Aschburner: Perfect Player For Troubled Times (Duncan)

[duncan228]

Perfect player for troubled times (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/steve_aschburner/12/16/duncan.spurs/?eref=sircrc)
Steve Aschburner

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/temp/lead10.jpg
Tim Duncan isn't showing signs of slowing down at age 32.


http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/temp/lead11.jpg
Tim Duncan (above) would have been a great Celtic alongside Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, according to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.


Every time Spurs rookie George Hill tells the story, someone runs over to Tim Duncan to confirm it. And Duncan winces. It happened again the other night in Minnesota: Tell, run, confirm, wince.

"I have it in a case and everything. It was, like, a 'gold millennium' card,'' said Hill, a San Antonio guard who took the underdog route to the NBA -- he starred at IUPUI -- but had pull in all the right places at least this once. An aunt of his worked with security and ushers at the Indiana Pacers' home games, giving little Georgie ("I was 11 or 12'') access to the arena's back hallways on a night when San Antonio visited to face Reggie Miller, Rik Smits and the fellas.

The happy result? An autographed Duncan collectible -- "When we get back home, I'm going to bring it to practice and show him I've got a card he signed'' -- and a tale that makes Duncan feel old beyond his 32 years. Hill might as well have told his large teammate that he grew up watching kinescope replays of Duncan's battles with Alcindor, Thurmond and Mikan.

"Yeah, yeah,'' Duncan said, eager to change the subject. "I don't enjoy the story, no.''

And yet there it is, signed, sealed and soon-to-be-delivered evidence of Duncan's senior status and staying power. For all of his team's tweaks, adjustments and shifts in emphasis, he remains the big tent pole holding up the canvas over San Antonio's center ring. With Shaquille O'Neal on his way out and Dwight Howard still on his way in, Duncan still reigns as Goldilocks' choice as the league's best big man.

He takes heat for his boredom quotient; the new Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac, courtesy of the FreeDarko Web site folks, dubs Duncan "Mechanical Gothic.'' It describes him as "the methodical plumbing that allows the NBA universe to function'' and claims he stands for "the magnificence of the mundane.'' It means all that in the best possible sense but, be honest, none among us would want to be likened to indoor plumbing or something from a utensil drawer.

Duncan, I would argue, is more than a thinking man's player or a purist's favorite. He is the perfect player for our troubled times, cash on the barrelhead in a world reeling from credit-default swaps, as reliable as U.S. treasury bills for folks snookered by the latest Bernard Madoff. There is something reassuring about a guy such as Duncan, whose season-by-season log is like a sheepdog -- at first glance, you're not sure whether you're looking at the front end or the back end, his rookie year or this, his 12th season.

"I pride myself on being consistent every year, and playing at the same level,'' Duncan said after finishing with 17 points (on 7-of-13 shooting) and 13 rebounds in 35 minutes in a recent victory at Minnesota. It came in between his performances against Atlanta (19 points, 11 rebounds, 7-of-15, 35 minutes) and Oklahoma City (20, 12, 6-of-12, 36). The only things missing were a clock to punch and the coffee breaks.

"Obviously, you want to be the best you can be, but it ends up where I'm sitting around the same area just about every year," he said. "I'm very proud of that and I hope to be able to do that until I walk out the door.'' A.k.a., quitting time.

Duncan's stats are self-contained and virtually interchangeable. If you clipped his personal record horizontally, one line at a time, you could toss them into the air and reassemble them in whatever order you picked them up. He is to 20-10 what Dr Pepper is to 10-2-4, what Hugh Downs was to 20/20: Bankable.

"The Big Fundamental. That's what I think of when I think of him,'' said Timberwolves rookie forward Kevin Love, who studied Duncan's prowess under the tutelage of his dad, former NBAer (and for 12 games with the Spurs, ABAer) Stan Love."That, and regardless of whether he's having a terrible game, regardless of whether he's having a great game, he's the same.'' As in deadpan expression. Stone face. Same old, same old.

