Game Thoughts: Spurs vs. Wizards - Nov. 28

[timvp]

After Beno’s Revenge in Sacramento on Monday, it was good to get a win against the Washington Wizards at home. The Wizards were without Gilbert Arenas AKA Agent Zero but they played the Spurs tough. I was impressed by their team play and their defense wasn’t as horrible as usual. (In fact, Agent Zero [that number, coincidentally, also quantifies how much Arenas cares about setting up his teammates] usually plays horrible at San Antonio, so I was a bit sad he was out.)

The Spurs came into the game looking to improve their defense. To begin the game, the defense was worse than ever. The Wizards were shooting north of 63% at one point in the second quarter. Luckily, the Spurs defense started to show up and the Wizards ended up shooting 46.7% from the field. While that number isn’t much to write home about, it’s a step in the right direction.

-Tim Duncan had a Tim-Duncan-in-November type outing. He put in minimal effort still finished with decent numbers. 16 points and seven rebounds on 8-for-13 shooting are numbers he can put up in his sleep -- and he did just that tonight. Duncan turned up his intensity here and there but only when needed and only for a few minutes at a time. No need to sound the alarm but Duncan is averaging career-lows in rebounds and blocked shots. As a Spurs fan, you just have to trust that he’ll be able to turn it on when needed.

-Offensively, it was another very nice outing from Ginobili. Scoring 19 points in 27 minutes to go with three assists and one turnover is really good production, I don’t care who you are. Defensively, I think Ginobili’s energy and production has slipped since earlier in the season. Earlier, he was just a beast on the defensive end of the court. Lately, he’s been much more of a spectator. A decent way to figure out how active Ginobili is being defensively is to add together his rebounds, steals and blocks. Over the last five games, his combined number is only 3.8. Over the first 11 games of the season, that number was at 8.4. Not coincidentally, that also matches up exactly to when the Spurs’ defense on a whole started slipping. I trust that Ginobili will pick it up on that end of the court soon enough.

-Tony Parker had a good performance, for the most part. His numbers look really good (29 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds on 12-of-18 shooting from the field) and were pretty much indicative of how he played. However, he could have played better. At the half he only had nine points and wasn’t being aggressive enough offensively in my eyes. Parker is best when he relentless attacks the basket as he did in the second half. In the first half and even a bit in the second half, he dribbled too much without attacking. If he stays in attack mode all game (he doesn’t necessarily even have to score a lot or get a lot of assists) it puts an ungodly amount of pressure on the opposing defense and opens up shots and lanes for everyone else. He did that pretty well tonight but I think he could get even more consistent at doing so.

-Bruce Bowen did a good job on whoever he was matched up with. Caron Butler entered the game playing better than anyone in the NBA not named LeBron James as of late and Butler had a pretty quiet night. There were some possessions here and there where Bowen’s defense wasn’t up to his standards but on a whole you can’t be too disappointed.

-Michael Finley’s on-again, off-again shooting was back on-again. He hit 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc, to go along with three rebounds and two assists. Finley’s defense was better than it usually, especially his weak-side rotations.

-Fabricio Oberto had another very good showing. Oberto has been really good in the last couple weeks and was rewarded with a season-high 34 minutes of action. During that time, Oberto had five points, seven rebounds and four assists. An amazing stat about Oberto is he leads the league in fewest turnovers per minute. Oberto has three turnovers all season, including no turnovers in his last seven games and only one turnover is his last 13 games. Those are amazing numbers considering how many offensive fouls on illegal screens he racked up last year and how often he’s throwing interior passes to Duncan in tight quarters.

-Francisco Elson got extended playing time against the Wizards and responded with one of his better showings in a long time. He finished with ten points, seven rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes of play. Elson was a good match for some of the long yet strong players the Wizards put up front. The key now for Elson is to prove this isn’t just his customary once a month good game. Can he build on this going forward and not disappear for the next four weeks? We’ll see.

-Brent Barry had earned praise of late with his solid all-around play. In this game, Barry’s offense was still decent enough but his defense was pathetic. I haven’t seen him play this bad of a defensive game in a long time. He was consistently getting beaten off the dribble and he was getting lost on nearly every possession. Barry isn’t going to earn any bonus minutes from Pop by playing this poorly on the defensive end.

