boutons
06-09-2005, 01:02 AM
Different Roads to Finals for Duncan and Billups
By LIZ ROBBINS
SAN ANTONIO, June 8 - Together on draft night in 1997, Tim Duncan and Chauncey Billups never could have imagined how far their paths would diverge.
Taken two picks apart - Duncan at No. 1 and Billups at No. 3 - Duncan jumped from being a prospect to a superstar in San Antonio while Billups jumped to six cities in eight seasons before landing upright in Detroit.
They were the most valuable players in the last two N.B.A. finals, cool, unassuming leaders of their medium-market teams who symbolize the harmonic convergence of the two franchises.
The Pistons and the Spurs are linked by their defensive prowess, the bond between their coaches, Larry Brown and Gregg Popovich, and history. For the first time since the Lakers and the Celtics met in 1987, the previous two finals winners will meet again.
Some paths were just unpredictable at best. "Going through all that, I hated it, it was tough," Billups said Wednesday at the SBC Center, where Game 1 will be played Thursday. "But if I knew it would end up like this, I would do it all over again. I would wish to be traded, injured, if I could be as happy as I am now."
Billups, a scoring point guard born to play in the clutch, played five months for Rick Pitino in Boston, was traded to Toronto, had shoulder surgery and barely played in Denver, his hometown, and was traded to Orlando.
He then played two years in Minnesota before Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations, recognized his size, skill and talent and realized that something was missing. "Chauncey really wanted someone to put their arms around him and let him know they believed in him," Dumars said.
The Celtics wanted Duncan, of course, in 1997 when the lottery odds favored them the most after a 15-victory season. Instead, Popovich was the one visiting Duncan right after the Spurs won the lottery, lying next to him on a beach in Duncan's hometown of St. Croix, V.I.
Popovich knew instantly that he had found a kindred spirit, as well as the team's foundation to replace David Robinson one day. "With him, it's been a storybook," Billups said of Duncan. "And it should. He's one of the best players of all time. But when I was sitting at that different table, at the same draft, I thought I was going to be in Boston for 10, 11 years. I wasn't even there for 10 months."
Billups is the ultimate vagabond on a resilient team of transients. Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Antonio McDyess all had franchises give up on them before Dumars brought them together with the Pistons.
"We all came from some long roads, some harsh roads," Rasheed Wallace said. "Chauncey, I can't even name all the teams he's been on."
Billups, whose outgoing personality makes him a basketball ambassador, excelled in Detroit under Rick Carlisle. But when Brown became coach in 2004 and stressed a pass-first philosophy, Billups felt unsettled again.
"I've seen him with point guards and he's just destroyed them," the Detroit assistant coach Gar Heard said of Brown. "And the next minute he's got his arms around them."
That next moment took some time. "We were like two trains on the same track within two blocks," Billups said. "There were times, those first 9, 10 games, it was crazy in that locker room.
"When we talked halfway through the season and he said, 'Chauncey you got to do this and that,' that's like me coming into practice saying, 'O.K., you can't teach, you can't yell.' I made sacrifices and so did he."
This season, Brown has given him more leeway; Billups, whose free throws and 3-pointers led the Pistons past the Miami Heat in the conference finals, is averaging 18 points and 6.6 assists in the playoffs.
In San Antonio, Popovich's give-and-take relationship with his star Duncan set the tone for his team, too. "Timmy empowers Pop because when your best player buys in completely into what you're doing, you have very little problems," the assistant coach P. J. Carlesimo said. "Their relationship is just central."
At times, Duncan even becomes an extension of Popovich. "Timmy didn't even want to talk to me when I first arrived," said point guard Tony Parker, the Spurs' pick at No. 28 in 2001. "He didn't think a little skinny point guard from France could help him to win the championship. Now we have a great relationship."
In the two years since the Spurs eliminated the Nets in six games to win the title, Parker and Manu Ginóbili, have emerged as offensive forces, easing the pressure on Duncan.
Spurs General Manager R. C. Buford has added depth with Robert Horry, winner of six titles, the sharpshooter Brent Barry, the backup guard Beno Udrih of Slovenia and Nazr Mohammed, the starting center, whom Buford acquired from the Knicks for Malik Rose.
Bruce Bowen remains as the defensive specialist, aware of the team's one constant. "Tim is Tim," Bowen said. "He's what makes us go. It's no big secret."
Duncan has averaged 24.9 points and 11.7 rebounds in the playoffs. In Duncan's eight years, the Spurs are 438-186, with a .706 winning percentage, the best in the N.B.A.
"He hasn't changed a lick, very honestly," Popovich said of Duncan. "He's exactly the same person that I laid on the sand with down in St. Croix. He's basically an introverted, quite humorous, highly intelligent, easy-going guy who has gotten over himself."
This is a man who has his trophies in his bathroom.
"I had no idea that at this point in my career I would have an opportunity to be in the third finals and try for a third championship," Duncan said. "I would have hoped that I would be at some point be able to get there and win one."
