Spurs must guard against inconsistency: the missing pieces to a San Antonio championship have been on the roster all along

Sean Deveney

Folks in San Antonio have been looking all over for signs of Rasho Nesterovic's game, from the peak of the Tower of the Americas to the basement of the Alamo. Free-agent signee Brent Barry, an alleged sharpshooter, has struggled badly and dealt with a one-month stretch in which he made only four of 34 3-pointers. The interest of the Spurs in power forward Karl Malone (and vice versa) seems to fluctuate daily.

Holes? The Spurs have them, just like every other team. But they also have the best chance at a championship. That's because what this bunch of Spurs accomplishes has nothing to do with Rasho's rebounding, Barry's bombs or Malone's "hunting" trips. This season's team will go just as last year's went--as far as Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili can take it.

Start with Tim Duncan, and you have a chance at a championship. He scores efficiently, he passes, and he is having his finest defensive season. But whether the Spurs can translate that chance into reality depends on Parker and Ginobili, who have gotten steadily better as the season has gone on and have helped the Spurs to a 25-6 start. "What we do now, when it is early in the season, that's OK," Parker says. "But we have been around and in the big situations, and we know that is what matters most."

Parker should know. He was a make-or-break guy for the Spurs last year. He rode a wave of hype after two Spurs wins in the Western Conference semifinals against the Lakers, playing with such quickness that Gary Payton seemed to be wearing concrete sneakers. Then came four losses in which Parker was terrible (31.0 percent shooting, 4.0 turnovers per game) and Ginobili was only marginally effective off the bench. That cemented the reputation of the Parker-Ginobili backcourt--talented, flashy, but wildly inconsistent.

Bring in Malone, wake up Rasho, re-introduce Barry to the net--none of that will bring the Spurs a title. San Antonio's backcourt of the future must become the backcourt of the present by becoming reliable. The Spurs have committed to both guards, signing Parker to a six-year, $66 million extension last offseason and giving Ginobili six years and $52 million. Now, Parker and Ginobili must pay dividends.

The early returns have been encouraging. Ginobili is playing with confidence. He has picked up the shooting slack from Barry by hitting 39.4 percent of his 3s and has been typically pesky on defense with 1.9 steals per game. Parker has improved his shooting after a slow start and had his best game of the season (14-of-20 shooting, 29 points) in a key win over the Suns last week. He's also playing the best defense of his career.

Ginobili and Parker still make iffy decisions--each averages 2.6 turnovers. But they're pushing the Spurs' tempo and getting easy baskets in transition. They've helped boost the Spurs to 97.3 points per game, 5.8 more than last year.

"We are going to be aggressive, and sometimes you make a mistake," Ginobili says. "That's how Tony and I play."

The pair also has developed chemistry. "Playing with Manu," Parker says, "it is like playing with nay brother. We have a sense about each other--about where we are going to be on the floor. We just have to keep that going all year."

Preferably into May and June. Duncan is the league's most consistent player. Opponents will double-team him, but his height and passing skill make it easy for him to move the ball to the perimeter guys. Those perimeter players have the potential to be among the best in the league--they just need to borrow a little of Duncan's consistency.

"If our outside guys are going, we feel we can win a championship," backup forward Malik Rose says. "With Tim inside, you know what you're going to get. But we need the guys outside to make their shots and play smart. That's going to be the difference."

speed reads

By hanging former coach Jeff Bzdelik out to dry last season, Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe helped create the mess the Nuggets are in this season. Perhaps Bzdelik was not the right man for the job. But with a team that lacks cohesiveness and seems difficult to coach, Vandeweghe can't afford to make a mistake with the next coaching choice--and he has a shallow pool from which to choose.

A glorious return of Antoine Walker to the Celtics? No way. A Celtics source says the possibility has not even been considered, and bringing Walker back would make no sense for the team's rebuilding plans.

Pressure Ray Allen. Three of Seattle's losses have shown that the Sonics can be beaten by planting a physical defender on Allen to prevent him from shooting 3s. The Sonics also can be beaten by running against them, but that's more difficult because they shoot and rebound so well.

