Avery Johnson And Spurs Turn It Around -- Guard Blossoms As A Starter

When the NBA season began, Avery Johnson was sitting at home in New Orleans waiting for the Houston Rockets to call.

Fortunately for Johnson, the Rockets never did.

Which helps explain why the 5-foot-11 point guard will be in the starting lineup tomorrow at the Coliseum when the San Antonio Spurs - the NBA's newest "hottest team" - play the Seattle SuperSonics, who had a claim on that title as recently as last week.

The Spurs bring a franchise-record nine-game winning streak to the sold-out Coliseum for a game that matches a team tied for the league's second-best record (Seattle, 27-11) against the team with the NBA's sixth-best mark (San Antonio, 24-13).

Johnson is one of the most surprising elements of a team that has turned a lot of heads this season.

"I always felt I could be a starter in this league, but I had to come in through the backdoor," Johnson said. "Guys like Tim Hardaway, Gary Payton and Kenny Anderson, who were drafted in the first round, are given their jobs and a chance to grow. I had to work hard to improve my game."

Johnson, who broke into the NBA as a rookie free agent out of Southern University with the Sonics in 1988, sat out training camp this season because of a salary dispute with the Rockets. He didn't sign with the Spurs until two weeks into the season.

But it couldn't have worked out better. "I'm really glad San Antonio came and got me," Johnson said. "I might have lost a little money, but I'm playing more than I would have with the Rockets. I gained a lot of other stuff."

Like the controls of a Spurs offense that includes All-Star center David Robinson, forward Sean Elliott and former Sonic Dale Ellis.

The Spurs' season reads like a soap-opera script. First, the Spurs stunned the NBA world when they hired Jerry Tarkanian, the controversial former UNLV coach, who had no NBA experience.

Then, after a 9-11 record in his first 20 games, Tarkanian was fired after publicly bad-mouthing owner Red McCombs for not allowing him to sign a better point guard than his trio of Johnson, 26-year-old rookie Lloyd Daniels and the much-traveled Vinny Del Negro.

But the season for Johnson and the Spurs turned 180 degrees when Tarkanian was replaced by John Lucas. Since Lucas took over Dec. 22, the Spurs have won 15 of 17 games.

The accomplishment is remarkable considering that Lucas, who played the final year of a 15-season career with the Sonics (1988-89), had never coached in the NBA until he replaced Tarkanian. His only previous coaching experience came with the United States Basketball League's Miami Tropics, where he was the owner-coach and many players were clients of Lucas' successful drug-rehabilitation program.

No one has benefited more from Tarkanian's departure than Johnson.

He is averaging 8.8 assists under Lucas, compared with 2.5 under Tarkanian. He's had 10 or more assists in six of San Antonio's past seven games, including 15 when the Spurs beat the Chicago Bulls 103-99 Sunday and a career-best 16 against Milwaukee Jan. 14.

Johnson says playing for Lucas is "like having someone who is a best friend coaching the team. He has allowed me to be the best I can be. If you don't produce in a situation like this, you shouldn't be in this league. This is the most fun I've ever had in the NBA."

Robinson agrees that Lucas has been the catalyst for San Antonio's turnaround. "I think confidence is the main thing he's given us," Robinson told the San Antonio Light last week. "We've got players who want to play, and you've got to let them get confidence in their game - guys like Avery."

Johnson says Lucas' 15 years in the NBA offset his lack of coaching experience.

"John has done a great job of setting the rotation and allowing us to play to our strengths," Johnson said. "As a 15-year vet, John knows how to set an offense and a defense. We now have 10 options off each offensive set. We're not as programmed on offense as we were before.

"(Under Tarkanian) we just threw the ball in to David (Robinson) and everyone knew what we were doing. His (Tark's) problem was just a lack of NBA knowledge."

Despite Sunday's victory over the world champions, Robinson and Johnson aren't predicting a showdown with Chicago in the NBA Finals.

"I don't think we're one of the top one or two teams, but I definitely think we're getting there," said Robinson, who had a career-high 52 points against Charlotte on Jan. 16.

Johnson said, "We still have 45 games left. We feel good about our direction, but we aren't overly excited because we haven't done anything yet. Still, I'm sure a lot of people would like to be in our position."

Johnson, who has never spent more than two seasons with one team, would love to make San Antonio his permanent address. But he knows, even with the bigger role he's playing this season, nothing is guaranteed until it is written into a contract.

"People here tell me, `You've found a home, you've found a home,' but this is the NBA. We'll have to see what happens when the season ends," Johnson said. "I know I'm going to give San Antonio every chance to sign me. Every chance."

------------------------------- EARNING THEIR SPURS ------------------------------- -- San Antonio is the NBA's hottest team. Here is a comparison of San Antonio under Jerry Tarkanian and John Lucas:

TARK LUCAS

Record 9-11 15-2 . Scoring average 106.2 108.6 . Field-goal percentage .479 .500 . Three-point percentage .361 .365 . Opponents' scoring avg. 102.8 99.9 . Opponents' FG percentage .448 .432 .