The path still unfolds in front of Duncan and Billups.
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
By LIZ ROBBINS
SAN ANTONIO, June 8 - Together on draft night in 1997, Tim Duncan and Chauncey Billups never could have imagined how far their paths would diverge.
Taken two picks apart - Duncan at No. 1 and Billups at No. 3 - Duncan jumped from being a prospect to a superstar in San Antonio while Billups jumped to six cities in eight seasons before landing upright in Detroit.
They were the most valuable players in the last two N.B.A. finals, cool, unassuming leaders of their medium-market teams who symbolize the harmonic convergence of the two franchises.
The Pistons and the Spurs are linked by their defensive prowess, the bond between their coaches, Larry Brown and Gregg Popovich, and history. For the first time since the Lakers and the Celtics met in 1987, the previous two finals winners will meet again.
Some paths were just unpredictable at best. "Going through all that, I hated it, it was tough," Billups said Wednesday at the SBC Center, where Game 1 will be played Thursday. "But if I knew it would end up like this, I would do it all over again. I would wish to be traded, injured, if I could be as happy as I am now."
Billups, a scoring point guard born to play in the clutch, played five months for Rick Pitino in Boston, was traded to Toronto, had shoulder surgery and barely played in Denver, his hometown, and was traded to Orlando.
He then played two years in Minnesota before Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations, recognized his size, skill and talent and realized that something was missing. "Chauncey really wanted someone to put their arms around him and let him know they believed in him," Dumars said.
The Celtics wanted Duncan, of course, in 1997 when the lottery odds favored them the most after a 15-victory season. Instead, Popovich was the one visiting Duncan right after the Spurs won the lottery, lying next to him on a beach in Duncan's hometown of St. Croix, V.I.
Popovich knew instantly that he had found a kindred spirit, as well as the team's foundation to replace David Robinson one day. "With him, it's been a storybook," Billups said of Duncan. "And it should. He's one of the best players of all time. But when I was sitting at that different table, at the same draft, I thought I was going to be in Boston for 10, 11 years. I wasn't even there for 10 months."
Billups is the ultimate vagabond on a resilient team of transients. Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Antonio McDyess all had franchises give up on them before Dumars brought them together with the Pistons.
"We all came from some long roads, some harsh roads," Rasheed Wallace said. "Chauncey, I can't even name all the teams he's been on."
Billups, whose outgoing personality makes him a basketball ambassador, excelled in Detroit under Rick Carlisle. But when Brown became coach in 2004 and stressed a pass-first philosophy, Billups felt unsettled again.
"I've seen him with point guards and he's just destroyed them," the Detroit assistant coach Gar Heard said of Brown. "And the next minute he's got his arms around them."
That next moment took some time. "We were like two trains on the same track within two blocks," Billups said. "There were times, those first 9, 10 games, it was crazy in that locker room.
"When we talked halfway through the season and he said, 'Chauncey you got to do this and that,' that's like me coming into practice saying, 'O.K., you can't teach, you can't yell.' I made sacrifices and so did he."
This season, Brown has given him more leeway; Billups, whose free throws and 3-pointers led the Pistons past the Miami Heat in the conference finals, is averaging 18 points and 6.6 assists in the playoffs.
In San Antonio, Popovich's give-and-take relationship with his star Duncan set the tone for his team, too. "Timmy empowers Pop because when your best player buys in completely into what you're doing, you have very little problems," the assistant coach P. J. Carlesimo said. "Their relationship is just central."
At times, Duncan even becomes an extension of Popovich. "Timmy didn't even want to talk to me when I first arrived," said point guard Tony Parker, the Spurs' pick at No. 28 in 2001. "He didn't think a little skinny point guard from France could help him to win the championship. Now we have a great relationship."
In the two years since the Spurs eliminated the Nets in six games to win the title, Parker and Manu Ginóbili, have emerged as offensive forces, easing the pressure on Duncan.
Spurs General Manager R. C. Buford has added depth with Robert Horry, winner of six titles, the sharpshooter Brent Barry, the backup guard Beno Udrih of Slovenia and Nazr Mohammed, the starting center, whom Buford acquired from the Knicks for Malik Rose.
Bruce Bowen remains as the defensive specialist, aware of the team's one constant. "Tim is Tim," Bowen said. "He's what makes us go. It's no big secret."
Duncan has averaged 24.9 points and 11.7 rebounds in the playoffs. In Duncan's eight years, the Spurs are 438-186, with a .706 winning percentage, the best in the N.B.A.
"He hasn't changed a lick, very honestly," Popovich said of Duncan. "He's exactly the same person that I laid on the sand with down in St. Croix. He's basically an introverted, quite humorous, highly intelligent, easy-going guy who has gotten over himself."
This is a man who has his trophies in his bathroom.
"I had no idea that at this point in my career I would have an opportunity to be in the third finals and try for a third championship," Duncan said. "I would have hoped that I would be at some point be able to get there and win one."
The path still unfolds in front of Duncan and Billups.
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company