Solid D
10-24-2006, 10:11 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA10242006.WEBspursmailbag.en.6cb93636.html
Web Posted: 10/24/2006 11:31 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
On the day he retires, Tim Duncan will be recognized as one of the greatest power forwards to ever play the game. He'll be lauded as a selfless star in a look-at-me league. The citizens of San Antonio will thank him for turning the can't-win-the-big-one Spurs into one of the nation's most envied professional sports franchises.
Or maybe he'll just be remembered as the man who helped pave the way for LeBron James to play in New York.
When James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh decided to sign three-year extensions with their respective teams last summer instead of the maximum five-year deal, they were immediately compared to Duncan. Six years earlier, Duncan ended his brief flirtation with the Orlando Magic by agreeing to rejoin the Spurs on one condition: Instead of taking the team's seven-year deal, he wanted a five-year contract with an opt-out clause after three seasons.
"I was a pioneer," Duncan deadpanned. "That's what I like to do. I like to lead the young fellas."
Chances are neither James, Wade nor Bosh thought of Duncan when debating their contract options. But Duncan, perhaps better than anybody, understands why they decided to forego the guarantee of additional millions to preserve their flexibility.
Spurs Mailbag
Got a question about the Spurs? Use the form below and fire away!
*Your name
*Your e-mail
Your hometown
*Your question
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"They want to keep their options open," he said. "They want to keep their teams honest. They want to put the pressure on their teams to continue to put together winning basketball teams.
"I think that's a great thing for the players. It's risky in some respects, but at the same time you're putting that pressure on the teams to say, hey, we want to be winning year in and year out. If you're not going to do it, I'm not going to be here."
Duncan had reason to be wary of the Spurs' future. The team had an aging roster in the summer of 2000 and David Robinson likely would be retiring in three years, if not sooner.
Duncan did elect to become a free agent in 2003, but only to sign a new seven-year contract with the Spurs. By then, the Spurs had won their second championship after reloading with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
"It was about that time (in 2000) where it could have gone either way, depending on how we put teams together and who came back and who went where," Duncan said. "I didn't know where I'd be in three years. So to keep that option open, to know I want to be in a winning situation, if it's not going to be here, it will be somewhere else.
"Luckily enough, it worked out here. I'm still here and now they're going to have to kick me out."
On to the mailbag:
Is Beno another Rasho? There is something wishy-washy about some of these European players that is a consistent pattern, and Beno seems to line up with the rest. I hope he changes, because I don't think he has a future in the NBA if he doesn't.
Frank, Buenos Aires
Be careful Frank. I'm tempted to cite you for racism. Not all Slovenians look (or play) alike.
An admission: I am a Rasho Apologist. Or, should I say, I am The Rasho Apologist. (I don't think it's a stretch to assume this is a club of one.) I also guess this makes me the Anti-Stephen A.
For all the complaints about RAAH-show NEE-ster-o-VIC and even I'm willing to concede there were several nights when a telephone pole could have rebounded better he was a solid defender in the Spurs' system. He also could be counted on to show up and play. Beno probably isn't going to be mistaken for Willis Reed anytime soon.
Now, I know there's a case to be made that Rasho never moved fast enough to get hurt. However, that's not entirely true. He sprained his left ankle in the first quarter of Game 6 of the 2004 Western Conference semifinals bad enough that team officials doubted he would return. Yet after having the ankle re-taped, he limped back onto the court and spent the rest of the game with Shaquille O'Neal leaning on him.
As for Beno, don't write him off just yet. If he comes back from his hamstring injury this week, he's still the Spurs' best point guard option behind Parker. Beno's durability and toughness will always be questioned and rightfully so but he's more than skilled enough to give the Spurs a solid 15 to 18 minutes on the nights he's healthy.
One final reason why I continue to lament Rasho's departure: Few players were funnier.
Shortly after joining the Spurs, Rasho skeptically sized up the diminutive security official who traveled with the team. "Does he carry a gun?" Rasho asked.
"No."
"Does he carry a big knife?"
"No."
"No gun, no knife?"
"Nope."
"Then he's not security. He's a witness."
Can Tim Duncan shoot the three?
Eric Paul, New York
Funny you should ask. I just wrote a story for Saturday that mentioned Tim making a 3-pointer at the end of Thursday's first quarter.
To recount, Tim can definitely shoot the three. Making them is the question.
Duncan has hit 26 3-pointers, regular season and playoffs, in his career. But most of his attempts have come at the end of quarters when he's just trying to beat the clock.
During Duncan's third season, the Spurs toyed with giving him some minutes at small forward and having him use the 3-pointer as a regular weapon in his arsenal. The plan, however, wisely died a quick death.
