whottt
11-19-2006, 02:56 AM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA111906.01C.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.305b321.html
Buck Harvey: Spurs alter order and their image
Web Posted: 11/18/2006 10:36 PM CST
San Antonio Express-News
The change would have happened last week had the 6-1 Spurs beaten the 1-6 Bobcats. They instead will have to wait.
But it's going to happen, perhaps as early as Monday, assuming Tim Duncan doesn't do a Michael Jordan and head toward baseball. Another win will be added to the franchise total, another calculation will be made — and the Spurs will replace the Boston Celtics as one of the top two in the NBA's all-time standings.
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"Unbelievable," said Red McCombs, and he's underplaying this.
The change is remarkable because there rarely is one. The Celtics and Lakers have been either No. 1 or No. 2 in winning percentage among active franchises for about 20 years, and they would have held their positions longer if not for another late entry.
The Milwaukee Bucks, lifted in their second season by a rookie named Lew Alcindor, began a run that lasted a little more than 15 years. During the 1987-88 season, the Lakers passed them.
Otherwise, the Celtics and Lakers have had the highest winning percentages. For Boston, this has been tradition; the Celtics haven't been out of the top two since the '50s.
Buck Harvey
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It's not shocking the Celtics would eventually endure down years. But fans in Boston could have never guessed the one who would catch them. The Spurs, in 1976, might have been their last guess.
No two franchises differed more 30 years ago. One was storied, the other an ABA refugee. The Celtics were solid, with names everyone knew, and the Spurs would be led by a star who had seemingly come from nowhere, in a place no one was sure about.
"The writers didn't know San Antonio then," said Jeff Cohen, who covered the Spurs then and went on to become the editor of the Houston Chronicle. "Some of them probably thought San Antonio was a dusty, West Texas town."
The perception was fuzzy but strong, and McCombs remembers a conversation he had with the owner of the Lakers then, the late Jack Kent Cooke. "He told me, 'If the Lakers were to lose to New Jersey or Denver, we could live with that. But we couldn't live with losing to you guys. And the thing is? My coaches tell me you could beat us.'"
After their first NBA game the Spurs had the league's best winning percentage. A 1-0 record has that effect. McCombs was there in Philadelphia that night, and the memory is so fresh for him that — after all the years and all the games since — he remembers the score.
Spurs 121, 76ers 118.
"It was glorious in every sense of the word," McCombs said. "Philadelphia had just purchased Dr. J (Julius Erving), and there was a big crowd, and we won. I saw more reporters there than I had ever seen in the ABA days."
But then he kept hearing the reporters asking about Erving, and that was old news to McCombs. San Antonio had seen Erving in the ABA. So McCombs announced to the media in the locker room that they were missing the story. Hadn't his Spurs won?
McCombs says there was silence until a Philadelphia reporter answered him. "Who gives a bleep," the reporter said.
The Spurs didn't overwhelm the league that season. They won 44 games and lost in the first round of the playoffs to, again, the Celtics. But they won 52 the next season, 48 after that.
They kept on with good players and better luck, and here's the stat that sums up this franchise more than a winning percentage does: This is the Spurs' 30th year in the NBA, and they've played every season but four with a Hall of Fame lock.
Unbelievable fits there, too.
The Spurs have surged in the Duncan era, winning more than any franchise, and they've been in third place in the all-time standings for several years. The Phoenix Suns trail in fourth by a sizeable difference, and, for the record, the Bucks are now sixth.
Then came Wednesday. Had the Spurs beaten Charlotte, coincidentally with the worst record among active franchises, their winning percentage would have risen to .59195. Even though the Celtics, also 1-6 as Wednesday's games began, won that same evening, their mark would have been .59193.
The Spurs instead lost, which merely delayed what comes next. And after they pass the Celtics?
Only the Lakers will be ahead, and not by much.
Buck Harvey: Spurs alter order and their image
Web Posted: 11/18/2006 10:36 PM CST
San Antonio Express-News
The change would have happened last week had the 6-1 Spurs beaten the 1-6 Bobcats. They instead will have to wait.
But it's going to happen, perhaps as early as Monday, assuming Tim Duncan doesn't do a Michael Jordan and head toward baseball. Another win will be added to the franchise total, another calculation will be made — and the Spurs will replace the Boston Celtics as one of the top two in the NBA's all-time standings.
advertisement
"Unbelievable," said Red McCombs, and he's underplaying this.
The change is remarkable because there rarely is one. The Celtics and Lakers have been either No. 1 or No. 2 in winning percentage among active franchises for about 20 years, and they would have held their positions longer if not for another late entry.
The Milwaukee Bucks, lifted in their second season by a rookie named Lew Alcindor, began a run that lasted a little more than 15 years. During the 1987-88 season, the Lakers passed them.
Otherwise, the Celtics and Lakers have had the highest winning percentages. For Boston, this has been tradition; the Celtics haven't been out of the top two since the '50s.
Buck Harvey
Got a question for Buck Harvey? Use the form below and fire away!
*Your name
*Your e-mail
Your hometown
*Your question
*Required
It's not shocking the Celtics would eventually endure down years. But fans in Boston could have never guessed the one who would catch them. The Spurs, in 1976, might have been their last guess.
No two franchises differed more 30 years ago. One was storied, the other an ABA refugee. The Celtics were solid, with names everyone knew, and the Spurs would be led by a star who had seemingly come from nowhere, in a place no one was sure about.
"The writers didn't know San Antonio then," said Jeff Cohen, who covered the Spurs then and went on to become the editor of the Houston Chronicle. "Some of them probably thought San Antonio was a dusty, West Texas town."
The perception was fuzzy but strong, and McCombs remembers a conversation he had with the owner of the Lakers then, the late Jack Kent Cooke. "He told me, 'If the Lakers were to lose to New Jersey or Denver, we could live with that. But we couldn't live with losing to you guys. And the thing is? My coaches tell me you could beat us.'"
After their first NBA game the Spurs had the league's best winning percentage. A 1-0 record has that effect. McCombs was there in Philadelphia that night, and the memory is so fresh for him that — after all the years and all the games since — he remembers the score.
Spurs 121, 76ers 118.
"It was glorious in every sense of the word," McCombs said. "Philadelphia had just purchased Dr. J (Julius Erving), and there was a big crowd, and we won. I saw more reporters there than I had ever seen in the ABA days."
But then he kept hearing the reporters asking about Erving, and that was old news to McCombs. San Antonio had seen Erving in the ABA. So McCombs announced to the media in the locker room that they were missing the story. Hadn't his Spurs won?
McCombs says there was silence until a Philadelphia reporter answered him. "Who gives a bleep," the reporter said.
The Spurs didn't overwhelm the league that season. They won 44 games and lost in the first round of the playoffs to, again, the Celtics. But they won 52 the next season, 48 after that.
They kept on with good players and better luck, and here's the stat that sums up this franchise more than a winning percentage does: This is the Spurs' 30th year in the NBA, and they've played every season but four with a Hall of Fame lock.
Unbelievable fits there, too.
The Spurs have surged in the Duncan era, winning more than any franchise, and they've been in third place in the all-time standings for several years. The Phoenix Suns trail in fourth by a sizeable difference, and, for the record, the Bucks are now sixth.
Then came Wednesday. Had the Spurs beaten Charlotte, coincidentally with the worst record among active franchises, their winning percentage would have risen to .59195. Even though the Celtics, also 1-6 as Wednesday's games began, won that same evening, their mark would have been .59193.
The Spurs instead lost, which merely delayed what comes next. And after they pass the Celtics?
Only the Lakers will be ahead, and not by much.