Spurs open NBA season seeking first title repeat
LOS ANGELES: The defending champion San Antonio Spurs will try to accomplish a franchise first in the 2007-08 season that starts on Tuesday - back-to-back National Basketball Association titles.
San Antonio swept to its third title in five years - and its fourth in nine years - with a four-game sweep over the Cleveland Cavaliers in last June's NBA Finals.
But in a remarkably successful span - with championships in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007 - the Spurs have never been able to win consecutive titles.
Essentially unchanged this season, the team, led by superstar Tim Duncan and the ever-improving Tony Parker, is nevertheless tabbed by their rivals as the team to beat.
"They know how to do it and they know what it takes," says Chicago coach Scott Skiles.
While the NBA balance of power is still tipped toward the Spurs and their Western Conference cohorts, the Boston Celtics have created a buzz in the East with the acquistion of All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to play alongside longtime mainstay Paul Pierce.
NBA commissioner David Stern will be counting on a return to the court to turn fans' minds away from the disquieting specter raised by disgraced referee Tim Donaghy, who has admitted betting on games he officiated.
Donaghy is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to federal charges linked to illegal gambling, but Stern insists that NBA investigations have found Donaghy is a lone bad apple among the league's officiating corps.
"The current state of the record is that Mr. Donaghy acted alone," Stern said. "There are no other referees that bet on NBA games."
As the season commences, Stern is also keeping an eye on a sexual harrassment lawsuit against New York Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas.
A jury found Thomas liable for sexual harassment against a former female colleague, who was awarded more than $11 million in damages, but Thomas is appealing the verdict.
While Stern was upbeat about off-season NBA ventures in Europe and China, he will no doubt breathe a sigh of relief when the Spurs kick off the new season hosting the Portland Trail Blazers.
Teams gunning for the Spurs in the still-powerful Western Conference will again include the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns, with the Mavericks bidding to bounce back from a colossal postseason collapse.
Dallas, rebounding from its loss to Miami in the 2006 Finals, won 67 regular-season games. The Mavs then imploded in the first round against the Golden State Warriors.
German star Dirk Nowitzki, the NBA's Most Valuable Player, scored just eight points in the deciding game.
Nowitzki says he wants to focus on the future, but he admits the stinging memories remain.
"You don't want to harp on what you've done wrong, you've got to find ways to move on," he says. "But, still, the frustration - I won't forget."
The Suns, felled in the second round by San Antonio last season, have added veteran forward Grant Hill to an otherwise largely unchanged rotation that will again rely on an offense guided by point guard par excellence Steve Nash.
The Denver Nuggets, whose talented team finally gelled late last season, will be hoping to build on the strong form they showed in winning 10 of their last 11 games before falling to the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.
While the Houston Rockets are banking on the addition of Argentinian power forward Luis Scola to complement Chinese center Yao Ming and shooting guard Tracy McGrady, Los Angeles Lakers' big-scoring superstar Kobe Bryant still lacks a strong supporting cast.
It's a different story across the continent in Boston, where a July deal brought 10-time All-Star Garnett from Minnesota together with playmaker Pierce and veteran guard Ray Allen.
None of the three have ever been able to claim an NBA championship despite years of success on the court.
The new-look Celtics will still face a strong challenge in the East from the old-style Detroit Pistons, who appear poised for yet another 50-win season.
While the Cavaliers, led by young superstar LeBron James, will be determined to get back to the championship series, the Chicago Bulls will also be vying to build on a breakout 2006-07 season that saw Sudanese-born Briton Luol Deng emerge as star material.
The Bulls swept defending champion Miami in the second round of the playoffs, and the Heat - featuring superstar duo Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade - will be hoping to rebound from the disappointing, injury-riddled season that followed their 2005-06 championship run.
"Last year was a very difficult year for our entire team and franchise," says coach Pat Riley. "We got off to a horrible start with Shaq missing 44 games, ended on a bad note when Dwyane got injured and missed 25 of the last games of the year."
AFP
(China Daily 10/31/2007 page23)
