Spurs Brazil
06-06-2007, 09:03 AM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA20070606.01C.BKNspurs.duncan.3a42c17.html
Mr. Reliable plods along - Duncan needs no spotlight as Spurs prepare for 4th Finals
Web Posted: 06/06/2007 12:07 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News
Tim Duncan needs a makeover. Braid his hair. Tattoo his arms. Give him a crossover dribble and some altitude. Have Gary Payton tutor him in a four-lettered course in trash talking.
Robert Horry thinks Duncan needs all of this. And more.
"The first game of the regular season, have him smack someone," Horry said. "Then he'll become hard. An outlaw.
"He's already got the silver and black on. We just need to make him mean."
Horry laughed at his own idea. He can't turn on the TV these days without LeBron James trying to sell him Sprite and a pair of Nikes, and he understands why.
James dunks and smiles and is immensely talented and fresh, all of which is usually enough to get the ad agencies on Madison Avenue to open their doors. This is also why Horry expects the media covering the NBA Finals to write their "LeBron Leap" or "Global Icon" stories, look over at Duncan, scribble the word "underappreciated" in their notepads, yawn, then go back to hyping James.
Consistency might earn you the clever nickname "Groundhog Day" from Charles Barkley. It does not, however, make your No. 21 jersey fly off the NBA Store's racks in Manhattan.
James has his Nike-made "We are all Witnesses" campaign. If Adidas gave Duncan his own slogan, it would likely be, "You Again?"
And that, Horry said, is the biggest compliment anyone can pay Duncan: He's enduring.
"The thing about it is, sometimes guys change," Horry said. "But there's no reason to change for him. You couldn't stop the old Tim, and he's still working."
Duncan is working well enough to have reached his fourth NBA Finals nine years from his first. He has already won three championships, and that's two more than he ever allowed himself to envision.
"You want to get to one, and I've been blessed for this to be my fourth one," Duncan said. "I can't imagine in my wildest dreams I would be in four Finals. But we're here, and we love our opportunity, and we love our chances."
If the Spurs love their chances, it's because Duncan is healthy again and playing better than he has in at least three seasons. He's averaging 23.2 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.3 blocks during the playoffs, but it's how he's put up those numbers that has inflated his teammates' confidence.
After playing on a painful right foot for much of last season, Duncan is now spinning freely on the baseline. He's regained trust in his bank shot. His help defense has routinely deterred opponents from the rim.
"It's always easy to see how he is to start the ballgame," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said in the midst of watching Duncan lead the Spurs past the Jazz in the Western Conference finals. "He is very polite and very nice to the guys he plays against, and then he annihilates them when he gets out on the floor. He is a no-nonsense guy."
A year ago, Duncan was only frustrated. Plantar fasciitis in his right foot slowed him enough that he averaged 18.6 points on 48.4 percent shooting, both career lows. He played significantly better in the playoffs after his health began to improve but still endured one of the toughest losses of his career when the Spurs fell to the Dallas Mavericks in their epic seven-game, second-round series.
"I came back this summer with a real urge to work at it and get back to a certain level," Duncan said.
Duncan slimmed down and strengthened his body. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich immediately noticed how much quicker Duncan recovered after games and has since spent the playoffs marveling at how he has varied his play from series to series in the postseason.
"Whatever he thinks works best against whoever's guarding him or whatever the team defense is," Popovich said. "In some series, you see a lot of bank shots and elbow play. In other series, he's a (center), horsing it to the rim. Other times, he's an (isolation)-kind of guy out on the wings.
"He really has the ability to adjust to what's going on on the court. And I think that's what makes him special."
Duncan's composure also has steadied his teammates. He still gets visibly frustrated by the officiating at times but has shown little panic after the Spurs' losses, whether it be Denver beating them in the opening game of the playoffs or Utah routing them by 26 points in Game 3 of the conference finals.
"If you didn't know anything about basketball and just walked into the gym, and you just watched his demeanor, you wouldn't know he was the leader of this team," Michael Finley said. "But if you watched us play and the respect he gets from his team and coaches, you would say, 'OK, that's the leader.'"