-Is it me or does the clock move slower when Jacque Vaughn is on the court? He played only 13 minutes but it felt more like 30 minutes. I thought he was forcing it a bit offensively, especially around the basket. If Vaughn never attempts another layup, I’ll die a happy Spurs fan. He did have three assists and two rebounds so it wasn’t all bad.

-Ime Udoka, Darius Washington and Matt Bonner all got the final one minute and twenty three seconds of garbage time. The most notable player of the three to be playing garbage time was Bonner. Bonner had actually be playing decent as of late but apparently Pop didn’t like the matchup of Bonner versus the athletes the Wizards can put at the power forward position.

-I can’t really complain about anything Pop did. I like how Pop let Oberto play extended minutes and it worked out well as Oberto finished with a team high in plus/minus at +23. I also liked it that Pop got on the team about their defense even when the lead was comfortable. Pop called timeout a couple times to bench players for their defense, or lack thereof (*cough* Barry *cough*). Bottomline is it was a good win against a capable opponent, but just like every November, there is a lot of work to do.

[milkyway21]

Tim Duncan had a Tim-Duncan-in-November type outing. He put in minimal effort still finished with decent numbers. 16 points and seven rebounds on 8-for-13 shooting are numbers he can put up in his sleep -- and he did just that tonight. Duncan turned up his intensity here and there but only when needed and only for a few minutes at a time. No need to sound the alarm but Duncan is averaging career-lows in rebounds and blocked shots. As a Spurs fan, you just have to trust that he’ll be able to turn it on when needed.

Duncan. You didn't mention his minutes. But just 13 attempts the entire game? That's basically 3 attemps per Qtr.

But I'm not worried about his low scores and rbds as long as he's healthy and we take the W. He's still the only Spur who's on the top 3 in the scoring/rbds/assts/blcks stat sheet of this team.

still, I'm a little bit wondering :rolleyes

[mathbzh]

Thanks for the reading.

What should Parker do to receive a "VERY good performance" :rolleyes
If he can have other "good performance for the most part" games, I will take them with pleasure.

[xcoriate]

A decent way to figure out how active Ginobili is being defensively is to add together his rebounds, steals and blocks. Over the last five games, his combined number is only 3.8. Over the first 11 games of the season, that number was at 8.4.

fixed :)

Thanks again for the awesome notes :clap

[timvp]

fixed :)Thanks.

[polandprzem]

PM timvp?

[dimsah]

Spurs record is coming along like 04/05. 8-0 at home but 4/3 on the road.
That's strange because they were a really good road team the last couple of years,
but they do have a while to get things figured out.

[Bruno]

-Tim Duncan had a Tim-Duncan-in-November type outing.

In 04-05, 05-06 and 06-07, Duncan's best month during the regular season was November.
Saying that, I don't think November will be Duncan's best month in 07-08. He should turn it on when Spurs will need it and for the playoffs. However, it's only wishful thinking until he does it. You can't really dismiss the possibility that age/mileage is catching him up.

[Aud21946]

After Beno’s Revenge in Sacramento on Monday, it was good to get a win against the Washington Wizards at home. The Wizards were without Gilbert Arenas AKA Agent Zero but they played the Spurs tough. I was impressed by their team play and their defense wasn’t as horrible as usual. (In fact, Agent Zero [that number, coincidentally, also quantifies how much Arenas cares about setting up his teammates] usually plays horrible at San Antonio, so I was a bit sad he was out.)

The Spurs came into the game looking to improve their defense. To begin the game, the defense was worse than ever. The Wizards were shooting north of 63% at one point in the second quarter. Luckily, the Spurs defense started to show up and the Wizards ended up shooting 46.7% from the field. While that number isn’t much to write home about, it’s a step in the right direction.

-Tim Duncan had a Tim-Duncan-in-November type outing. He put in minimal effort still finished with decent numbers. 16 points and seven rebounds on 8-for-13 shooting are numbers he can put up in his sleep -- and he did just that tonight. Duncan turned up his intensity here and there but only when needed and only for a few minutes at a time. No need to sound the alarm but Duncan is averaging career-lows in rebounds and blocked shots. As a Spurs fan, you just have to trust that he’ll be able to turn it on when needed.

