The case for increasing Tim Duncan's minutes

[TDfan2007]

Hi guys, it's great to have the season starting. I've been giving the situation with Timmy's knees some thought, and I feel like the best thing to do would be to have him play about 32 mpg, but to have him take between 5 and 10 games off for the season, at minimum. Here is how I came up with the idea:

-Aside from his ankle injury, I think that part of Tim's problem during last season's playoff run was a lack of stamina. His play would drop off during the second half of just about every game against Memphis. The reason why was simple. His mpg immediately shot up from about 28 mpg to around 35 mpg. Tim was simply not used to being out on the court for that long, because he had been conditioned for about 80 games at a 28 mpg pace.

-One of Tim's knees has tendinosis, a chronic degenerative condition that can only "improve" (a better word would be "controlled") with rest, not playing 3 or 4 less minutes per game. In addition, Tim's other knee is "almost bone on bone" if Pop's quote from Shaq's new book is to be taken for fact. This is a cartilage issue, and again, playing 3 or 4 minutes less a game will not help as much as simply taking days off.

-One of the best things that an athlete can do is to give himself ample time to recover from strenuous exercise, especially as one ages. Taking certain games off would allow for just that type of recovery.

So those are my reasons. Resting Timmy in certain games, along with gradually increasing his minutes to playoff levels around the tail end of the season would be the best way to make sure that he's in game shape come playoff time. I recognize that the coaching staff may have wanted to gradually raise his mpg during the end of last season, but couldn't because of his ankle injury, but I still believe that keeping him at 31-32 mpg, with a smaller and more gradual increase of 2-3 mpg near the end of the season would be much more effective.

Thoughts?

[spurs10]

Given our lack of depth with our bigs, sitting Tim is going to be hard. That being said, he will indeed be missing games. I'm pretty sure they won't be increasing Tim's minutes meanwhile..

[weebo]

Great more minutes for Bonner and Blair.

[TDfan2007]

Great more minutes for Bonner and Blair.

This is the obvious downside of sitting Tim, but it has to be done. Not addressing our lack of size is going to bite this team in the ass one way or another by season's end.

[weebo]

This is the obvious downside of sitting Tim, but it has to be done. Not addressing our lack of size is going to bite this team in the ass one way or another by season's end.

That's why I was hoping we would tank this year.

[TDfan2007]

That's why I was hoping we would tank this year.

This isn't serious, is it?

[mystargtr34]

What your saying is probably right so i like the idea.. on back to backs you limit his minutes to 26-30 if possible.. and you sit him on the third game of back to back to backs. On all other games you can keep him at close to playoff level 30-34 minutes. Like you said.. its the only way to get the lungs to playoff shape before the playoffs.

Having said that, its probably better to gradually increase his minutes as the playoffs get closer.. say with 20 or so games to go.. you start to increase his minutes up to 32-34 per game. I cant see Pop playing him more than 30 a night early in the season.. which is probably right.

[therealtruth]

That's the downside to playing everyone low minutes. It makes it harder to adjust in the playoffs when you need people to step up and play more minutes. You have to coach the regular season with the playoffs in mind. You can't coach a different way when the playoffs start. The Spurs won by scoring over 100 and against Memphis they only scored over 100 once in regulation. They tried slowing down the game and going through Tim more when that was not how they had played all year.

[Obstructed_View]

Makes perfect sense to me. I was expecting all Timmy's rest last year to result in being able to play him more minutes in the playoffs. It didn't happen. If Duncan has to be limited to 35 minutes in the playoffs no matter what the situation then the Spurs are not likely to make any deep runs in the Duncan era. His problems in the playoffs seemed more related to not having the wind than not having the cartilage.

[therealtruth]

Makes perfect sense to me. I was expecting all Timmy's rest last year to result in being able to play him more minutes in the playoffs. It didn't happen. If Duncan has to be limited to 35 minutes in the playoffs no matter what the situation then the Spurs are not likely to make any deep runs in the Duncan era. His problems in the playoffs seemed more related to not having the wind than not having the cartilage.

The problem isn't only rest. He needs help. He can't defend two bigs by himself. Even with Dice are second best post defender he had to help a lot. Dice got that stinger in his neck against Memphis when Duncan went over to help and hit him in the head accidentally. That's why I think the more minutes he plays with Splitter the more it will extend his career. He won't have to worry about helping so much plus Splitter can also help him at times.

