duncan228
06-06-2007, 03:23 PM
I'm a Duncan fan. This is a nice piece. Long but worth it.
I know he's not the type to care but I'm thrilled to see so much positive press about him. He deserves it.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/ian_thomsen/06/06/duncan/index.html
Just one of the guys
Spurs take cues from Duncan, the ultimate teammate
Not quite two hours before Game 1 of the NBA Finals you will find the Spurs' Tim Duncan on the court, stretching his back, shooting his way around the world and systematically readying the post-up moves and bank shots that he'll be applying to the 881st game of his NBA career, not counting preseason or All-Star appearances. Night after night, month upon month culminating 10 years now, and yet he doesn't look stale.
"It's habit, it's what gets my mind and my body into the mind-set to feel right going into a basketball game,'' Duncan says of his pregame routine. "So no, it doesn't get boring to me.''
He glances aside. "Uhh,'' he says, "actually, I lie on that point.''
The tedium does overwhelm him from time to time, he admits, in which cases he'll play a shooting game with an assistant "to break the monotony.'' The important thing is that he maintains his rhythm. The work defines him as the daily run makes the marathoner: He misses it badly when he fails to do it.
"If I have a day off, I'll come back in and the rhythm just won't feel the same,'' he says. "To do it every day and to have your mind and body in synch, it helps.''
Duncan's relationship with his fans is unique in the modern NBA. Perhaps they have trouble relating to him because he is private, because he hasn't created a misleading commercial personality to mask the real one as so many stars do, and because his game is so smooth and without hitch that he is accused of lacking in style.
"The way he conducts himself on the court, he doesn't have any kind of attention-seeking characteristics,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says. "And his style of play is such a fundamental style that it's not flamboyant or awkward or different from the norm. The norm is what's rare now: You have everybody doing everything every which way. He does things the way we were coached when we were little kids -- his footwork, his body movement, everything that he does. It's not sexy. But it's efficient.''
And yet it would be wrong to say that Duncan hasn't attracted a following. The fans, after all, have voted him to start the last eight All-Star Games. They may not feel they know him personally, as they knew Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan, but they respect him dearly.
The criticism of Duncan has long been that his personality lacks depth, that he hasn't revealed himself to the fans who bankroll his career. Over the last half decade it has emerged that Duncan has been investing himself in relationships with his teammates, which hasn't come naturally to him. Duncan may not wink at the courtside TV cameras because he's too busy reading the body language of his fellow Spurs.
"He obviously prefers to stay within himself -- he's not an outgoing guy with the media or he doesn't want to do lot of commercials -- and yet within the circle of the team he's not like that at all,'' Spurs assistant P.J. Carlesimo says. "He's a very outgoing person. We can be on the road in preseason with a 19-man roster and you'll see him go out to lunch or dinner with two or three guys who are not going to be around next week. Or later in the season he'll be with the guy on the 10-day contract. That's the guy Timmy will go out of his way to take to dinner or spend some time with.
"If somebody else got jumped on by one of the coaches, or if somebody misses a big shot in a game, Tim is the guy who is going to say something to him. I've seen it week in, week out, and it happens too many times to be an accident.''
When Duncan was winning the first of his two successive MVPs in 2001-02, the Spurs were being blown out by the Lakers in the playoffs for the second straight year. It was valid then to question whether Duncan could become a leader; it isn't valid anymore.
"He's learned over the years that he's not a towel-throwing rah-rah sort of individual, so for him to lead that way would not work,'' Popovich says. "He has dug deep within himself to really figure out what kind of guy he is, and what he is is a guy who leads not just by example but by being supportive and empathetic, nonjudgmental with teammates.''
As hard as it is to discern from his stoic expression, Duncan is the emotional leader of a team that avoids the high highs and low lows by focusing in on the moment. Duncan does much more than serve as a model for his teammates to look up to; watch in between plays and you'll see him constantly ducking down to share encouragement with players who aren't nearly as talented as he is. He's assuring them that they can perform their jobs as well as he is performing his -- if not better.
"He'll reach a boiling point, or a point where he needs to be vocal when it's something that the rest of us are not doing well -- himself included,'' Spurs guard Brent Barry says. "It might be something where he's talking about what the bigs are doing against a certain team and you know, 'We've got to box out better.' It might be calling out something that he's doing. And the other thing is that Pop never hesitates to get on him either.''