-Offensively, it was another very nice outing from Ginobili. Scoring 19 points in 27 minutes to go with three assists and one turnover is really good production, I don’t care who you are. Defensively, I think Ginobili’s energy and production has slipped since earlier in the season. Earlier, he was just a beast on the defensive end of the court. Lately, he’s been much more of a spectator. A decent way to figure out how active Ginobili is being defensively is to add together his rebounds, steals and blocks. Over the last five games, his combined number is only 3.8. Over the first 11 games of the season, that number was at 8.4. Not coincidentally, that also matches up exactly to when the Spurs’ defense on a whole started slipping. I trust that Ginobili will pick it up on that end of the court soon enough.

-Tony Parker had a good performance, for the most part. His numbers look really good (29 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds on 12-of-18 shooting from the field) and were pretty much indicative of how he played. However, he could have played better. At the half he only had nine points and wasn’t being aggressive enough offensively in my eyes. Parker is best when he relentless attacks the basket as he did in the second half. In the first half and even a bit in the second half, he dribbled too much without attacking. If he stays in attack mode all game (he doesn’t necessarily even have to score a lot or get a lot of assists) it puts an ungodly amount of pressure on the opposing defense and opens up shots and lanes for everyone else. He did that pretty well tonight but I think he could get even more consistent at doing so.

-Bruce Bowen did a good job on whoever he was matched up with. Caron Butler entered the game playing better than anyone in the NBA not named LeBron James as of late and Butler had a pretty quiet night. There were some possessions here and there where Bowen’s defense wasn’t up to his standards but on a whole you can’t be too disappointed.

-Michael Finley’s on-again, off-again shooting was back on-again. He hit 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc, to go along with three rebounds and two assists. Finley’s defense was better than it usually, especially his weak-side rotations.

-Fabricio Oberto had another very good showing. Oberto has been really good in the last couple weeks and was rewarded with a season-high 34 minutes of action. During that time, Oberto had five points, seven rebounds and four assists. An amazing stat about Oberto is he leads the league in fewest turnovers per minute. Oberto has three turnovers all season, including no turnovers in his last seven games and only one turnover is his last 13 games. Those are amazing numbers considering how many offensive fouls on illegal screens he racked up last year and how often he’s throwing interior passes to Duncan in tight quarters.

-Francisco Elson got extended playing time against the Wizards and responded with one of his better showings in a long time. He finished with ten points, seven rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes of play. Elson was a good match for some of the long yet strong players the Wizards put up front. The key now for Elson is to prove this isn’t just his customary once a month good game. Can he build on this going forward and not disappear for the next four weeks? We’ll see.

-Brent Barry had earned praise of late with his solid all-around play. In this game, Barry’s offense was still decent enough but his defense was pathetic. I haven’t seen him play this bad of a defensive game in a long time. He was consistently getting beaten off the dribble and he was getting lost on nearly every possession. Barry isn’t going to earn any bonus minutes from Pop by playing this poorly on the defensive end.

-Is it me or does the clock move slower when Jacque Vaughn is on the court? He played only 13 minutes but it felt more like 30 minutes. I thought he was forcing it a bit offensively, especially around the basket. If Vaughn never attempts another layup, I’ll die a happy Spurs fan. He did have three assists and two rebounds so it wasn’t all bad.

-Ime Udoka, Darius Washington and Matt Bonner all got the final one minute and twenty three seconds of garbage time. The most notable player of the three to be playing garbage time was Bonner. Bonner had actually be playing decent as of late but apparently Pop didn’t like the match up of Bonner versus the athletes the Wizards can put at the power forward position.

-I can’t really complain about anything Pop did. I like how Pop let Oberto play extended minutes and it worked out well as Oberto finished with a team high in plus/minus at +23. I also liked it that Pop got on the team about their defense even when the lead was comfortable. Pop called timeout a couple times to bench players for their defense, or lack thereof (*cough* Barry *cough*). Bottom line is it was a good win against a capable opponent, but just like every November, there is a lot of work to do.

Hello Spurs talk .. I haven't been here in a while but after wathcing or Dvring the games for a while I tell what's up .. After all the games I have watched . ... I think we are pretty solid for another playoff push. Ginobilli looks healthy for once and the offense looks good as usual .. Still boring but effective. We are beating teams we should beat and back to back still kill our team. I love the PG Washington but sometimes he is trying too hard. If someone could tell him to relax he will stick with the team all season.I'll take the record and the wins and I can't wait to play Boston so we can beat them and the east coast bias I hear every morning on Mike and Mike and first take when I get off of work .. Later Ya'll
:fro

[dougp]

Tim - would you say that you're satisfied with how Oberto has been playing so far this year? He looks like he's contributing quite a bit more than the previous two years, and looking more solid ... doesn't seem to be as variable as Elson is. He's more productive than Nazr and Rasho were, and a hell of a lot more consistent (I can't watch all the games, he might be missing more rotations than you make it sound.)

