For all the talk about the NBA's new defensive rules, for all the confusion about 3-2 zones and three-second calls, the Spurs' philosophy has remained the same.

Take away their inside game, then they'll look outside.

The Spurs made 11 3-pointers to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 109-98 in their season opener Tuesday night before a crowd of 16,803 at the Alamodome.

With Tim Duncan double- or triple-teamed most of the game, the Spurs did most of their damage from the perimeter.

The Spurs' 11 3-pointers matched their high from last season.

No, I won't pick the Spurs to win the West.

Been there, done that.

In 2000, Tim Duncan was hurt and the Spurs were ousted in Round 1 by the Suns.

In 2001, I chanted boldly that the combo of Tim and David Robinson provided a force stronger than Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

Ouch.

The Spurs folded, and I spent too much time parrying a seemingly endless stream of scoffing and sarcastic e-mails from chest-beating Lakers fans.

You've got your Most Valuable Patriarch (MJ). Your Most Valuable Podiatrist (Shaq's). And your Most Valuable Prediction (Avery Johnson's last-place squeal will cause Rocky Mountain avalanches before winter is over).

But The MVP?

You've got him here.

You've got Tim Duncan wearing down opponents and eventually wearing on voters. He's propped up his knee, his free throws, his marital status and his hairstyle. This will be his year, and all he needs is for certain Spurs to help him (more on that later).

His award-winning season won't necessarily translate into the title, but the MVP will still mean a few things to the Spurs.

With Duncan like this, the franchise always has a chance.

With just eight NBA preseason games under his belt, new Spurs play-by-play radio announcer Bill Schoening may not have a perfect understanding of the defensive three-second count.

After spending most of his career in the college ranks, Schoening may not have completely broken his habit of referring to games in terms of two halves instead of four quarters.

But on a team that experienced a massive roster overhaul during the offseason, one thing that Schoening does have is perspective.

"Of all the new faces," he said, "mine is the least important."

Scouting report: Tim Duncan averaged 24.5 points in four games against the Clippers last season. The Spurs held the Clippers to an average of 75.3 points last year. Malik Rose averaged 12.5 points during the preseason, second on the team behind Duncan.

Injuries: Tony Parker (slightly strained groin) is probable. Mark Bryant (strained right hamstring) and Charles Smith (left patella tendinitis) are on the injured list. Scouting report: The Clippers have lost 14 straight to the Spurs, their longest current streak against any team. Alvin Gentry helped guide the Clippers to 31 wins last season, their most since 1996-97. Lamar Odom was the only player in the NBA last season to lead his team in points, rebounds, steals, blocks and minutes per game.

Injuries: Harold Jamison (left shin bruise) is on the injured list.

After the Spurs' season came to a close late last May, Malik Rose packed his bags and went home to Philadelphia.

Rose spent time with his family. He hung out with friends. He tended to his real estate business.

He got chased by Shaquille O'Neal.

On those steamy August afternoons when he couldn't run another step, Rose pictured O'Neal, all 330 pounds of him, nipping at his heels.

When the monotony of shooting jumper after jumper threatened to bore him senseless, Rose again thought of O'Neal. When he grew weary of working out, when he tired of trying to will his body back into shape, Rose remembered O'Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers.

He remembered the sweep.

You have to like Amal McCaskill's perseverance.

After leaving Marquette University in 1996, the 6-foot-11 center has practically traveled the world in hope of finding full-time employment in the NBA. Finally, it looks like he may have found a job.

"He's played really well for us,'' said Sam Schuler, the San Antonio Spurs vice president of basketball operations and the man principally responsible for bringing McCaskill to the team. "He looks like he's a legit player. Sometimes it just takes some guys longer to make it here.''

But McCaskill's days of piling up frequent flyer miles may be over. He has impressed everyone in the Spurs' organization with his athleticism, versatility and desire. In six preseason games, McCaskill averaged 7.3 points and 6.2 rebounds in 22.2 minutes.

There is a chance Spurs coach Gregg Popovich might even use McCaskill in his rotation, playing him behind future Hall-of-Fame big men Tim Duncan and David Robinson.

"Amal has really been a pleasant surprise for us,'' Schuler said. "Of course, It's up to him (Popovich), but I think Amal could get some decent minutes this season.''

Meet in the hotel lobby at 9:30 a.m. Bring hiking boots or gym shoes. Wear old clothes. Get on the bus parked outside.

Those were Gregg Popovich's instructions. No practice. Just meet in the lobby.

The Spurs knew little else. Their coach was canceling workouts only four days into training camp and telling them to dress for The Nature Channel, and no one could figure out why.

When the players followed the cryptic orders and showed up the following morning, not a single coach was in attendance. After the bus deposited them in a wooded area just outside the city limits, they were even more puzzled.

"We didn't have a clue what was going on," Antonio Daniels said. "I thought we were going to play paint ball or something."

Before he could move forward this summer, David Robinson first had to look back.

So late one afternoon when he felt particularly wistful, when he wondered about a future without Avery Johnson and Sean Elliott, when he contemplated walking into a locker room with eight new faces staring at him, Robinson retired to his living room and popped the tape into the VCR.

Within minutes, Mario Elie was once again burying Houston with his Kiss of Death. Elliott tiptoed the sideline and threw in the Memorial Day Miracle. Johnson squared up from 18 feet on the Madison Square Garden baseline and knocked down the biggest shot of his life.

Tim Duncan lifted the Finals MVP award above his head as Robinson hoisted the championship trophy. Will Perdue chewed on a cigar in the champagne-drenched locker room.

Robinson soaked all of it up as the Spurs' run to the 1999 NBA title sprang back to life.

Before each game the Spurs played at HemisFair Arena, the team's public-address announcer would begin the festivities by telling fans they were in the "Noisiest Arena in the NBA."

It was an accurate boast, New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said.

"There was no place like the HemisFair," Van Gundy said. "That place was on every night. There was never a time where you came in there and that place was low energy. It was fun and the fans were right on top of you. It was just a great atmosphere."

When the Spurs moved into the Alamodome before the 1993-94 season, they continued to claim they had the NBA's loudest venue. But the cavernous building lacked the intimacy of HemisFair Arena, and many league observers considered the boast to be nothing more than empty propaganda.

Then came the 1999 playoffs.