INSIDE DISH

PF Jermaine O'Neal has regained his scoring touch, and the Pacers seem prepared to regain control of the Central Division. By season's end, this team could well be better than last year's 61-win bunch, even without SF Ron Attest. As good as Arrest is, he is a distraction that sometimes drags down the Pacers off the court, and he takes too many shots on the court. Instead of Artest, the Pacers will have a combination of G/F Stephen Jackson, SG Reggie Miller and SG Fred Jones, all solid defenders and capable scorers. Indiana also will have more confidence in bench denizens such as C David Harrison and SF Austin Croshere, who helped hold the team together while suspensions and injuries ravaged the lineup. And C Jeff Foster is playing with more energy and confidence than at any time in his career. In his first 11 games after returning from a hip injury, Foster averaged 11.2 points and 12.5 rebounds and shot 56.0 percent. * In a matter of five days, the Rockets shook up their roster, acquiring SGs David Wesley and Jon Barry and sending out SF Jim Jackson, SF Bostjan Nachbar and PG Tyronn Lue. The Rockets are most comfortable with Tracy McGrady at the small forward spot, and though Jackson is a favorite of coach Jeff Van Gundy, he is a natural small forward and could not adjust to playing shooting guard. What might be disturbing for Rockets fans is that Nachbar is a promising 24-year-old and Lue is 27-Van Gundy never has shown an inclination for developing young talent, and that pattern is holding true in Houston. He prefers dealing with overachieving veterans, such as the Knicks he led to the 1999 Finals. Barry is 35, and Wesley is 34. * The best young dunker in the league might be Miami SG Dwyane Wade, but don't look for him to be in the dunk contest during All-Star weekend. Wade says he is not a style dunker and thus figures he would not have much of a chance. "I can't do what those guys in the contest do; that's not my style," he says. * Utah endured a 5-18 stretch after its exciting 6-1 start, and though most of the blame for the slump has been pinned on the loss of SF Andrei Kirilenko, the team's defensive ace, the play of the point guards deserves equal discredit. Carlos Arroyo and Raul Lopez were pleasant surprises last season, but both have been terrible shooters who have been plagued by turnovers this season. Both also struggle on defense. Hoping to revive some of the early-season magic-when Arroyo and Lopez were hurt-coach Jerry Sloan has benched Arroyo and re-inserted PG Keith McLeod, a surprisingly effective scorer, into the starting lineup.

The Timberwolves might have dodged a bullet when SG Latrell Sprewell--in the final year of his contract-angrily passed on their three-year offer before the season. That situation, of course, spawned Sprewell's boneheaded, "I've got a family to feed," remark. Of bigger concern for Sprewell, 34, is mat age seems to be catching UB to him. He has not been effective in creating his own shot and has been inconsistent. The Timberwolves have given a bigger offensive role to SF Wally Szczerbiak, which also has limited Sprewell's production. Minnesota now says it won't negotiate a new deal during the season, which is likely to leave Sprewell on the free-agent market, Says one Western Conference general manager: "He would probably get something near the midlevel exception."

There's no place like home

Devin Brown moved to San Antonio when he was two months old. He has not strayed far since. After a brilliant career as a swingman at South San Antonio's West Campus high school--he averaged 32.3 points his senior season and broke the greater San Antonio career scoring record-Brown passed on scholarships from Wichita State and Texas Tech to attend Texas-San Antonio.

All he did in four years with the Roadrunners was rack up 1,922 points, a school record. Last year, he had his No. 23 retired by the school. His number is retired at his high school, too.

Now, can he get No. 23 retired for San Antonio's NBA club?

Probably not, but Brown at least has proved he's a useful reserve for the Spurs. He went undrafted after college, but his hustle and defense won him a place in the NBA--and it only fits that he is back in San Antonio and thriving. Over the past two seasons, Brown has honed his offensive game. He is averaging 7.3 points and shooting 45.4 percent.

"It's just been confidence," Brown says. "I know I can play, and I am starting to gain my confidence."

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