duncan228
12-26-2009, 04:29 PM
http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/12/26/amd_mitch_duncan.jpg
Tim Duncan still nets 20 points most nights, but the Spurs no longer are an elite team.
Alamo Woes: These new-look San Antonio Spurs getting lost in transition (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2009/12/26/2009-12-26_alamo_woes.html)
Mitch Lawrence
NY Daily News
With six trips to the Finals and four titles starting in 2000, the Lakers are the obvious pick for the team of the decade.
No team comes close to what the Lakers accomplished, and that includes the Spurs, the only other team in the conversation.
But the great Spurs teams from earlier in the decade and the one that comes to the Garden Sunday night to play the Knicks couldn't be more different.
"The real bottom line is we're still an inconsistent team, and we have a long way to go," coach Gregg Popovich said the other day. "It's great to see we have character, and we're going to keep fighting, but that's not going to be good enough against the big boys."
Not so long ago, the Spurs were the NBA's big boys, winning titles in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007.
The only big boys in the West now are the Lakers, and maybe the Nuggets if Chauncey Billups can stay healthy the rest of the way.
The Spurs are no better than second-tier material. They entered the weekend with a ho-hum 15-11 record and have lost five straight games against teams with winning records since defeating the Rockets on Nov. 27.
All told, they're 2-10 against teams with winning records.
Just a few seasons ago, that record was reversed. So they haven't exactly measured up to the big boys and even teams that won't be around in June. But they'll get the Lakers on Jan. 12, the first time they'll play the defending champs. After the new year, they'll also play Cleveland and Orlando for the first time this season. So let's see how they do.
But even with their winning record, the Spurs haven't been fooled by how 13 of their 15 wins have come against teams that are headed for the lottery.
"We're trying to turn the corner," Tim Duncan said after a recent win at Golden State. "But we've got to start beating some of the more elite teams before we say we have turned it."
Duncan, approaching 34, is still a force in his 13th season. He still gets his 20 points and 10 rebounds and two blocks a game, even if he's no longer the same, fierce defender at the rim.
But Manu Ginobili, who changed plenty of playoff and Finals games during the '05 and '07 title drives with his forays to the basket and clutch foul shots, is a shadow of himself. His contract expires this summer, but he's no longer mentioned as a blue-chip free agent. Tony Parker is again playing as if he just got off the plane from Paris. Three new starters, including former Net Richard Jefferson, are having their ups and downs trying to adjust to a new system.
"It's not like we're getting blown out of these games," Jefferson said the other night from San Antonio, before the Spurs lost to a Portland team that didn't have Brandon Roy and Joel Przybilla. "We've been right there a lot."
But being "right there" is not what made the Spurs a dominant team in the decade. Nor is it what made them the league's model franchise. Look around the NBA and a couple of former Spurs executives are running franchises: Danny Ferry in Cleveland and Sam Presti in Oklahoma City.
They were hired because they came from an organization that spent money wisely, didn't exceed the salary cap, made shrewd trades and had great success always drafting late in the first round.
But since winning the title against LeBron James in 2007, the Spurs failed to get out of the second round in 2008, and then last spring couldn't get out of the first round for the first time since 2000, when they didn't have Duncan for the postseason.
With the clock running on Duncan's career, they decided to do a makeover last summer and give their Hall of Fame center his final shot at winning a fifth ring. They made the deal with the Bucks for Jefferson to give them a desperately needed athlete on the perimeter; signed Antonio McDyess to add size to the frontcourt; imported another starter, Keith Bogans; and drafted DeJuan Blair for more frontcourt bulk.
But the way the season has started, it looks like Jefferson arrived in the Alamo City about five years too late to cash in on a ring.
"But I think the window for us is a little bigger than people think," he said. "I think it's a good two-three years for us. You have to understand our situation, with three new starters and some young guys who are learning the system. Now compare that to Denver, who has been together for a few seasons. Boston has been together for a couple of seasons. Same with Utah."
Jefferson could have added the Lakers, who became a championship team again when they stole Pau Gasol from Memphis two seasons ago.
"I'm not using it as an excuse, but all those teams have been together longer than we have," Jefferson said. "So they have a higher rate of understanding of what they're doing and how to accomplish things. We're still learning. For us, we've got to get to March and April before we understand what we're doing."
By then, the Spurs will know if Duncan is still playing with the same energy and at the same all-NBA level that he's had in the first quarter of the season. They'll see if someone can give them the creativity and explosion to get to the basket that Ginobili once provided, but, due physical limitations, can't do now. They'll see if Parker has gone back to figuring out how to play like a playmaker, instead of a scoring point guard.
If everything comes together, the Spurs can get back to being one of the big boys. If not, the window Jefferson talked about being open for the next two or three years might well be shut.
