duncan228
05-29-2007, 02:09 PM
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-24-120/Utah--is-that-your-Swan-Song-.html
Utah, is that your Swan Song?
When I watch the Western Conference Finals, I have two main thoughts:
Pay attention, America, to what San Antonio is doing, because this is championship basketball. This is what that looks like. No need to wait until the NBA Finals to see that. They have been doing it pretty much since Denver roused them awake in that first series.
Perhaps the greatest problem facing the NBA today is the reality that the best player of the current day, Tim Duncan, is almost entirely unknowable. He can laugh, smile, and tell funny stories. If somehow he could do that for the TV cameras, I suspect America would find a way to adore him. Instead he insists on being "the guy nobody knows all that well" which is something you can't sustain forever. Eventually, people want to know if you're a good guy or a bad guy, and this could be the year people just decide, in the absence of evidence to the contrary (and with a little shove from his teammate, Robert Horry), that he's a bad guy. Here's a little challenge: find me links to really insightful (not the same ol' same ol' features, but something that makes you feel like you know the guy) online article, TV news story, or interview with Tim Duncan. Email me, and if there are any good ones, I'll post them.
Some other thoughts about San Antonio's win last night:
Early in the game when Utah got all those steals it was really obvious that all turnovers are not created equal. Steals lead to layups and dunks. Traveling violations do not.
Mismatches are the name of the game, right? You get them to switch on the pick and roll, and then you have a fleet-footed point guard isolated against a slow-footed big man. Or a big man in the post covered by a little guard. But here's what I notice: if the little guard gets the big man on him? It doesn't seem to work out so well (exception: if the guard flies to the rim INSTANTLY). Last night, for instance, Derek Fisher had Tim Duncan alone at the three-point line, and just passed. A lot of other times little guards dribble a bit and hoist a long shot over very long outstretched arms. A heavily guarded three off the dribble ... isn't that a victory for the defense? I think the reason guards like Fisher don't drive on the likes of Tim Duncan is because he's not all that slow, and he's an amazing shot-blocker. So this is his shot-blocking ability helping his team on a play when he doesn't even come close to blocking a shot. One of a million ways box score stats don't tell the full story of basketball.
This series is a little chippy now, huh?
Tayshaun Prince and Andrei Kirlilenko are the only players I can think of who routinely begin posting up at the three-point line, and then work their way backwards into the paint from way out there. Makes the entry pass easier, I guess.
I know he is not getting his fair share of attention without help from me, but how great is Deron Williams. Would you trade him for Chris Paul? Would anyone? This is also instructive when it comes to assessing the draft. Chris Paul has been declared the better pick on the short analysis, but the more important analysis is much longer.
It seems that if a ball passes within range of blocking it, Tim Duncan blocks it. You might create an angle where he can't block it, but you won't "sneak one by." Who's a better shot blocker? Be fun to see head to head video of Camby's 20 best blocks of the year compared to Duncan's.
I had a bad feeling for the Jazz when they had their dream come true for a short while at the end of the second quarter; Tim Duncan and Fabricio Oberto were both out of the game. And the Jazz still couldn't make a run.
When the ball comes off the fingertips of Carlos Boozer, you get the feeling it's probably going in, don't you?
Deron Williams flies down the court with the ball, often with his defender trailing just off his shoulder. Then -- I must have seen him do this a hundred times these playoffs -- he just throws on the brakes, making the defender slam into him from behind. It's like the ultimate cure for tailgating. BAM! I have never seen him draw a foul that way, so I guess he just likes the contact.
Irony: the league thrives on fans getting LOUD. And the best team in the NBA really excels at ... quieting the crowd. It's amazing, really. On the road, when the fans get insane, the Spurs are incredibly effective. In those moments, I notice, it's often Manu Ginobili.
How many times did one outmanned Spur -- Duncan or Oberto, typically -- jump with a crowd of opponents and somehow come down with either the rebound or a tip?
The more I watch Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, the more tired I am of comparisons to John Stockton and Karl Malone. They're just not similar, in how they play, look, or anything else. John Stockton, for instance, was undersized with freakishly large hands and a real mean streak. He had an uncanny ability to make tough passes in the lane and open threes in the clutch. Williams creates off the dribble and has a mean mid-range game, and is bigger, stronger, and more athletic than almost everyone else at his position. Uniform and position is not enough. (Are Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady like Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler? Give me a break.)
Love to see the Jazz fans gathered to watch the game together outside the arena.
Towards the end of the game, ESPN's Mike Breen quoted Gregg Popovich calling Manu Ginobili the toughest player he has ever coached. As I think about the draft, I think: if you can find them, get players with that mindset. What matters more than that?
