Great Article on Rest Gate and Duncan's great season so far - NBA.com

[D-rob fan]

I know everyone's probably tired from reading about Pop sitting the players in the Heat game but this was actually a pretty good article that I enjoyed.

There is also another good write up after that talking about Duncan's great season so far.

Popovich, Stern could have handled roster flap much better
Posted Dec 3, 2012 9:53 AM
I am hurt.
A plague a' both your houses! I am sped.
Is he gone and hath nothing?
-- Romeo and Juliet, Act III, Scene I
Talk about a made-for-TV event.
Actually, I guess, it was a made-not-for-TV event.
Gregg Popovich's decision to send a third of his roster, including his three best players, home before the Spurs' game Thursday in Miami has provided a grateful faux outrage industry with hours and hours of programming.
How dare Popovich not play Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green! Even though most non-die hard fans would run to the other side of their respective states before watching those players execute a zipper play.

Read more... (http://www.nba.com/2012/news/features/david_aldridge/12/03/morning-tip-spurs-gregg-popovich-fine-flap/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt6d)

[D-rob fan]

Nice to see some comments from Duncan about his turn around and how it had been for him in the '09 and '10 seasons.

"Mentally, I thought I could still do it at a certain level," Duncan said. "Physically, I just couldn't do it. But to continue to work at it, and actually feel like I can play the way I think I can, even at this point in my career, it feels good."
That only happened after Duncan's knee came around.
"My pain level's down a whole lot," Duncan said. "I found something that works with my brace (he sported a "Punisher" brace during last season) and the treatments, and everything else. I'm just feeling good. Healthwise, I feel real good."
His offseason discipline dovetails with the work he's been able to put in.
"I kind of change my diet in the summer more than anything in season," he said. "I'm active enough (during the season) and I can burn enough calories there. In the summers, I just cut back on my sugars, breads, all that stuff. And I changed my workout regimen a little bit. I really focused on staying in the gym and working on my game and trying to get my rhythm back in that respect."

[NRHector]

nice article and is from David Alridge, the irony

[SpursRock20]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206265&p=6224438#post6224438

[D-rob fan]

Whoops, sorry about that. I did a brief check before posting but didnt go down far enough.

[SpursRock20]

Whoops, sorry about that. I did a brief check before posting but didnt go down far enough.
no biggie :)

[JRHernandez88]

good read

[howbouthemspurs]

3. Please don't act like you care about the Spurs all of a sudden.
This was what chapped me the most about this "controversy:" The righteous indignation among some that by sending his marquee players home early, Popovich was depriving a star-obsessed nation its expected date with the footwork of Duncan, Parker's teardrop floater and Ginobili's whirling-dervish game.
America hasn't given a damn about any of that for a decade.
You've clowned Duncan as being unhip and a nerd. You didn't watch any of the four Finals series in which San Antonio took part; they were among the lowest rated in history. You don't buy Spurs jerseys or the shoes that they sell, and please don't talk to me about how they deserve to be shunned because they don't like doing media. Neither do Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett or Dirk Nowitzki. You know who likes doing media? Guys that don't play like doing media.
The Spurs, as I've only written a thousand times or so over the years, are as model a franchise as the Celtics or Lakers. They do everything the right way, on and off the court. They have been lucky in the way all of us should be so lucky; they've worked their butts off, and amazingly, they seem to get even luckier. As Parker said just a month ago, he took less money when he became a free agent to re-sign with the Spurs because he believes Popovich will take care of him when his playing days are done.

The remaining nine Spurs embodied everything about the franchise when they took the court against Miami: Those assorted Nando de Colos, Tiago Splitters and Gary Neals didn't mail it in. They competed and outplayed the defending champs, and only a three by Ray Allen off a scrambled, loose ball situation in the final seconds gave Miami the lead. Popovich yelled and screamed at them just as he yells and screams at Duncan. Nothing changed.
Yet the casual fan has been impressed by none of that over the years. The Spurs should be celebrated; they have been ignored. You made your choice; you care about the SuperFriends and the Lakers and the Knicks, and that's fine. But you can't be outraged that you didn't get to see the Spurs, too. You've had chances to see them for 15 years.

This about says it all here... .. great read!