"I think of winning, too,'' Love said.

San Antonio got incredibly lucky in 1997, coming up with the top pick in the lottery that May just as Duncan was wrapping up four years at Wake Forest. He got incredibly lucky, too, landing next to David Robinson on a good team experiencing a blip rather than next to Antoine Walker on the complete rehab project in Boston. Duncan, Robinson, coach Gregg Popovich, the rest of the Spurs and their fans have flourished together; San Antonio has won 630 of 893 regular-season games since (a league-best .705 winning percentage) and four NBA titles. Only Shaq, among active greats, has as many championships.

The hard part from where we sit is trying to come up with something new to write about Duncan, who shows far softer edges to the public than elbows to opponents. It's like figuring out something new to say about the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River or the Sphinx (at least when the great stone critter isn't whining over a referee's whistle). As in: It's, uh, still there. And, y'know, still great.

"He, as a 'big' right now, is by far the best,'' Timberwolves coach Kevin McHale said. "He's smart. He doesn't run around. No wasted energy. Things I'm trying to get our guys to do -- basketball's a game of read-and-react. Especially with young guys, they want to 'run' the offense. But the offense doesn't score -- the read inside the offense does. Things happen, Tim just stands there and goes [McHale very slowly looks left, very slowly looks right]. Then he moves into the open spot.

"Believe it or not, that's how everybody played. You didn't run on top of each other. You gave everybody space. He's different because, right now, for whatever reason -- either how the game is taught or how the young guys play in AAU or whatever -- it's, 'We're going to go as fast as we can, run around as fast as we possibly can.' He just takes his time. Let the defense make mistakes.''

Said Duncan: "I'm not a quick guy. If I can slow it down, take my time and go to my own strengths, I can neutralize a lot of what people are able to do against me. You try to make people react to you more than you react to people. When you can do that, you're the one in control. You know what's going on and everyone else has to figure it out on the fly. I try to base my game around that. That's how I've always played.''

For quite a while now. San Antonio recently commemorated Duncan's unofficial 1,000th pro game, adding up his regular-season and playoff (155) outings (but neglecting the preseason, his 10 All-Star appearances and a 2004 trip to the Olympics). It's a heavy load made heavier by the Spurs' routinely long postseasons.

"I don't care what anybody says, when you start getting to 140, 160, 180 playoff games, that's a lot,'' McHale said. "That's not like two extra seasons, that's like three or four extra seasons because of the intensity.''

In Duncan's case, then, it is both the years and the mileage.

"There are lots of things that change along the way,'' he said. "I've never been the most athletic guy, but my athleticism has gone down since I started. I'm not as quick, I don't jump as high, all that stuff. So [it has taken] a conscious decision about playing harder, positioning better, getting to spots, getting your feet set, giving yourself another half second to react to something, things like that.''

McHale, one of the great power forwards who played from 1980-93, indicated he would have relished an individual matchup with Duncan. He added: "There are guys who transcend eras. He's one of those guys. Back then, Moses Malone, Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], Bob Lanier, they just said, 'You better worry about me, too.' There are not a lot of guys who Tim has to say, 'I've got to worry about this guy tonight.' There's one now, Yao [Ming], who's going to give him the blues if he doesn't pay attention. But there are a lot of nights, I watch him play and I think, 'Boy, how good would it be to guard that guy on defense and save all your energy for offense? That's a pretty good trade-off.''

Popovich, too, could imagine Duncan back in the days of short shorts and tall hair.

"He's not Mr. Athletic. He knows it and he almost takes pride in it,'' the Spurs' coach said. "In that sense, he plays a little like [Larry] Bird and McHale played -- an innate understanding of the game and spatial relationships, what teammates are going to do and what's needed at a certain time. Never in a hurry. Always a patient, skillful player who understands the situation.

"I think that's how Kevin played, that's how Larry played. He's almost an anachronism. He's a throwback. He'd have been a great Celtic with those guys.''

