duncan228
10-29-2007, 12:01 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA.102907.Spurs.Duncan.EN.1b80cb883.html
Spurs: Star forward Tim Duncan seems to be getting better with age
Jeff McDonald
Express-News Staff Writer
There are nights when his knees creak, mornings when his back aches. There are days he'd rather spend slipping into a warm bath instead of slamming into Shaquille O'Neal for two hours.
These are the days in which Tim Duncan feels every day of 31 years old.
“I can definitely feel the miles sometimes,” Duncan says.
He's got a decade of them on his NBA odometer, some of them breezy highway miles, some not.
When the Spurs open defense of their fourth NBA title Tuesday night against Portland, Duncan officially will become something he never dreamed he would.
An 11th-year NBA player.
“A shocking reality,” he says.
Ten years ago this month, Duncan played his first game as a Spur, ushering in a golden age for the franchise. He scored 15 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and helped the Spurs defeat Denver 107-96.
Four NBA championships, two league MVP awards, three Finals MVP trophies and 10 all-star appearances later, it seems as if Duncan has gone from tender rookie to grizzled veteran practically overnight.
Most of all, it seems that way to Duncan himself.
“I know a lot of people say it,” Duncan says, “but it seems like I just got here yesterday.”
In some ways, the past decade hasn't changed him.
He still has the famous footwork and the Charmin-soft jump shot. He still owns the accountant's attention to detail that caused O'Neal to dub him, “The Big Fundamental.”
In other ways, Duncan has changed drastically and is still evolving.
The Spurs' offense no longer runs specifically through him. It now runs through Tony Parker, the team's energetic point guard, in part because Duncan allows it.
His scoring has slipped a bit — the 20 points per game he averaged last season and the 18.6 he averaged in 2005-06 are the two lowest-scoring campaigns of his career.
Yet the consensus seems to be that Duncan is better now than five years ago, when he won the second of his MVP trophies.
An example: Duncan has become so adept at reading defenses, so proficient at sensing where and when a teammate will break free for an easy basket, that it sometimes is more effective not to double-team him.
This, too, is when he feels every second of 31.
“It's a matter of experience,” Duncan said. “I'm surprised by very little now.”
The beauty of Duncan always has been in the subtleties. His is a game that always has been guided by guile.
The drop-step here. The seal-off there. The instinctive rotation on defense that serves to bother an opponent into a bad shot.
The Spurs' Gregg Popovich, the only NBA coach for whom he has played, submits Duncan is one of the smartest players ever to play the game.
“He's one of the best at understanding ahead of time what's going on,” Popovich said. “Where's he's needed, who's rolling that night, if we need a rebound or defensive stop. Is this the biggest rebound of the game, the biggest score of the game? He understands those sorts of things. He knows intuitively.”
Those are the tools that have helped Duncan evolve into perhaps the greatest power forward in NBA history. They also are the tools that should help him delay the inevitable decline that typically begins to weather NBA big men as they approach their mid-30s.
David Robinson was essentially done as a go-to guy at 33. Hakeem Olajuwon began to wear down at age 35. O'Neal, at 34, already is beginning to show signs of age.
By the time he was 34, Bill Russell had retired.
Duncan is under contract until 2010, when he'll be 34. Already, there has been talk of an extension.
Most NBA pundits don't see the same steep, 30-something drop in store for Duncan.
To Miami coach Pat Riley, Duncan could be the reincarnation of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played — and played well — into his 40s.
In 1985-86, the 38-year-old Abdul-Jabbar averaged 23.4 points per game.
“Duncan reminds me a lot of Kareem,” said Riley, who coached Abdul-Jabbar in Los Angeles for eight seasons. “Kareem wasn't a physical center, he was a finesse center. And he played until he was 41 years old.”
This is a thought Duncan hasn't even begun to consider.
When he was 21, he never thought about being 31. At 31, he's not about to begin to ponder 41.
Between then and now, there are still too many miles to go.
[email protected]
Duncan's Career
Tim Duncan is entering his 11th season with the Spurs. Here are 10 of Duncan's key moments with the team, season-by season.
1997-98: On Oct. 31, 1997, Duncan makes his NBA debut, scoring 15 points, pulling down 10 rebounds and blocking two shots in the Spurs' 107-96 victory at Denver. Duncan averages 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks over the season en route to winning Rookie of the Year honors.