So far, would you prefer Darius or Jacque? From the games I've seen, Darius seemed to provide hella energy coming off the bench, but I only got to see one game with Jacque - his first one back, and he was hella rusty. Looks like he had worked on that shot though ...

[vanvannen]

Great work Timvp, as usual.
If we didn't know better, one could think you were born in Buenos Aires...
What's with all the love for the Argies??? :fro

[AFBlue]

In 04-05, 05-06 and 06-07, Duncan's best month during the regular season was November.
Saying that, I don't think November will be Duncan's best month in 07-08. He should turn it on when Spurs will need it and for the playoffs. However, it's only wishful thinking until he does it. You can't really dismiss the possibility that age/mileage is catching him up.

Isn't he also averaging a career low in minutes?

I know it's not that much of a difference and I admit that he seems to "coast" more often than usual, but it doesn't seem to me that he's really been utilized to his full extent. To be honest, I was suprised Tim and co. were out there in the final minutes of the game after the lead had ballooned to well above 10.

[ArgSpursFan.]

Great work Timvp, as usual.
If we didn't know better, one could think you were born in Buenos Aires...
What's with all the love for the Argies??? :fro

there's no love at all.
It's just the truth.

[telecomguy]

In 04-05, 05-06 and 06-07, Duncan's best month during the regular season was November.
Saying that, I don't think November will be Duncan's best month in 07-08. He should turn it on when Spurs will need it and for the playoffs. However, it's only wishful thinking until he does it. You can't really dismiss the possibility that age/mileage is catching him up.

the guards (tony & Manu) are not passing the ball to TD much these days.....which is ok as long as they are scoring. TD's lack of production scoring wise is strictly a function of the touches and shots he is getting and right now, Manu and Parker are taking lot more. REbounding, i am not sure why it's low other than there hasn't been many games where rebounding has been an issue due to the high scoring games (meaning less missed shots), and the fact that TD is playing less due to the many blowouts. I really don't see any slowdown with TD. I've seen him do some spin moves and post moves that shows that he can still get to the rim against double and triple teams. Playoffs when pressure rises and defensive intensity becomes all-important is when Ducan will assert himself..............unless Tony and Manu continue to dominate/crush the opponents!

[Civilfatman]

Always enjoy your posts. Look forward to them after every game.

[loveforthegame]

Appreciate the recap as always.

I wonder if I sent a case of wine to Pop he'd give DW a chance over Vaughn?

[duncan228]

No need to sound the alarm but Duncan is averaging career-lows in rebounds and blocked shots. As a Spurs fan, you just have to trust that he’ll be able to turn it on when needed.

In Duncan I trust.

Great notes as always.
Thanks timvp, your effort is appreciated.

[SenorSpur]

Great summary, as always. Much appreciated.

The point about Gil's lack of attention to defense and making setting up others is well-taken.

I've now seen the Blizzards in consecutive games versus the Spurs and Mavs. Obviously they are missing their best player in Arenas. While I will stop short of saying they are better off without Arenas, I will say there seems to be better cohesion and ball movement.

I'm always leery of ball-hogs like him and A.I. Their on-court demands at times hamper the development of other players.

[Walter Craparita]

That was an awesome play by Washington to kick it out to Udoka in the final minute lol. Wish we could have seen these guys play more last night.

Ginobili was not a spectator on Defense vs the Kings. :bang

[2centsworth]

Vaughn is atrocious. why not try to develop DW with those minutes. Great thing about Vaughn is he doesn't need much playing time, he'll always be the same.

[Felonius Monk]

the guards (tony & Manu) are not passing the ball to TD much these days.....which is ok as long as they are scoring. TD's lack of production scoring wise is strictly a function of the touches and shots he is getting and right now, Manu and Parker are taking lot more. REbounding, i am not sure why it's low other than there hasn't been many games where rebounding has been an issue due to the high scoring games (meaning less missed shots), and the fact that TD is playing less due to the many blowouts. I really don't see any slowdown with TD. I've seen him do some spin moves and post moves that shows that he can still get to the rim against double and triple teams. Playoffs when pressure rises and defensive intensity becomes all-important is when Ducan will assert himself..............unless Tony and Manu continue to dominate/crush the opponents!