Ouch. That probably isn't the way -- Duncan would have been a great Celtic -- Popovich or anyone else with the Spurs ought to put that. Not even these many years later.

Winning Is Everything

The Spurs have been the NBA's best regular-season team since Tim Duncan's arrival in 1997

Rank Team Record

1 Spurs 630-263 (.705)
2 Lakers 578-316 (.647)
3 Mavericks 550-342 (.617)
4 Suns 542-352 (.606)

[duncan228]

Related, for anyone that missed it in '07.

June 27, 2007
Winning Is His Only Thing (http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1115497/index.htm?eref=sisf)
AT 31 TIM DUNCAN IS A FOUR-TIME NBA CHAMP AND THE BEST BIG MAN OF HIS ERA
Ian Thomsen

WITH HEELS SPLAYED AND TOES pigeoned, and with his anime-wide eyes fixed on the floor 10 feet in front of him, Tim Duncan makes his telltale walk toward another NBA championship. It is the walk of someone with something on his mind that he doesn't wish to share. Is he confident...or anxious? It's none of your business. Every night that Duncan steps onto the court from the San Antonio Spurs' bench, he carries himself like a baseball manager on his way to the mound: head down, with his long arms seesawing to their own gangly rhythm, his face an inscrutable mask. The fans may be cheering or booing, but Duncan, bless his consistency, appears deaf to them.

There was a time five or six years ago, when he couldn't get his team past the Los Angeles Lakers, that Duncan's reticence was seen as weakness. He was a team-first player then, too, yet he was criticized for lacking the fiery charisma to inspire the Spurs. Those days are hard to recall now that Duncan's leadership and passion have set a standard beyond reach of his rivals. The 2007 playoffs completed the makeover of Duncan from Shaquille O'Neal's victim to his heir: Now that Duncan has led San Antonio to a Finals conquest of the Cleveland Cavaliers, his ring collection matches Shaq's—and he has won his fourth at 31, three years younger than O'Neal was when the Miami Heat took the title in '06 (page 70).

The 6'11", 260-pound Duncan has emerged as the Jason Kidd of big men, a playmaker able to elevate his teammates from the low post. "In my 20 years in the NBA, Duncan is the best big to play the game," says former Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy. " O'Neal always had the benefit of a dominant perimeter player, from [Penny] Hardaway to [Kobe] Bryant to [Dwyane] Wade. Duncan has had very good players, but he's never had that dominant player, so that's why I give him the edge."

If Duncan has avoided historical reckoning until now, it's because his versatility has made comparisons difficult. "The first decision that has to be made is, Are we going to talk about him as a post guy or as a forward? Because he's sort of both," says Gregg Popovich, the only NBA coach Duncan has had. "You think about guys like Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] and Wilt [Chamberlain], and you don't think of Tim. Then you look at forwards like Elvin Hayes or Kevin McHale or Larry Bird, and you don't exactly think of Tim in the way that they played either. He's really an anomaly and has done both [roles].

"So I just try to think of him more as a power forward, for lack of a better definition. And I don't know that there's ever going to be somebody better at that position, considering everything he's done. It's not just the scoring and the defense—you add the blocked shots, the passing, the leadership he's given, the championships."

Says Orlando Magic senior vice president Pat Williams, "Are Karl Malone, Kevin McHale and Bob Pettit the greatest power forwards of all time? On that basis I'd take Duncan. He's just rock solid as a competitor and performer every night. He wins. At the end of the day that's all there is to do."

THROUGHOUT THE 2005-06 SEASON DUNCAN looked prematurely old while playing 80 games (and averaging a career-low 18.6 points) with a painful seasonlong bout of plantar fasciitis. "We talked a lot about, 'If you're at a certain point, Timmy, I'll just need to sit you for two months,' " recalls Popovich. Duncan's ailment, along with a leaguewide trend toward up-tempo play, combined to create doubt that the Spurs could keep up with younger contenders like the Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks, who KO'd San Antonio in the second round.

