Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 22, 1993                   TAG: 9305220107
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FOR SPURS COACH LUCAS, ROOKIE SEASON WASN'T ALL BAD

"A lot of things happened to this team, and we were able to grow," Lucas said.

The season began with a whimper and a losing record under coach Jerry Tarkanian. It ended dramatically - though too soon for the Spurs - with a 102-100 loss Thursday to the Phoenix Suns in the sixth game of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series.

Charles Barkley, in a matchup with David Robinson, hit a jumper from the top of the key with 1.8 seconds remaining, propelling Phoenix into the conference finals.

"It was a tough way to lose, especially at home," Robinson said.

Willie Anderson, who scored 13 points Thursday night, said he was proud the Spurs fought hard until the end.

"I hate losing this game," Anderson said. "We just have to accept this and build on it for next year. We made a good run."

Few would have expected it at the start of the season, when Tarkanian attempted to make the leap from college to pro coaching but didn't have much success. The Spurs were 9-11 when the former UNLV coach was fired Dec. 18.

Tarkanian, hindered by the loss of Terry Cummings to knee surgery and Rod Strickland to the free-agent market, argued the Spurs couldn't be championship contenders with the players they had. Lucas promised when he was hired just hours after Tarkanian's firing that the Spurs could win with the players they had.

Then he proved it.

The Spurs also are leaving HemisFair Arena and moving into the new, bigger Alamodome next season. The dome will hold about 32,000 when configured for basketball, about twice as many as the 16,057-seat arena.

"We got out of the first [playoff] round," Lucas said. "We were one and eight-tenths seconds of being into the seventh game in the second round. It was a great season for us."

\ PACERS, BROWN SITUATION: If Larry Brown is headed for Indianapolis, the welcoming committee isn't in place just yet.

"I'm going to the track today, if that gives you any indication," Indiana Pacers team spokesman Dale Ratermann said. "And I'm playing golf Saturday. So don't stay up."

Since the firing Tuesday of head coach Bob Hill, various names have topped the list of possible candidates for a successor, but Brown's name shot to the top of that list after he quit as the Los Angeles Clippers coach - with two years left on his contract.

Brown had been on the short list all along, in part because of his longtime friendship with Pacers president Donnie Walsh. The two were backcourt partners at the University of North Carolina from 1959-61, Brown gave Walsh his first NBA job as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets in 1977, and then Walsh succeeded Brown as coach at Denver two years later.

"He's one of the candidates - and a very strong candidate," Ratermann said.

\ ARKANSAS COACH STAYING PUT: Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson talked to the Atlanta Hawks but will stay put.

"After meeting with them and listening to what they had to say, I'm more convinced than ever that I'm at the right place," Richardson said in a release from the Razorbacks' athletic department. "I'm happy at Arkansas and this is where I need to be."

\ RILEY IN WIN-WIN SITUATION: For coach Pat Riley, the NBA semifinals between his New York Knicks and the Chicago Bulls are a win-win situation. He either gets rich, or richer.

If the Knicks prevail, Riley is guaranteed about $57,000 - petty cash for a coach with a $1 million contract - and more importantly for him, a shot at the NBA title.

If the Bulls win and go on to a third straight championship, Riley's bank account will get considerably fatter than that, especially if anybody uses the catchy term "three-peat" to describe Chicago's accomplishment. That's because New York's coach owns the word.

Back when the Riley-coached Los Angeles Lakers won consecutive NBA crowns in 1987-88, the search was on to provide an incentive for the team's next season, a special reason to do it again. You can, after all, wear only so many rings and ballyhoo just so much "Showtime."

Eventually, the Lakers invented a word, a catchy little creation that described their quest quite succinctly.

"Three-peat."

Riley liked it so much that he patented the word as a U.S. trademark. That means anybody who uses it on T-shirts, jackets or hats has to pay him for the privilege.

Financially, at least, he will benefit no matter who wins the Chicago-New York series that starts Sunday, especially if it happens to be the Bulls, already one of the great cash cows in the world of sports apparel. The payoff could approach $2.5 million, according to one shirt manufacturer.