duncan228
03-24-2010, 07:00 PM
A bit from the 'Inside the NBA' column.
Spurs scrap to stay relevant (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/britt_robson/03/24/west.notes/)
Britt Robson
SI.com
Anyone who has watched the Spurs recently knows they are not going to win a fifth ring for Tim Duncan's thumb this year. But as the hallmarks of the Duncan-era dynasty become increasingly threadbare, the grit and grace of the team's battle to retain its relevance in the championship chase adds new luster to the proud legacy of a franchise that won four titles from 1999 to 2007.
There is no other way to put this: Duncan is wearing out. On the tail end of a back-to-back last Wednesday, he ran into Dwight Howard and the Magic and scored just five points on 1-of-10 shooting in 25 minutes, a period in which the Spurs were a minus-21. And after playing 41 minutes in a disheartening overtime loss to Atlanta on Sunday, Duncan was taxed by 20-year-old Thunder center Serge Ibaka in the fourth quarter of another back-to-back on Monday, grabbing just one rebound in nine minutes while shooting 0-for-4 from the field and getting his final shot blocked. The Big Fundamental was so wiped out that he didn't even grouse at the officials.
But Duncan and the Spurs gutted out the win. The night before, San Antonio had lost in large part because Hawks center Al Horford amassed a double-double -- 10 points and 10 rebounds, four of them offensive boards -- in the final 15:04 of the fourth quarter and overtime. Now, after the requisite predawn arrival in Oklahoma City that comes with a back-to-back road date, the Spurs were up against a youthful Thunder team angry about its own loss to the Pacers the previous night. Despite the Spurs' wholesale double teams, Kevin Durant went off for a season-high 45 points. And when crunch time came in a nip-and-tuck fourth quarter, Duncan was jousting with a pogo stick 13 years his junior, losing the battle but winning the war.
When I caught up with the Spurs in Minnesota earlier this month, coach Gregg Popovich was even more clipped than usual in his pregame media session, no doubt sick of explaining why the team hasn't lived up to preseason expectations as the Lakers' primary challenger in the West. Twice in the 10-minute exchange he answered, "We're not as good this year as we were," once adding, with a little bite in his tone, "You guys are making this a lot more complicated then it really is." When I asked him if -- given the then-recent broken hand sustained by Tony Parker -- he would have to play Manu Ginobili between 36 and 40 minutes the rest of the season, he replied, "I would never play him that much." But Sunday night in Atlanta, Ginobili was right up against the 40-minute mark even before playing the entire five-minute overtime.
That's because Ginobili has been magnificent -- as good as his vintage performances of three and four years ago, according to Popovich. At Oklahoma City, Ginobili was responsible for all of the Spurs' five points in the game's final five minutes -- two on a steal and dish for a layup, the other three on pressure-packed free throws. And when the Thunder came down with a chance to tie it with a three-pointer, it was Ginobili's hard double team that forced Durant to pass to Thabo Sefolosha for the do-or-die shot that bounced off the rim. "One of the finest wins our team has had this season," Popovich said afterward. "I'm really proud of them."
Spurs scrap to stay relevant (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/britt_robson/03/24/west.notes/)
Britt Robson
SI.com
Anyone who has watched the Spurs recently knows they are not going to win a fifth ring for Tim Duncan's thumb this year. But as the hallmarks of the Duncan-era dynasty become increasingly threadbare, the grit and grace of the team's battle to retain its relevance in the championship chase adds new luster to the proud legacy of a franchise that won four titles from 1999 to 2007.
There is no other way to put this: Duncan is wearing out. On the tail end of a back-to-back last Wednesday, he ran into Dwight Howard and the Magic and scored just five points on 1-of-10 shooting in 25 minutes, a period in which the Spurs were a minus-21. And after playing 41 minutes in a disheartening overtime loss to Atlanta on Sunday, Duncan was taxed by 20-year-old Thunder center Serge Ibaka in the fourth quarter of another back-to-back on Monday, grabbing just one rebound in nine minutes while shooting 0-for-4 from the field and getting his final shot blocked. The Big Fundamental was so wiped out that he didn't even grouse at the officials.
But Duncan and the Spurs gutted out the win. The night before, San Antonio had lost in large part because Hawks center Al Horford amassed a double-double -- 10 points and 10 rebounds, four of them offensive boards -- in the final 15:04 of the fourth quarter and overtime. Now, after the requisite predawn arrival in Oklahoma City that comes with a back-to-back road date, the Spurs were up against a youthful Thunder team angry about its own loss to the Pacers the previous night. Despite the Spurs' wholesale double teams, Kevin Durant went off for a season-high 45 points. And when crunch time came in a nip-and-tuck fourth quarter, Duncan was jousting with a pogo stick 13 years his junior, losing the battle but winning the war.
When I caught up with the Spurs in Minnesota earlier this month, coach Gregg Popovich was even more clipped than usual in his pregame media session, no doubt sick of explaining why the team hasn't lived up to preseason expectations as the Lakers' primary challenger in the West. Twice in the 10-minute exchange he answered, "We're not as good this year as we were," once adding, with a little bite in his tone, "You guys are making this a lot more complicated then it really is." When I asked him if -- given the then-recent broken hand sustained by Tony Parker -- he would have to play Manu Ginobili between 36 and 40 minutes the rest of the season, he replied, "I would never play him that much." But Sunday night in Atlanta, Ginobili was right up against the 40-minute mark even before playing the entire five-minute overtime.
That's because Ginobili has been magnificent -- as good as his vintage performances of three and four years ago, according to Popovich. At Oklahoma City, Ginobili was responsible for all of the Spurs' five points in the game's final five minutes -- two on a steal and dish for a layup, the other three on pressure-packed free throws. And when the Thunder came down with a chance to tie it with a three-pointer, it was Ginobili's hard double team that forced Durant to pass to Thabo Sefolosha for the do-or-die shot that bounced off the rim. "One of the finest wins our team has had this season," Popovich said afterward. "I'm really proud of them."