duncan228
01-06-2009, 12:10 AM
Star weekend remains antithesis of Spurs' philosophy (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Star_weekend_remains_antithesis_of_Spurs_philosoph y.html)
Mike Monroe
Each time NBA fans cast enough votes to put him in the All-Star starting lineup, Spurs power forward Tim Duncan expresses amazement.
And why not?
When your nickname is The Big Fundamental and you go out of your way to avoid attracting attention, relying on the average hoops fan to recognize your surpassing greatness is an act of faith.
We live in look-at-me world, but the Spurs are an exception. They don't produce YouTube videos promoting the All-Star merits of their players, as the Nets recently did for Devin Harris. And when the regular season nears its conclusion in April, media voters won't get cheesy promotional packets urging them to support this Spurs player, or that, for the various postseason awards.
A big part of The Spurs Way is subjugation of the individual to the good of the whole. They even had a marketing campaign: Team Is Everything.
It wasn't so much a slogan as an expression of an organizational way of life.
So, when the final results of the fan voting are announced in a couple of weeks, and Duncan is first among Western Conference forwards, he will be astonished yet again, and call such worldwide support gratifying.
Duncan's appearance in Phoenix on All-Star Weekend is a given. Less certain is the reserve spot on the Western squad that Tony Parker clearly deserves.
Then there is All-Star Saturday, which I'm pretty sure Gregg Popovich would abolish, by executive fiat, if he were given Commissioner's powers for even a few hours.
The team has been under-represented in the Saturday celebration of various individual skills. Parker was in the skills challenge in 2006, but the last time a Spurs player was in either the dunk contest or the 3-point shootout was in 2000, when Terry Porter was in the long-distance shootout.
Porter, Dale Ellis (1994) and Chuck Person (1995) are the only Spurs ever invited to the 3-point contest. Johnny Dawkins (1987) and Cadillac Anderson (1988) are the only Spurs who ever got to dunk for dollars.
This year, though, both Roger Mason Jr. and Matt Bonner are in the running for inclusion in the 3-point contest. As of Monday morning, they were second and third, respectively, in the league's 3-point percentage rankings.
We'll all have to wait until the first week of February to find out if they make it, because the league actually applies statistical merit in the selection of its participants. When Stu Jackson, the NBA's executive vice-president of basketball operations, chooses the competitors, probably around the final weekend this month, he will have meaningful data to advise him.
Mason and Bonner have to hope their long-range shooting continues on the pace they have established thus far this season.
Some of Jackson's choices will be no-brainers. Toronto's Jason Kapono, who has made 39 of 89 3-pointers this season, is an automatic selection. He's won the last two contests, so deserves a shot at becoming just the third player to win in three straight years.
Jason Richardson leads the league in 3-point percentage, at 48.5, and plays for the Suns. You'd better believe the league likes having a hometown hero in the Saturday contests.
Mason also should be a lock. Of the 10 most-accurate 3-point shooters, he is the only one who also ranks in the Top 10 in 3-pointers made.
Then, he might get a chance to win the contest from the same spot on the US Airways Center court from which he beat the Suns on Christmas Day. He does seem to have a flair for the dramatic.
Mike Monroe
Each time NBA fans cast enough votes to put him in the All-Star starting lineup, Spurs power forward Tim Duncan expresses amazement.
And why not?
When your nickname is The Big Fundamental and you go out of your way to avoid attracting attention, relying on the average hoops fan to recognize your surpassing greatness is an act of faith.
We live in look-at-me world, but the Spurs are an exception. They don't produce YouTube videos promoting the All-Star merits of their players, as the Nets recently did for Devin Harris. And when the regular season nears its conclusion in April, media voters won't get cheesy promotional packets urging them to support this Spurs player, or that, for the various postseason awards.
A big part of The Spurs Way is subjugation of the individual to the good of the whole. They even had a marketing campaign: Team Is Everything.
It wasn't so much a slogan as an expression of an organizational way of life.
So, when the final results of the fan voting are announced in a couple of weeks, and Duncan is first among Western Conference forwards, he will be astonished yet again, and call such worldwide support gratifying.
Duncan's appearance in Phoenix on All-Star Weekend is a given. Less certain is the reserve spot on the Western squad that Tony Parker clearly deserves.
Then there is All-Star Saturday, which I'm pretty sure Gregg Popovich would abolish, by executive fiat, if he were given Commissioner's powers for even a few hours.
The team has been under-represented in the Saturday celebration of various individual skills. Parker was in the skills challenge in 2006, but the last time a Spurs player was in either the dunk contest or the 3-point shootout was in 2000, when Terry Porter was in the long-distance shootout.
Porter, Dale Ellis (1994) and Chuck Person (1995) are the only Spurs ever invited to the 3-point contest. Johnny Dawkins (1987) and Cadillac Anderson (1988) are the only Spurs who ever got to dunk for dollars.
This year, though, both Roger Mason Jr. and Matt Bonner are in the running for inclusion in the 3-point contest. As of Monday morning, they were second and third, respectively, in the league's 3-point percentage rankings.
We'll all have to wait until the first week of February to find out if they make it, because the league actually applies statistical merit in the selection of its participants. When Stu Jackson, the NBA's executive vice-president of basketball operations, chooses the competitors, probably around the final weekend this month, he will have meaningful data to advise him.
Mason and Bonner have to hope their long-range shooting continues on the pace they have established thus far this season.
Some of Jackson's choices will be no-brainers. Toronto's Jason Kapono, who has made 39 of 89 3-pointers this season, is an automatic selection. He's won the last two contests, so deserves a shot at becoming just the third player to win in three straight years.
Jason Richardson leads the league in 3-point percentage, at 48.5, and plays for the Suns. You'd better believe the league likes having a hometown hero in the Saturday contests.
Mason also should be a lock. Of the 10 most-accurate 3-point shooters, he is the only one who also ranks in the Top 10 in 3-pointers made.
Then, he might get a chance to win the contest from the same spot on the US Airways Center court from which he beat the Suns on Christmas Day. He does seem to have a flair for the dramatic.