I learn better from experience and doing things myself." Only Malik Rose, who joined the Spurs in Duncan's rookie year, has played alongside Duncan and Robinson all six years. Each season, Popovich, Spurs general manager R.C. Buford and director of player personnel Sam Schuler have surrounded their two cornerstones with different role players. "Now they know the blueprint," said Orlando coach Doc Rivers. "Every summer it seems like they get the right pieces to fit around their guys. I don't know if anyone has done a better job." The Spurs' success, Rivers said, begins with the chemistry between their two captains. Though Robinson is a decade older and doesn't share all the same interests as Duncan, the two have developed a good relationship away from the court. When Robinson and his wife, Valerie, renewed their wedding vows in Hawaii this summer, Duncan and his wife, Amy, attended. Each also has generously given to the other's charitable interests. "He's a very dear friend," Duncan said. "We've always had fun being around each other. Even after basketball, I'll consider him a friend." Duncan and Robinson have two to three more weeks to share the court. Robinson may see a bit more time against New Jersey than the 20.1 minutes he averaged in the conference finals. But his role, he said, will remain the same. "Tim is the big man," Robinson said. "He's the star. The rest of us just have to fill in the holes." "David saw what everybody saw," said Rivers, a former teammate of Robinson's. "He knew Tim was a tremendous player. But David also knew if it worked, they get a title." Maybe even two. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- jludden@express-news.net 06/03/2003
