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| The Iceman shows his silky smooth scoring touch. |
Doug Moe, the teams head coach, was fired on March first and was replaced with Bob Bass, now in his second stint with the Spurs.
The Spurs finished the season out with a mediocre 41-41 record, they were then eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs by the Houston Rockets.
San Antonio underwent several changes prior to the 1980-81 season. First, the team was moved out of the NBA's Central Division and into the Midwest Division. Several player moves also took place in light of the teams poor showing the prior year. Larry Kenon was traded to the Bulls, Reggie Johnson was drafted out of Tennessee, Dave Corzine was brought in from the Bullets, and George Johnson was picked up as a free agent. This was a much tougher team with a tougher defense that the previous year. They led the league in blocked shots and rebounds, and they finished third in personal fouls committed.
Not surprisingly, they rebounded for a much better record, going 52-30 and winning the Midwest Division. Once again the Spurs were unable to get deep into the playoffs, they were bounced by the Rockets in the Western Conference Semifinals. Following the season, the Spurs traded James Silas to the Cleveland Cavs, ending his stint as one of the best players in team history.
The 1981-82 season marked the Spurs continued dominance on the offensive end of the floor. The team averaged 113.2 points per game, which was second best in the NBA. They were also involved in one of the highest scoring games in league history, a 171-166 triple overtime win over Milwaukee.
The Spurs went on to win the Midwest Division for the second straight year, only two games ahead of the Mavericks. This time however, the Spurs made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals. After a hard fought series with the Sonics in the semi-finals, they were disapointingly swept by the Lakers.
Prior to the 1982-83 season, the Spurs pulled off a trade the the Chicago Bulls to acquire Artis Gilmore. The Spurs finished the season 53-29, a franchise record for wins in a season. Gilmore was the leagues leader in field goal percentage, Johnny Moore was second in the league in assists, and Gervin continued his scoring, finishing fourth in the league at 26.2 points per game.
They met the Lakers again in the second round of the playoffs, and put up much more of a fight the second time around, taking Los Angeles to six hard fought games before losing.
The 1983-84 season was a huge disappointment for the Spurs. Stan Albeck left for New Jersey, and Morris McHone was hired. The team started out 6-12 and McHone was fired. Once again Bob Bass stepped in to try and right the ship. The Spurs ended up finishing a dismal 37-45, just the second time since they had joined the NBA that they had not won their division title.
1984-85 started out with Cotton Fitzsimmons being hired on as the teams new head coach. Cotton piloted the team to a record of 5-1, but struggles ensued after that, with the Spurs spending most of the season hovering around the .500 mark.
The high point of the season was the game in which Johnny Moore narrowly missed a quadruple double. He finished the game with 26 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds, and 9 steals.
The Spurs finished up at 41-41 and made the playoffs once again as the 8th seed. The Spurs then almost pulled off an upset series win, taking the top-seeded Nuggets, taking Denver to the maximum 5 games.
The era of "The Iceman" ended in 1985 with the Spurs trading him to the Bulls for David Greenwood. The team started out a surprising 19-13, but from there on the news just got worse and worse.
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| Johnny Moore is the Spurs all time leader in assists. |
The bright spot for the Spurs that year was Alvin Robertson. Robertson represented the Spurs at the All-Star Game, won NBA Most Improved Player honors, and was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Also, on February 18, 1985, he became only the second player (and eventually the first of two Spurs players) to record a quadruple-double, with 20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 steals.
The Spurs finished at 35-47, their worst record since moving to San Antonio.
Bob Weiss was hired to replace Cotton Fitzsimmons for the 1986-87 season.
The Spurs had an absolutely awful year, using a total of 17 different players in search of a linuep that could win. Alas, none worked, and the team finished a dismal 28-54, even though Robertson repeated as the NBA's steals leader and was once again named Defensive Player of the Year.
On May 17, 1987, the Spurs won their first ever draft lottery. They used the #1 overall pick on a seven foot center from the Naval Academy named David Robinson, even though he wouldn't be able to play for the team for two years because of his Navy commitment.
On December 5th, the Spurs retired George "The Iceman" Gervin's number 44. San Antonio finished the season at 31-51, but somehow snuck into the playoffs, where they were swept in the first round by the Lakers.
The 1988-89 season continued the teams recent losing trend. Red McCombs purchased the team and Larry Brown took over as head coach. Most of the Spurs players spent at least some time on the injured list, with Willie Anderson, a rookie, providing the only bright spot, finishing the season averaging 18.7 points per game and finishing second to Golden State's Mitch Richmond in the rookie of the year voting.
The Spurs finished at 21-61, the worst record in franchise history, but better times were on the horizon, with the arrival of The Admiral.
Article by Michael Bonner
