Larry Brown spent much of last year with a ringing sound in his ears. Doctors told him the ringing would stop if his jaw was re-aligned. Brown figured it would at least be tolerable if he had David Robinson at center.
Brown's 17th season of coaching was his worst. It was not only the first time in his coaching career that his team finished with a record worse than .500, but San Antonio missed that mark by 40 games as the Spurs finished 21-61.This season, however, Brown will be playing with a full deck. Robinson has completed two years in the Navy, and during the preseason, he looked sensational.
"When David was growing up," said Brown, "he was so good at everything he tried. He didn't know if he wanted to be Mozart, Thomas Edison or Bon Jovi. But he's focusing on basketball now, and he's getting better every day."
So is the ringing in Brown's ears. It is still there, but it is sounding more melodic, which probably is a result of the addition of Robinson and the massive changes the Spurs made. Only three players - Willie Anderson, Vernon Maxwell and Frank Brickowski - return. The Spurs traded for 11-year veteran Maurice Cheeks, 33, and seven-year veteran Terry Cummings, 28, and added rookie forward Sean Elliott. That should be enough for them to challenge for the division title, and perhaps even the championship.
The Spurs will have tough division competition in the form of Utah, which returns Karl Malone and John Stockton. The buzzword in Jazz camp this season has been "flexibility," as Coach Jerry Sloan has experimented with a lineup that includes Malone at center and a guard - either Bob Hansen or rookie Blue Edwards - at small forward. The Jazz were blasted out of the playoffs in three games by the Warriors' small lineup last season, so Sloan is hoping that a different look will help the Jazz last longer when the playoffs begin.
Dallas missed the playoffs by one game, but the Mavericks played 63 games without Roy Tarpley, who had minor knee surgery and a major drug problem. Tarpley had a second stint in a rehabilitation clinic and now has two strikes in the NBA's anti-drug program. One more, and he will be suspended for at least two years.
If Tarpley is healthy and clean, the Mavericks are a championship contender. Two years ago, the 7-foot, 250-pound center-forward became the first reserve to finish in the top 10 in rebounding. He averaged 11.8 and finished seventh in the NBA as he won the Sixth Man award. He also has outstanding offensive skills, and this season, he will be a starter.
"If he's healthy and playing, they're right up there again," Rockets Coach Don Chaney said. "But that really depends on one guy. I hate to say that because in the NBA, you don't have a one-man team. But he's such an important part of what they do, he makes a difference on whether they win or lose."
Chaney's reluctance to qualify a team's chance to win on one player is strange, because if any team is a one-man team, it's Houston. If Akeem Olajuwon, who was hospitalized during the summer because of phlebitis in his left leg, misses significant time, the Rockets will be a lottery team.
Denver qualified for the playoffs last season, but the Nuggets' only significant change was the loss of backup center Wayne Cooper, who went to the Blazers. The Nuggets will be entertaining offensively with Alex English and Fat Lever, but lack of depth probably will cause them to miss the playoffs.
Two expansion teams - one from last year and the newest one - round out the division. Charlotte added J.R. Reid to a team that won 20 games, but the Hornets can expect only slight improvement. And Minnesota encountered nothing but preseason problems with the holdouts of Tyrone Corbin and Steve Johnson. The Timberwolves could challenge the expansion record for the fewest number of victories, which is 15.