Almost everything worked perfectly last season for Jazz center Mark Eaton, who won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award and earned himself a rich, new contract.
Just imagine if he'd played more games against San Antonio.In six outings against the Spurs, Eaton averaged 11 rebounds, 10 blocked shots and nine points, all way above his regular numbers. "It was a lot of fun," says Eaton.
All that domination could change tonight, when the Spurs visit the Salt Palace with rookie center David Robinson.
Through summer-league play, the exhibition schedule and his first two regular-season NBA games, Robinson has proved to be everything the Spurs were waiting for and much more. His two-game totals: 42 points, 35 rebounds, nine blocks.
And just look at some of the reviews:
Magic Johnson: "It's hard to say he's a rookie. He's a man already, you know. Some guys just aren't ever rookies."
Laker Coach Pat Riley: ". . . simply a great player. He's a presence offensively - running, getting the second shots. They truly have a significant center."
Dallas Coach John MacLeod: "Write this down - Robinson's going to be a star in this league. He's the franchise. He can turn you around real fast."
For the last two seasons, while waiting for the 7-foot-1 Ensign Robinson to complete his U.S. Navy duty, the Spurs tried to play with Frank Brickowski at center and struggled - for more reasons than just having to play Brickowski. Coach Larry Brown went through all kinds of madness in his first year, with fighting and backbiting among the players and other troubles resulting in the worst record (21-61) in franchise history.
If the Spurs management needed any more incentive to clean house, there was the idea of surrounding Robinson with veteran players, taking pressure off him. They landed forward Terry Cummings from Milwaukee and guard Maurice Cheeks from Philadelphia.
If the Spurs had stayed the same, "It definitely would have been a nightmare for the first year or two," Robinson told the Washington Post. "Nobody really deserves that kind of pressure, and I'm glad they did make those moves. Those guys are great - especially with their leadership more than anything else."
Suddenly, people are expecting big things from the Spurs. After Phoenix improved by 27 wins last season, Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons says, "San Antonio will be the Suns of 1989-90."
Some observers even like the Spurs' chances of challenging or overtaking the Jazz in the Midwest Division. If nothing else, the Jazz will certainly have a tougher time in games with San Antonio than last season, when they won five times by an average of 14 points before losing the sixth.
Eaton came up big in all those games, blocking shots the way he did in the old days when teams didn't know better and kept going right at him. "They were a very young team - they had a lot of inexperienced guys," notes Eaton, who had an NBA season-high 14 blocks in one game.
Robinson is young, too, but he's not your average rookie. "I feel like I've been around forever," Robinson said after the Spurs' season-opening win over the Lakers. "I definintely don't think of myself as a rookie. I've got a lot of confidence in what I can do."