spurs_naby20
06-12-2005, 08:17 AM
San Antonio Express-News
Let's clear up something.
This isn't the first time Tim Duncan has been in an NBA Finals without David Robinson.
Robinson ? at least the Hall of Fame Robinson ? wasn't here in 2003. He was sometimes stiff, aging with a sore back, not nearly what he had been earlier in his career.
His 17-rebound finale against the Nets was both a nice farewell and a nice camouflage to what he really was. That playoff season, Malik Rose played more minutes.
But the idea keeps getting repeated, that somehow Duncan is trying to prove something by winning now without Robinson, when the concept isn't accurate. If anything, Duncan has more help now than he did in 2003, and the help was there when these Finals began Thursday night.
As it was with Robinson, this one is also left-handed.
Manu Ginobili isn't the only one who helped Duncan on Thursday night. Bruce Bowen harassed Rip Hamilton into a 7-of-21 night, and then there's Nazr Mohammed, the one who actually plays Robinson's position.
When Mohammed stayed in the air with a rebound with about seven minutes remaining in the game, then dunking, it was a move Robinson would have been pressed to make that final season.
Mohammed's numbers, as ordinary as they are, compare to Robinson's in 2003. And because he's younger and quicker, he's arguably better. Denver's Kenyon Martin, who as a Net played against Robinson in the Finals, said that during the first round this spring.
Asked if Mohammed was more effective than Robinson at the end of his career, Martin got expressive as if the answer was obvious. "Did you see Mohammed last night?"
But Ginobili is the one who has given Duncan the All-Star help he didn't have in 2003. As he did against Denver, Seattle and Phoenix, as he seemingly does every time, Ginobili slithered inside and attacked.
Robinson was a great player and an even better person. But he didn't have the killer instinct that Ginobili has. Then again, how many do?
For the last three years, no one has won as he has. Ginobili beat the U.S. team in the 2002 World Championships and likely would have won everything then had he not severely sprained his ankle. He was a key part of the Spurs' 2003 title, and it took Derek Fisher's 0.4-shot to stop him the next summer. Then he won the gold medal in Athens, beating both Larry Brown and Gregg Popovich, and now he's ahead 1-0 in the Finals.
So how has Ginobili lost? Hurt him, or find a miracle.
The Pistons did neither Thursday, even after taking a 17-4 lead. Then, as Ginobili struggled, Tayshaun Prince's long arms came as advertised. Did Detroit have the counter?
Duncan kept the Spurs in it without much help. And afterward someone asked Popovich if Ginobili appeared frustrated then. Popovich smiled and said, "Frustration isn't part of his personality. He just goes."
Ginobili just goes, all right. He goes in bursts, with frenetic energy, and it's no coincidence that these moments come when they do.
Such as? Late in the third quarter, with the Pistons within two points.
Then Ginobili went on a 15-point run, bumping by Prince once, grabbing a waist-high rebound for another, twisting in with some creativity. Just for fun, he used his right hand.
Ginobili showed signs of this in 2003, but not at this level. Is his confidence different now?
"Our confidence in him is different," Duncan said. "He gets on those rolls, and Pop lets him go. When he really starts to feel good, you let him roll."
With Ginobili as a partner, Duncan took his own turn to roll then. He threw in two jumpers, one with the shot clock down, on his way to the kind of night that won him two Finals MVP before.
Ginobili would dunk later and throw in a 3-pointer. And with about a minute left, with the ball loose, both Ginobili and Duncan went to the floor. They sat up facing each other, and then, as if on cue, they held out their arms and simultaneously helped each other up.
Let's clear up something.
This is the way Duncan and Robinson were in 1999.
Let's clear up something.
This isn't the first time Tim Duncan has been in an NBA Finals without David Robinson.
Robinson ? at least the Hall of Fame Robinson ? wasn't here in 2003. He was sometimes stiff, aging with a sore back, not nearly what he had been earlier in his career.
His 17-rebound finale against the Nets was both a nice farewell and a nice camouflage to what he really was. That playoff season, Malik Rose played more minutes.
But the idea keeps getting repeated, that somehow Duncan is trying to prove something by winning now without Robinson, when the concept isn't accurate. If anything, Duncan has more help now than he did in 2003, and the help was there when these Finals began Thursday night.
As it was with Robinson, this one is also left-handed.
Manu Ginobili isn't the only one who helped Duncan on Thursday night. Bruce Bowen harassed Rip Hamilton into a 7-of-21 night, and then there's Nazr Mohammed, the one who actually plays Robinson's position.
When Mohammed stayed in the air with a rebound with about seven minutes remaining in the game, then dunking, it was a move Robinson would have been pressed to make that final season.
Mohammed's numbers, as ordinary as they are, compare to Robinson's in 2003. And because he's younger and quicker, he's arguably better. Denver's Kenyon Martin, who as a Net played against Robinson in the Finals, said that during the first round this spring.
Asked if Mohammed was more effective than Robinson at the end of his career, Martin got expressive as if the answer was obvious. "Did you see Mohammed last night?"
But Ginobili is the one who has given Duncan the All-Star help he didn't have in 2003. As he did against Denver, Seattle and Phoenix, as he seemingly does every time, Ginobili slithered inside and attacked.
Robinson was a great player and an even better person. But he didn't have the killer instinct that Ginobili has. Then again, how many do?
For the last three years, no one has won as he has. Ginobili beat the U.S. team in the 2002 World Championships and likely would have won everything then had he not severely sprained his ankle. He was a key part of the Spurs' 2003 title, and it took Derek Fisher's 0.4-shot to stop him the next summer. Then he won the gold medal in Athens, beating both Larry Brown and Gregg Popovich, and now he's ahead 1-0 in the Finals.
So how has Ginobili lost? Hurt him, or find a miracle.
The Pistons did neither Thursday, even after taking a 17-4 lead. Then, as Ginobili struggled, Tayshaun Prince's long arms came as advertised. Did Detroit have the counter?
Duncan kept the Spurs in it without much help. And afterward someone asked Popovich if Ginobili appeared frustrated then. Popovich smiled and said, "Frustration isn't part of his personality. He just goes."
Ginobili just goes, all right. He goes in bursts, with frenetic energy, and it's no coincidence that these moments come when they do.
Such as? Late in the third quarter, with the Pistons within two points.
Then Ginobili went on a 15-point run, bumping by Prince once, grabbing a waist-high rebound for another, twisting in with some creativity. Just for fun, he used his right hand.
Ginobili showed signs of this in 2003, but not at this level. Is his confidence different now?
"Our confidence in him is different," Duncan said. "He gets on those rolls, and Pop lets him go. When he really starts to feel good, you let him roll."
With Ginobili as a partner, Duncan took his own turn to roll then. He threw in two jumpers, one with the shot clock down, on his way to the kind of night that won him two Finals MVP before.
Ginobili would dunk later and throw in a 3-pointer. And with about a minute left, with the ball loose, both Ginobili and Duncan went to the floor. They sat up facing each other, and then, as if on cue, they held out their arms and simultaneously helped each other up.
Let's clear up something.
This is the way Duncan and Robinson were in 1999.