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Nah, I dont think it will. I like him and all, but i dont think its going to happen.
I'll do better than that...I'll ask Avery Johnson:
When Elie's on his game, he's super Mario
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- For all the talk about Tim Duncan and David Robinson, Mario Elie probably has done as much as any player to transform the San Antonio Spurs from a good team to a le contender.
He's a tough defender, he's played on two NBA championship teams in Houston and, most of all, he's brought an at ude to a team that needed one.
Elie was a major factor in holding down Isaiah Rider in San Antonio's 80-76 victory over Portland Saturday in Game 1 of the Western Conference final, and he had a crucial drive to the basket, as well as two important, free throws down the stretch.
With the experience that comes from nine previous playoff appearances, he keeps his team from ever becoming complacent.
Game 2 tonight, he tells his teammates, "will be the toughest game of the series."
"No. 1, he stays angry," Avery Johnson said. "He's one of the angriest guys on the court. On the court, he has an edge, he's bitter about a lot of things. He stays mad all the time and we kind of needed that little edge."
Coach Gregg Popovich used the same word when describing Elie's importance.
"He adds an edge to your team. He really helps you create a personality, a toughness," Popovich said. "He's somebody who doesn't accept losing. If we lose a game, he doesn't want to talk any of us. We're all bums, and that's kind of good."
Johnson said it's no coincidence San Antonio got rolling after a 6-8 start when Elie's role grew.
"We finally got Mario into the rotation," Johnson said, "and we took off from there."
Elie saw a blandness on his new team after he signed with a Spurs as a free agent before this season began.
"I thought at first when I got here that we were sort of a corporate team, just punch in and have no fun," he said.
For Elie, who had to claw his way up to the NBA by playing in Europe and the Continental Basketball Association, there was no excuse for just going through the motions.
"We had a lot of laid-back guys, and that's just not my personality," he said. "I just try to bring some fun, excitement, some chest bumping, some high-fiving, just having fun and enjoying the game. It seems like now our guys are showing a lot of emotion."
They will need it tonight against a Blazer team that remains confident even though it has lost four of five from San Antonio this season, a confidence that comes from playing the Spurs close in each loss.
Rider, who came to practice at the Alamodome on Sunday wearing a straw cowboy hat that looked as if somebody bit a hole in the brim, noted that Portland lost by just four points Saturday despite a sub-par performance by almost everyone on the team except Rasheed Wallace.
"What's so funny is we're still confident we can beat this team," Rider said. "We haven't played well at all against this team, not for 48 minutes. We feel if we play good, we'll be fine."
Wallace, whose size, long arms, jumping ability and quickness create a serious matchup problem for San Antonio, scored a career playoff-high 28 points in Game 1, but no other Blazer managed more than Rider's 13.
Portland also committed 16 turnovers, twice as many as the Spurs.
"For us to have a chance to win, we need other guys to step up and have good games also," Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "That's the good thing about our team. They could be over there worrying about Rasheed all day long and it's not Rasheed tomorrow, its somebody else. That's been the strength of our team all year long. You don't necessarily know who to prepare for, who it can be on any night."
The Spurs didn't think much of their game Saturday, either. They believe they relied too much on Duncan and Robinson, who scored 21 points apiece.
"Basically, we've got to shoot the ball better," Robinson said. "We shoot 40 per cent it's going to be tough for us to put together a good game."
Still, San Antonio was good enough for its sixth straight win in the playoffs. Three more, and the Spurs have their first trip to the NBA finals.
"We had five days off. We weren't really in-synch the way we should have been," Johnson said. "But whether you win ugly, whether you win pretty, it really doesn't matter during this time of the year, as long as you win."
Amazingly there was a huge controversy that season at precisely the moment we were 6-8 when Mario Elie called out the team for being soft...it was a huge ordeal and it altered the course of this franchise permanently.
6-8.
If that's what they all claim then they are all wrong...Oh, I forgot, you were actually in the lockerroom, so you know better than any of those people, don't you? They'll all claim the same thing, but they must all be wrong.
Because I got to watch it first hand...AJ didn't lead us to jack prior to Mario Elie coming here and Mario Elie's first season with the team we won a le. Ask Hakeem whoi he'd rather have...
He didn't even make the ing playoffs when he was given the benefit of AJ's leadership.
While AJ's biggest achievement on a team without Mario Elie is getting butt ed by Sam Cassell and Derek Fisher.
No, he pissed on my franchise after leaving it.Listen, I don't think AJ should have his number retired, either. But the hate is out of hand. Did he run over your dog or something?
He wasn't a good enough of a player for us to get away with that. AJ.
In other words you have no standard for which AJ raises the bar, so a mythical standard is created to justify his jersey retirment...Overrated? Check.
Not so talented? Check.
No jumper? Check.
Starting due primarily to lack of talent in the backcourt? Check.
Team leader? No Question.
I can do the same thing for Malik...he's been a huge part of the heart and soul of this team since he got here.
Prove me wrong.
Cite his leadership all you want...but you still have to explain our le in 03.
Nah, I dont think it will. I like him and all, but i dont think its going to happen.
No!
I think Rose's longevity and 2 le rings makes a strong case for his number to be retired, but I'm not sure his play warrants it.
Mike Mitc . Larry Kenon. Artis Gilmore. Alvin Robertson. Terry mings.
All those guys were better players for the Spurs than Malik Rose. Malik is a backup, sometimes the backup to the backup. It would be like the Rockets trying to retire Matt Bullard's number.
It's a slippery slope. First you retire AJ's number, then Malik's, and before you know it you're conquering most of Europe and killing six million Jews.
I saw a close Dunk once...
He touched the rim, he could've easily dunked it, but decided not to at the last minute.
I didn't think he was able to before that bucket.
I'm not saying Malik Rose is the type of qualityplayer who deserves to have his # retired.
But he's got 2 rings and longevity going for him.
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