duncan228
11-04-2009, 02:25 AM
Blowouts allowing Spurs' Duncan more rest (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/Blowouts_allowing_Spurs_Duncan_more_rest.html)
Jeff McDonald
The Spurs' two victories this season, both blowouts, ended with a scene sure to warm Gregg Popovich's heart: Tim Duncan, already sweat-free and already decked in his warm-ups, leaning back in his chair long since done for the night.
In the Spurs' 113-96 win over New Orleans and their 113-94 trouncing of Sacramento, Duncan's third-quarter retreat to the bench has been the equivalent of a silver-and-black victory cigar.
“Whenever there's a game when you're getting your fanny kicked, or you're kicking someone else's fanny, you can rest some players in the fourth quarter,” Popovich said. “That's usually a good thing.”
When it comes to the 33-year-old Duncan, whose knees betrayed him down the stretch last season, any rest is a good one.
For the bulk of his Hall of Fame career, how Duncan has gone is often how the Spurs have gone. Three games into the new season, the All-Star power forward is still the best barometer of the Spurs' success.
He's scored in single digits in each of the Spurs' two victories, mostly because he spent the fourth quarter of each attached to the bench. In the Spurs' lone loss, a 92-85 affair at Chicago, Duncan logged 34 minutes, and finished with 28 points and 16 rebounds.
“You always want to be on the floor — that's just a player being a player,” Duncan said. “But in the long run, it's going to be great to have these minutes low in the first half of the season. Hopefully, that pays dividends at the end of the season.”
Duncan averaged 33.6 minutes last season, not an overwhelming workload, but they were often tough minutes. The Spurs' point differential was a scant plus-3.8, meaning most games were in doubt in the fourth quarter.
With a deeper team this season, and the possibility of more blowouts, the Spurs hope to keep Duncan fresher for the more rugged portions of the schedule, such as the upcoming back-to-back at Utah and Portland that begins Thursday.
Any dip in Duncan's overall numbers will be a small price to pay.
Boosted by his line against the Bulls, Duncan is averaging 14.7 points and 12.7 rebounds.
In the Spurs' two victories, he averaged eight points and 11 rebounds in a shade more than 22 minutes. It was only the third time in his 12-plus seasons that Duncan had scored in single digits twice in the span of three games.
Before the season, Manu Ginobili said he expected another Groundhog Day-like season from Duncan, who has only once averaged less than the 19.3 points he notched the past two seasons.
“He's still going to be an All-Star,” Ginobili said. “He's still going to give us 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds). And if it's not 20 and 10, it's going to be 19 and 91/2.”
If Popovich's perfect-world plan comes to fruition, however, and Duncan is able to rest more this season, he might have trouble approaching those benchmarks. That, more than anything, is why Duncan found his name on ESPN.com's preseason “All-Decline Team.”
Never one to obsess over statistics, Duncan joked he's “distraught” about the early drop in his numbers.
“I'm going to start doing the thing where I just throw it off the backboard and get my own rebounds, and try to get my numbers up,” he said.
This being the NBA, the Spurs realize they can't always count on winning games by 18 points apiece. At some point, they will find themselves in a tight game in the fourth quarter, needing a big basket or a big stop or a big rebound to put it away.
Then, too, Popovich hopes to see a scene that warms his heart: Duncan, on the floor and fresh.
“Obviously, you're not going to see it from game-to-game and day-to-day,” Duncan said. “But over a stretch, you'll see the dividends.”
Jeff McDonald
The Spurs' two victories this season, both blowouts, ended with a scene sure to warm Gregg Popovich's heart: Tim Duncan, already sweat-free and already decked in his warm-ups, leaning back in his chair long since done for the night.
In the Spurs' 113-96 win over New Orleans and their 113-94 trouncing of Sacramento, Duncan's third-quarter retreat to the bench has been the equivalent of a silver-and-black victory cigar.
“Whenever there's a game when you're getting your fanny kicked, or you're kicking someone else's fanny, you can rest some players in the fourth quarter,” Popovich said. “That's usually a good thing.”
When it comes to the 33-year-old Duncan, whose knees betrayed him down the stretch last season, any rest is a good one.
For the bulk of his Hall of Fame career, how Duncan has gone is often how the Spurs have gone. Three games into the new season, the All-Star power forward is still the best barometer of the Spurs' success.
He's scored in single digits in each of the Spurs' two victories, mostly because he spent the fourth quarter of each attached to the bench. In the Spurs' lone loss, a 92-85 affair at Chicago, Duncan logged 34 minutes, and finished with 28 points and 16 rebounds.
“You always want to be on the floor — that's just a player being a player,” Duncan said. “But in the long run, it's going to be great to have these minutes low in the first half of the season. Hopefully, that pays dividends at the end of the season.”
Duncan averaged 33.6 minutes last season, not an overwhelming workload, but they were often tough minutes. The Spurs' point differential was a scant plus-3.8, meaning most games were in doubt in the fourth quarter.
With a deeper team this season, and the possibility of more blowouts, the Spurs hope to keep Duncan fresher for the more rugged portions of the schedule, such as the upcoming back-to-back at Utah and Portland that begins Thursday.
Any dip in Duncan's overall numbers will be a small price to pay.
Boosted by his line against the Bulls, Duncan is averaging 14.7 points and 12.7 rebounds.
In the Spurs' two victories, he averaged eight points and 11 rebounds in a shade more than 22 minutes. It was only the third time in his 12-plus seasons that Duncan had scored in single digits twice in the span of three games.
Before the season, Manu Ginobili said he expected another Groundhog Day-like season from Duncan, who has only once averaged less than the 19.3 points he notched the past two seasons.
“He's still going to be an All-Star,” Ginobili said. “He's still going to give us 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds). And if it's not 20 and 10, it's going to be 19 and 91/2.”
If Popovich's perfect-world plan comes to fruition, however, and Duncan is able to rest more this season, he might have trouble approaching those benchmarks. That, more than anything, is why Duncan found his name on ESPN.com's preseason “All-Decline Team.”
Never one to obsess over statistics, Duncan joked he's “distraught” about the early drop in his numbers.
“I'm going to start doing the thing where I just throw it off the backboard and get my own rebounds, and try to get my numbers up,” he said.
This being the NBA, the Spurs realize they can't always count on winning games by 18 points apiece. At some point, they will find themselves in a tight game in the fourth quarter, needing a big basket or a big stop or a big rebound to put it away.
Then, too, Popovich hopes to see a scene that warms his heart: Duncan, on the floor and fresh.
“Obviously, you're not going to see it from game-to-game and day-to-day,” Duncan said. “But over a stretch, you'll see the dividends.”