For now, Duncan is only worried about regaining confidence in his 15- to 18-foot shot.
Es posible conseguir una remera firmada por jugadores de SPURS, incluyendo la firma de MANU?
Bernardo, San Antonio
In addition to failing to fulfill the three-hour math requirement at the University of Texas at Austin this could be why I'm unable to comprehend ESPN.com's PER rankings I also still need three more hours of Spanish to complete my long-awaited degree.
But who needs a degree when you have the SDL International free online translation program? I simply plugged in Bernardo's question and received the instant English equivalent:
It is possible to obtain an oarswoman signed by players of SPURS, including the firm of MANU?
Something tells me this is SDL's way of getting you to pay for its "professional" translation services.
Where can Joe Average get some items signed by the team?
Douglas Reed, Austin
Unfortunately, the Spurs have a rule that explicitly forbids their players from signing autographs for Joe Average.
I have seen, however, Charlie Common and Rick Regular show up at games about 90 minutes early and stand alongside the tunnel leading to the court. The players often stop and sign after they are done warming up.
Did we not have enough money to get other big-time players over the off-season? It just seems like we acquired some players, but not any big-time players.
Ray Garcia, San Antonio
I don't know about you, but one word came to mind upon hearing the Spurs had signed Francisco Elson, Jackie Butler and Jacque Vaughn: dynasty.
OK, maybe not. But it's not every summer a team is lucky enough to have Michael Finley fall into its lap. The Spurs have done a great job over the years of plugging in role players around their stars and that's what their latest pickups are: role players.
Money wasn't the only factor in their decision. In what was widely considered a weak free-agent market, the Spurs still spent all of their $5 million midlevel exception the most any team over the salary cap can spend.
What they weren't willing to do, however, was give a five-year contract to either Nazr Mohammed or Portland's Jake Przybilla when the only other player scheduled to be under contract for the 2010-11 season is Parker. For what they would have paid this season for Mohammed or Przybilla, they were able to get two lesser-priced centers in Elson and Butler while also preserving cap space in two years for a possible "big-time player."
Of course, if Elson and Butler don't contribute much this season, feel free to call the Spurs cheap.
My sister wants to know if Michael Finley is married?
The Fan, Houston
She's a little late. Michael married his fiancι last month. To be honest, your sister might have set her sights a little high.
My sister asked to be set up with Beno.
Web Posted: 10/24/2006 11:31 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
On the day he retires, Tim Duncan will be recognized as one of the greatest power forwards to ever play the game. He'll be lauded as a selfless star in a look-at-me league. The citizens of San Antonio will thank him for turning the can't-win-the-big-one Spurs into one of the nation's most envied professional sports franchises.
Or maybe he'll just be remembered as the man who helped pave the way for LeBron James to play in New York.
When James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh decided to sign three-year extensions with their respective teams last summer instead of the maximum five-year deal, they were immediately compared to Duncan. Six years earlier, Duncan ended his brief flirtation with the Orlando Magic by agreeing to rejoin the Spurs on one condition: Instead of taking the team's seven-year deal, he wanted a five-year contract with an opt-out clause after three seasons.
"I was a pioneer," Duncan deadpanned. "That's what I like to do. I like to lead the young fellas."
Chances are neither James, Wade nor Bosh thought of Duncan when debating their contract options. But Duncan, perhaps better than anybody, understands why they decided to forego the guarantee of additional millions to preserve their flexibility.
Spurs Mailbag
Got a question about the Spurs? Use the form below and fire away!
*Your name
*Your e-mail
Your hometown
*Your question
*Required
"They want to keep their options open," he said. "They want to keep their teams honest. They want to put the pressure on their teams to continue to put together winning basketball teams.
"I think that's a great thing for the players. It's risky in some respects, but at the same time you're putting that pressure on the teams to say, hey, we want to be winning year in and year out. If you're not going to do it, I'm not going to be here."
Duncan had reason to be wary of the Spurs' future. The team had an aging roster in the summer of 2000 and David Robinson likely would be retiring in three years, if not sooner.
Duncan did elect to become a free agent in 2003, but only to sign a new seven-year contract with the Spurs. By then, the Spurs had won their second championship after reloading with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
"It was about that time (in 2000) where it could have gone either way, depending on how we put teams together and who came back and who went where," Duncan said. "I didn't know where I'd be in three years. So to keep that option open, to know I want to be in a winning situation, if it's not going to be here, it will be somewhere else.
"Luckily enough, it worked out here. I'm still here and now they're going to have to kick me out."
