1990's Spurs Memories: Fragments: Part I

I have been a life-long Spurs fan. Here are the fragments from 1989-1994.

My 1980's Spurs memories are here.

Okay, technically I am starting with David Robinson's first year, 1989-90.  I hope you'll forgive my indulgence but it wouldn't feel right to group the 1989-90 season with the 1980's.

The 1989-90 season was one of those magical turn-around seasons. You know the type. It's when a team that has been terrible for eternity  break out with a star rookie and take their respective league by storm (for a 12 year old, 4 seasons is almost eternity).

San Antonio had David Robinson fever so bad they actually telecast preseason games. Yes, I still remember watching a preseason game against the brand-new Minnesota Timberwolves.

My dad manged to get us tickets to the regular season opener against the Lakers. I was thrilled to say the least and just like the 1988, the Spurs pulled off the upset.  David was impressive with 23 points, 17 boards and 3 blocks.  I don't have specific memories of the game, other than where our seats were and being really excited. For some reason, I remember my Aunt Nancy was in town, so when we got home, we told her all about the game.

Back in college I was getting rid of my old sports cards and came across this ticket. I had assumed it had just be lost in the sands of time. Although it's pretty banged up, I am happy to say I still have it. 

The 89-90 season was wonderful. The Spurs ended up with the NBA record for best single season turn-around (which would be broken by the 1997-1998 Spurs team and later (I think) the Celtics in 2008.  I watched or listened to probably every game that was possible. Back in the day, only about half the games were on tv (maybe even less),  so that meant a lot of time sitting over a radio like it was the 1920's. I remember eagerly waiting for the sports on the 10 o'clock news so I could watch the highlights. Back then, if you saw a good play - you'd maybe see it twice in highlights in the next 24 hours and then (unless it was a buzzer beater or something really memorable) never again.

Just look at this. David was an athletic freak. It's weird to think the first few seasons of Robinson's career he wasn't perceived as soft. Until the playoff losses starting mounting....

Either in the 1989-90 season or the next season I called into a local sports talk show - I was very nervous but I had something to say (exactly what I have no idea). I remember Jay Howard (voice of the Spurs until 2000) being very nice and patient with a 12 or 13 year-old kid calling into the show.

The Spurs ended up winning the Midwest Division title that year, one game over the (already) hated Utah Jazz and it felt like a big deal. I remember the players celebrating in the locker room like they won a championship. At the time it felt so normal but now it seems pathetic.  Now besides the obvious title championship, teams can only celebrate conference championships and even that should be a muted affair or you will turned into a gif and made fun of on Deadspin.

The 2nd seeded Spurs breezed past the Nuggets in the first round and then faced another up-and-coming team, the Portland Trailblazers. It was a classic series. Both teams dominated their home games in the first four games. Each of the four games were basically blowouts and the series tied up 2-2.



Here are some highlights from game 3. David was incredible:  28 points, 8 boards and 8 blocks. Also, watching this clip I forgot how much I loved that baby blue court. Check out a young - 40ish Coach Pop at the very end as well. 


Anyway, there was the classic double overtime game 5 that the Spurs lost, followed by a Spurs blowout at home and then the first  "Worst Moment in Modern Spurs History" happened. Of course this moment would be be up-ended 3 times in the future, but this was the first of four in my lifetime thus far. Each one getting progressively more painful and dramatic.

Anyway, back to this particular "Worst Moment", the Spurs were up by 7 with a 2:32 left in the game. The Blazers started to trim the lead bit by bit and then......

Ya know, first world problems suck, I tried embedding this from 26:44 but it didn't work, so you can find the beginning of the disaster at around the 26:44 mark.  

This might actually be the first time I am seeing "the pass" in almost 25 years. It was that painful that I practically avoided it until now. I remember seeing a picture of it in the paper the next day and that image was burned into my brain (whether or not that actually happened, I'm not sure).

As we were watching the game, my family was packing up to go to visit family out of town, so the whole 4th quarter my parents were packing up (and if we were packing up for trip, they were probably fighting). Anyway, my Dad was pissed and was like, "Let's go!" after the pass and of course, I was like "No, Dad, maybe something will happen, we gotta stay!!" Well, there were no miracles and a long depressing trip to Corpus followed.

2015 reflections on "The Pass": 
The pass isn't as bad as I thought it would be or remembered it.
Sean probably should have cut to the basket.
This is something Manu would do.
The "breakaway" foul called on Strickland on the other end was HORRID and utter BS.

All this is to say, it was still a very stupid thing to do.

After thinking about that breakaway call, I started to remember that I felt like Portland got all the calls in the game and basically got what they wanted in Portland the whole series....hmmm...(goes to basketball reference.com)....

Free Throws Attempted for the series:

Game 1 - Portland - 45  SA - 15  NOT A TYPO - +30
Game 2 - Portland - 43  SA - 23 (a little better but STILL)
Game 3 - Portland - 38  SA - 33
Game 4 - Portland - 34 - SA - 22
Game 5 - Portland - 45 - SA - 42 (one of the only two close games)
Game 6 - Portland - 27 - SA - 34 (the only time SA had more attempts)
Game 7 - Portland - 40 - SA - 31

Portland + 72 for the series on FTA, Adjusting for the first two games, it's still +22 which isn't that bad at all. Look, that Blazers team was great and we were a very young team. Portland had home court and were even missing Duckworth most of the series. They deserved to win. Finally, I would actually need to watch these games again to get a real sense of what was happening. As with all free throws, it's important to note when they happen rather than raw quantity. Lots of BS can be hidden by just looking at the stats.

