How Did Duncan Look To You Guys?

[SpurNation]

He will wear it all season. He siad he's used to it now and he doesn't really feel it. He went through several over the summer before he settled on this one. He said it was bulky when he first started wearing it but now it's okay.

Thanks.

I think it slows his spin move penetration. But maybe that is something he'll achieve again when he gets better aclimated to the brace. It's hard to imagine him having the same immediate burst speed while wearing the brace compared to not wearing one though.

But he looked really good for not playing basketball all summer and limited play during pre-season.

[exstatic]

I think he's just a little out of shape. He'll be fine in a month or so

That. He and Manu will both just have to play their way into shape. I think Pop will play 10 regularly until that happens.

[EricB]

How long is the season ? I'm talking, including the playoffs counting the finals. Can his knees handle a whole season? They look pretty limp to me. People tend to forget he can rebound because hes tall and long. Currently, his knees look frail. He wears a knee brace because its a safe guard against dislocation and rupture/tear. He wears that brace also because he has arthritis and weakening of connective tissue, so its a long shot he will make it through the next 2-3years. Call me negative nancy.

If being tall and long is all you need to rebound why the didn't shawn bradley win any rebounding les?


Good god.

[AussieFanKurt]

I dont think theres too much wrong with him

[BillMc]

We do have to be realistic about Tim's knees. That said, he'll get more rest this year. Tim will always be tall and always be smart, so he can be pretty effective on bad knees, I think.

[tp2021]

I think Tim is ing ecstatic with how little he had to do tonight, and is definitely looking forward to his quest for ring 5.

[Man In Black]

Duncan had hops back in the day, they went away the day that gnome commercial came on. He's cursed to jump no higher than a toast but still dominate the low block.

[Hemotivo]

Re: How Did Duncan Look To You Guys?

old


but great

[HarlemHeat37]

I have no idea what anybody being negative saw..he looked great to me..he didn't miss any rotations, he wasn't beaten on any face-up drives, he didn't get outrebounded by anybody on any particular plays, he wasn't challenged at the rim much..

Just because Jeff Van Gundy makes an inaccurate observation that was solely based on Duncan wearing a knee brace and that "jump ball/travel" incident, it doesn't mean it's true..

This isn't 2003 anymore, you have to adjust your expectations to his age..if this was his prime, the le would be guaranteed, but it isn't..he's obviously not the same MVP winner..he looks fine..

Also, as Pop and Duncan have both said, he's going to take it easy for a while, same with Manu(although that's impossible)..you won't see top-tier Duncan until February IMO..

[easjer]

He looked rusty. So did Parker. I'm so very unconcerned. I liked his rebounding stats and the rest comes via gameplay. He looked to be moving fine to me, and his shot was a little off. He looked comfortable enough with the brace and I expect added exposure to it in real game situations will be good.

[pjjrfan]

He looked slow at times other times he looked like he had his usual quickness, and other times he seemed to avoid contact on the defensive end, and he didn't play a lot of minutes. If anything I thought Duncan was pacing himself, and so was Manu for about 5 minutes then it was the old Manu and the with it.

I would say Tim is still getting in game shape, if he is still playng like this by X-Mas I'll worry.

[bigfan]

Van Gundy jabber-jawed about Tim, how much to tip mariachis, the snow in Denver ect...... Not a bad coach or commentator but sometimes he's just full of crapola.

[TIMMYD!]

He's fine, he was just taking it easy and remember he started a month later than usual so by december he should be aight.

[TDMVPDPOY]

is duncan goin to bring back the low post face up spin move towards the basket for AND1?

[Samr]

The decade's greatest power forward is going to piggy-back to his fifth ring. (kidding)

He put in absolutely no effort whatsoever, because he's taking it slow. Good news, there's about five or six other guys that can make up for his contributions until he gets adjusted. He'll be fine, and better in the long run.

[daslicer]

Watching the game he looked good and like one poster said he didn't really have to try on offense because the scoring was spread out. The game was over pretty much after the first 3 minutes of the third quarter and he really didn't have to do anything. Naturally Mark Jackson and JVG got bored and went to doing what did do best which is sucking the lakers by saying "Oh Tim doesn't look to good out there I wonder if he will be able to hold up against the Lakers"

[Horse]

How bout waiting a few games to judge his play.

[coyotes_geek]

Duncan looked like he was coasting to me. And until March we should all be 100% okay with that. Duncan has never had this much talent around him and he's going to be perfectly content to let others do some of the work he had been doing.

[silverblackfan]

He looked a bit rusty and not too worried about it. He also looked pretty stoked to see his team kicking the out of another athletic team that used to give them trouble.

[Agloco]

Jeff Van Gundy kept talking about how Duncan could barely jump and wondered if the knee brace was preventative or not. He said he doesn't think the Spurs can beat the Lakers if Duncan can't dominate.

I must admit that though Duncan looked good as far as being skinny, I share Van Gundy's concern. The lost jump ball, lack of blocked shots, and overall lack of hops was worrisome.


What do you guys think?

It's been said numerous times: Popovich knows that Duncan is out of shape. It's by design.

non-issue, move along.......

[Trimble87]

Duncans lack of mobility/hops wasnt the issue for me. He has never been athletic and he has never jumped more then 3 inches off the ground. The issue was he wasnt able to beat Okafor in the post. I didn't see one good post move from Duncan all game. However he is admittedly out of basketball shape and I wont be worried until january +...

But Van Gundy made a very good point: If both teams are healthy, even with all of the new additions to our roster, for us to beat the lakers Duncan has to be the best big man on the court. And with his knee I'm not sure he will be able to dominate against the likes of Gasol and Bynum.

But come on guys its October. Manu just looked great, Blair just looked great and we just beat down the Hornets. Lets enjoy the amazing team we have this year and worry about the health issues when/if they come up.

[ElNono]

He's out of shape if you ask me... But unlike last year, I think it's ok this year...
He'll get better as the season goes on...

[afireinside20]

He'll be alright. He didn't really have to do as much because basically everyone on the team contributed. This one game shows you what the Spurs were lacking all season, and they even practically kept the large lead throughout the game.

[Spursmania]

He looked fine guys. Holt's money put some depth on this team. Timmy will be just fine.

[Rapper]

Duncan never really jumped.