[underdawg]

injuries most often happen when a player is tired - more mintues would increase this liability. Duncan needs limited minutes per game AND some nights off. I think Pop will use this stategy and will roll with small ball until it becomes painfully obvious that it will never work for him (well maybe).

Call me a pessimist, but I don't think that small ball will cut it this year either. I count at least 9 teams (30 games) in the Western Conference that will give the Spurs' frontline trouble (I'm probably missing some players):

DALLAS
Brendan Haywood
Dirk Nowitzki
Lamar Odom

CLIPPERS
Blake Griffin
DeAndre Jordan

LAKERS
Andrew Bynum
Pau Gasol

MEMPHIS
Zach Randolph
Marc Gasol

MINNESOTA
Kevin Love
Darko Milicic
Brad Miller

OKLAHOMA CITY
Serge Ibaka
Nazr Mohammed
Kendrick Perkins

PORTLAND
LaMarcus Aldridge
Marcus Camby
Greg Oden

SACRAMENTO
Chuck Hayes
DeMarcus Cousins
Jason Thompson

UTAH
Derrick Favors
Al Jefferson
Paul Millsap

[Obstructed_View]

The problem isn't only rest. He needs help. He can't defend two bigs by himself. Even with Dice are second best post defender he had to help a lot. Dice got that stinger in his neck against Memphis when Duncan went over to help and hit him in the head accidentally. That's why I think the more minutes he plays with Splitter the more it will extend his career. He won't have to worry about helping so much plus Splitter can also help him at times.

I've been saying Duncan needs help since 2006 when Pop put Horry and Finley next to him. Dice was a poor man's Kurt Thomas which is an indication of how bad the Spurs' front line is. They certainly need bodies to throw at the defensive end, but Duncan needs minutes so that he can actually help the offense.

[Fabbs]

-One of the best things that an athlete can do is to give himself ample time to recover from strenuous exercise, especially as one ages. Taking certain games off would allow for just that type of recovery.

Thoughts?
Agree that taking games off might help. Like last year, but i don't believe 'Zit gave him games off often enough. Lot of good it did to finish with #1 seed.
This season with even more condensed back to backs.....eeeesh.

It may simply be too late for Duncs given his decline combined w the lack of frontline help. Including King Retards:pop: refusing to go after/give playing time to big help.

[Josepatches_]

Agree

And if I have to give him days off I'd rest him against the best teams. Why? Im not sure if we can win a single game without TD so it's better to play him every game when our chance to win is higher.
At the end one win is one win.


But that's something it's not going to happen.He will rest against lottery teams and we will lose those games and the big ones.

[Sean Cagney]

GOT DAMN outside of Tim our frontline is trash :( GOOD LORD I have no faith this year in it at all now that Dice is gone.

[TD 21]

You're absolutely right. Whether he plays 28 or 30 or even 32 mpg, I don't think it matters much. Take last night's game for example. He played roughly 47 minutes combined in the first two games. Yet it didn't help him a bit last night. And we've seen it in the playoffs the past two seasons too. All the rest during the regular season meant little to nothing when he was forced to play roughly 35 mpg again.

[DMC]

Pop doesn't just save Tim for the next games, but for his overall health. Who wants to retire a cripple?

Tim is not capable of those extra minutes. He would be injured before March.

[TD 21]

He's easily capable of them, so long as he sits out more games.

[TDMVPDPOY]

even tim is trash these days...

[ElNono]

Case closed

[MaNu4Tres]

Couldn't agree more. :tu

[Respect]

Pop will do what he always does. Don't forget he reduced duncans numbers last season and we beasted through until the playoffs

[Russo21]

Time for Tim to team up with Shaq to bring home title number 5

[Russo21]

Shaq? Did i just say that. Geez

[TDfan2007]

Couldn't agree more. :tu

Yeah, Tim should basically never play two nights in a row. Hopefully the coaching staff picks up on this sooner rather than later. I can safely say that I've never seen Tim look as bad as he did the other night against Houston. He basically did nothing well or right.

[MannyIsGod]

:tu

[BillMc]

Tim should miss the middle game of every back to back to back. Period. No matter the opponent.

Look, we're going to be in the playoffs. And we're likely not going to be the 8th seed which would face what's looking to be a pretty good OKC team in the first round. Other than them, I suspect all the Western teams are about equal. More than any year, Pop really shouldn't care about wins just health and preparing youth for the second season.