But Duncan began working himself back into shape early in the summer of 2006, and after pacing himself through the regular season (20.0 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.38 blocks in just 34.1 minutes per game), he picked up his production in the playoffs with a more familiar line: 22.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 3.10 blocks. "It's always interesting to see how he is to start the ball game," says Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "He is very polite and very nice to the guys he plays against, and then he annihilates them when he gets out on the floor. He is a no-nonsense guy."

After watching Duncan seal himself deep in the post for one-step layups to help the Spurs seize the first two games in San Antonio, Utah decided to forgo the nonsense as well. In Game 3 in Salt Lake City, Mehmet Okur, Jarron Collins and anybody else within slapping distance struck Duncan's hands, arms and head, forcing him to commit an uncharacteristic eight turnovers. Duncan's subsequent retaliations led to gamelong foul trouble, limiting him to 16 points and 26 minutes in a 109-83 loss. "People were asking me if I was surprised to see him so emotional," says Jazz guard Derek Fisher. "I'm not surprised. Tim's a champion. If things aren't going well for you, you're supposed to be frustrated and not pleased with what's happening."

Two nights later Duncan was still irascible, muttering when he misfired on an array of warmup jumpers before Game 4. But he predictably translated his anger into a San Antonio victory. Amid a Greco-Roman atmosphere Duncan provided order with 19 points, nine rebounds and five blocks, and in the final quarter he bulled his way to the line for five points to complement the drives of Manu Ginobili, who scored 16 in the fourth. The Spurs looked as competitive as ever, and by game's end Duncan was back to his placid self.

THE OLD ARGUMENT that Duncan was too insular to be an effective leader has turned out to be upside-down wrong. Duncan is still quiet, yes, but his stoicism has only strengthened the Spurs' faith in him; in turn, he has been emboldened and now speaks up more often. "I can honestly say that I feel more comfortable in saying what I have to say," says Duncan, who even while he was winning MVP awards in 2002 and '03 preferred not to raise his voice. "I feel that people respect what I have to say, and that is a big part of it, being confident in that."

When his fellow Spurs look to Duncan, they know that he isn't looking down his nose at them in return. "I've never seen him get on one of his teammates in the games we've played, and we've played a lot," says longtime Jazz assistant Phil Johnson. "I only see complimentary things."

Duncan's encouragement has empowered everyone from Tony Parker and Ginobili to Bruce Bowen, a former journeyman who, over the course of his five years with San Antonio, has developed into the league's top perimeter defender and three-point specialist. "He's a guy who leads not just by example but by being supportive and empathetic and nonjudgmental with teammates, to the point where the trust they have with him is quite significant," says Popovich. "Tim Duncan touching you on the back of the head or putting his arm around you on his way into a timeout or leaning over and saying something to you during a timeout is huge. He knows that the attention from him to his teammates is just monstrous in their development and their self-confidence, and that recognition has made him the leader that he is."

The Spurs are 14-2 in playoff series during the last five years in no small part because Duncan's stability and versatility have enabled them to get the most out of complementary pieces such as swingman Michael Finley and center Fabricio Oberto. But Duncan was reminded how lucky he was to come to San Antonio by a recent Sporting News cover that showed him in a Boston Celtics uniform, illustrating a story about how the league might have changed had the Celtics won the 1997 draft lottery. "I was fortunate—as fortunate as the Spurs—to land where I did," he says, citing the ownership of Peter Holt, the stewardship of Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford, even the quality of the facilities in San Antonio as positives. "It's not guaranteed if I did go somewhere else, that I would have won a championship. Maybe things being different, I never get to that point, because people don't prepare, people don't draft, people don't put teams together the right way, people don't coach the right way. So I'm absolutely blessed having the situation that I'm in."

Watch Duncan during a dead ball, and he will reveal the secret of how someone who still says so little can wield so much influence. Instead of looking around to admire the view of 18,000 people flattering him with their taunts or praise, he draws within himself, blotting out the noise and taking account of what he needs to do better when play resumes. If Duncan appears blinkered and self-possessed, it's because he has a lot of people depending on him. And coming through for them really isn't as easy as he makes it look.