1998-99: On June 25, 1999, Duncan scores 31 points in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, helping the Spurs beat the Knicks for their first championship. Duncan wins Finals MVP honors.
1999-2000: On Feb. 14, 2000, Duncan has 24 points and 14 rebounds to lead the West All-Stars to a 137-126 victory in Oakland, Calif. Duncan shares game MVP honors with Shaquille O'Neal.
2000-01: On July 12, 2000, Duncan gives the Spurs' franchise a gift before the season begins when he announces that he'll re-sign. “I've decided to stay here and keep going for another couple of years,” Duncan says, “just hang out and play a little basketball.”
2001-02: On May 9, 2002, Duncan is named the league's MVP after averaging 25.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. “In my wildest dreams,” Duncan said, “I never thought I would get this far or accomplish this much.”
2002-03: On June 17, 2003, Duncan has 21 points, 20 rebounds and eight blocks as the Spurs win their second NBA championship. Duncan is named Finals MVP. He also was named regular-season MVP.
2003-04: On May 13, 2004, Duncan hits a jumper over the outstretched arms of O'Neal to give the Spurs a 73-72 lead over the Lakers in Game 5 of their conference semifinal series. But Derek Fisher trumps him by hitting the game-winner with 0.4 seconds left. The Spurs are eliminated two days later.
2004-05: On June 23, 2005, Duncan has 25 points and 11 rebounds as the Spurs beat the Pistons in Game 7 of the NBA Finals for their third championship. Duncan is again named Finals MVP.
2005-06: On May 22, 2006, Duncan has 41 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks in Game 7 of the Spurs' conference semifinals series against the Mavericks. But it's not enough as the Mavericks win 119-111 in overtime at the AT&T Center to eliminate the Spurs.
2006-07: On May 16, 2007, Duncan has 21 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Spurs past the Suns 114-106 as they take a 3-2 lead in the conference semifinal series. The Spurs close out the series in the next game and go on to win their fourth NBA title. This time, though, Duncan doesn't take home NBA Finals MVP honors, as teammate Tony Parker wins the award.
Spurs: Star forward Tim Duncan seems to be getting better with age
Jeff McDonald
Express-News Staff Writer
There are nights when his knees creak, mornings when his back aches. There are days he'd rather spend slipping into a warm bath instead of slamming into Shaquille O'Neal for two hours.
These are the days in which Tim Duncan feels every day of 31 years old.
“I can definitely feel the miles sometimes,” Duncan says.
He's got a decade of them on his NBA odometer, some of them breezy highway miles, some not.
When the Spurs open defense of their fourth NBA title Tuesday night against Portland, Duncan officially will become something he never dreamed he would.
An 11th-year NBA player.
“A shocking reality,” he says.
Ten years ago this month, Duncan played his first game as a Spur, ushering in a golden age for the franchise. He scored 15 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and helped the Spurs defeat Denver 107-96.
Four NBA championships, two league MVP awards, three Finals MVP trophies and 10 all-star appearances later, it seems as if Duncan has gone from tender rookie to grizzled veteran practically overnight.
Most of all, it seems that way to Duncan himself.
“I know a lot of people say it,” Duncan says, “but it seems like I just got here yesterday.”
In some ways, the past decade hasn't changed him.
He still has the famous footwork and the Charmin-soft jump shot. He still owns the accountant's attention to detail that caused O'Neal to dub him, “The Big Fundamental.”
In other ways, Duncan has changed drastically and is still evolving.
The Spurs' offense no longer runs specifically through him. It now runs through Tony Parker, the team's energetic point guard, in part because Duncan allows it.
His scoring has slipped a bit — the 20 points per game he averaged last season and the 18.6 he averaged in 2005-06 are the two lowest-scoring campaigns of his career.
Yet the consensus seems to be that Duncan is better now than five years ago, when he won the second of his MVP trophies.
An example: Duncan has become so adept at reading defenses, so proficient at sensing where and when a teammate will break free for an easy basket, that it sometimes is more effective not to double-team him.
This, too, is when he feels every second of 31.
“It's a matter of experience,” Duncan said. “I'm surprised by very little now.”