[Splits]

Nice Neal quotes in there.


"His work ethic and his professionalism, and him taking care of his body, it's not really surprising to anybody in this locker room," guard Gary Neal said. "Because we've seen him put the work in, coming in in the morning and getting his shots up, things like that. In this profession you get what you put in. Tim's been putting into the bank for years."


"He's not a big emotional guy, he's not a rah-rah, screamer-type guy, but he's extremely competitive when he steps on the lines. He goes out to win every game, and to dominate his position."

[admiralsnackbar]

Thanks for posting, OP -- good stuff.

On a side note... what's the over/under on that being the longest Spurs article that will ever be posted on NBA.com?

[Drachen]

Nuance is what happens when your uncle remarries

:lol

[letmk]

Wake up, Spurs fans. After all this "good" talk about the Spurs and Tim, he puts KB ahead of Tim for MVP. Tim has better PER and Spurs are at 14-4 vs. Lakers' 8-9. This is not a clear basketball mind although he said something good about the Spurs in this article.

All in all, if you read his past articles, he is neither a good basketball analyst nor a reporter with "conscience" --- like speaking the truth. His way of assigning the blame on both Stern and Pop is just laughable.

[Manufan909]

:lol

I honestly didn't understand that joke. Is it a play on words or something?

He might have presented some good points, (an especially novel one was shortening the pre-season so the 82 games of the regular season could be spread out over a couple more weeks), but sadly he didn't actually pick a side. Sure, everyone knows Pop screwed over a most likely small percentage of fans out of seeing Duncan, Timmy and Manu, and I guess there might've been one fan who bought a ticket with Green in mind, but the game was still competitive. What I can't believe is Aldridge thinking that if Stern had waited til the next day, and altered the explanation of his fine, that it would have been more agreeable. Fining a coach for coaching is unacceptable. Even commisioners don't have that level of power (clearly dictator-like commisioners have that level of power, but let's wait and see if the fine sticks first). I know it's not that black and white, but I bleed silver and black, so sue me. And btw, the fan who wrote in guaranteeing a Spurs victory if only the Big 3 had played was wrong because he didn't take into account that the Heat would've surely raised their game against a mostly healthy Spurs team, but sometimes you just miss some of the variables.

Speaking of what I put in parantheses about the pre-season being shortened so there are less b2bs, does anyone see that possibly happening one day? I see that as being more likely than the regular season being trimmed of it's fat, or the first/second rounds of the playoffs being switched to 3/5 game rounds. Which isn't saying much, since the NBA powers that be haven't so much as hinted that they'll change any part of the current NBA format anytime soon. Personally, I would like the regular season to consist of 72 games. Shortening at least the first rounds of the POs to best of 5 might also make sense, but I'm cool with best of 7 matchups all the way through.


Wake up, Spurs fans. After all this "good" talk about the Spurs and Tim, he puts KB ahead of Tim for MVP. Tim has better PER and Spurs are at 14-4 vs. Lakers' 8-9. This is not a clear basketball mind although he said something good about the Spurs in this article.

All in all, if you read his past articles, he is neither a good basketball analyst nor a reporter with "conscience" --- like speaking the truth. His way of assigning the blame on both Stern and Pop is just laughable.

I wonder if he has a good argument for putting Bryant on top of Duncan, or if he'd spout a bunch of BS cuz he's blinded by Kobe's numbers. You'd think it'd click for him that Kobe is putting up big numbers because he's ball-hogging on a sub-.500 team. What's even more sad it that it is possible to put up huge numbers without looking like a stingy jackass, as Love proved last season.

[D-rob fan]

Im guessing Nuance sounds like New Aunts? With aunts pronounced with the long "a".

Edit: Even with the knowledge of it being a pun, I still don't get what's funny about it.

[NickiRasgo]

I was about to post this. Great article, well-written by David Aldridge. I'm still having debate of one forumer in the other site, he blames Pop too much like he insulted fans and and traitor of the league and fans but I don't think that word is appropriate for the Spurs and Pop. He only sees the perspective of fans but the issue was is $250,000 reasonable for sending home the players? Then I said if the league fixed the schedule well then this issue I think won't occur the fact that Pop already did this last season against Trailblazers.