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Wednesday, April 23, 1997

Amid stars, Elie a key as Rockets open playoffs

By MICHAEL A. LUTZ

AP Sports Writer

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) - Mario Elie spent much of his career being squeezed out of the starting lineup. Now he's starting on a team with three future Hall of Famers.

Elie, always noted as an outstanding defensive player, had trouble breaking into the starting lineup with the Houston Rockets until this season, when trades and injuries finally gave him a chance.

As a member of team that includes Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, Barkley suggests Elie should be the team's most valuable player.

"Mario's been the MVP of our team this season," Barkley said Tuesday as the Rockets began preparations for a best-of-5 playoff series against Minnesota. "He's obviously our best defender. He has a hard assignment every night. He's the only guy on this team that can't take nights off."

Minnesota coach Flip Saunders agrees.

"He does all the little things for them," Saunders said. "He hits key shots, he's a 90 percent free throw shooter, he's their best defender and probably their best clutch 3-point shooter. I think he's the key for them."

Elie will be in the starting lineup at small forward Thursday night when the Rockets play host to the Timberwolves, who will be making their first-ever NBA playoff appearance.

"I'm just happy I finally got a chance to start," Elie said. "I felt on a lot of teams, I had an opportunity but too many great players were ahead of me."

Elie was a role player with Golden State and Portland and filled a similar role with the Rockets after being acquired in 1995.

The big trade with the Phoenix Suns last year that brought Barkley to the Rockets sent guard Sam Cassell to the Suns. Mark Price's preseason injury helped shuffle Elie into the starting lineup.

"Once I got into the starting lineup, I wanted to stay there and be consistent," Elie said. "I'm happy that I've been able to stay consistent this year."

Coach Rudy Tomjanovich assigns Elie to the opponents' best players, meaning Elie on Thursday night will be in the face of Minnesota's Tom Gugliotta, who averaged 20.6 points this season.

"If you make it hard for them to get in there to their sweet spot (favorite shooting position) they don't want to fight as much," Elie said, explaining his defensive philosophy. "Get a guy out of his sweet spot and make him work for every possession and by the end of the game, he's worn out."

Elie has been drawing the tough assignments all season and he's shown he can handle the pressure.

"I've had to guard point guards and big forwards and different players," Elie said. "The guys are depending on me to go against Gugliotta, go against (Gary) Payton, go against Grant Hill. I feel I've done a great job defending those guys and we've won most of those games."

Elie took off the final two regular season games to give tendinitis in both knees a rest before the playoffs.

"There's nothing wrong with my knees," he said. "I'm ready to go."

Elie has had the best season of his career, averaging 11.7 points, four assists and three rebounds per game. He led the team in 3-point accuracy (42 percent) and free throw shooting (89.6).

Elie has preached his tough-guy policy to the Rockets all season and he's doing it again for the Timberwolves.

"Destiny is with us," Elie said. "If we're going to lose, let them beat us, but I feel that team isn't better than us. If we can get them down early they'll get rattled. We've got veterans. If we play our game and establish our home court, we should win the series." Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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