The giant plus out of today's game

[EricB]

With the team getting all of tonight and tomorrow off, the lack of minutes played by Duncan, Leonard and others will no doubt pay dividends if needed for big ones in game 2. Only 27 mins for Duncan today,29 for Leonard. Huge huge for them to get that much rest.

[DPG21920]

Well, sort of. I mean, that would be like saying in Game 6 vs GS that getting Tim rest was key. The thing is, he isn't getting rest because they can afford it, he's getting rest because he is not playing well. He definitely looked better today defensively (for longer stretches and deeper into the game) than he did vs GS, but overall he still looks pretty off. It's really scary tbh..

[EricB]

:rolleyes. It was a typical Duncan day game. Yeah Duncan's post defense rebounding and good ball movement on offense was positively frightening.

[DPG21920]

I just find it incredibly odd that a champion like Duncan would have you making excuses for "a typical bored game" in the WCF. That makes no sense to me.

[HarlemHeat37]

Duncan's struggles seem mental, tbh..

I've never seen him make as many bad decisions as we've seen in the stretch from the end of the Warriors series to today, tbh..

Bad shots, ill-advised passes..his confidence is fried..

[DPG21920]

Exactly but I think it stems from tiredness all around. You get tired, you make mistakes, you fail to box out or rotate, yours shots come up short and are flatter...all things we are seeing lately. I mean, have you ever seen Duncan be benched like he was in game 6 against GS? Duncan is one of the most mentally tough players in NBA history.

[SenorSpur]

I don't know how many minutes Parker played, but I had hoped he would've also been the beneficiary of some additional rest too.

[EricB]

Lol he's not tired. If he was tired he wouldn't have done as well as he did on the offensive end. Overreaction to the maximum...

[2centsworth]

Duncan's struggles seem mental, tbh..

I've never seen him make as many bad decisions as we've seen in the stretch from the end of the Warriors series to today, tbh..

Bad shots, ill-advised passes..his confidence is fried..

Agreed.

[Baseline]

Duncan's struggles seem mental, tbh..

I've never seen him make as many bad decisions as we've seen in the stretch from the end of the Warriors series to today, tbh..

Bad shots, ill-adeised passes..his confidence is fried..
He's Playing incrrdibly soft, which Is very Disappointing To
see. For a great Player, Tim has always suffered from occasional Confidence issues.I'll never understand it.

[DPG21920]

Look, Tim can come back and play like he was all season and make some of us look dumb. But with the information we currently have as of late, it looks both physical and mental which is disturbing. I don't think he's just coasting or getting bored in the WCF :lol

[Warlord23]

I have no problem with Duncan's offensive struggles if he guards and boxes out Randolph like he did today. Let's face it, the offensive playbook for this series needs to be focused on penetration, pick and roll and misdirection. Duncan won't get many iso opportunities, so he's unlikely to catch fire offensively.

[DPG21920]

Agreed, and like I said, if Tim can rebound and defend for a full game at his usual level then the Spurs can likely still advance even without him scoring 15PPG.

[TD 21]

He's Playing incrrdibly soft, which Is very Disappointing To
see. For a great Player, Tim has always suffered from occasional Confidence issues.I'll never understand it.

Yeah, it's strange.

I thought I detected a slight limp going into one of the timeouts, but I'm not sure. I saw no signs of one following it, though. Either way, he's due. It doesn't matter that he's been defended be three elite anchors or whether he's wearing down, at some point, regression to the mean will kick in at least somewhat.

As far as game two, the instant it was known that there would be a 3 day break between games 2 and 3, it was always going to be a max minutes game, no matter the result of game 1.

[BillMc]

I have no problem with Duncan's offensive struggles if he guards and boxes out Randolph like he did today. Let's face it, the offensive playbook for this series needs to be focused on penetration, pick and roll and misdirection. Duncan won't get many iso opportunities, so he's unlikely to catch fire offensively.

This. Other people can score this series. Tim, Tiago and Boris are there to keep Marc and Z-BO in check. If they do that, Parker and our perimeter game will take us home.

[letmk]

Timmy plays a great defense game and will play better offensively. Also, it's more efficient for the Spurs to NOT throw the ball down low to Timmy often. Just let Tony and Manu handle the ball first and then move the ball all around the court. Give it to Timmy when opportunities come, but don't force-feed him.

[313]

Timmy plays a great defense game and will play better offensively. Also, it's more efficient for the Spurs to NOT throw the ball down low to Timmy often. Just let Tony and Manu handle the ball first and then move the ball all around the court. Give it to Timmy when opportunities come, but don't force-feed him.This.
I hate when they just pass it to him in the post, and everyone just stands around and watches.

[DejuanorwhatDude]

Exactly. Force feeding Tim at this point in his career would be a bad move. He just has to contain the bigs and get whatever offense he can get. This is a series where our advantage is the perimeter shooting.

