TwoHandJam
06-03-2005, 12:37 PM
Duncan, Spurs earned time off before Final challenge
link (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-spurs-duncan&prov=ap&type=lgns)
By JAIME ARON, AP Sports Writer
June 2, 2005
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Gregg Popovich knows Tim Duncan as well as anyone. So when the perennial All-Star sulked after a poor performance in a playoff game, the San Antonio Spurs coach knew exactly how to pull him out of it.
He left him alone.
Working out the kinks by himself, Duncan went back to being the fundamentally sound force who has led the Spurs to two of the last six NBA titles -- and ensured they'll be playing for another starting next week.
Duncan had 31 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks in a 101-95 victory over Phoenix on Wednesday night, helping San Antonio wrap up the Western Conference finals in five games. His bounce-back performance left the Spurs smiling, the Suns shaking their heads and everyone in both locker rooms saying, ``That's Tim.''
``Tim Duncan was a possessed individual,'' Popovich said. ``You would never know it by looking at his face or talking to him. I haven't talked to him for two days. I just leave him alone in these situations. He doesn't need anybody to talk to him, especially a coach. He's a very mature individual who understands what needs to be done.''
The Spurs returned to San Antonio on Thursday for a weeklong siesta before the Finals. It'll be days before they know whether they'll be playing Ben Wallace and the defending champion Detroit Pistons or their former Western Conference foe Shaquille O'Neal and his new club, the Miami Heat.
Either way, the final round will begin in San Antonio next Thursday night.
``I'd love a little shorter time,'' Duncan said, ``but you can't beat that.''
With two creaky ankles, Duncan tops the list of players who need the time to recuperate. Manu Ginobili has all kinds of sore spots and Tony Parker added to his collection of bruises with several hard falls in Game 5.
Duncan blamed himself for the Spurs even having to go back to Phoenix. He considered the Game 4 loss his fault because he missed nine free throws and made just six baskets in a five-point loss. He scored 15 points that game compared to 30.5 in the four wins.
Rather than chalking it up to one of those things that happens in the playoffs, or blaming his dual ankle injuries, Duncan went to work. He practiced his jumpers and free throws alone on the day off between games, then arrived at the arena early Wednesday to make sure he had his touch back.
The result: He made six of his first seven shots, rebounding the lone miss and putting it back in. That gave him 12 of San Antonio's first 16 points and he had 18 by halftime.
Although Amare Stoudemire exasperated the Spurs' vaunted defense -- again -- for 42 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, it was still Duncan who made the play that Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni called ``the big backbreaker.''
The Suns had trimmed a 13-point deficit to three and were trying to get the ball back when Duncan again rebounded his own miss and tipped it in. That put San Antonio up by five and he stretched it by assisting on the next basket, a layup by Parker with 50.3 seconds left.
Duncan also refused to let a horrendous first free throw -- it barely got to the front of the rim -- send him into a funk, as happened when he started poorly from the line in Game 4. This time, he made the rest of his attempts, albeit only three.
``Whenever Tim has a bad game, he puts so much pressure on himself,'' Ginobili said. ``He feels so responsible.''
To Duncan, a two-time MVP and two-time Finals MVP, his self-challenge wasn't to make up for what he'd done wrong as much as it was to make sure it didn't happen again.
``I just don't like playing bad games,'' he said. ``I don't like going out there and feeling like I left something on the floor that night that I shouldn't have, that I could have done something different.''
When time ran out on the game, and series, Duncan took on the role of elder statesman. He congratulated Stoudemire for five phenomenal games and said he expects to see Phoenix deep in the playoffs for many years to come.
``It was good to hear from Tim,'' Stoudemire said. ``He's one of the marquee players in this league. Best of luck to him.''
For Phoenix's Steve Nash, being sent home by Duncan and the Spurs is becoming a bad habit. It happened to him when he was in Dallas in 2001 and '03.
``We didn't really find an answer for Tim,'' Nash said. ``He's just such a terrific player. ... He will do whatever it takes for the team.''