[Anti.Hero]

It will be so depressing when he retires.


Even for the non-spurs fan, the non-spurs hater, they will watch the NBA and get the feeling "hey, something is missing."

[MaNuMaNiAc]

I get the feeling that when Duncan retires, a lot of Spurs fans will retire with him

[duncan228]

But Duncan was reminded how lucky he was to come to San Antonio by a recent Sporting News cover that showed him in a Boston Celtics uniform, illustrating a story about how the league might have changed had the Celtics won the 1997 draft lottery.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/oddsandends/dynastythatwasnt.jpg

[MaNuMaNiAc]

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/oddsandends/dynastythatwasnt.jpg

I always found that cover insulting. WTF do they mean with "the draft lottery going very, very wrong"?? wrong for whom? Fuck the Celtics. Its no enough that they have won more championships than any other team... no, they have to whine about missing out on Duncan too.

[Mark in Austin]

Does anybody have the text to that Sporting News article? I heard about it but never had a chance to read it.

[duncan228]

Does anybody have the text to that Sporting News article? I heard about it but never had a chance to read it.

Remaking the Celtics' history (http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=210899)
Dan Graf
Posted: May 21, 2007

We all know what happened after the Celtics missed on the chance to draft Tim Duncan, but what would have happened if the pingpong balls had bounced Boston's way? Here are misty watercolor memories of the way things never were.

1996-97

History: The Celtics secure the most pingpong balls in the draft lottery -- and the best chance of selecting Wake Forest center Tim Duncan -- by finishing the regular season with a 15-67 record. Coming off two straight appearances in the NCAA title game with Kentucky, Rick Pitino leaves the Wildcats to become president and coach of the Celtics. Shortly after, San Antonio, which had the second-best chance to gain the top pick, wins the lottery. Boston ends up at No. 3 and No. 6. Pitino tries to trade up for the top pick five minutes after the lottery ends but is rebuffed. San Antonio drafts Duncan with the No. 1 pick. The Celtics take point guard Chauncey Billups at No. 3 and Kentucky swingman Ron Mercer at No. 6.

Revisionist history: For the second straight year, the worst team gets the pick. San Antonio, desperate to pair Duncan with injured center David Robinson, lands at No. 2. "We're not trading the pick," Pitino says. "Celtics fans can plan on Tim Duncan's number going to the rafters alongside the championship banners he's going to put up there." Pitino drafts Duncan No. 1 and -- believing he can take a risk on a high school player because Duncan is such a sure thing -- grabs Tracy McGrady over Mercer at No. 6. Pitino: "I think our fans are really going to like this kid McGrady. He can be the next Penny Hardaway."

1997-98

History: The Celtics trade Billups 51 games into his rookie season. Point guard Kenny Anderson is the best player Boston gets in the seven-player deal, and the team goes 36-46 in Pitino's first season. Surprisingly, Kansas star Paul Pierce slips to the Celtics at the No. 10 spot in the draft.

Revisionist history: With Duncan, McGrady and second-year sensation Antoine Walker in the frontcourt, the Celtics are the envy of every team in the league. They finish 44-38 and are swept by Michael Jordan's Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. Duncan is the rookie of the year, Walker leads the team in scoring, and McGrady solidifies himself as a star in the making. Sensing that a point guard will elevate his team to the championship level, Pitino flirts with taking Bryce Drew in the first round but eventually trades Dana Barros and the draft pick for Steve Nash, who is stuck behind Jason Kidd in Phoenix. The Mavericks wanted Nash badly but had only a lower pick and Bubba Wells and Martin Muursepp to offer.

1998-99

History: A lockout cuts 32 games off Pitino's second season and damages his chances to jump-start what now is a full-fledged youth movement behind Walker, Mercer and Pierce. Pitino says he never would have taken the job if he had known Duncan wouldn't be a Celtic and trades Mercer after a 19-31 season. The Spurs, with Duncan taking over the team from Robinson, win their first title.

