duncan228
06-13-2007, 01:38 PM
Nothing new for those of us that love him, but still it's nice to see the positive press.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/sports/story.html?id=dc5ab0e7-ce3d-4a12-8059-7f0d9d0b3786&k=75971&p=1
A great player still in his prime
Duncan is much more Mr. Consistency than Mr. Personality
Bruce Arthur, National Post
Published: Wednesday, June 13, 2007
CLEVELAND -A120-foot billboard of LeBron James looms across from the Quicken Arena with the words, "We Are All Witnesses," proclaiming the King's epic importance. As much as he is about talent, LeBron James is about hype. No basketball player in history has been so trumpeted.
And across the court from him in these NBA Finals is the least acclaimed great player in history. And that's Tim Duncan's fault, as much as anybody's.
"I am what I am," says Duncan, direct and flat and expressionless. "I don't know how else to explain it. I've been the same way all my life, and it is what it is."
Duncan then takes a rare stab at humour. :wtf
"But if you've got some endorsements out there that you can throw my way," he adds, "I'll take them."
When the San Antonio Spurs win this series -- and nobody should doubt that contention--Duncan will join Shaquille O'Neal as the two masters of the post-Michael Jordan age. Duncan will match Shaq's four rings, and should surpass his old rival's three Finals MVP awards. We say should because teammate Tony Parker averaged 28.5 points in the first two games and is seizing headlines. Somehow, it seems appropriate that Duncan is flying under the radar even on basketball's biggest stage.
Over the past 10 years -- the age of Shaq and Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson and Kevin Garnett and Steve Nash and Dwyane Wade and LeBron James -- Tim Duncan has been the best basketball player in the world. And his jersey ranked 15th in sales this season.
The resume is startling: First team all-NBA nine times, and second once, when he spent last season playing through painful plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Two MVPs, first or second team all-defence every year, three rings. He has two nicknames, both bestowed by fellow greats: Shaq dubbed him "The Big Fundamental," and Charles Barkley, citing his endless consistency, settled on "Groundhog Day."
"He just does it methodically, every night," says Spurs assistant coach P.J. Carlisemo. "Once every two weeks or so, we'll go in after a game, and before we look at the stat sheet, the coaches are sitting in a room, and we'll say, 'He didn't have that good a game tonight.' And we'll pick up the stat sheet and he'll have 23, and 11 boards, or something.
"I mean, there are nights where we won't notice, or we think he's not playing the way he normally plays. And we'll pick up the stats sheet and go, 'Damn.' He does it every single night."
But nobody loves a metronome, no matter how well-constructed. Part of Duncan's lack of star power relates to his game, which is simply an arsenal of sound fundamental basketball. Bank shots, drop steps, spins, hooks, midrange jumpers, seals, layups, dunks. He is a walking textbook. But who gets excited over textbooks?
The other part of the equation is Duncan's own relentless self-effacement. He does not open up in interviews. He does not expand on questions. Like Pete Sampras, Duncan either is hiding his personality, or he has no personality. If you believe that athletes should sell the game, and that each one of them is responsible for the collective health of their sport, then Duncan is a failure. And maybe a jerk. :lol
In every other way, he is the definition of athletic excellence. And anybody that argues that Duncan is not the greatest power forward of all time-- over Karl Malone, Kevin McHale, Bob Pettit, and Charles Barkley -- hasn't been paying attention.
"I'm biased, but I think he's as good as or better than anybody," says Carlisemo. "I mean, truly. He's got three championships, he's got MVPs, he plays both ends of the floor, he's a scorer, he's a rebounder, he's a shot-blocker, he's been first-team all-NBA every year but one, he's a double-double guy -- I'm just saying, make me a case that somebody's better."
If Duncan is named Finals MVP for the fourth time, he will trail only Michael Jordan, with six, though the award did not exist when Bill Russell ruled the world in the 1960s. And Duncan is just 31, three years younger than Shaq when he won his fourth title, and four years younger than Jordan when he won his sixth.
And Duncan remains in his prime. Going into last night, his playoff averages in 18 games were 23.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 54% shooting, 3.2 blocks -- all near or above his career averages. He complains to the referees like a champ, but that is about all the excess Duncan carries.
"He is very polite and very nice to the guys he plays against," said Utah coach Jerry Sloan during the Western Conference final, "and then he annihilates them when he gets out on the floor. He is a no-nonsense guy."
Really, we should not kill him for any perceived aesthetic shortfalls. He is everything we say we want from team sports: He is talented, unselfish, doesn't get in trouble, and he wins. How can we ask for more?
"The fly-under-the-radar question," Duncan says, nodding. "It doesn't matter to us. It doesn't matter. I think there's a lot of hype behind these Finals, and that's great for us, too. We're not worried about who gets the hype or what gets the hype. We're about winning four games, and worrying about it then."