And he'll do it without anyone saying a word.
link (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-spurs-duncan&prov=ap&type=lgns)
By JAIME ARON, AP Sports Writer
June 2, 2005
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Gregg Popovich knows Tim Duncan as well as anyone. So when the perennial All-Star sulked after a poor performance in a playoff game, the San Antonio Spurs coach knew exactly how to pull him out of it.
He left him alone.
Working out the kinks by himself, Duncan went back to being the fundamentally sound force who has led the Spurs to two of the last six NBA titles -- and ensured they'll be playing for another starting next week.
Duncan had 31 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks in a 101-95 victory over Phoenix on Wednesday night, helping San Antonio wrap up the Western Conference finals in five games. His bounce-back performance left the Spurs smiling, the Suns shaking their heads and everyone in both locker rooms saying, ``That's Tim.''
``Tim Duncan was a possessed individual,'' Popovich said. ``You would never know it by looking at his face or talking to him. I haven't talked to him for two days. I just leave him alone in these situations. He doesn't need anybody to talk to him, especially a coach. He's a very mature individual who understands what needs to be done.''
The Spurs returned to San Antonio on Thursday for a weeklong siesta before the Finals. It'll be days before they know whether they'll be playing Ben Wallace and the defending champion Detroit Pistons or their former Western Conference foe Shaquille O'Neal and his new club, the Miami Heat.
Either way, the final round will begin in San Antonio next Thursday night.
``I'd love a little shorter time,'' Duncan said, ``but you can't beat that.''
With two creaky ankles, Duncan tops the list of players who need the time to recuperate. Manu Ginobili has all kinds of sore spots and Tony Parker added to his collection of bruises with several hard falls in Game 5.
Duncan blamed himself for the Spurs even having to go back to Phoenix. He considered the Game 4 loss his fault because he missed nine free throws and made just six baskets in a five-point loss. He scored 15 points that game compared to 30.5 in the four wins.
Rather than chalking it up to one of those things that happens in the playoffs, or blaming his dual ankle injuries, Duncan went to work. He practiced his jumpers and free throws alone on the day off between games, then arrived at the arena early Wednesday to make sure he had his touch back.
The result: He made six of his first seven shots, rebounding the lone miss and putting it back in. That gave him 12 of San Antonio's first 16 points and he had 18 by halftime.
Although Amare Stoudemire exasperated the Spurs' vaunted defense -- again -- for 42 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, it was still Duncan who made the play that Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni called ``the big backbreaker.''
The Suns had trimmed a 13-point deficit to three and were trying to get the ball back when Duncan again rebounded his own miss and tipped it in. That put San Antonio up by five and he stretched it by assisting on the next basket, a layup by Parker with 50.3 seconds left.
Duncan also refused to let a horrendous first free throw -- it barely got to the front of the rim -- send him into a funk, as happened when he started poorly from the line in Game 4. This time, he made the rest of his attempts, albeit only three.
``Whenever Tim has a bad game, he puts so much pressure on himself,'' Ginobili said. ``He feels so responsible.''
To Duncan, a two-time MVP and two-time Finals MVP, his self-challenge wasn't to make up for what he'd done wrong as much as it was to make sure it didn't happen again.
``I just don't like playing bad games,'' he said. ``I don't like going out there and feeling like I left something on the floor that night that I shouldn't have, that I could have done something different.''
When time ran out on the game, and series, Duncan took on the role of elder statesman. He congratulated Stoudemire for five phenomenal games and said he expects to see Phoenix deep in the playoffs for many years to come.
``It was good to hear from Tim,'' Stoudemire said. ``He's one of the marquee players in this league. Best of luck to him.''
For Phoenix's Steve Nash, being sent home by Duncan and the Spurs is becoming a bad habit. It happened to him when he was in Dallas in 2001 and '03.
``We didn't really find an answer for Tim,'' Nash said. ``He's just such a terrific player. ... He will do whatever it takes for the team.''
And he'll do it without anyone saying a word.