[ALVAREZ6]

Timmy plays a great defense game and will play better offensively. Also, it's more efficient for the Spurs to NOT throw the ball down low to Timmy often. Just let Tony and Manu handle the ball first and then move the ball all around the court. Give it to Timmy when opportunities come, but don't force-feed him.
Agreed. Although the numbers statistics state otherwise, for much of Duncan's career (basically the final 40% or so) I've absolutely hated some of the types of shots he takes, especially when the game is close and the Spurs need points...those weak fading right shots that physically/mechanically are crappy as hell (given his shooting form). Sometimes they go in but they never look like they are going to or are meant to. Just never had confidence in those types of bullshit, half-assed-looking shots from the post. I'd much rather have Tony or Manu penetrate and either shoot, get fouled, or create a relatively easy opportunity for a teammate, even if either of the two aren't shooting well in the game.

[TampaDude]

We won. That's what matters.

[therealtruth]

The Grizzlies will probably play less help defense so we might need more post scoring.

[aal04]

Duncan..

Round 1 - Dwight Howard. DPOY player
Round 2 - Bogut - 1st Round draft Pick center who is Top 3 Center when fit and he was fit
Round 3 - Gasol + Randolph - best front court in the NBA
Miami - Bosh - easiest matchup of the playoffs.

Duncans sidekick for the task? A vaginal Splitter who plays inconsistently.

Give the guy a break

[100%duncan]

DPG nailed it, TD was getting rest not because they can afford but because he was playing bad.

It's worrying tbh. And I agree with HH that it's all mental. Hope the foundation of this team finds his rhythm back soon. :tu

GSG. :flag:

[TJastal]

Duncan looked fine to me. Even hit his trademark banker near the end. I'm much more worried about Splitter's confidence issues tbh.

[TDfan2007]

Aonegreed. Although the numbers statistics state otherwise, for much of Duncan's career (basically the final 40% or so) I've absolutely hated some of the types of shots he takes, especially when the game is close and the Spurs need pointDuncan...those weak fading right shots that physically/mechanically are crappy as hell (given his shooting form). Sometimes they go in but they never look like they are going to or are meant to. Just never had confidence in those types of bullshit, half-assed-looking shots from the post. I'd much rather have Tony or Manu penetrate and either shoot, get fouled, or create a relatively easy opportunity for a teammate, even if either of the two aren't shooting well in the game.


NBA stars are stars because they take and make shots that seem terrible. Dirk's one-footed fadeaway looks dumb and low-percentage too, but he makes it.

Tim Duncan is still the best iso player on the team. Always has been.

[skulls138]

Tim Duncan is still the best iso player on the team. Always has been.Im pretty sure Parker and Ginobili are better iso players. Duncans still my fave but c'mon.

[Sean Cagney]

I remember saying after GS game 4 when Tim played 42 MINS and Tony hurt it's over! This has been a bipolar postseason lol! From high to high low and low! I mean damn this feels like some of our title runs! Which can be a good or bad thing! I don't want expectations to go up that much as I have kept it cool, but this team looks pretty good right now and I will leave it there.

[SpurPadre]

I agree with others who believe TD's offensive struggles are more mental than physical. He's made some poor decisions offensively but he doesn't appear to be laboring out there. He even hit his trademark bank shot late in the game today. And he's faced some of the most physical bigs in the league in these playoffs; you can't expect him ending each game and feeling like a million bucks. It's taken a toll, and it would've taken a 22 year old TD a beating as well so it's natural. That said, the guy still managed to get double digit rebounds, which takes a lot of effort against their bigs. He'll be fine.

[TDfan2007]

Im pretty sure Parker and Ginobili are better iso players. Duncans still my fave but c'mon.

They're not. They both require screens to get free and attack. They don't have much in terms of one on one moves, especially Tony. When Timmy is right, he can get a solid shot off against almost anyone in those wing isos that they run for him.

Think about it, this team has run isolation plays for only 1 player consistently, and that player is Tim Duncan.

[KaiRMD1]

God I hope this doesn't end up like last year. CN would know what it's like blowing out the Grizzlies in game 1 ya know

[ALVAREZ6]

NBA stars are stars because they take and make shots that seem terrible. Dirk's one-footed fadeaway looks dumb and low-percentage too, but he makes it.

Tim Duncan is still the best iso player on the team. Always has been.
Not in my opinion, not atll. Dirk's one-footed fadeaway looks smart and high percentage because he has an unparalleled shooting touch and control combined with being very tall and thus always can put that shot over anyone, comfortably. The particular shot I mentioned that Duncan takes is very different. The same is true for Manu's sudden, early in the possession contested 3s. Both of these Spurs shots I'm referring to often go in, but they also very often don't, and in both cases there is a high degree of luck. That's not the case with Dirk's shot, he is largely the only factor in the shot; no one's gonna block it, it's fluid, and his shot is incredible.

I'm not saying they should never take those shots, I'm simply not comfortable with shots like the ones I've mentioned that Tim and Manu take when the game is close and there is relatively little time left and each possession is very important.

[spurspokesman]

Exactly. Force feeding Tim at this point in his career would be a bad move. He just has to contain the bigs and get whatever offense he can get. This is a series where our advantage is the perimeter shooting. For the most part yes