By accepting Popovich's criticism and discipline, Duncan sets a high standard that all of his teammates must live up to.
"We don't have a lot of issues that other places have -- we're not concerned with guys getting here on time or missing practice or flying off and doing things,'' Carlesimo says. "His relationship with Pop is -- and you usually don't put an adverb on top of this -- incredibly unique. They push each other in a really good way. They have their moments like all players and coaches, but they trust in each other and believe in each other.''
Give and take has worked its way comfortably into their relationship. During Game 3 of the Western Conference finals at Salt Lake City, I noticed Duncan wandering into the coaches-only huddle that Popovich holds with his assistants before he addresses the players at the Spurs' bench. The next day Popovich told me that Duncan had come over to confirm that he would be reentering the game to start the final period.
"But usually it's humorous, which nobody would expect,'' Popovich says. "He'll be out there and we'll be talking about some things and he'll say, 'Oh, I'm glad I was here to hear that. That's life-changing,' or something like that. He'll come up with some statement and just joke. Other times he'll be serious, he just wants to hear what we're talking about. Other times he makes a serious comment about the pick-and-roll or what we can do.''
That night in Utah, after being told that he would be starting the fourth quarter, Duncan wandered over to the team bench and landed himself in Popovich's chair. He made some kind of comment and all of his teammates laughed. I imagine he was playfully mimicking Popovich, but I couldn't get anyone to tell me so.
Duncan understands that his myriad talents might not have been fulfilled had he gone to another city, where he might have worked with a variety of head coaches over the last decade, each one coming in with a different program to replace the one before. How many NBA coaches would have tried to turn him into a Shaq-like 30-point scorer?
"Stepping into the situation I did, I wasn't asked to be that kind of scorer, I wasn't asked to be that kind of leader,'' Duncan says. "I was able to sit back and learn in kind of a secondary role [behind David Robinson] and work my way to the situation where I felt comfortable being that kind of player.''
Popovich has helped establish Duncan's leadership on his terms, which you aren't likely to find in any of the self-help books written by Type-A personalities who act as if they have all of the answers. Duncan's humility is the essence of the Spurs' success. It is because he doesn't view himself as superior that he not only can relate to his teammates but also helps create the environment that empowers them to win championships. The Spurs may lose one of the early games in a playoff series while adapting to their opponent, but they are the surest thing in sports in close-out situations because Duncan shows respect for his opponents.
His approach has worn well on Popovich, the coach admits.
"He doesn't judge people,'' Popovich says. "He tries to figure out who they are, what they do and what their strengths are, and he's great at accentuating that. He's actually pointed things out to me: 'Don't worry about that, but so-and-so can do this.' He's helped me be a better coach as far as understanding people and not being too quick to say you can do this but you can't do that. He just has a very good sense about people. When we learned that about him in short order, we knew we were going to be able to bring almost anybody here, unless they were a serial killer, and he was going to be able to figure out what to do with them.''
As wisely as Popovich and Spurs GM R.C. Buford have imported the players around Duncan -- shooters, drivers, defenders, rebounders, every tool in the box -- what differentiates the Spurs is the facility with which all of the pieces mix together. They switch from one style to the next without deficiency. That too refers back to Duncan, who moves between center and power forward without notice throughout each game.
"It's about putting pieces together,'' Duncan says. "That's what the NBA is all about. It's not always about getting the best talent and stacking a team with talent, because that doesn't always work; you've seen it in numerous cases. But if you get the right pieces and the right people who want to do it the right way, it works.''
Over the first half of Duncan's career there was talk of how unusual he was among stars, and questions of whether he could become a dominant champion his way. But as he now culminates his first decade in the NBA by trying to win for the third time in five years, it's become obvious that he has gained membership to the most exclusive club in sports.
"If you look at the superstars in all sports, most of them probably are closer to Tim's personality -- Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter, Wayne Gretzky,'' Buford says. "Those guys are all great teammates -- even Michael [Jordan]. Within the confines of their programs, I bet you could find similarities.''