Revisionist history: With Nash showing an ability to run a team few NBA folks knew he had, the Celtics breeze through the post-M.J. East before losing to the Trail Blazers in The Finals. McGrady and Duncan each average more than 20 points, and Walker settles in as a reliable third option. Nash leads the league in assists and is hailed as "better than Bob Cousy" by Celtics TV analyst Tommy Heinsohn and "unquestionably bigger in Boston than Larry Bird ever was" by NBC analyst Bill Walton.

1999-2000

History: The Celtics improve to 35-47, but it's not enough for Pitino, who is growing tired of falling short of the high expectations he helped create: "Larry Bird is not walking through that door. Kevin McHale is not walking through that door. Robert Parish is not walking through that door. ... People don't realize that, and as soon as they realize those three guys are not coming through that door, the better this town will be. ... All the negativity in this town sucks." The Lakers beat the Pacers in The Finals, but the league's television ratings are suffering from post-Jordan, postlockout malaise.

Revisionist history: The Lakers and Celtics engage in a seasonlong race to 70 wins on their way to the most-watched Finals matchup in history. Boston beats L.A. in seven games and brings the city its first NBA championship in 14 years. Pitino, arm around Red Auerbach and flanked by his team at Boston's victory celebration, lights up a cigar to the roar of the crowd: "When I came here three years ago and Red was gracious enough to turn the team over to me (Auerbach winces), I knew this day would come. These guys" -- turning toward Duncan, Nash, Walker and McGrady -- "are this generation's Bird, McHale, Johnson and Parish. We couldn't have done it without all the positive energy in this town." McGrady flirts with the Magic in the offseason, but both he and Duncan sign six-year deals to stay in Boston. Team after team searches for "the next Pitino" from the college ranks. Many of the college game's best coaches -- Roy Williams, Gary Williams, Tom Izzo -- are lured by the NBA.

2001-04

History: Pitino resigns on Jan. 8, 2001, after leading the Celtics to a 12-22 start. He is replaced by assistant Jim O'Brien, who guides Boston to the Eastern Conference finals in 2002 and the second round of the playoffs in '03 before leaving the team in '04. The Lakers win championships in 2001 and '02, the last year The Finals are televised on NBC. The Spurs, again behind Duncan, win the 2003 title over the Nets in the lowest-rated Finals ever -- the first on ABC.

Revisionist history: Lakers-Celtics is bigger than it was in the 1980s, so NBC extends its contract with the league and continues to act as its de facto marketing arm. (Duncan/T-Mac vs. Shaq/Kobe, Sunday NBC!) The teams meet in four more Finals, the second and third of which the Lakers win when Jordan shifts the balance of power by joining the Lakers and former coach Phil Jackson for a run at his seventh and eighth rings. Jordan retires again after the 2002-03 season, and Pitino drives the Celtics hard to a championship in 2004. Pitino retires from the Celtics at season's end to take a position as deputy commissioner and the heir apparent to David Stern. McGrady sets out to prove himself on his own, opting out of his contract and signing with his hometown Magic. Duncan extends his contract another six years and pledges to retire a Celtic.

2005-present

History: The Spurs win a third title behind Duncan in 2005, and the league avoids a lockout that summer. Part of the new labor agreement is a 19-year age minimum that will prevent high school players from going straight to the NBA. The once-mighty Celtics finish the decade since Duncan eluded them with a 357-431 record and only three playoff series victories. After winning 16 titles in 39 years, they will enter 2007-08 with zero in the past 21 years.

