duncan228
03-29-2008, 09:12 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/mmonroe/stories/MYSA033008.MikeMornoeNBABeat.en.11998146.html
Mike Monroe's NBA Beat: Duncan should be considered for Most Improved Player Award
Mike Monroe
San Antonio Express-News
Seated courtside at AT&T Center two hours before tipoff of the Spurs-Nets game March 2, Nets boss Rod Thorn watched Tim Duncan draining one practice free throw after another and mused: “How come Tim has so much trouble making his free throws in the game?”
Informed that in the six games since the All-Star break Duncan had made more than 80 percent of his foul shots, Thorn arched his eyebrows and whistled.
“Are you kidding me?” he said. “Well, if Tim Duncan makes 80 percent of his foul shots, it's all over for the rest of us.”
The Spurs have played 16 more games since Thorn's observation, and Duncan has not cooled off from the line. In 22 games since the All-Star break, Duncan has made 124 of 154 free throws, 80.5 percent, raising his percentage for the season to 73.8.
Did Duncan visit Marie Leveaux's voodoo shop over All-Star Weekend in The Big Easy and have a spell cast on his free-throw stroke?
Duncan would prefer not to talk about his free-throw shooing at all, but he has noticed that teams aren't fouling him as much as they once did when it was a smarter alternative than letting him shoot his array of shots in the low post.
“We always wanted our guys to foul him late in games, rather than let him shoot,” Thorn said, “but if he's going to make 80 percent, you can't do that.”
I'm not sure what has changed for Duncan at the foul line, but I do know how serious he has been about correcting the only serious flaw in a Hall of Fame skill set.
In fact, I believe Duncan merits consideration for this season's Most Improved Player Award, for that very reason.
Ordinarily, perennial All-Stars aren't given a moment's thought when it comes time to vote for the MIP Award, and for good reason. If you are a perennial All-Star, and especially if you've been the No. 1 overall draft pick, you're already supposed to be good.
The MIP Award is for journeymen and fringe players who have to work harder on their games than those blessed with natural talent.
What has happened, though, is that the MIP Award now seems to have more to do with circumstance than hard work. Tracy McGrady won it in 2000-01 because the Raptors traded him to Orlando, where his playing time ballooned and he became the Magic's primary scorer. Boris Diaw won in 2005-06 after the Hawks, who had given up on him, traded him to a Phoenix Suns team where his skills perfectly meshed with Mike D'Antoni's system and Steve Nash's passing.
Did they, or any of several other winners whose performance benefited from added playing time, truly improve their games?
“All they did was get more minutes, so their stats went up,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, not specifically about McGrady or Diaw, but about many previous MIP Award winners.
We media voters like to have quantifiable criteria. That is why Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu, who is on pace to have career highs in scoring, rebounding and assists, is probably going to win the award this season. The Eastern Conference coaches should have put him on the All-Star team, but didn't, and he's a good guy who works hard on his game, too.
Turkoglu's improvement isn't related to getting more minutes, but his circumstances certainly changed. He benefited when the Magic landed Rashard Lewis over the summer and replaced Brian Hill on the bench with Stan Van Gundy. Now he gets more open looks and more opportunity to create.
Nevertheless, I will have no problem with his winning the award. He has made the most of his increased opportunities.
Duncan's improvement, though, is just as significant. He is on pace to increase his free throw percentage from 63.7 percent to 73 or 74 percent. It's an improvement so dramatic that the Spurs have been able to adjust how they play in crunch time, and that is huge. No longer are they reluctant to run the offense through Duncan when the game is on the line for fear the opponent will opt to foul him, as Thorn said always was part of the Nets' game plan.
“It helps that he gets the ball a lot more down the stretch because he can make a free throw,” Popovich said. “He has confidence in it. He's done a good job.”
Popovich said teams don't yet seem to understand how much better Duncan has become on the line.
“Don't tell them,” he said.