At the time, I thought, this was only the beginning of many great things to come but it's strange to think this was the second closest David would get to the Finals until Timmy arrived (of course the Spurs made conference finals in 1995).

When you think about it....outside the 2 minute meltdown in game seven,  they could have been in good shape to have a shot at the title.  The Suns were next up in the conference finals, and while they were a good team, very beatable (Spurs won the season series 3-1). I don't think they would have beat the Pistons but stranger things have happened and the Hemisphere would have been crazy for games 3-4 (and possibly 5). At least it would have been fun and maybe changed Strickland and Larry Brown's future in SA (two keys as to why the Spurs got worse after both left town).

The following season was the regression to what would be "the norm" - perennial disappointment. Every season ended in defeat in the early rounds. Usually, we didn't even make it close.

This is the pocket schedule for 90-91. They STILL give them out at gas stations and restaurants in town. This is the oldest one I own. I am such a pack rat. 

The next season the Spurs lost in the first round to the 7th seeded Warriors. In 1992 Robinson was injured then they were swept by the Suns (I had totally forgotten about this one). In 1993 they ended up beating the Blazers (it felt good but it was a different team than 90). Finally, in 93 they lost in the second round in six to the Suns with the famous buzzer-beater by Barkley that shut down the old Hemisphere Arena.  When you think about it, the only inexcusable loss was to the Warriors and that was back when it was a 5 game series. I wonder if things would have been different if it was seven games....

At the time, it felt like the gods of basketball were just not smiling on San Antonio. However, upon reflection it was simple why the Spurs couldn't win. They had no consistency with the roster, especially with point guard or with the head coach. Besides Larry Brown,  the coaches the Spurs did hire were a joke (Bob Bass filled in for a bit in 92) Jerry Tarkanian, Jerry Lucas and Bob Hill.

Although Robinson's peak would come in 1994 (not his 9' MVP season - more on this later), he was still an absolute marvel in terms of raw athleticism.


In the video above Robinson puts up 34 points, 14 boards, 7 assists and 8 blocks. Just watch it. A few other notes of interest in the video is that it takes place in the old Phoenix arena, which I loved the white ceiling, like a school classroom. Also, it's Greg Simmons on color - that's just a sin. 

As an adolescent, I had quite a temper (sometimes it still comes out) so when the Spurs lost, sometimes, things got broken. Including one time I threw my radio, breaking off the antenna. 

I remember late nights, watching the West coast games with my Dad. Especially as I got older, he was the first to give up and go to bed first; especially if the Spurs were losing (he’s still this way).  

One Sunday night in 1990 or 1991, my sister was at the local bowling alley (Bandera Bowl for those scoring at home).  She called the house and told us David Robinson was there bowling and that people were going up to him, asking for his autograph.  I knew what I had to do.  I begged my Dad to take me down there, and to my surprise, he said yes.  We got down there as soon as we could and David was bowling with (I think) his mother and a few other folks. I slowly made my way down the stairs to get to Robinson, who was sitting at the scoring table.  

I remember thinking his knees came up to my chest and realizing just how tall he was.  I was pretty nervous, but this guy was my hero, so there was no backing down.  Of course he was gracious and I remember telling him “Good luck against the Wolves” as that was the next team they were playing. He was surprised and said thanks.

For a many years, this was my most prized possession.

We would go to 2-5 games a year, depending on how many free tickets we fell into.  On Shaquille O’ Neal’s first visit to SA, our church youth group went along with hundreds of other youth groups from around town.  We were near the “obstructed” view in Hemisphere and it was like a cave back there.  After the game, we were led down to the lower level and Robinson, David Wood and maybe even Antonie Carr spoke.  I say maybe because I have his autograph on the back of the half time stats sheet that I had found on the floor but I don't have any memory of his specifically speaking.  I also got David Wood's autograph! Holy cow, David Wood has a highlight reel on Youtube. The internet is so full of win.  I got a few more autographs along the way in the 90's. 

During training camp of 1990, I saw TonyMassenburg and Steve Bardo at the Rivercenter Mall Footlocker. Massenburg had been  the Spurs 2^nd round pick in 1990 and he was shocked I recognized him. But as a 13 year-old, when I wasn't dreaming of girls, I was thinking about the Spurs, recognizing Tony was no biggie.  I didn't recognize Steve Bardo (as he was an invited camp player) but he gave me his autograph anyway. Massenburg would tie the NBA record for most teams played on (12) and would later be part of the 2005 championship team. 

I have Dwayne Schintzius' autograph but have no memory of how I got it. I think it might have been an HEB promotional event.

RIP Dwayne and that amazing mullet. He died a few years ago at age 43.

Sometime in the late 90’s I also went to an event at a mall and got Avery Johnson’s autograph on a basketball card. So, I imagine my autograph collection might be worth a whole nickel. 

I loved the Spurs, I had a Spurs poster and for awhile, two David Robinson posters in my room. One of my posters is up in my garage!

In the summer of 1994, the Spurs made a big splash, and traded fan favorite, Sean Elliott to the Pistons for Dennis Rodman, the Spurs would never be the same.

Coming Soon:  Part II: 1994-1999