Portland coach Nate McMillan noticed as much while watching film of the Spurs play Sacramento early in the season. As well as Duncan performed in the game, McMillan was most impressed by his actions on the bench. When Beno Udrih walked off the court after a difficult sequence, Duncan patted the young point guard on the knee and encouraged him to, 'Stay with it. Just stay with it.'"
"When you have an All-Star communicating with his teammates the way Tim seems to," McMillan said, "it makes it easy for a coach and an organization to be successful."
The Spurs agree, and that's why team officials expect to ask Duncan and his agent, Lon Babby, later this summer whether they would like to extend his contract. An extension would eliminate Duncan's ability to opt out of his deal after next season, so he may want to keep his flexibility. But the Spurs want to at least give him the chance to lengthen the contract, which currently runs through the 2009-10 season.
Asked whether he could see himself playing another five years, Duncan, who turned 31 on April 25, laughed. "I could see myself," he said. "I don't think my body could see myself."
Duncan, however, maintained that neither his competitiveness nor his love for the game have dimmed.
"That will be the last thing to go," he said. "I'm just trying to play as long as I can."
And if the body is willing?
Horry doesn't see why this has to be Duncan's last trip to the Finals.
"With Tim," Horry said, "if it ain't broke, you don't fix it."
* * *
THE MOST VALUABLE
Tim Duncan is one of only four players to win more than two NBA Finals Most Valuable Player awards. If he picks up a fourth this season, he would trail only one man — Michael Jordan:
6 -- Michael Jordan, Bulls
1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998
3 -- Tim Duncan, SPURS
1999, 2003, 2005
3 -- Shaquille O'Neal, Lakers
2000, 2001, 2002
3 -- Magic Johnson, Lakers
1980, 1982, 1987
2 -- Willis Reed, Knicks
2 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bucks/Lakers
2 -- Larry Bird, Celtics
2 -- Hakeem Olajuwon, Rockets
First award: Jerry West, Lakers (1969)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]
Mr. Reliable plods along - Duncan needs no spotlight as Spurs prepare for 4th Finals
Web Posted: 06/06/2007 12:07 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News
Tim Duncan needs a makeover. Braid his hair. Tattoo his arms. Give him a crossover dribble and some altitude. Have Gary Payton tutor him in a four-lettered course in trash talking.
Robert Horry thinks Duncan needs all of this. And more.
"The first game of the regular season, have him smack someone," Horry said. "Then he'll become hard. An outlaw.
"He's already got the silver and black on. We just need to make him mean."
Horry laughed at his own idea. He can't turn on the TV these days without LeBron James trying to sell him Sprite and a pair of Nikes, and he understands why.
James dunks and smiles and is immensely talented and fresh, all of which is usually enough to get the ad agencies on Madison Avenue to open their doors. This is also why Horry expects the media covering the NBA Finals to write their "LeBron Leap" or "Global Icon" stories, look over at Duncan, scribble the word "underappreciated" in their notepads, yawn, then go back to hyping James.
Consistency might earn you the clever nickname "Groundhog Day" from Charles Barkley. It does not, however, make your No. 21 jersey fly off the NBA Store's racks in Manhattan.
James has his Nike-made "We are all Witnesses" campaign. If Adidas gave Duncan his own slogan, it would likely be, "You Again?"
And that, Horry said, is the biggest compliment anyone can pay Duncan: He's enduring.
"The thing about it is, sometimes guys change," Horry said. "But there's no reason to change for him. You couldn't stop the old Tim, and he's still working."
Duncan is working well enough to have reached his fourth NBA Finals nine years from his first. He has already won three championships, and that's two more than he ever allowed himself to envision.
"You want to get to one, and I've been blessed for this to be my fourth one," Duncan said. "I can't imagine in my wildest dreams I would be in four Finals. But we're here, and we love our opportunity, and we love our chances."
