Game Thread: Spurs vs Hornets — Sun. (7/6) - 2:30/C • Summer League Game #5

[cd98]

I believe Duncan was told to play left-handed in his summer league games.

I was at the famed summer league game where Tim Duncan allegedly sucked. He had a double double in that game, if I remember correctly. He may have had 18 points or so. And while Ostertag did have a good game against Tim, probably the only good game he had against Tim, it was clear in that game that Tim was a stud. He did just fine in summer league after that. Tim sucking in his first summer league game is highly exaggerated. Ostertag was a good player, good enough to have an occasional good game against any number of elite players. He just couldn't do it consistently. And yes, Tim ate his lunch in the NBA.

[cd98]

This was Tim Duncan struggling:

While matching up with Jermaine O’neal of the Portland Trailblazers, Duncan scored 12 points on 5/9 shooting and grabbed 7 rebounds, compared to O’neal’s 23 points on 8/13 shooting. The even bigger shock came when Greg Ostertag of the Utah Jazz made Duncan look like a school boy with little to no basketball experience. Oddly enough, Duncan scored only 14 points on 6/10 shooting, compared to Ostertag’s 21 points on 7/12 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. No doubt, the Greg Ostertag pill was a tough one for Duncan to swallow. Duncan had come into summer league as the king of basketball, with all the potential in the world. He left with his head between his legs.


Those aren't awful numbers for summer league, especially because Ostertag had two years in the NBA when he went against rookie Tim Duncan in the summer league. And Jermaine had one full season. So the fact that talented players with some NBA experience had a good game against a rookie is not shocking. And Duncan's numbers, while paltry compared to what he did as Rookie of the Year in the NBA, were good numbers. He fouled out against Ostertag or he probably would have scored more in that game.