Not a storied ending, but room for Duncan’s story nonetheless
by Jesse Blanchard
48 Minutes of
Tonight Tim Duncan will start his 12th consecutive All-Star game, 13th overall, and first official start at center. How his presence should be questionable in an event that originally named an injured Yao Ming to this spot is beyond me.
Among his All-Star peers Duncan has the least impressive statistics but perhaps the most impressive resume. And like San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, I believe his presence in the starting lineup is completely justified.
“I think it’s totally appropriate, and obvious he should be the starter,” Popovich said (via the Express-News). “I don’t have any problem with it.”
Popovich’s stance might be unpopular everywhere outside of San Antonio—most would argue the Lakers Pau Gasol to be the appropriate choice—but like so many of his past decisions, it’s the right one.
Thanks to outlets like the TrueHoop Network, there has never been a time in which such a great influx of writing talent graced the basketball world. It’s almost equivalent to the flood of foreign players expanding the NBA talent pool. But as we advance—taking how we view basketball to new heights through advanced analytics and positional revolutions, among other theories—sometimes we lose sight of the point.
With so many talented writers on hand to analyze this game sometimes we forget to simply tell a story. In a genre that attempts to look at a game through rational eyes, sometimes we forget that there is room for stories in basketball.
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i LOVE this quote from Pop:
“He’s done his duty long enough and done what I’ve asked him to do because I thought it was best for the team,” Popovich said. “Maybe I was right, maybe I was wrong. It doesn’t matter. But at this point in his career, I thought he deserved to be a starter for no other reason than to be a starter.
“He’s a great player, one of the best in the world, and that’s why I did it. Just to show him respect.”
Pop just admitting the symbiosis and synergy between Pop's and Tim's careers.
If anybody es about fairness, Yao hasn't played this year and was voted an All-Start.
Pop should've busted out the David Stern line.
"It was unanimous. It was 1-0 and I won."
Can 3 billion Chinese vote be wrong?
It's pretty much the only voting they can do that counts.
He sounds like the machine.Duncan looked up: “Oh. This is my swan song?” It was a joke laced with pride. Duncan clearly does not think of himself as some sort of role player in decline. Earlier in the session, he said this: “I can double-double any time. I can get 20 and 10 just about any time I want.”
at comparing a scrub's words with a hall of famer, 2 time MVP, 3 time finals MVP's words. I'm sure ur kidding
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