Kori Ellis
10-21-2006, 12:13 AM
Spurs' Duncan returning to form
Web Posted: 10/20/2006 10:19 PM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA102106.04C.BKNspurs.duncan.2f61e0c.html
As he has done so many times before, Tony Parker took the ball with the clock ticking down, sped toward the basket, watched the defense draw toward him then rifled a pass into the right corner.
Waiting to catch and shoot, with his feet set perfectly behind the 3-point line, stood ... Tim Duncan?
Never mind that Duncan made only two 3-pointers last season and 23 in his previous nine years combined. He calmly buried the 24-foot shot near the end of Thursday's first quarter as if it were a nightly occurrence.
Only after starting to walk toward the bench did Duncan smile. The beauty of the play was that it was designed.
"I wish it would come more often," Duncan said with a laugh. "I'll get a lucky one here and there and that's about it."
For now, the All-Star 3-point shootout will have to wait. The Spurs will be happy enough if Duncan relocates his touch from midrange.
After losing so much confidence in his jump shot — whether it be off the glass or not — that he had almost completely abandoned it by last season's playoffs, Duncan spent the summer trying to correct his form and regain his rhythm. He has shot 64.7 percent in the team's four exhibition games, but — with the exception of Thursday's 3-pointer — only a few of his attempts have come from the perimeter.
"I'm feeling pretty comfortable right now," Duncan said. "But I haven't gotten many shots in game situations where it's going to be defined at.
"I can stand out here (in practice) and shoot all I want to, but until you get in game situations and actually take those shots, you don't know where you're at."
Feeling comfortable, however, is a good start. The Spurs trace the beginning of Duncan's shooting woes last season to the origin for most of his troubles: his sore right foot.
Limited almost all season by plantar fasciitis, Duncan had difficultly pushing off with his right foot. He averaged 18.4 points and shot 48.4 percent, both career lows. Though he wasn't in as much pain in the playoffs, he was still compensating for the injury.
"He was trying to plant on one foot," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He could still get it done where we just stuck him down on the hole and he horsed it down there and did a great job. But you didn't see him on the perimeter at all having that varied game where he'd be at the elbow, at the wing. He just didn't have the confidence of shooting that shot.
"He's such a team player that he's going to pass it and give it to other people. So if we wanted him to score and have a focal point, we had to get him down on the block."
Duncan worked with Spurs shooting coach Chip Engelland this summer to correct the flaws that began to show in his form.
"It's so tough as an individual to recognize it yourself, but people on the outside watching say, 'Yeah, you changed a little bit,'" Duncan said. "You're leaning one way or the other. You're off-balance a little more, which changed the whole physics of your shot.
"Hopefully, I can get a little more balance this year and use that to my advantage."
Last season, Duncan sometimes released his shot from too far over his head instead of from in front of his face. He also now tries to finish each shot on his toes rather than his feet.
The changes have yet to produce favorable results in his much-maligned free-throw stroke; he's 8 of 15 (53.3 percent) from the line in the preseason. But improvement, as was the case with Parker, also requires patience.
Duncan said his right foot, which finally stopped hurting 11/2 months after the season, hasn't bothered him. He also used the summer to strengthen his legs and core.
"His body is just beautiful," Popovich said. "The body fat, his conditioning, his quickness, his speed, his explosiveness.
"He's never been Joe Athlete. He's always been Mr. Fundamental. But he's got some of the athleticism he had when he was younger."
Duncan showed that Thursday on a nifty up-and-under move he used to get past Chicago center Ben Wallace, last season's NBA Defensive Player of the Year. On another possession, he dribbled between his legs while driving from the wing against Wallace.
What has yet to make an appearance is Duncan's signature bank shot.
"He still has it," Parker said. "He just keep it as a secret."
Notebook: Eric Williams, who hasn't played since the team's first exhibition game because of a bruised right Achilles' tendon, is expected to be in uniform tonight against Miami. ... Looking for another reason why the Spurs value Michael Finley so much? The entire team had to run two extra suicide sprints Friday because Jackie Butler didn't finish one in the mandated 18 seconds and Jamar Smith missed a line in another. After practice was over and most of the coaches had left the floor, Finley made Butler and Smith run one on their own as punishment. Finley and the other players cheered on Butler, who finished not only in time, but also a nose ahead of Smith.
