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Saturday, May 31, 2003
Oyson: The toast of San Antonio
By Manuel N. Oyson Jr.
Counter Punch
Step aside, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and David Robinson. Make way for Steve Kerr. Who the heck is Steve Kerr? He was a member of the six-time NBA champion Chicago Bulls in the 1990s in the Michael Jordan era. He has six championship rings on his 10 fingers. More than that, he is recognized as one of the most reliable 3-point shooters of his era. He is now the toast of San Antonio. Even if it is only a fleeting moment.
Billionaire Mark Cuban and his Dallas Mavericks will have to wait another year or more before they can get their first NBA championship in their franchise history. In one of the greatest comebacks in a basketball game, the San Antonio Spurs yesterday waylaid Dallas for the third straight time in the latter’s homecourt, 90-78, and avoided going back home for a seventh game.
RAPIER. The 12-point difference is the same margin in Dallas’ 103-91 crusher in Game 5.
The Mavericks, known as the Dallas Chaparrals in the defunct ABA, also lost Games 3 and 4 at home. The first three quarters indicated that a seventh and deciding game would be needed to determine the Western representative to the NBA Finals next week.
But the Spurs showed that what the Mavs did to them in Game 5 in San Antonio’s backyard, they could do better. Besides, they did not want to go back to San Antonio for a seventh game because of battle fatigue. The Spurs wanted to get it over with, as they smelled blood from a wounded prey. The hometown crowd would just have to wait for another opportunity.
Thus, the Spurs unloosed a paralyzing comeback after being 15 points down in the middle of the third quarter. They nailed the big one and earned their second trip to the Finals in four years. San Antonio badly needed a rapier to foil Dallas’ slashing thrusts. Coach Greg Popovich found it in the seldom-used reserve guard, Steve Kerr. The blonde-haired 6-foot-1 dynamo responded to the occasion.
He fueled a 21-0 San Antonio blitz in the fourth quarter that silenced the home crowd for good. He was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in his brief five-minute stint in the fourth. From a 68-71 deficit entering the last quarter, the Spurs slew Dallas with a repertoire of outside shots and inside incursions to pull away for keeps, 83-71, with less than four minutes to play. Popovich promptly pulled out Kerr after the latter had done his singular hatchet job.
FORECAST. Dallas barely escaped being held to a record team low of five points in a quarter by any team in NBA playoff history. Regardless of the outcome, American president George W. Bush is nevertheless happy and proud. After all, regardless of who won, both teams are from the great state of Texas. Whether San Antonio can beat the New Jersey Nets for the world crown itself, is another story. But I say it again, my forecast has not changed in favor of San Antonio over New Jersey.
The Los Angeles Lakers swept the New Jersey Nets in four games in last year’s Finals. This time around, it is my gut feel that San Antonio will deny the Nets another opportunity to bag the big one. Before the Conference playoffs, my picks were New Jersey and San Antonio. I have not been wrong, even during the semifinals of the series.
(May 31, 2003 issue)
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