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He's still a HoFer, don't forget. Even with just one knee, he's capable of putting up good numbers.
Tim Duncan's last 8 games.
17.6 ppg on 54%
9.1 rpg
3.3 apg
1.25 bpg
1.00 spg
1 gamewinner
all in 30MPG.
I think a lot of people had doubted if he could do this sort of work earlier this season, but I think recently Duncan has been looking a lot more energetic and mobile. Lesson is, never doubt Timmy.
He's still a HoFer, don't forget. Even with just one knee, he's capable of putting up good numbers.
Like!
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/holli...6league%3dwest
Spurs have 2 of the top ten by PER what Hollinger considers centers in the West (and could have easily have had 3 of ten before Pop dumped Ian M without giving him a fair chance.) Duncan now 6 in the West and although he does not give a damm about stats will probably move up the list as the year goes on. [ Bynum for the first 7 games or so led this in the West by a far margin but has not been playing up to what he can be - whether or not it is Mr. Bryant's fault for overly dominating the LAL offense (24.8 shots a game), or a lack of effort on this talented young big man's part remains a quandry?]
I don't like seeing him being played 36, 38, 34, etc. minutes like he has been a lot lately. To me that's only acceptable in the playoffs, as I'm really concerned about wearing him out like the team did last season.
He also has Blair in the top 10 at PF, with a higher PER than Tiago. Yikes.
Come on, he plays 27 mpg and has only 6 games playing over 30 min (3 over 35).
If he can't deal with that, I don't see how he will carry us for 35 mpg in the playoffs and we are good for another first round exit.
PG: Parker #5He also has Blair in the top 10 at PF, with a higher PER than Tiago. Yikes.
SG: Manu #1, Green #7
SF: Leonard #11
PF: Blair #10
C: Tim #6, Splitter #9
wow ... Spurs are efficient ... should win more games
Splitter is rising though while Blair is really stinking it up the last half dozen games at least and also Blair gives nothing on defense while Splitter at least tries much harder on a continual basis, is smarter as a player (seems to learn from his mistakes) and is being coming reliably good to near great in the post overall.
Rummpd, while it feels good to see the Spurs with 2 Centers in the top 10 for C in PER, and DeJuan Blair @ #10 for PFs, it is a bit of fool's gold. If you notice that Kendrick Perkins (30) and Nazr Mohammed (29) are way down the line, as is Serge Ibaka as a PF (18) yet, OKC is a much better team and is #1 defensively with a .412 Opp FG % and # 2 in blocks/game. It's normally much more desirable and fruitful (in the W column) to be able to protect the paint with your front line.
Of course it helps having a Kevin Durant to keep the scoring up with some decent blocking ability to go with it, but there is no question that OKC became an abundantly better team when they acquired Perkins and Nazr.
Just sayin'...
Did someone just imply that Nazr is real gold?
Haha, indirectly I guess. What Nazr and Kendrick did, though, is free up Ibaka to roam weak side. Whether Perk or Nazr are in there at C, the paint still gets protected. Although OKC still scores at a high rate, right there with the Spurs, the paint is owned by the Thunder. Not so in San Antonio. Let's face it.. .412 is eye-popping defense these days.
Timmy has the right at this point in his career to call his own shots at times about minutes played.
I agree especially with the fact that down the line Pop will when it counts surely will not play Splitter with Duncan but turn again to either some inane small ball lineup with Bonner or worse rely on Blair to play smart for an extended period of time until it is too late in a series. Spurs need one more quality big to even reasonably compete with the Thunder and even with that would need a premier turn back the clock performance from Duncan plus a healthy Manu and the type of Parker we are seeing now to even stand a plausible chance to have a decent series. Thunder are the real deal now and IMO if the Spurs don't win the West it might as well be them ;as they built the team the right way and it would be great to see another "small market" team beat the odds, come out of the West, and are on paper (and by so far this season) the type of team to beat the Heat (or the Bulls) in the finals.
You've got to have balance on a team. OKC was scorer heavy but they needed more defense so they got Perk and Nazr and allowed Ibaka to start. The Spurs need more players to do the dirty work. Splitter, Kawhi, and DG have shown some of that ability. But outside of TD and Splitter they need at least one more big that can rebound/defend. Bonner/Blair are offense minded players. You need to be able to grind out wins. You can't just win by shooting lights out.
I'll give Pop a little credit this season. He's been a little less stubborn and willing to try other things if something is not working. I am waiting for him to make the next obvious move and start Splitter so the team can get off to better starts. He should also integrate Thomas to reduce Bonner/Blair minutes.
Time will tell but starting Bonner over Splitter the other night was not a + move in Pop's favor but at least in some games he is ending them with Splitter and Duncan.
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