Utah, is that your Swan Song?
When I watch the Western Conference Finals, I have two main thoughts:
Pay attention, America, to what San Antonio is doing, because this is championship basketball. This is what that looks like. No need to wait until the NBA Finals to see that. They have been doing it pretty much since Denver roused them awake in that first series.
Perhaps the greatest problem facing the NBA today is the reality that the best player of the current day, Tim Duncan, is almost entirely unknowable. He can laugh, smile, and tell funny stories. If somehow he could do that for the TV cameras, I suspect America would find a way to adore him. Instead he insists on being "the guy nobody knows all that well" which is something you can't sustain forever. Eventually, people want to know if you're a good guy or a bad guy, and this could be the year people just decide, in the absence of evidence to the contrary (and with a little shove from his teammate, Robert Horry), that he's a bad guy. Here's a little challenge: find me links to really insightful (not the same ol' same ol' features, but something that makes you feel like you know the guy) online article, TV news story, or interview with Tim Duncan. Email me, and if there are any good ones, I'll post them.
Some other thoughts about San Antonio's win last night:
Early in the game when Utah got all those steals it was really obvious that all turnovers are not created equal. Steals lead to layups and dunks. Traveling violations do not.
Mismatches are the name of the game, right? You get them to switch on the pick and roll, and then you have a fleet-footed point guard isolated against a slow-footed big man. Or a big man in the post covered by a little guard. But here's what I notice: if the little guard gets the big man on him? It doesn't seem to work out so well (exception: if the guard flies to the rim INSTANTLY). Last night, for instance, Derek Fisher had Tim Duncan alone at the three-point line, and just passed. A lot of other times little guards dribble a bit and hoist a long shot over very long outstretched arms. A heavily guarded three off the dribble ... isn't that a victory for the defense? I think the reason guards like Fisher don't drive on the likes of Tim Duncan is because he's not all that slow, and he's an amazing shot-blocker. So this is his shot-blocking ability helping his team on a play when he doesn't even come close to blocking a shot. One of a million ways box score stats don't tell the full story of basketball.
This series is a little chippy now, huh?
Tayshaun Prince and Andrei Kirlilenko are the only players I can think of who routinely begin posting up at the three-point line, and then work their way backwards into the paint from way out there. Makes the entry pass easier, I guess.
I know he is not getting his fair share of attention without help from me, but how great is Deron Williams. Would you trade him for Chris Paul? Would anyone? This is also instructive when it comes to assessing the draft. Chris Paul has been declared the better pick on the short analysis, but the more important analysis is much longer.
It seems that if a ball passes within range of blocking it, Tim Duncan blocks it. You might create an angle where he can't block it, but you won't "sneak one by." Who's a better shot blocker? Be fun to see head to head video of Camby's 20 best blocks of the year compared to Duncan's.
I had a bad feeling for the Jazz when they had their dream come true for a short while at the end of the second quarter; Tim Duncan and Fabricio Oberto were both out of the game. And the Jazz still couldn't make a run.
When the ball comes off the fingertips of Carlos Boozer, you get the feeling it's probably going in, don't you?
Deron Williams flies down the court with the ball, often with his defender trailing just off his shoulder. Then -- I must have seen him do this a hundred times these playoffs -- he just throws on the brakes, making the defender slam into him from behind. It's like the ultimate cure for tailgating. BAM! I have never seen him draw a foul that way, so I guess he just likes the contact.
Irony: the league thrives on fans getting LOUD. And the best team in the NBA really excels at ... quieting the crowd. It's amazing, really. On the road, when the fans get insane, the Spurs are incredibly effective. In those moments, I notice, it's often Manu Ginobili.
How many times did one outmanned Spur -- Duncan or Oberto, typically -- jump with a crowd of opponents and somehow come down with either the rebound or a tip?
The more I watch Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, the more tired I am of comparisons to John Stockton and Karl Malone. They're just not similar, in how they play, look, or anything else. John Stockton, for instance, was undersized with freakishly large hands and a real mean streak. He had an uncanny ability to make tough passes in the lane and open threes in the clutch. Williams creates off the dribble and has a mean mid-range game, and is bigger, stronger, and more athletic than almost everyone else at his position. Uniform and position is not enough. (Are Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady like Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler? Give me a break.)
Love to see the Jazz fans gathered to watch the game together outside the arena.
Towards the end of the game, ESPN's Mike Breen quoted Gregg Popovich calling Manu Ginobili the toughest player he has ever coached. As I think about the draft, I think: if you can find them, get players with that mindset. What matters more than that?