Only thing that bugged me last night

[DarrinS]

The only thing that was bugging me about last night's game was that Tim seemed not to want to pass out of double coverage. I saw Manu and Brent wide open several times.

On a positive note, I like how the Spurs put several different defenders on B-B-B-Billups. I wonder if we'll see that again?

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Darrin, I liked that. Tim did not wait for people to come to him or to analyze the d, he just caught the ball and moved.

We need more of that. He had a good game (relatively..) last night.

Although we did give up a few open shots in favor of a tim duncan turnover..

[HollywoodKobe]

I liked that too. It was obvious Duncan had something to prove last night. I've never seen him put his head down and drive to the hoop with such determination before. It was actually good to see. Of course, he played like he was scared in the 4th and OT, but he was great up to then. You can say it was his ankles, but I think it had more to do with the free throws getting in his head.

[Ghost Writer]

Plus, sometimes when Tim gets the ball in the post, he puts his head down to work through the mechanics of his shot routine - dribble once, fake right, spin left, up and under, shot, etc.

I think once he makes up his mind to score, a lot of the time he has to ignore other options to concentrate on his rhthym to make the move to the basket.

The only thing that bothered me was his missed FTs, his blown gamewinner and that careless turnover on the block.

[constantstate]

great point. you know, he doesnt normally make his FTs (no news flash there i know) so those, while coming at the worst time werent exactly a surprise... the turnover could have been him trying to do too much after the fact. but the blown game winner... that was out of norm... i think the obvious reason/excuse we can come up with is his ankles. still, that would have been something to talk about if not for horry. if duncan has a huge game 6 and we win this thing, no one will care. it was horry's game anyway (at the end)

[MOTOWNS_FINEST]

great point. you know, he doesnt normally make his FTs (no news flash there i know) so those, while coming at the worst time werent exactly a surprise... the turnover could have been him trying to do too much after the fact. but the blown game winner... that was out of norm... i think the obvious reason/excuse we can come up with is his ankles. still, that would have been something to talk about if not for horry. if duncan has a huge game 6 and we win this thing, no one will care. it was horry's game anyway (at the end)
No excuses, He choked. FLAT-OUT....He always does down the stretch. It's nothing new to me and Im sure its nothing new to you. Very good player, one of the best but as soon as crunch-time comes? :oops

[Marcus Bryant]

Piston Fan doesn't watch much basketball.

[Spurminator]

No excuses, He choked. FLAT-OUT....He always does down the stretch. It's nothing new to me and Im sure its nothing new to you. Very good player, one of the best but as soon as crunch-time comes? :oops

Gee, I would disagree, but how could I argue with someone who speaks with such self-assurance?

[constantstate]

No excuses, He choked. FLAT-OUT....He always does down the stretch. It's nothing new to me and Im sure its nothing new to you. Very good player, one of the best but as soon as crunch-time comes? :oops
well if you have a list of players that choke come "crunch-time" rasheed better be at the top of the list starting today. of course, anytime you have to coax a player that supposedly can dominate a game to just "play well" or "have a good game" maybe doesnt deserve that attention?

tim duncan has 2 final's mvp trophies... on teams that had david robinson and a pretty good cast. saying he always chokes down the stretch because he missed FTs is like saying ben wallace can only play at his best when his fro is out...

[MadDog73]

No excuses, He choked. FLAT-OUT....He always does down the stretch. It's nothing new to me and Im sure its nothing new to you. Very good player, one of the best but as soon as crunch-time comes? :oops


That was not like Tim to blow that last shot and OT. He has gone 15 of 15 from the line before, and his playoff FT avg. is 72%. Not great, I know, but hardly choke-worthy.

I think his ankles bother him late 4th quarter and over-time, too.

[CosmicCowboy]

No excuses, He choked. FLAT-OUT....He always does down the stretch. It's nothing new to me and Im sure its nothing new to you. Very good player, one of the best but as soon as crunch-time comes? :oops

As Spurs fans we have learned to hold our breath and cross our fingers every time Tim Duncan shoots free throws...much like you must do when Ben Wallace shoots free throws...but he doesn't ALWAYS choke...in the West Finals he dazzled and amazed us all by making 16 straight which was definitely the difference in the game and ultimately turned the series...

[nkdlunch]

No excuses, He choked. FLAT-OUT....He always does down the stretch. It's nothing new to me and Im sure its nothing new to you. Very good player, one of the best but as soon as crunch-time comes? :oops

As opposed to Rasheed Wallace, who very intelligently called a timeout when Pistons had no timeouts + made the play of the game for the Spurs by leaving Big Shot Bob open :lol

[ambchang]

You guys have memory like hamsters. Remember the Sonics series? Phoenix series? How were those choke jobs?

[smeagol]

No excuses, He choked. FLAT-OUT....He always does down the stretch. It's nothing new to me and Im sure its nothing new to you. Very good player, one of the best but as soon as crunch-time comes? :oops
Didn't Billups choke twice last night?

[texbound]

He did choke on the put back, but TD has hit his share of game winners(see Seattle this playoff year) and apparent game winners (see LAL series game 5 last year). So, he doesn't always choke. Even one of the most clutch shooters (Robert Horry) has missed a game winner (see SAS vs. LAL series gm 5 2003). Mr. Big shot himself (Billups) couldn't close out the game last night in regulation and OT.

[texbound]

Didn't Billups choke twice last night?

Exactly. I was surprised no one mentioned that before you.

[pache100]

No excuses, He choked. FLAT-OUT....He always does down the stretch. It's nothing new to me and Im sure its nothing new to you. Very good player, one of the best but as soon as crunch-time comes? :oops

You don't get out much, do you? You should have them put in cable tv at the home for you.

[constantstate]

hey that putback wasnt easy.. billups was under him i think. yeah i think people would have been talking about that forever if it hadnt been for horry, but the fact remains that after 2 really horrible games... games that people thought would shatter and shake the mental state of the spurs, tim duncan comes out and outplays both wallaces.