Within a fortnight it may make more sense than ever to compare him to Jordan, who won six rings: By then Duncan may well have won his fourth.
I know he's not the type to care but I'm thrilled to see so much positive press about him. He deserves it.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/ian_thomsen/06/06/duncan/index.html
Just one of the guys
Spurs take cues from Duncan, the ultimate teammate
Not quite two hours before Game 1 of the NBA Finals you will find the Spurs' Tim Duncan on the court, stretching his back, shooting his way around the world and systematically readying the post-up moves and bank shots that he'll be applying to the 881st game of his NBA career, not counting preseason or All-Star appearances. Night after night, month upon month culminating 10 years now, and yet he doesn't look stale.
"It's habit, it's what gets my mind and my body into the mind-set to feel right going into a basketball game,'' Duncan says of his pregame routine. "So no, it doesn't get boring to me.''
He glances aside. "Uhh,'' he says, "actually, I lie on that point.''
The tedium does overwhelm him from time to time, he admits, in which cases he'll play a shooting game with an assistant "to break the monotony.'' The important thing is that he maintains his rhythm. The work defines him as the daily run makes the marathoner: He misses it badly when he fails to do it.
"If I have a day off, I'll come back in and the rhythm just won't feel the same,'' he says. "To do it every day and to have your mind and body in synch, it helps.''
Duncan's relationship with his fans is unique in the modern NBA. Perhaps they have trouble relating to him because he is private, because he hasn't created a misleading commercial personality to mask the real one as so many stars do, and because his game is so smooth and without hitch that he is accused of lacking in style.
"The way he conducts himself on the court, he doesn't have any kind of attention-seeking characteristics,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says. "And his style of play is such a fundamental style that it's not flamboyant or awkward or different from the norm. The norm is what's rare now: You have everybody doing everything every which way. He does things the way we were coached when we were little kids -- his footwork, his body movement, everything that he does. It's not sexy. But it's efficient.''
And yet it would be wrong to say that Duncan hasn't attracted a following. The fans, after all, have voted him to start the last eight All-Star Games. They may not feel they know him personally, as they knew Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan, but they respect him dearly.
The criticism of Duncan has long been that his personality lacks depth, that he hasn't revealed himself to the fans who bankroll his career. Over the last half decade it has emerged that Duncan has been investing himself in relationships with his teammates, which hasn't come naturally to him. Duncan may not wink at the courtside TV cameras because he's too busy reading the body language of his fellow Spurs.
"He obviously prefers to stay within himself -- he's not an outgoing guy with the media or he doesn't want to do lot of commercials -- and yet within the circle of the team he's not like that at all,'' Spurs assistant P.J. Carlesimo says. "He's a very outgoing person. We can be on the road in preseason with a 19-man roster and you'll see him go out to lunch or dinner with two or three guys who are not going to be around next week. Or later in the season he'll be with the guy on the 10-day contract. That's the guy Timmy will go out of his way to take to dinner or spend some time with.
"If somebody else got jumped on by one of the coaches, or if somebody misses a big shot in a game, Tim is the guy who is going to say something to him. I've seen it week in, week out, and it happens too many times to be an accident.''
When Duncan was winning the first of his two successive MVPs in 2001-02, the Spurs were being blown out by the Lakers in the playoffs for the second straight year. It was valid then to question whether Duncan could become a leader; it isn't valid anymore.
"He's learned over the years that he's not a towel-throwing rah-rah sort of individual, so for him to lead that way would not work,'' Popovich says. "He has dug deep within himself to really figure out what kind of guy he is, and what he is is a guy who leads not just by example but by being supportive and empathetic, nonjudgmental with teammates.''
As hard as it is to discern from his stoic expression, Duncan is the emotional leader of a team that avoids the high highs and low lows by focusing in on the moment. Duncan does much more than serve as a model for his teammates to look up to; watch in between plays and you'll see him constantly ducking down to share encouragement with players who aren't nearly as talented as he is. He's assuring them that they can perform their jobs as well as he is performing his -- if not better.
"He'll reach a boiling point, or a point where he needs to be vocal when it's something that the rest of us are not doing well -- himself included,'' Spurs guard Brent Barry says. "It might be something where he's talking about what the bigs are doing against a certain team and you know, 'We've got to box out better.' It might be calling out something that he's doing. And the other thing is that Pop never hesitates to get on him either.''