Tim is taking .2 shots per game less than last year, an insignificant change. Tony is taking 1.8 more and Manu is shooting 1.1 shots more than a year ago.

Tim is getting 2.5 fewer free throws per game than last year, while Ginobili is getting an extra 1.4 free throws per contest.

Last year, Tim averaged 20.0 PPG, this year he's at 18.4. Sixty percent of 2.5 is 1.5. Add that to his current average of 18.4 and he's on the same pace as last year.

Since he's not getting to the line as often and he's not rebounding as well, perhaps we can assume he's not being as aggressive as he has in past seasons.

[SenorSpur]

Vaughn is atrocious. why not try to develop DW with those minutes. Great thing about Vaughn is he doesn't need much playing time, he'll always be the same.


I wonder the same thing

[telecomguy]

Tim is taking .2 shots per game less than last year, an insignificant change. Tony is taking 1.8 more and Manu is shooting 1.1 shots more than a year ago.

Tim is getting 2.5 fewer free throws per game than last year, while Ginobili is getting an extra 1.4 free throws per contest.

Last year, Tim averaged 20.0 PPG, this year he's at 18.4. Sixty percent of 2.5 is 1.5. Add that to his current average of 18.4 and he's on the same pace as last year.

Since he's not getting to the line as often and he's not rebounding as well, perhaps we can assume he's not being as aggressive as he has in past seasons.

you have to consider that the 2.5 free throws missing is like 1.25 (not counting 3 pt plays) less shot attempts right? so he is actually taking 1.45 shots less per game according to your numbers. Also the Spurs seems to be going less through TD in the post to start the play in the offensive zone....in other words, TD is getting less touches which probably translates to less fouls on him since he is less likely to get hacked in the paint area.

Anyway i think the main reason for TD's lack of agression is that both Tony and Manu are very aggressively taking it to the rack this season.

[whottt]

An amazing stat about Oberto is he leads the league in fewest turnovers per minute. Oberto has three turnovers all season, including no turnovers in his last seven games and only one turnover is his last 13 games. Those are amazing numbers considering how many offensive fouls on illegal screens he racked up last year and how often he’s throwing interior passes to Duncan in tight quarters.


Nice find...but thinking about it...Oberto's got awesome hands. He might have better hands than Tim Duncan. If a ball goes into him...he doesn't fumble it...ever. Not even Manu's rocket passes that often even give other guards trouble...in fact, playing so many years with Oberto might be the reason Manu thinks he can pull off those rocket passes so often....


Ditto Oberto's tap outs on potential rebounds...while we can wish he would actually pull down more of those taps...it takes a lot of dexterity and coordination to nail them as often as he does.





RE: Barry...I'll give you his D wasn't great. But a confident Barry on offense kicks the crap out of anything Barry will ever do on the defensive side of the ball. Think about that trade off....then decide if you really want it. That said...he's shown he can play better D...perhaps another asschewing by Pop would serve our cause better than a benching.

The genesis of that Orlando game I'd finally found out...was Pop absolutely reaming Barry out for a TO. Whata ya know...some guys play better with a chewed butt...and I think Barry has shown a consistent trend of playing better when people are getting physical with him, he's getting knocked down, or someone gets into his face....he needs a jolt to get out of surfer mode.

[timvp]

Nice find...but thinking about it...Oberto's got awesome hands. He might have better hands than Tim Duncan.No offense, but that's ludicrous. Duncan has the best hands on a bigman I've ever seen. He might have the best hands period in NBA history.

And really, Oberto's low turnovers are as much a testament to Duncan's hands as they are to Oberto's hands. Most of Oberto's dangerous passes are to Duncan on some sort of high-low look.


If a ball goes into him...he doesn't fumble it...ever. Not even Manu's rocket passes that often even give other guards trouble...in fact, playing so many years with Oberto might be the reason Manu thinks he can pull off those rocket passes so often....Oberto has good hands but there isn't a large area that he covers. If you hit him in the hands, he'll almost always catch it. But with Duncan, you just need to get it anywhere in the vicinity and he'll come up with it even if there are multiple players around him. When Oberto gets a pass, he's almost always wide open.




RE: Barry...I'll give you his D wasn't great.His D was horrible.