The beauty of Duncan always has been in the subtleties. His is a game that always has been guided by guile.
The drop-step here. The seal-off there. The instinctive rotation on defense that serves to bother an opponent into a bad shot.
The Spurs' Gregg Popovich, the only NBA coach for whom he has played, submits Duncan is one of the smartest players ever to play the game.
“He's one of the best at understanding ahead of time what's going on,” Popovich said. “Where's he's needed, who's rolling that night, if we need a rebound or defensive stop. Is this the biggest rebound of the game, the biggest score of the game? He understands those sorts of things. He knows intuitively.”
Those are the tools that have helped Duncan evolve into perhaps the greatest power forward in NBA history. They also are the tools that should help him delay the inevitable decline that typically begins to weather NBA big men as they approach their mid-30s.
David Robinson was essentially done as a go-to guy at 33. Hakeem Olajuwon began to wear down at age 35. O'Neal, at 34, already is beginning to show signs of age.
By the time he was 34, Bill Russell had retired.
Duncan is under contract until 2010, when he'll be 34. Already, there has been talk of an extension.
Most NBA pundits don't see the same steep, 30-something drop in store for Duncan.
To Miami coach Pat Riley, Duncan could be the reincarnation of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played — and played well — into his 40s.
In 1985-86, the 38-year-old Abdul-Jabbar averaged 23.4 points per game.
“Duncan reminds me a lot of Kareem,” said Riley, who coached Abdul-Jabbar in Los Angeles for eight seasons. “Kareem wasn't a physical center, he was a finesse center. And he played until he was 41 years old.”
This is a thought Duncan hasn't even begun to consider.
When he was 21, he never thought about being 31. At 31, he's not about to begin to ponder 41.
Between then and now, there are still too many miles to go.
[email protected]
Duncan's Career
Tim Duncan is entering his 11th season with the Spurs. Here are 10 of Duncan's key moments with the team, season-by season.
1997-98: On Oct. 31, 1997, Duncan makes his NBA debut, scoring 15 points, pulling down 10 rebounds and blocking two shots in the Spurs' 107-96 victory at Denver. Duncan averages 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks over the season en route to winning Rookie of the Year honors.
1998-99: On June 25, 1999, Duncan scores 31 points in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, helping the Spurs beat the Knicks for their first championship. Duncan wins Finals MVP honors.
1999-2000: On Feb. 14, 2000, Duncan has 24 points and 14 rebounds to lead the West All-Stars to a 137-126 victory in Oakland, Calif. Duncan shares game MVP honors with Shaquille O'Neal.
2000-01: On July 12, 2000, Duncan gives the Spurs' franchise a gift before the season begins when he announces that he'll re-sign. “I've decided to stay here and keep going for another couple of years,” Duncan says, “just hang out and play a little basketball.”
2001-02: On May 9, 2002, Duncan is named the league's MVP after averaging 25.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. “In my wildest dreams,” Duncan said, “I never thought I would get this far or accomplish this much.”
2002-03: On June 17, 2003, Duncan has 21 points, 20 rebounds and eight blocks as the Spurs win their second NBA championship. Duncan is named Finals MVP. He also was named regular-season MVP.
2003-04: On May 13, 2004, Duncan hits a jumper over the outstretched arms of O'Neal to give the Spurs a 73-72 lead over the Lakers in Game 5 of their conference semifinal series. But Derek Fisher trumps him by hitting the game-winner with 0.4 seconds left. The Spurs are eliminated two days later.
2004-05: On June 23, 2005, Duncan has 25 points and 11 rebounds as the Spurs beat the Pistons in Game 7 of the NBA Finals for their third championship. Duncan is again named Finals MVP.
2005-06: On May 22, 2006, Duncan has 41 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks in Game 7 of the Spurs' conference semifinals series against the Mavericks. But it's not enough as the Mavericks win 119-111 in overtime at the AT&T Center to eliminate the Spurs.
2006-07: On May 16, 2007, Duncan has 21 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Spurs past the Suns 114-106 as they take a 3-2 lead in the conference semifinal series. The Spurs close out the series in the next game and go on to win their fourth NBA title. This time, though, Duncan doesn't take home NBA Finals MVP honors, as teammate Tony Parker wins the award.