duncan228
12-27-2009, 12:21 AM
Duncan's excellence endures (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/Duncans_excellence_endures.html)
Mike Monroe
As the first decade of the 21st century nears an end, it is entirely fitting that Tim Duncan is having the best season of any Spur, old or new.
Just as he did in 2000-01, Duncan leads the Spurs in scoring and rebounding. At 33, and shed of 15 pounds, he looks more like the 23-year-old who entered Y2K than a graying veteran with expectations diminished by the toll of carrying a team to greatness for 10 years.
It has been the Decade of Duncan, both in San Antonio and the NBA. The case can be made he was the most dominant player in the league simply because he gave voice to an argument that the Spurs were the Team of the Decade.
The Lakers' four titles settle that debate, but they had two superstars, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, for three of those.
Bryant would not have earned four rings without O'Neal's help for one, two and three. O'Neal would not have four without Dwyane Wade's help in 2006.
For 10 years, Duncan was The Man. True, he had David Robinson as his running mate for the first three years of the decade, but The Admiral battled assorted injuries before he retired after the Spurs' 2003 championship run.
Robinson graciously ceded offensive pre-eminence to Duncan as soon as the Big Fundamental arrived in The Alamo City from Wake Forest, but the protégé returned the favor by enabling Robinson's glorious NBA exit scene.
Duncan's near-quadruple-double (22 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, 8 blocks) in the title-clinching Game 6 of the 2003 Finals was a playoff performance for the ages. Anyone quibbling with the assertion he dominated the decade needs to cue the videotape.
Since The Admiral sailed away, Duncan has been the Spurs' captain and the best sort of leader. Quietly, he shows his teammates that hard work can be its own reward; that hubris is the enemy of championship success.
In an era of overpaid role players, Duncan agreed to take a pay cut to help his team remain competitive. No one need feel bad for a player who will make $18.84 million next season, but Duncan could have insisted on maximum money in every season of the five-year extension he signed in 2008. Instead, he gave up almost $2.5 million to make the Spurs a bigger player in free agency.
The franchise has remained one of the most competitive in all of pro sports because Duncan hates to lose. He had ultra-competitive, All-Star teammates in Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker and great role players in Bruce Bowen and Robert Horry. Together they forged titles, but Duncan's competitive spirit always showed the way.
When he made a decision on the Spurs' final possession of a Dec. 7 loss at Utah that left Matt Bonner with bad options, he sat in front of his locker afterwards looking down at the floor, slowly shaking his head in quiet disgust.
Then the captain insisted he alone had doomed the Spurs to defeat in a game they wanted badly.
Twelve days later, when he was presented with the very same situation, he made the play himself, beating the Pacers with a dunk.
The decade ends.
Duncan's excellence endures.
Mike Monroe
As the first decade of the 21st century nears an end, it is entirely fitting that Tim Duncan is having the best season of any Spur, old or new.
Just as he did in 2000-01, Duncan leads the Spurs in scoring and rebounding. At 33, and shed of 15 pounds, he looks more like the 23-year-old who entered Y2K than a graying veteran with expectations diminished by the toll of carrying a team to greatness for 10 years.
It has been the Decade of Duncan, both in San Antonio and the NBA. The case can be made he was the most dominant player in the league simply because he gave voice to an argument that the Spurs were the Team of the Decade.
The Lakers' four titles settle that debate, but they had two superstars, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, for three of those.
Bryant would not have earned four rings without O'Neal's help for one, two and three. O'Neal would not have four without Dwyane Wade's help in 2006.
For 10 years, Duncan was The Man. True, he had David Robinson as his running mate for the first three years of the decade, but The Admiral battled assorted injuries before he retired after the Spurs' 2003 championship run.
Robinson graciously ceded offensive pre-eminence to Duncan as soon as the Big Fundamental arrived in The Alamo City from Wake Forest, but the protégé returned the favor by enabling Robinson's glorious NBA exit scene.
Duncan's near-quadruple-double (22 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, 8 blocks) in the title-clinching Game 6 of the 2003 Finals was a playoff performance for the ages. Anyone quibbling with the assertion he dominated the decade needs to cue the videotape.
Since The Admiral sailed away, Duncan has been the Spurs' captain and the best sort of leader. Quietly, he shows his teammates that hard work can be its own reward; that hubris is the enemy of championship success.
In an era of overpaid role players, Duncan agreed to take a pay cut to help his team remain competitive. No one need feel bad for a player who will make $18.84 million next season, but Duncan could have insisted on maximum money in every season of the five-year extension he signed in 2008. Instead, he gave up almost $2.5 million to make the Spurs a bigger player in free agency.
The franchise has remained one of the most competitive in all of pro sports because Duncan hates to lose. He had ultra-competitive, All-Star teammates in Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker and great role players in Bruce Bowen and Robert Horry. Together they forged titles, but Duncan's competitive spirit always showed the way.
When he made a decision on the Spurs' final possession of a Dec. 7 loss at Utah that left Matt Bonner with bad options, he sat in front of his locker afterwards looking down at the floor, slowly shaking his head in quiet disgust.
Then the captain insisted he alone had doomed the Spurs to defeat in a game they wanted badly.
Twelve days later, when he was presented with the very same situation, he made the play himself, beating the Pacers with a dunk.
The decade ends.
Duncan's excellence endures.