But a confident Barry on offense kicks the crap out of anything Barry will ever do on the defensive side of the ball. Think about that trade off....then decide if you really want it. That said...he's shown he can play better D...perhaps another asschewing by Pop would serve our cause better than a benching. I thought you said you were going to start holding Barry accountable for his defense? Now you're going back to the blame-a-Pop game?


The genesis of that Orlando game I'd finally found out...was Pop absolutely reaming Barry out for a TO. Whata ya know...some guys play better with a chewed butt...and I think Barry has shown a consistent trend of playing better when people are getting physical with him, he's getting knocked down, or someone gets into his face....he needs a jolt to get out of surfer mode.Haven't you always argued that Pop "doesn't understand Barry's game ... only I do"? At least you are giving Pop the green light to get after him, finally.

[whottt]

No offense, but that's ludicrous. Duncan has the best hands on a bigman I've ever seen. He might have the best hands period in NBA history.

And really, Oberto's low turnovers are as much a testament to Duncan's hands as they are to Oberto's hands. Most of Oberto's dangerous passes are to Duncan on some sort of high-low look.

Passing doesn't have as much to do with hands as recieving...in any case. I wasn't slighting Duncan's hands...I was praising Oberto's...and Oberto's got damn good hands...as you yourself pointed out. Forget about offensive fouls...he's got that low TO rate because of his hands.





Oberto has good hands but there isn't a large area that he covers. If you hit him in the hands, he'll almost always catch it. But with Duncan, you just need to get it anywhere in the vicinity and he'll come up with it even if there are multiple players around him. When Oberto gets a pass, he's almost always wide open.


He's the only guy that consistently catches Manu's rocket passes...not even Duncan can say that. They go off Duncan with a good deal of regularity.




His D was horrible.

I thought you said you were going to start holding Barry accountable for his defense? Now you're going back to the blame-a-Pop game?

RIF...
I conceded he played crappy defense and he can play better...but are you goinng to say his offensive potential isn't far greater than his defensive potential? He's not ever going to be a great defensive player. Nor will it ever be where his heart lies.


You want to remedy that by another benching...which will result in a shitty Barry. I want to remedy it with an asschewing...My way is better and will produce a better result.



Haven't you always argued that Pop "doesn't understand Barry's game ... only I do"? At least you are giving Pop the green light to get after him, finally.


I don't think I've ever said Pop shouldn't get after him a single time, in fact I've said Barry needs to be knocked to the ground at least once per game.

I've been against Pop summarily benching him with little or no reason given. In fact...I've always said Barry plays better when challenged...you're the one who's said he doesn't, you're the one who has always said it's fear even though you never had consistent proof. I've always said it was getting benched when he was playing good offensively that screwed him up. Pop finally figured it out. Guys without heart don't play better after an assreaming...they pout. Barry plays better...


In fact...his best game as a Spur happened right after his worst assreaming as a Spur.

Apology awaited.

[ShoogarBear]

I was impressed by their team play and their defense wasn’t as horrible as usual. (In fact, Agent Zero [that number, coincidentally, also quantifies how much Arenas cares about setting up his teammates] usually plays horrible at San Antonio, so I was a bit sad he was out.)

Wiz fans were playoff-starved for so long, they refused to see any of Arenas' faults. Now I think the light is beginning to go on. Arenas had by far the most talent on the team, but the dfense and offensive cohension is so much better now it's ridiculous.

Best case scenario, the Wiz play close to the 8 seed until Arenas comes back, and then he fits into the team concept and they becomes a dangerous low seed.

Worst-case, and more likely, is Arenas comes in and plays for his contract-year stats, the Wiz go down the tubes, and management lets him go.

[timvp]

In 04-05, 05-06 and 06-07, Duncan's best month during the regular season was November.Points per game wise, yeah, November is usually good to Duncan.

Defense and energy level wise, Duncan always peaks later in the year. That's why the Spurs defense is always best during SPAM.

I think a valid reason why Duncan's scoring is down early this year is because Parker and Ginobili are both off to good offensive starts. Usually to start the season, either Parker or Ginobili is struggling. That was especially the case last year when Parker and Ginobili both basically sucked in November. However, once those two got rolling, Duncan took his customary role in the backseat during the regular season.


Saying that, I don't think November will be Duncan's best month in 07-08. He should turn it on when Spurs will need it and for the playoffs. However, it's only wishful thinking until he does it. You can't really dismiss the possibility that age/mileage is catching him up.In Duncan We Trust.

:hat