Adande: “Torch Passes from Duncan to Ginobili”

[MadDog73]

And yet....

Parker won Finals MVP last year.


We have a great TEAM. I'm not sure any player is "replaceable."

Name a le, and I'll name you a "role-player" who is responsible for at least one crucial win.

(some examples)

2003: Steve Kerr against Dallas.
2005: Horry, game 5, against Pistons.

Now, does that make Kerr and Horry equal to Tim Duncan?!? No, of course not.

But I doubt we'd have won those les without them.

To state the obvious: Teams win Championships. See 2004 Pistons over "dream-team" Lakers for evidence of that (keeping in mind, of course, Malone was hurt).

If the Spurs beat the Lakers, it's not because Manu > Tim (or vice-versa). It's because as a TEAM, Spurs > Lakers.


EDIT: Just to add, in case anybody sees this as a slam on Duncan, I think Tim's leadership is a big part of why the Spurs have a winning Team. Oh, and he's the best current big man in the NBA. That doesn't hurt.

[xapatan2]

Here's how it breaks down:
Tim is the engine. No Tim, no go.
Tony is the transmission. He puts the power on the road.
Manu? Manu is the turbo, baby!

+1

well sum up !

at this stage and after( conference finals) we just need THE THREE ( + Bruce + team defensive efforts + BRENT) to be at a rather good level of play to go further...

I am really happy that the MRI Manu had the last Saturday reboosted his confidence and took away the "fear" he had concerning his ankle...

Xap'

[HarlemHeat37]

And yet....

Parker won Finals MVP last year.


We have a great TEAM. I'm not sure any player is "replaceable."

Name a le, and I'll name you a "role-player" who is responsible for at least one crucial win.

(some examples)

2003: Steve Kerr against Dallas.
2005: Horry, game 5, against Pistons.

Now, does that make Kerr and Horry equal to Tim Duncan?!? No, of course not.

But I doubt we'd have won those les without them.

To state the obvious: Teams win Championships. See 2004 Pistons over "dream-team" Lakers for evidence of that (keeping in mind, of course, Malone was hurt).

If the Spurs beat the Lakers, it's not because Manu > Tim (or vice-versa). It's because as a TEAM, Spurs > Lakers.


EDIT: Just to add, in case anybody sees this as a slam on Duncan, I think Tim's leadership is a big part of why the Spurs have a winning Team. Oh, and he's the best current big man in the NBA. That doesn't hurt.

definitely, but you can say that about every championship team..nobody wins alone, but I think it is logical to use the "replaceable/irreplaceable" theory..

[Thomas82]

Spurs won't be winning les without Duncan or Manu...or Parker for that matter. It's stupid to single out one player as the guy that makes you win when it takes a team to win.

I don't care if you got the best player in history, he's not gonna win a le by himself. And given that, Duncan's ones of the few to win mutiple les with entirely different casts...he and Shaq are the first to do it in a while. That's not true of Jordan...or Magic, or Bird.


I just don't get articles that say one guy is the key to winning a le...making the playoffs maybe, winning les? No way.


And even if torch is being passed it isn't going to last long...Manu is only like a year younger than Duncan and gets beat up a lot more often.


I hate articles by stupid journalists, that don't know the game, that don't even seem to know the age of the players.


It's like no one realizes Kobe's about to be 30 and shooting guard has the shortest shelf life of any position. You'd think the Lakers are all 22 or something listening to the media talk about their future...they always seem to leave out that part about the best player pushing 30.

All of that is true, but remember, Tim Duncan won a championship before Manu Ginobilli and Tony Parker were even on the team. When the Spurs won the championship in 2003, Tony was still learning how to play (he was benched for Speedy Claxton in some crucial situations), and Manu was a rookie averaging 7 points a game off the bench.