Revisionist history: When the league renegotiates its CBA in 2005, Stern considers installing an age minimum, but, amid record television ratings and popularity in part fueled by preps-to-pros McGrady and Kobe Bryant, he isn't wont to mess with a good thing. Florida coach Billy Donovan takes over as coach of the Celtics, but Duncan and Nash get no further than the Eastern Conference finals in their first two years without Pitino. In the 2006 draft, two high schoolers -- Greg Oden and Kevin Durant -- stand out. Oden is taken by the moribund Spurs with the first pick. Durant, a lesser-known prospect, goes to Minnesota at No. 6. He averages 29 points as a rookie alongside Kevin Garnett and leads the top-seeded Timberwolves to a sweep of Golden State in the first round of the playoffs. Up next: rookie of the year Oden and the Spurs.

[Cry Havoc]

I always found that cover insulting. WTF do they mean with "the draft lottery going very, very wrong"?? wrong for whom? Fuck the Celtics. Its no enough that they have won more championships than any other team... no, they have to whine about missing out on Duncan too.

Yeah. That's one of the most biased, ridiculous covers to grace any sporting magazine, ever. If Duncan was a Celtic, I might not even be watching basketball anymore. I grew up watching D-Rob, a player on a small market team doing things the right way. I absolutely love the fact that Duncan is THE premier example of what an athlete should be, and in the day and age when reporters and critics are crying for class and substance, it took Duncan 4 rings to finally get the attention that he deserves. And even then, there is a large bias against him because he's not on one of the media darling teams.

[bdictjames]

Thanks so much duncan228. Do you keep these articles? We might have to look back on them and reflect on what a jewel the whole NBA has with Timothy Theodore Duncan.

[ClingingMars]

that Sporting News article made me want to puke

-Mars

[duncan228]

Do you keep these articles?

Yes.

[Allanon]

Even for the non-spurs fan, the non-spurs hater, they will watch the NBA and get the feeling "hey, something is missing."

A player like Tim Duncan is so rare you gotta give him his respeckt. I laugh at his boringness but it allso makes him unique.

I love his post move they used in the Finals intro along with all the other All-time Greats "So many moves, so much power"

Hpp-F1HW96c

[Yorae]

Damn I hope we could face the current Celtics in the Finals.....

[duncan228]

I love his post move they used in the Finals intro along with all the other All-time Greats "So many moves, so much power"

Thanks for posting it. It is a nice piece and I haven't seen it since the Finals.

[Blackjack]

First off, nice article by Aschburner.:toast

But does anyone know if this was written before or after McDonald's piece on Duncan?



Jeff McDonald- To a sportswriter, attempting an annual piece on Duncan can be the ultimate challenge. Rarely is there anything new to report. It is a bit like a travel writer re-visiting the Grand Canyon. After the 12th trip, one exhausts all synonyms for the word “magnificent.”


Steve Ascburner- The hard part from where we sit is trying to come up with something new to write about Duncan, who shows far softer edges to the public than elbows to opponents. It's like figuring out something new to say about the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River or the Sphinx (at least when the great stone critter isn't whining over a referee's whistle). As in: It's, uh, still there. And, y'know, still great.

IIRC Aschburner is based out of Minnesota, so maybe he and McDonald threw some ideas off of each other after the T-Wolves game, but I couldn't help but notice the similarities.

Was it wishful thinking to think that McDonald was capable of writing a story like that on his own???

[duncan228]

I don't know which was written first, McDonald's came out first.

[mrspurs]

Nothing to see here. Telling me Timmy has an outstanding basketball IQ is kinda very very old news.

[Manufan909]

A player like Tim Duncan is so rare you gotta give him his respeckt. I laugh at his boringness but it allso makes him unique.

I love his post move they used in the Finals intro along with all the other All-time Greats "So many moves, so much power"

Hpp-F1HW96c

Who's the guy holding up Manu at the end?

[Thomas82]

It will be so depressing when he retires.


Even for the non-spurs fan, the non-spurs hater, they will watch the NBA and get the feeling "hey, something is missing."

Man, I don't even want to think about that.

[spursfan09]

Who's the guy holding up Manu at the end?

Lol Sean Marks

That was his contribution in the finals

[m33p0]

what's with the old thread bumps?