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/sports/story.html?id=dc5ab0e7-ce3d-4a12-8059-7f0d9d0b3786&k=75971&p=1
A great player still in his prime
Duncan is much more Mr. Consistency than Mr. Personality
Bruce Arthur, National Post
Published: Wednesday, June 13, 2007
CLEVELAND -A120-foot billboard of LeBron James looms across from the Quicken Arena with the words, "We Are All Witnesses," proclaiming the King's epic importance. As much as he is about talent, LeBron James is about hype. No basketball player in history has been so trumpeted.
And across the court from him in these NBA Finals is the least acclaimed great player in history. And that's Tim Duncan's fault, as much as anybody's.
"I am what I am," says Duncan, direct and flat and expressionless. "I don't know how else to explain it. I've been the same way all my life, and it is what it is."
Duncan then takes a rare stab at humour. :wtf
"But if you've got some endorsements out there that you can throw my way," he adds, "I'll take them."
When the San Antonio Spurs win this series -- and nobody should doubt that contention--Duncan will join Shaquille O'Neal as the two masters of the post-Michael Jordan age. Duncan will match Shaq's four rings, and should surpass his old rival's three Finals MVP awards. We say should because teammate Tony Parker averaged 28.5 points in the first two games and is seizing headlines. Somehow, it seems appropriate that Duncan is flying under the radar even on basketball's biggest stage.
Over the past 10 years -- the age of Shaq and Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson and Kevin Garnett and Steve Nash and Dwyane Wade and LeBron James -- Tim Duncan has been the best basketball player in the world. And his jersey ranked 15th in sales this season.
The resume is startling: First team all-NBA nine times, and second once, when he spent last season playing through painful plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Two MVPs, first or second team all-defence every year, three rings. He has two nicknames, both bestowed by fellow greats: Shaq dubbed him "The Big Fundamental," and Charles Barkley, citing his endless consistency, settled on "Groundhog Day."
"He just does it methodically, every night," says Spurs assistant coach P.J. Carlisemo. "Once every two weeks or so, we'll go in after a game, and before we look at the stat sheet, the coaches are sitting in a room, and we'll say, 'He didn't have that good a game tonight.' And we'll pick up the stat sheet and he'll have 23, and 11 boards, or something.
"I mean, there are nights where we won't notice, or we think he's not playing the way he normally plays. And we'll pick up the stats sheet and go, 'Damn.' He does it every single night."
But nobody loves a metronome, no matter how well-constructed. Part of Duncan's lack of star power relates to his game, which is simply an arsenal of sound fundamental basketball. Bank shots, drop steps, spins, hooks, midrange jumpers, seals, layups, dunks. He is a walking textbook. But who gets excited over textbooks?
The other part of the equation is Duncan's own relentless self-effacement. He does not open up in interviews. He does not expand on questions. Like Pete Sampras, Duncan either is hiding his personality, or he has no personality. If you believe that athletes should sell the game, and that each one of them is responsible for the collective health of their sport, then Duncan is a failure. And maybe a jerk. :lol
In every other way, he is the definition of athletic excellence. And anybody that argues that Duncan is not the greatest power forward of all time-- over Karl Malone, Kevin McHale, Bob Pettit, and Charles Barkley -- hasn't been paying attention.
"I'm biased, but I think he's as good as or better than anybody," says Carlisemo. "I mean, truly. He's got three championships, he's got MVPs, he plays both ends of the floor, he's a scorer, he's a rebounder, he's a shot-blocker, he's been first-team all-NBA every year but one, he's a double-double guy -- I'm just saying, make me a case that somebody's better."
If Duncan is named Finals MVP for the fourth time, he will trail only Michael Jordan, with six, though the award did not exist when Bill Russell ruled the world in the 1960s. And Duncan is just 31, three years younger than Shaq when he won his fourth title, and four years younger than Jordan when he won his sixth.
And Duncan remains in his prime. Going into last night, his playoff averages in 18 games were 23.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 54% shooting, 3.2 blocks -- all near or above his career averages. He complains to the referees like a champ, but that is about all the excess Duncan carries.
"He is very polite and very nice to the guys he plays against," said Utah coach Jerry Sloan during the Western Conference final, "and then he annihilates them when he gets out on the floor. He is a no-nonsense guy."
Really, we should not kill him for any perceived aesthetic shortfalls. He is everything we say we want from team sports: He is talented, unselfish, doesn't get in trouble, and he wins. How can we ask for more?
"The fly-under-the-radar question," Duncan says, nodding. "It doesn't matter to us. It doesn't matter. I think there's a lot of hype behind these Finals, and that's great for us, too. We're not worried about who gets the hype or what gets the hype. We're about winning four games, and worrying about it then."