If the Spurs love their chances, it's because Duncan is healthy again and playing better than he has in at least three seasons. He's averaging 23.2 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.3 blocks during the playoffs, but it's how he's put up those numbers that has inflated his teammates' confidence.
After playing on a painful right foot for much of last season, Duncan is now spinning freely on the baseline. He's regained trust in his bank shot. His help defense has routinely deterred opponents from the rim.
"It's always easy to see how he is to start the ballgame," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said in the midst of watching Duncan lead the Spurs past the Jazz in the Western Conference finals. "He is very polite and very nice to the guys he plays against, and then he annihilates them when he gets out on the floor. He is a no-nonsense guy."
A year ago, Duncan was only frustrated. Plantar fasciitis in his right foot slowed him enough that he averaged 18.6 points on 48.4 percent shooting, both career lows. He played significantly better in the playoffs after his health began to improve but still endured one of the toughest losses of his career when the Spurs fell to the Dallas Mavericks in their epic seven-game, second-round series.
"I came back this summer with a real urge to work at it and get back to a certain level," Duncan said.
Duncan slimmed down and strengthened his body. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich immediately noticed how much quicker Duncan recovered after games and has since spent the playoffs marveling at how he has varied his play from series to series in the postseason.
"Whatever he thinks works best against whoever's guarding him or whatever the team defense is," Popovich said. "In some series, you see a lot of bank shots and elbow play. In other series, he's a (center), horsing it to the rim. Other times, he's an (isolation)-kind of guy out on the wings.
"He really has the ability to adjust to what's going on on the court. And I think that's what makes him special."
Duncan's composure also has steadied his teammates. He still gets visibly frustrated by the officiating at times but has shown little panic after the Spurs' losses, whether it be Denver beating them in the opening game of the playoffs or Utah routing them by 26 points in Game 3 of the conference finals.
"If you didn't know anything about basketball and just walked into the gym, and you just watched his demeanor, you wouldn't know he was the leader of this team," Michael Finley said. "But if you watched us play and the respect he gets from his team and coaches, you would say, 'OK, that's the leader.'"
Portland coach Nate McMillan noticed as much while watching film of the Spurs play Sacramento early in the season. As well as Duncan performed in the game, McMillan was most impressed by his actions on the bench. When Beno Udrih walked off the court after a difficult sequence, Duncan patted the young point guard on the knee and encouraged him to, 'Stay with it. Just stay with it.'"
"When you have an All-Star communicating with his teammates the way Tim seems to," McMillan said, "it makes it easy for a coach and an organization to be successful."
The Spurs agree, and that's why team officials expect to ask Duncan and his agent, Lon Babby, later this summer whether they would like to extend his contract. An extension would eliminate Duncan's ability to opt out of his deal after next season, so he may want to keep his flexibility. But the Spurs want to at least give him the chance to lengthen the contract, which currently runs through the 2009-10 season.
Asked whether he could see himself playing another five years, Duncan, who turned 31 on April 25, laughed. "I could see myself," he said. "I don't think my body could see myself."
Duncan, however, maintained that neither his competitiveness nor his love for the game have dimmed.
"That will be the last thing to go," he said. "I'm just trying to play as long as I can."
And if the body is willing?
Horry doesn't see why this has to be Duncan's last trip to the Finals.
"With Tim," Horry said, "if it ain't broke, you don't fix it."
* * *
THE MOST VALUABLE
Tim Duncan is one of only four players to win more than two NBA Finals Most Valuable Player awards. If he picks up a fourth this season, he would trail only one man — Michael Jordan:
6 -- Michael Jordan, Bulls
1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998
3 -- Tim Duncan, SPURS
1999, 2003, 2005
3 -- Shaquille O'Neal, Lakers
2000, 2001, 2002
3 -- Magic Johnson, Lakers
1980, 1982, 1987
2 -- Willis Reed, Knicks
2 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bucks/Lakers
2 -- Larry Bird, Celtics
2 -- Hakeem Olajuwon, Rockets
First award: Jerry West, Lakers (1969)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]