Pistons < Spurs
05-08-2006, 08:57 AM
SAN ANTONIO – The dunk on the pick-and-roll got me thinking.
The crossover that allowed him to blow by two defenders and attack the basket for a left-handed layup confirmed it.
This wasn't the Tim Duncan we've witnessed all season.
This was the Duncan of a bygone era when San Antonio wasn't flush with talent and the Spurs needed their power forward to be the league's Most Valuable Player. Twice.
Tony Parker has emerged on the court and on People's 100 Most Beautiful list. Manu Ginobili plays a frenetic, crowd-pleasing style that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich describes as "hellbent for leather."
Their rise has shifted the focus away from the Spurs' best – and in many ways, most boring – player. An eighth-place finish in this season's MVP voting shows we've taken his fundamental brilliance for granted.
What Duncan did in Sunday's win over the Mavericks was remind us that he's still one of the league's elite players. His 31 points and 13 rebounds transformed what should have been a tired Spurs team into one full of life.
"Timmy was awesome," said Parker, who wasn't bad himself with 19 points and a key drive-and-kick to Bruce Bowen for the winning 3-pointer with 2:14 left. "It was like when I was a rookie and we were going to him all the time. He was feeling good.
"If he plays like that, he makes it easy for everybody."
The fountain of youth was not discovered here in South Texas. You don't find that 36 hours after closing out a tough series against Sacramento. You surely don't find it when you wake up unexpectedly at 6 a.m., as Duncan did Sunday.
The Mavericks' defense dared Duncan to excel by refusing to double-team him in the first half. The idea was to keep the ball out of Ginobili's hands – he often struggles when he doesn't touch the ball early – and keep the Spurs from finding their 3-point rhythm. The Kings used the same strategy in the first round.
"I just think sometimes with this team you've got to pick your poison," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said.
With 45.2 seconds left in the first quarter, an active Duncan had helped foul out the equivalent of one Mavericks center as DeSagana Diop, Erick Dampier and D.J. Mbenga had two fouls each. He had 20 points at the half, but you can argue Johnson's strategy worked, since the Mavericks held a 52-46 lead.
The second half was different. The Mavericks' defense had to account for Duncan with the occasional double-team, and that left his teammates more room on the perimeter. Still, he finished with more than 30 points for only the third time this season.
"I got fewer shots in the second half and moved the ball when they [defense] came," Duncan said. "I was a little hesitant toward the end there and passed up a couple of shots I should have taken.
"All in all, you've got to take what they give you."
That's not entirely true. The Mavericks didn't give Duncan that crossover dribble move in the third quarter.
"That was nice," Parker said. "They don't teach that in basketball school.
"Two years ago, he was dominating and doing everything. Now, he's the type of player who is very unselfish. I can finish with all of the points or Manu can score all the points. He really doesn't care. He just wants us to win.
"That's why Timmy doesn't dominate like he used to. He has help."
That doesn't mean he's abdicated his status as the Spurs' best player.
"Timmy is the foundation for us," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "You have to have that threat down on the blocks to spread the court, make lanes available, attack and kick. Without that, we're pretty stagnant on the court.
"Timmy sets the table for everybody else."
And has for quite awhile.
We just don't appreciate it enough.
The crossover that allowed him to blow by two defenders and attack the basket for a left-handed layup confirmed it.
This wasn't the Tim Duncan we've witnessed all season.
This was the Duncan of a bygone era when San Antonio wasn't flush with talent and the Spurs needed their power forward to be the league's Most Valuable Player. Twice.
Tony Parker has emerged on the court and on People's 100 Most Beautiful list. Manu Ginobili plays a frenetic, crowd-pleasing style that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich describes as "hellbent for leather."
Their rise has shifted the focus away from the Spurs' best – and in many ways, most boring – player. An eighth-place finish in this season's MVP voting shows we've taken his fundamental brilliance for granted.
What Duncan did in Sunday's win over the Mavericks was remind us that he's still one of the league's elite players. His 31 points and 13 rebounds transformed what should have been a tired Spurs team into one full of life.
"Timmy was awesome," said Parker, who wasn't bad himself with 19 points and a key drive-and-kick to Bruce Bowen for the winning 3-pointer with 2:14 left. "It was like when I was a rookie and we were going to him all the time. He was feeling good.
"If he plays like that, he makes it easy for everybody."
The fountain of youth was not discovered here in South Texas. You don't find that 36 hours after closing out a tough series against Sacramento. You surely don't find it when you wake up unexpectedly at 6 a.m., as Duncan did Sunday.
The Mavericks' defense dared Duncan to excel by refusing to double-team him in the first half. The idea was to keep the ball out of Ginobili's hands – he often struggles when he doesn't touch the ball early – and keep the Spurs from finding their 3-point rhythm. The Kings used the same strategy in the first round.
"I just think sometimes with this team you've got to pick your poison," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said.
With 45.2 seconds left in the first quarter, an active Duncan had helped foul out the equivalent of one Mavericks center as DeSagana Diop, Erick Dampier and D.J. Mbenga had two fouls each. He had 20 points at the half, but you can argue Johnson's strategy worked, since the Mavericks held a 52-46 lead.
The second half was different. The Mavericks' defense had to account for Duncan with the occasional double-team, and that left his teammates more room on the perimeter. Still, he finished with more than 30 points for only the third time this season.
"I got fewer shots in the second half and moved the ball when they [defense] came," Duncan said. "I was a little hesitant toward the end there and passed up a couple of shots I should have taken.
"All in all, you've got to take what they give you."
That's not entirely true. The Mavericks didn't give Duncan that crossover dribble move in the third quarter.
"That was nice," Parker said. "They don't teach that in basketball school.
"Two years ago, he was dominating and doing everything. Now, he's the type of player who is very unselfish. I can finish with all of the points or Manu can score all the points. He really doesn't care. He just wants us to win.
"That's why Timmy doesn't dominate like he used to. He has help."
That doesn't mean he's abdicated his status as the Spurs' best player.
"Timmy is the foundation for us," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "You have to have that threat down on the blocks to spread the court, make lanes available, attack and kick. Without that, we're pretty stagnant on the court.
"Timmy sets the table for everybody else."
And has for quite awhile.
We just don't appreciate it enough.