Tim Duncan still nets 20 points most nights, but the Spurs no longer are an elite team.
Alamo Woes: These new-look San Antonio Spurs getting lost in transition (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2009/12/26/2009-12-26_alamo_woes.html)
Mitch Lawrence
NY Daily News
With six trips to the Finals and four titles starting in 2000, the Lakers are the obvious pick for the team of the decade.
No team comes close to what the Lakers accomplished, and that includes the Spurs, the only other team in the conversation.
But the great Spurs teams from earlier in the decade and the one that comes to the Garden Sunday night to play the Knicks couldn't be more different.
"The real bottom line is we're still an inconsistent team, and we have a long way to go," coach Gregg Popovich said the other day. "It's great to see we have character, and we're going to keep fighting, but that's not going to be good enough against the big boys."
Not so long ago, the Spurs were the NBA's big boys, winning titles in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007.
The only big boys in the West now are the Lakers, and maybe the Nuggets if Chauncey Billups can stay healthy the rest of the way.
The Spurs are no better than second-tier material. They entered the weekend with a ho-hum 15-11 record and have lost five straight games against teams with winning records since defeating the Rockets on Nov. 27.
All told, they're 2-10 against teams with winning records.
Just a few seasons ago, that record was reversed. So they haven't exactly measured up to the big boys and even teams that won't be around in June. But they'll get the Lakers on Jan. 12, the first time they'll play the defending champs. After the new year, they'll also play Cleveland and Orlando for the first time this season. So let's see how they do.
But even with their winning record, the Spurs haven't been fooled by how 13 of their 15 wins have come against teams that are headed for the lottery.
"We're trying to turn the corner," Tim Duncan said after a recent win at Golden State. "But we've got to start beating some of the more elite teams before we say we have turned it."
Duncan, approaching 34, is still a force in his 13th season. He still gets his 20 points and 10 rebounds and two blocks a game, even if he's no longer the same, fierce defender at the rim.
But Manu Ginobili, who changed plenty of playoff and Finals games during the '05 and '07 title drives with his forays to the basket and clutch foul shots, is a shadow of himself. His contract expires this summer, but he's no longer mentioned as a blue-chip free agent. Tony Parker is again playing as if he just got off the plane from Paris. Three new starters, including former Net Richard Jefferson, are having their ups and downs trying to adjust to a new system.
"It's not like we're getting blown out of these games," Jefferson said the other night from San Antonio, before the Spurs lost to a Portland team that didn't have Brandon Roy and Joel Przybilla. "We've been right there a lot."
But being "right there" is not what made the Spurs a dominant team in the decade. Nor is it what made them the league's model franchise. Look around the NBA and a couple of former Spurs executives are running franchises: Danny Ferry in Cleveland and Sam Presti in Oklahoma City.
They were hired because they came from an organization that spent money wisely, didn't exceed the salary cap, made shrewd trades and had great success always drafting late in the first round.
But since winning the title against LeBron James in 2007, the Spurs failed to get out of the second round in 2008, and then last spring couldn't get out of the first round for the first time since 2000, when they didn't have Duncan for the postseason.
With the clock running on Duncan's career, they decided to do a makeover last summer and give their Hall of Fame center his final shot at winning a fifth ring. They made the deal with the Bucks for Jefferson to give them a desperately needed athlete on the perimeter; signed Antonio McDyess to add size to the frontcourt; imported another starter, Keith Bogans; and drafted DeJuan Blair for more frontcourt bulk.
But the way the season has started, it looks like Jefferson arrived in the Alamo City about five years too late to cash in on a ring.
"But I think the window for us is a little bigger than people think," he said. "I think it's a good two-three years for us. You have to understand our situation, with three new starters and some young guys who are learning the system. Now compare that to Denver, who has been together for a few seasons. Boston has been together for a couple of seasons. Same with Utah."
Jefferson could have added the Lakers, who became a championship team again when they stole Pau Gasol from Memphis two seasons ago.
"I'm not using it as an excuse, but all those teams have been together longer than we have," Jefferson said. "So they have a higher rate of understanding of what they're doing and how to accomplish things. We're still learning. For us, we've got to get to March and April before we understand what we're doing."
By then, the Spurs will know if Duncan is still playing with the same energy and at the same all-NBA level that he's had in the first quarter of the season. They'll see if someone can give them the creativity and explosion to get to the basket that Ginobili once provided, but, due physical limitations, can't do now. They'll see if Parker has gone back to figuring out how to play like a playmaker, instead of a scoring point guard.
If everything comes together, the Spurs can get back to being one of the big boys. If not, the window Jefferson talked about being open for the next two or three years might well be shut.