On a night when San Antonio coach Bob Hill should've been celebrating his team's 60th victory and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, he had to deal with another Dennis Rodman problem.
Hill limited Rodman to only nine minutes in the Spurs' 112-111 victory Thursday night over the Dallas Mavericks that clinched the NBA's best record this season, then accused his temperamental forward of not trying."Guys who don't play, sit down," Hill said. "He wasn't here. If he doesn't want to play hard, we've got other guys who will."
In those nine minutes before his hometown crowd, Rodman gathered two personal fouls and a technical.
When he entered the game for the first time midway through the second quarter, his shirt was untucked. He seemed to saunter to the foul line, and he slowly tucked it in while gazing around the arena.
Within two minutes, he picked up his first foul. Three minutes later, Rodman was at the free throw line. Not only did he miss both shots, but they seemed more thrown toward the hoop than actually shot. He's normally a 68 percent foul shooter.
Where Rodman was really missed was on the boards. Although he leads the league in rebounding at nearly 17 per game, he had only four as Dallas outrebounded San Antonio 47-39.
"We could've won the game a lot easier if Dennis had come to play," Hill said.
This was only Rodman's fifth game back since missing 14 games with a separated right shoulder. He needs 10 more rebounds over the final two games for 800 this season, which would qualify him for his fourth straight rebounding title. Only Moses Malone and Wilt Chamberlain have ever won four straight.
"We need to get Dennis back in the fold," said point guard Avery Johnson, who had 22 points and 11 assists Thursday.