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Man - this season couldn't get here fast enough. I am so pumped! Articles like this make me feel giddy with excitement.
Let's get#5!!!!!!
For Spurs, it's a two-man game
Mike Monroe
For all the changes the Spurs made in the offseason — the trades executed, the veteran free agents signed and the rookies drafted — everyone in the organization understands a simple truth.
To have a legitimate chance to win the franchise's fifth NBA championship, power forward Tim Duncan and shooting guard Manu Ginobili must be their All-Star-caliber selves if the Spurs are to maximize success with a roster that may be the deepest in franchise history.
The long grind toward a postseason Spurs fans already anticipate eagerly begins tonight at the AT&T Center when the Spurs play the New Orleans Hornets.
In the seconds before tonight's game tips, Duncan will walk to center court and show off a body that is 15 pounds lighter and a right knee stabilized by a brace made of space-age materials.
In his 12th season, Duncan averaged 19.3 points and 10.7 rebounds and was voted to the All-NBA second team. Nevertheless, he applied himself to a different sort of offseason regimen intended to take some of the stress off knees that have bothered him for several years. That was because his performance diminished as last season extended and his knees ached more often.
He returned to training camp looking much like the svelte Wake Forest star who reported to camp in 1997 and became Rookie of the Year.
Ginobili reported after an offseason spent resting an ankle that recovered from a stress fracture, thrilled to be back on any court, even in the preseason, after missing the final six games of the regular season and the playoffs.
Both players looked fresh and invigorated during the preseason. They insist they are 100 percent healthy.
Duncan, according to one of his new teammates, looked every bit his All-NBA self through the entire preseason.
“Man, he's as talented and as good as he's ever looked since I was playing against him,” said Antonio McDyess, who competed against Duncan for 13 seasons before joining him this summer. “He came in with a loss of weight and ready to play.
“I don't know what it was, the trades or whatever, but he's got a championship in mind, and he's come out here and worked hard every day. You pretty much have to pull him out of practice. Looking at him every day, he just looks like he has that will to win every game.”
Ginobili, ever a harsh self-critic, believes the quirky, energized game that made him an All-Star and the 2008 Sixth Man Award winner remains a few weeks from returning to his hands.
“Physically, I'm fine,” Ginobili said. “Conditioning, I'm good.
“Basketball, I'm not ready.”
Duncan believes his Argentine teammate will find a big difference now that the games count for something besides evaluation of talent and game-shape conditioning.
“I think he looks great and is moving great and playing with a lot of confidence,” Duncan said after Tuesday's final preseason practice.
“Once you get on the floor and you're playing against an opponent, and not people who know everything you're doing every day, and with no (referees), I think he's going to feel better about himself. I think he will surprise himself.”
It is no surprise that Duncan believes Ginobili's mere presence in uniform will be an emotional boost for the Spurs.
“What he brings to the table is nothing you can orchestrate,” Duncan said.
“Having an X-Factor like that is huge for us. It's huge for anybody. You need an X-Factor. You can't plan everything, and everything doesn't go right all the time. But when you have someone who can make it up on the fly like that, it's a big plus.”
There are ample other reasons to believe the Spurs are primed for a solid season, many of them related to the front office's busy offseason:
• Richard Jefferson, acquired for three valued veterans, gives the Spurs an athletic small forward with the strength to post up defenders.
• Point guard Tony Parker has been given the keys to the offense and told by Gregg Popovich to be its shooting star.
• McDyess, Theo Ratliff and Keith Bogans, all veterans renowned as defenders, were signed as free agents.
• Second-year guard George Hill had such an impressive preseason, Popovich calls him his favorite player.
• Second-round draft pick DeJuan Blair put up preseason numbers so impressive, he has forced his way into Popovich's playing plans.
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Last edited by duncan228; 10-28-2009 at 12:34 AM.
Man - this season couldn't get here fast enough. I am so pumped! Articles like this make me feel giddy with excitement.
Let's get
i cannot wait till tomorrow night.
WOW.
(on tim duncan)
i love the phrase.I don't know what it was, the trades or whatever, but he's got a championship in mind, and he's come out here and worked hard every day
Let's do this Spurs
It's obvious in today's game Cavs vs. Cel, Sheed, Ray, Pierce, KG...those veterans controlled the flow of the game and Pierce hit the winner, which makes me more confident with our veterans.
"but he's got a championship in mind"
Ah yes, thats what I want to hear!!
How obvious this is.
Spurs can get by with a limited Duncan, but Manu above all is the key to winning IMO.
A healthy Duncan is still our best all-around player, there's absolutely no way we can get by with a "limited" Duncan at all..he's our best post scorer, best rebounder, best defensive player, best leader, and best passer..if he isn't playing at the level we expect, it means a lot more than how anybody else on the team is playing..
I agree that we need Duncan at full strength, but I don't think it is as important as having ginobili at full strength. We had a limited duncan when we won it in 2007, and Parker took over. The league is much more top heavy now though. Full strength from everyone gives us the best chance. If we had to have a limited one of the big three, i would choose duncan. He doesn't rely on athleticism as much as the other two. We are screwed if parker or ginobili is limited.
What was Duncan limited by in 2007?
plantar facitis or whatever that is
You know it's coming...
Duncan had plantar fasciitis in the '05-'06 season, not '06-'07.
Duncan was fine in 2007, and he was clearly our best player in the playoffs..being the elite teammate and leader that he is, he stepped aside for the mismatch in the Finals..
Duncan was dominant in the 2007 playoffs... Parker simply won the finals MVP because of the match-up problems he presented for the Cavs. Duncan was clearly the MVP of the playoffs.
Sucks I'm only going to be able to catch like 6 games, because I'm shipping out to Navy Boot Camp on November 9th. Hopefully I'll get to catch some of they're games later in the season.
Sucks I'm only going to be able to catch like 6 games, because I'm shipping out to Navy Boot Camp on November 9th. Hopefully I'll get to catch some of they're games later in the season.
Props to you and every other service man or woman out there for what you do!Hopefully the Spurs will treat you to a few solid victories before you ship out..
Thank you very muchProps to you and every other service man or woman out there for what you do!And yup, I hope they treat me to a 6-0 start
All the best to you as you serve our country. Thank you.Sucks I'm only going to be able to catch like 6 games, because I'm shipping out to Navy Boot Camp on November 9th. Hopefully I'll get to catch some of they're games later in the season.
Tim has always been the key...
Basically the Spurs are a lottery team without Ginobili.
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