On to the mailbag:
Is Beno another Rasho? There is something wishy-washy about some of these European players that is a consistent pattern, and Beno seems to line up with the rest. I hope he changes, because I don't think he has a future in the NBA if he doesn't.
Frank, Buenos Aires
Be careful Frank. I'm tempted to cite you for racism. Not all Slovenians look (or play) alike.
An admission: I am a Rasho Apologist. Or, should I say, I am The Rasho Apologist. (I don't think it's a stretch to assume this is a club of one.) I also guess this makes me the Anti-Stephen A.
For all the complaints about RAAH-show NEE-ster-o-VIC and even I'm willing to concede there were several nights when a telephone pole could have rebounded better he was a solid defender in the Spurs' system. He also could be counted on to show up and play. Beno probably isn't going to be mistaken for Willis Reed anytime soon.
Now, I know there's a case to be made that Rasho never moved fast enough to get hurt. However, that's not entirely true. He sprained his left ankle in the first quarter of Game 6 of the 2004 Western Conference semifinals bad enough that team officials doubted he would return. Yet after having the ankle re-taped, he limped back onto the court and spent the rest of the game with Shaquille O'Neal leaning on him.
As for Beno, don't write him off just yet. If he comes back from his hamstring injury this week, he's still the Spurs' best point guard option behind Parker. Beno's durability and toughness will always be questioned and rightfully so but he's more than skilled enough to give the Spurs a solid 15 to 18 minutes on the nights he's healthy.
One final reason why I continue to lament Rasho's departure: Few players were funnier.
Shortly after joining the Spurs, Rasho skeptically sized up the diminutive security official who traveled with the team. "Does he carry a gun?" Rasho asked.
"No."
"Does he carry a big knife?"
"No."
"No gun, no knife?"
"Nope."
"Then he's not security. He's a witness."
Can Tim Duncan shoot the three?
Eric Paul, New York
Funny you should ask. I just wrote a story for Saturday that mentioned Tim making a 3-pointer at the end of Thursday's first quarter.
To recount, Tim can definitely shoot the three. Making them is the question.
Duncan has hit 26 3-pointers, regular season and playoffs, in his career. But most of his attempts have come at the end of quarters when he's just trying to beat the clock.
During Duncan's third season, the Spurs toyed with giving him some minutes at small forward and having him use the 3-pointer as a regular weapon in his arsenal. The plan, however, wisely died a quick death.
For now, Duncan is only worried about regaining confidence in his 15- to 18-foot shot.
Es posible conseguir una remera firmada por jugadores de SPURS, incluyendo la firma de MANU?
Bernardo, San Antonio
In addition to failing to fulfill the three-hour math requirement at the University of Texas at Austin this could be why I'm unable to comprehend ESPN.com's PER rankings I also still need three more hours of Spanish to complete my long-awaited degree.
But who needs a degree when you have the SDL International free online translation program? I simply plugged in Bernardo's question and received the instant English equivalent:
It is possible to obtain an oarswoman signed by players of SPURS, including the firm of MANU?
Something tells me this is SDL's way of getting you to pay for its "professional" translation services.
Where can Joe Average get some items signed by the team?
Douglas Reed, Austin
Unfortunately, the Spurs have a rule that explicitly forbids their players from signing autographs for Joe Average.
I have seen, however, Charlie Common and Rick Regular show up at games about 90 minutes early and stand alongside the tunnel leading to the court. The players often stop and sign after they are done warming up.
Did we not have enough money to get other big-time players over the off-season? It just seems like we acquired some players, but not any big-time players.
Ray Garcia, San Antonio
I don't know about you, but one word came to mind upon hearing the Spurs had signed Francisco Elson, Jackie Butler and Jacque Vaughn: dynasty.
OK, maybe not. But it's not every summer a team is lucky enough to have Michael Finley fall into its lap. The Spurs have done a great job over the years of plugging in role players around their stars and that's what their latest pickups are: role players.
Money wasn't the only factor in their decision. In what was widely considered a weak free-agent market, the Spurs still spent all of their $5 million midlevel exception the most any team over the salary cap can spend.
What they weren't willing to do, however, was give a five-year contract to either Nazr Mohammed or Portland's Jake Przybilla when the only other player scheduled to be under contract for the 2010-11 season is Parker. For what they would have paid this season for Mohammed or Przybilla, they were able to get two lesser-priced centers in Elson and Butler while also preserving cap space in two years for a possible "big-time player."
Of course, if Elson and Butler don't contribute much this season, feel free to call the Spurs cheap.
My sister wants to know if Michael Finley is married?
The Fan, Houston
She's a little late. Michael married his fiancι last month. To be honest, your sister might have set her sights a little high.
My sister asked to be set up with Beno.