Can I get an objective explanation.....

[Spurminator]

Duncan has two or three guys draped all over him every play on offense before he even gets the ball. He just hasn't been given enough opportunities to score, because teams are allowing the perimeter players to shoot at will.

It's a different game. There's no Defensive 3 Seconds, for one thing, so two players can stand between Tim and the basket. Entire defenses are built around keeping Duncan from touching the ball.

[TwoHandJam]

THJ...Duncan likes to put his hand on guys hips when he is defending them...you can get away with that in the NBA but it is illegal in international comp and the refs will call it. Just a bad habit...

Team USA is not playing with a full hand here...they don't know each other like these other teams do, they don't know the rules like these other teams do.

I wanted to kick Doug Collins ass when he said team USA was just turning on the switch...it's not true...these guys are not gods that can just master all styles of play and learn their teamates in a month and a half.

Anyway Gasol picked up at least two fouls on Duncan because of that hand check.....

Spain plays American style ball anyway...they take it inside and they went at Duncan all day. Even when it wasn't Gasol it was other players..

Duncan stepped up huge on D in the second half though and he was a big reason Gasol had the lousy 4th quarter.

Thanks for the clarification Whottt. I didn't see the game and when I saw the boxscore, it didn't look too impressive for TD. He only managed 4 rebs as well. 2 blocks is good in the limited time played but I guess he must have altered a lot of shots and made other defensive plays that just don't show up on the stat sheet.

[SAmikeyp]

I wanted to kick Doug Collins ass when he said team USA was just turning on the switch...

Craig Sager asked Marbury that and Steph said that wasn't it...he said its been a learning experience for Team USA. Which is true.

[From Way Downtown]

He scored only 4 in the fourth quarter.

. . . and those 4 points came only after the game was, for the most part, decided -- two free throws with about two minutes left and an undefended dunk with 9 seconds to go.

For what it's worth, the play-by-playshows that in the first half, when Pau got 19 of his 29, he got 4 before Duncan's second foul and 15 after it. Paul had 6 in the 3rd Quarter, but only 2 before Duncan picked up his 3rd foul. So, with Duncan on the floor, Pau had 10 (though, obviously, Tim wasn't necessarily guarding him at all times).

Gasol was terrific, especially going left against Boozer/Odom in the first half, and he padded his numbers with a couple of cheapie put-backs and lobs after the Spanish guards broke down the perimeter defense, but virtually all of his damage was done with Duncan stewing after those "interesting" calls in the 1st.

I thought Duncan was an absolute horse in the 4th with his defense, particularly given his foul trouble. Spain had that possession where it got the 3, the foul, the ball, and about 4 looks at the hoop. The best look they had in that series was a drive that Duncan swatted away, forcing a scramble situation. When the U.S. survived that possession, I think the Spanish lost any belief they had that they could win the game.

I thought Lampley hit the nail on the head immediately after the game when he called Duncan "the best 4 foul defender in the world."