Sorry, Pop. Besides, I think they would have figured it out on their own before the playoffs begin.
Mike Monroe's NBA Beat: Duncan should be considered for Most Improved Player Award
Mike Monroe
San Antonio Express-News
Seated courtside at AT&T Center two hours before tipoff of the Spurs-Nets game March 2, Nets boss Rod Thorn watched Tim Duncan draining one practice free throw after another and mused: “How come Tim has so much trouble making his free throws in the game?”
Informed that in the six games since the All-Star break Duncan had made more than 80 percent of his foul shots, Thorn arched his eyebrows and whistled.
“Are you kidding me?” he said. “Well, if Tim Duncan makes 80 percent of his foul shots, it's all over for the rest of us.”
The Spurs have played 16 more games since Thorn's observation, and Duncan has not cooled off from the line. In 22 games since the All-Star break, Duncan has made 124 of 154 free throws, 80.5 percent, raising his percentage for the season to 73.8.
Did Duncan visit Marie Leveaux's voodoo shop over All-Star Weekend in The Big Easy and have a spell cast on his free-throw stroke?
Duncan would prefer not to talk about his free-throw shooing at all, but he has noticed that teams aren't fouling him as much as they once did when it was a smarter alternative than letting him shoot his array of shots in the low post.
“We always wanted our guys to foul him late in games, rather than let him shoot,” Thorn said, “but if he's going to make 80 percent, you can't do that.”
I'm not sure what has changed for Duncan at the foul line, but I do know how serious he has been about correcting the only serious flaw in a Hall of Fame skill set.
In fact, I believe Duncan merits consideration for this season's Most Improved Player Award, for that very reason.
Ordinarily, perennial All-Stars aren't given a moment's thought when it comes time to vote for the MIP Award, and for good reason. If you are a perennial All-Star, and especially if you've been the No. 1 overall draft pick, you're already supposed to be good.
The MIP Award is for journeymen and fringe players who have to work harder on their games than those blessed with natural talent.
What has happened, though, is that the MIP Award now seems to have more to do with circumstance than hard work. Tracy McGrady won it in 2000-01 because the Raptors traded him to Orlando, where his playing time ballooned and he became the Magic's primary scorer. Boris Diaw won in 2005-06 after the Hawks, who had given up on him, traded him to a Phoenix Suns team where his skills perfectly meshed with Mike D'Antoni's system and Steve Nash's passing.
Did they, or any of several other winners whose performance benefited from added playing time, truly improve their games?
“All they did was get more minutes, so their stats went up,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, not specifically about McGrady or Diaw, but about many previous MIP Award winners.
We media voters like to have quantifiable criteria. That is why Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu, who is on pace to have career highs in scoring, rebounding and assists, is probably going to win the award this season. The Eastern Conference coaches should have put him on the All-Star team, but didn't, and he's a good guy who works hard on his game, too.
Turkoglu's improvement isn't related to getting more minutes, but his circumstances certainly changed. He benefited when the Magic landed Rashard Lewis over the summer and replaced Brian Hill on the bench with Stan Van Gundy. Now he gets more open looks and more opportunity to create.
Nevertheless, I will have no problem with his winning the award. He has made the most of his increased opportunities.
Duncan's improvement, though, is just as significant. He is on pace to increase his free throw percentage from 63.7 percent to 73 or 74 percent. It's an improvement so dramatic that the Spurs have been able to adjust how they play in crunch time, and that is huge. No longer are they reluctant to run the offense through Duncan when the game is on the line for fear the opponent will opt to foul him, as Thorn said always was part of the Nets' game plan.
“It helps that he gets the ball a lot more down the stretch because he can make a free throw,” Popovich said. “He has confidence in it. He's done a good job.”
Popovich said teams don't yet seem to understand how much better Duncan has become on the line.
“Don't tell them,” he said.
Sorry, Pop. Besides, I think they would have figured it out on their own before the playoffs begin.