duncan228
10-30-2007, 11:07 AM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA103007BuckHarvey.EN.33e7a32.html
Buck Harvey: Spurs' karma set? Repeat after Duncan
San Antonio Express-News
A year ago, almost to the day, I apologized to Tim Duncan for what would have to follow.
Duncan cocked his head.
I told him, going by the franchise schedule, he would have to suffer an injury. Terrible pain wouldn't be necessary; if he wanted to invent something to miss half a season, he could always talk to Shaq for advice.
But, either way, Duncan had no choice. He would have to sit if the Spurs were to be in position to draft Greg Oden, and this is the way it's always been. The Spurs found a Hall of Fame 7-footer in 1987 and another in 1997, and 2007 was next.
Duncan quit cocking his head. He can be playful at times, but not after a season of plantar fasciitis. "Oh, don't say that," he said, reacting as if the words themselves could tear an ACL.
Duncan isn't as superstitious as Robert Horry. No Spur is. But Duncan comes close, and, considering what happened over the past year, that means he should have a different approach tonight.
Hearing the opposite apparently has some karmic power.
Duncan is at least accustomed to the opposite coming true. He heard something five years ago, for example, just as discouraging as imminent injury.
The Spurs had won 58 games in the 2001-02 season, and a rookie named Tony Parker had shown some signs. Duncan didn't sit once then. He played 82 games and was the league MVP.
Still, the Spurs were stuck underneath the Lakers' Nikes. After being swept the year before by the Lakers, with David Robinson getting older, little improvement came that spring. The Spurs lost the series in five games.
No one saw much changing. Wouldn't Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, coming off their third consecutive title, dominate for another half-dozen years? The best the Spurs could counter with that summer was an Argentine no one had seen.
What followed has been equally startling to both franchises. The Lakers lateraled their dynasty to the Spurs, albeit without Trinity's panache. O'Neal was traded, and now Bryant faces the same.
Phil Jackson, ever abusive to San Antonio, turned his Zen on both. His latest critique on Bryant suggests a trade will come as soon as the pieces fit.
In the meantime the Spurs have won three championships and come close on two others. Tonight, as rings are celebrated, few can remember the feeling of 2002.
Now the Spurs try to repeat, and only about a thousand things can go wrong for them before April. There will be days — if not weeks — when the same authorities who predict another Spurs championship will be just as convinced they are too old and are finished.
The Mavericks and Rockets will add to the equation, because they will win about 120 games between them. Utah will be better, Golden State will remain scary, and even Memphis could reclaim its 50-win status.
As for the Suns: They might be looking forward to seeing the Spurs during the winter.
The Spurs could finish third in their division and get the fifth seed in the conference. But if they are healthy, who would bet against them in a best-of-7 series?
But that's just it — if they are healthy. It's both a simple and essential angle to the season, and the league's oldest team will have to be as fortunate as it was last season.
Duncan, specifically, will need a repeat in health. The only games he missed last season were the last two, when he rested for the playoffs. Otherwise he was healthier than he had been since the winter of 2005, when he severely sprained an ankle in Detroit.
Oden, instead, is the one who will sit this season. It's sad, and no one would wish this on anyone, much less someone as engaging and sincere as Oden.
But that's part of this karma. Everything went in the opposite direction from the premise of a year ago, when Duncan thought he had heard bad luck. Given that, he doesn't need to hear the Spurs are in position to repeat.
What is the superstition of the stage, an encouragement usually reserved for opening night?
Break a leg.
Buck Harvey: Spurs' karma set? Repeat after Duncan
San Antonio Express-News
A year ago, almost to the day, I apologized to Tim Duncan for what would have to follow.
Duncan cocked his head.
I told him, going by the franchise schedule, he would have to suffer an injury. Terrible pain wouldn't be necessary; if he wanted to invent something to miss half a season, he could always talk to Shaq for advice.
But, either way, Duncan had no choice. He would have to sit if the Spurs were to be in position to draft Greg Oden, and this is the way it's always been. The Spurs found a Hall of Fame 7-footer in 1987 and another in 1997, and 2007 was next.
Duncan quit cocking his head. He can be playful at times, but not after a season of plantar fasciitis. "Oh, don't say that," he said, reacting as if the words themselves could tear an ACL.
Duncan isn't as superstitious as Robert Horry. No Spur is. But Duncan comes close, and, considering what happened over the past year, that means he should have a different approach tonight.
Hearing the opposite apparently has some karmic power.
Duncan is at least accustomed to the opposite coming true. He heard something five years ago, for example, just as discouraging as imminent injury.
The Spurs had won 58 games in the 2001-02 season, and a rookie named Tony Parker had shown some signs. Duncan didn't sit once then. He played 82 games and was the league MVP.
Still, the Spurs were stuck underneath the Lakers' Nikes. After being swept the year before by the Lakers, with David Robinson getting older, little improvement came that spring. The Spurs lost the series in five games.
No one saw much changing. Wouldn't Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, coming off their third consecutive title, dominate for another half-dozen years? The best the Spurs could counter with that summer was an Argentine no one had seen.
What followed has been equally startling to both franchises. The Lakers lateraled their dynasty to the Spurs, albeit without Trinity's panache. O'Neal was traded, and now Bryant faces the same.
Phil Jackson, ever abusive to San Antonio, turned his Zen on both. His latest critique on Bryant suggests a trade will come as soon as the pieces fit.
In the meantime the Spurs have won three championships and come close on two others. Tonight, as rings are celebrated, few can remember the feeling of 2002.
Now the Spurs try to repeat, and only about a thousand things can go wrong for them before April. There will be days — if not weeks — when the same authorities who predict another Spurs championship will be just as convinced they are too old and are finished.
The Mavericks and Rockets will add to the equation, because they will win about 120 games between them. Utah will be better, Golden State will remain scary, and even Memphis could reclaim its 50-win status.
As for the Suns: They might be looking forward to seeing the Spurs during the winter.
The Spurs could finish third in their division and get the fifth seed in the conference. But if they are healthy, who would bet against them in a best-of-7 series?
But that's just it — if they are healthy. It's both a simple and essential angle to the season, and the league's oldest team will have to be as fortunate as it was last season.
Duncan, specifically, will need a repeat in health. The only games he missed last season were the last two, when he rested for the playoffs. Otherwise he was healthier than he had been since the winter of 2005, when he severely sprained an ankle in Detroit.
Oden, instead, is the one who will sit this season. It's sad, and no one would wish this on anyone, much less someone as engaging and sincere as Oden.
But that's part of this karma. Everything went in the opposite direction from the premise of a year ago, when Duncan thought he had heard bad luck. Given that, he doesn't need to hear the Spurs are in position to repeat.
What is the superstition of the stage, an encouragement usually reserved for opening night?
Break a leg.