Web Posted: 10/20/2006 10:19 PM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA102106.04C.BKNspurs.duncan.2f61e0c.html
As he has done so many times before, Tony Parker took the ball with the clock ticking down, sped toward the basket, watched the defense draw toward him then rifled a pass into the right corner.
Waiting to catch and shoot, with his feet set perfectly behind the 3-point line, stood ... Tim Duncan?
Never mind that Duncan made only two 3-pointers last season and 23 in his previous nine years combined. He calmly buried the 24-foot shot near the end of Thursday's first quarter as if it were a nightly occurrence.
Only after starting to walk toward the bench did Duncan smile. The beauty of the play was that it was designed.
"I wish it would come more often," Duncan said with a laugh. "I'll get a lucky one here and there and that's about it."
For now, the All-Star 3-point shootout will have to wait. The Spurs will be happy enough if Duncan relocates his touch from midrange.
After losing so much confidence in his jump shot — whether it be off the glass or not — that he had almost completely abandoned it by last season's playoffs, Duncan spent the summer trying to correct his form and regain his rhythm. He has shot 64.7 percent in the team's four exhibition games, but — with the exception of Thursday's 3-pointer — only a few of his attempts have come from the perimeter.
"I'm feeling pretty comfortable right now," Duncan said. "But I haven't gotten many shots in game situations where it's going to be defined at.
"I can stand out here (in practice) and shoot all I want to, but until you get in game situations and actually take those shots, you don't know where you're at."
Feeling comfortable, however, is a good start. The Spurs trace the beginning of Duncan's shooting woes last season to the origin for most of his troubles: his sore right foot.
Limited almost all season by plantar fasciitis, Duncan had difficultly pushing off with his right foot. He averaged 18.4 points and shot 48.4 percent, both career lows. Though he wasn't in as much pain in the playoffs, he was still compensating for the injury.
"He was trying to plant on one foot," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He could still get it done where we just stuck him down on the hole and he horsed it down there and did a great job. But you didn't see him on the perimeter at all having that varied game where he'd be at the elbow, at the wing. He just didn't have the confidence of shooting that shot.
"He's such a team player that he's going to pass it and give it to other people. So if we wanted him to score and have a focal point, we had to get him down on the block."
Duncan worked with Spurs shooting coach Chip Engelland this summer to correct the flaws that began to show in his form.
"It's so tough as an individual to recognize it yourself, but people on the outside watching say, 'Yeah, you changed a little bit,'" Duncan said. "You're leaning one way or the other. You're off-balance a little more, which changed the whole physics of your shot.
"Hopefully, I can get a little more balance this year and use that to my advantage."
Last season, Duncan sometimes released his shot from too far over his head instead of from in front of his face. He also now tries to finish each shot on his toes rather than his feet.
The changes have yet to produce favorable results in his much-maligned free-throw stroke; he's 8 of 15 (53.3 percent) from the line in the preseason. But improvement, as was the case with Parker, also requires patience.
Duncan said his right foot, which finally stopped hurting 11/2 months after the season, hasn't bothered him. He also used the summer to strengthen his legs and core.
"His body is just beautiful," Popovich said. "The body fat, his conditioning, his quickness, his speed, his explosiveness.
"He's never been Joe Athlete. He's always been Mr. Fundamental. But he's got some of the athleticism he had when he was younger."
Duncan showed that Thursday on a nifty up-and-under move he used to get past Chicago center Ben Wallace, last season's NBA Defensive Player of the Year. On another possession, he dribbled between his legs while driving from the wing against Wallace.
What has yet to make an appearance is Duncan's signature bank shot.
"He still has it," Parker said. "He just keep it as a secret."
Notebook: Eric Williams, who hasn't played since the team's first exhibition game because of a bruised right Achilles' tendon, is expected to be in uniform tonight against Miami. ... Looking for another reason why the Spurs value Michael Finley so much? The entire team had to run two extra suicide sprints Friday because Jackie Butler didn't finish one in the mandated 18 seconds and Jamar Smith missed a line in another. After practice was over and most of the coaches had left the floor, Finley made Butler and Smith run one on their own as punishment. Finley and the other players cheered on Butler, who finished not only in time, but also a nose ahead of Smith.