By accepting Popovich's criticism and discipline, Duncan sets a high standard that all of his teammates must live up to.
"We don't have a lot of issues that other places have -- we're not concerned with guys getting here on time or missing practice or flying off and doing things,'' Carlesimo says. "His relationship with Pop is -- and you usually don't put an adverb on top of this -- incredibly unique. They push each other in a really good way. They have their moments like all players and coaches, but they trust in each other and believe in each other.''
Give and take has worked its way comfortably into their relationship. During Game 3 of the Western Conference finals at Salt Lake City, I noticed Duncan wandering into the coaches-only huddle that Popovich holds with his assistants before he addresses the players at the Spurs' bench. The next day Popovich told me that Duncan had come over to confirm that he would be reentering the game to start the final period.
"But usually it's humorous, which nobody would expect,'' Popovich says. "He'll be out there and we'll be talking about some things and he'll say, 'Oh, I'm glad I was here to hear that. That's life-changing,' or something like that. He'll come up with some statement and just joke. Other times he'll be serious, he just wants to hear what we're talking about. Other times he makes a serious comment about the pick-and-roll or what we can do.''
That night in Utah, after being told that he would be starting the fourth quarter, Duncan wandered over to the team bench and landed himself in Popovich's chair. He made some kind of comment and all of his teammates laughed. I imagine he was playfully mimicking Popovich, but I couldn't get anyone to tell me so.
Duncan understands that his myriad talents might not have been fulfilled had he gone to another city, where he might have worked with a variety of head coaches over the last decade, each one coming in with a different program to replace the one before. How many NBA coaches would have tried to turn him into a Shaq-like 30-point scorer?
"Stepping into the situation I did, I wasn't asked to be that kind of scorer, I wasn't asked to be that kind of leader,'' Duncan says. "I was able to sit back and learn in kind of a secondary role [behind David Robinson] and work my way to the situation where I felt comfortable being that kind of player.''
Popovich has helped establish Duncan's leadership on his terms, which you aren't likely to find in any of the self-help books written by Type-A personalities who act as if they have all of the answers. Duncan's humility is the essence of the Spurs' success. It is because he doesn't view himself as superior that he not only can relate to his teammates but also helps create the environment that empowers them to win championships. The Spurs may lose one of the early games in a playoff series while adapting to their opponent, but they are the surest thing in sports in close-out situations because Duncan shows respect for his opponents.
His approach has worn well on Popovich, the coach admits.
"He doesn't judge people,'' Popovich says. "He tries to figure out who they are, what they do and what their strengths are, and he's great at accentuating that. He's actually pointed things out to me: 'Don't worry about that, but so-and-so can do this.' He's helped me be a better coach as far as understanding people and not being too quick to say you can do this but you can't do that. He just has a very good sense about people. When we learned that about him in short order, we knew we were going to be able to bring almost anybody here, unless they were a serial killer, and he was going to be able to figure out what to do with them.''
As wisely as Popovich and Spurs GM R.C. Buford have imported the players around Duncan -- shooters, drivers, defenders, rebounders, every tool in the box -- what differentiates the Spurs is the facility with which all of the pieces mix together. They switch from one style to the next without deficiency. That too refers back to Duncan, who moves between center and power forward without notice throughout each game.
"It's about putting pieces together,'' Duncan says. "That's what the NBA is all about. It's not always about getting the best talent and stacking a team with talent, because that doesn't always work; you've seen it in numerous cases. But if you get the right pieces and the right people who want to do it the right way, it works.''
Over the first half of Duncan's career there was talk of how unusual he was among stars, and questions of whether he could become a dominant champion his way. But as he now culminates his first decade in the NBA by trying to win for the third time in five years, it's become obvious that he has gained membership to the most exclusive club in sports.
"If you look at the superstars in all sports, most of them probably are closer to Tim's personality -- Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter, Wayne Gretzky,'' Buford says. "Those guys are all great teammates -- even Michael [Jordan]. Within the confines of their programs, I bet you could find similarities.''
Within a fortnight it may make more sense than ever to compare him to Jordan, who won six rings: By then Duncan may well have won his fourth.