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Is his sister a lesbian?
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b....6cb93636.html
Web Posted: 10/24/2006 11:31 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
On the day he retires, Tim Duncan will be recognized as one of the greatest power forwards to ever play the game. He'll be lauded as a selfless star in a look-at-me league. The citizens of San Antonio will thank him for turning the can't-win-the-big-one Spurs into one of the nation's most envied professional sports franchises.
Or maybe he'll just be remembered as the man who helped pave the way for LeBron James to play in New York.
When James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh decided to sign three-year extensions with their respective teams last summer instead of the maximum five-year deal, they were immediately compared to Duncan. Six years earlier, Duncan ended his brief flirtation with the Orlando Magic by agreeing to rejoin the Spurs on one condition: Instead of taking the team's seven-year deal, he wanted a five-year contract with an opt-out clause after three seasons.
"I was a pioneer," Duncan deadpanned. "That's what I like to do. I like to lead the young fellas."
Chances are neither James, Wade nor Bosh thought of Duncan when debating their contract options. But Duncan, perhaps better than anybody, understands why they decided to forego the guarantee of additional millions to preserve their flexibility.
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"They want to keep their options open," he said. "They want to keep their teams honest. They want to put the pressure on their teams to continue to put together winning basketball teams.
"I think that's a great thing for the players. It's risky in some respects, but at the same time you're putting that pressure on the teams to say, hey, we want to be winning year in and year out. If you're not going to do it, I'm not going to be here."
Duncan had reason to be wary of the Spurs' future. The team had an aging roster in the summer of 2000 and David Robinson likely would be retiring in three years, if not sooner.
Duncan did elect to become a free agent in 2003, but only to sign a new seven-year contract with the Spurs. By then, the Spurs had won their second championship after reloading with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
"It was about that time (in 2000) where it could have gone either way, depending on how we put teams together and who came back and who went where," Duncan said. "I didn't know where I'd be in three years. So to keep that option open, to know I want to be in a winning situation, if it's not going to be here, it will be somewhere else.
"Luckily enough, it worked out here. I'm still here and now they're going to have to kick me out."
On to the mailbag:
Is Beno another Rasho? There is something wishy-washy about some of these European players that is a consistent pattern, and Beno seems to line up with the rest. I hope he changes, because I don't think he has a future in the NBA if he doesn't.
Frank, Buenos Aires
Be careful Frank. I'm tempted to cite you for racism. Not all Slovenians look (or play) alike.
An admission: I am a Rasho Apologist. Or, should I say, I am The Rasho Apologist. (I don't think it's a stretch to assume this is a club of one.) I also guess this makes me the Anti-Stephen A.
For all the complaints about RAAH-show NEE-ster-o-VIC and even I'm willing to concede there were several nights when a telephone pole could have rebounded better he was a solid defender in the Spurs' system. He also could be counted on to show up and play. Beno probably isn't going to be mistaken for Willis Reed anytime soon.
Now, I know there's a case to be made that Rasho never moved fast enough to get hurt. However, that's not entirely true. He sprained his left ankle in the first quarter of Game 6 of the 2004 Western Conference semifinals bad enough that team officials doubted he would return. Yet after having the ankle re-taped, he limped back onto the court and spent the rest of the game with Shaquille O'Neal leaning on him.
As for Beno, don't write him off just yet. If he comes back from his hamstring injury this week, he's still the Spurs' best point guard option behind Parker. Beno's durability and toughness will always be questioned and rightfully so but he's more than skilled enough to give the Spurs a solid 15 to 18 minutes on the nights he's healthy.
One final reason why I continue to lament Rasho's departure: Few players were funnier.
Shortly after joining the Spurs, Rasho skeptically sized up the diminutive security official who traveled with the team. "Does he carry a gun?" Rasho asked.
"No."
"Does he carry a big knife?"
"No."
"No gun, no knife?"
"Nope."
"Then he's not security. He's a witness."
Can Tim Duncan shoot the three?
Eric Paul, New York
Funny you should ask. I just wrote a story for Saturday that mentioned Tim making a 3-pointer at the end of Thursday's first quarter.
To recount, Tim can definitely shoot the three. Making them is the question.
Duncan has hit 26 3-pointers, regular season and playoffs, in his career. But most of his attempts have come at the end of quarters when he's just trying to beat the clock.
During Duncan's third season, the Spurs toyed with giving him some minutes at small forward and having him use the 3-pointer as a regular weapon in his arsenal. The plan, however, wisely died a quick death.
For now, Duncan is only worried about regaining confidence in his 15- to 18-foot shot.
Es posible conseguir una remera firmada por jugadores de SPURS, incluyendo la firma de MANU?
Bernardo, San Antonio
In addition to failing to fulfill the three-hour math requirement at the University of Texas at Austin this could be why I'm unable to comprehend ESPN.com's PER rankings I also still need three more hours of Spanish to complete my long-awaited degree.
But who needs a degree when you have the SDL International free online translation program? I simply plugged in Bernardo's question and received the instant English equivalent:
It is possible to obtain an oarswoman signed by players of SPURS, including the firm of MANU?
Something tells me this is SDL's way of getting you to pay for its "professional" translation services.
Where can Joe Average get some items signed by the team?
Douglas Reed, Austin
Unfortunately, the Spurs have a rule that explicitly forbids their players from signing autographs for Joe Average.
I have seen, however, Charlie Common and Rick Regular show up at games about 90 minutes early and stand alongside the tunnel leading to the court. The players often stop and sign after they are done warming up.
Did we not have enough money to get other big-time players over the off-season? It just seems like we acquired some players, but not any big-time players.
Ray Garcia, San Antonio
I don't know about you, but one word came to mind upon hearing the Spurs had signed Francisco Elson, Jackie Butler and Jacque Vaughn: dynasty.
OK, maybe not. But it's not every summer a team is lucky enough to have Michael Finley fall into its lap. The Spurs have done a great job over the years of plugging in role players around their stars and that's what their latest pickups are: role players.
Money wasn't the only factor in their decision. In what was widely considered a weak free-agent market, the Spurs still spent all of their $5 million midlevel exception the most any team over the salary cap can spend.
What they weren't willing to do, however, was give a five-year contract to either Nazr Mohammed or Portland's Jake Przybilla when the only other player scheduled to be under contract for the 2010-11 season is Parker. For what they would have paid this season for Mohammed or Przybilla, they were able to get two lesser-priced centers in Elson and Butler while also preserving cap space in two years for a possible "big-time player."
Of course, if Elson and Butler don't contribute much this season, feel free to call the Spurs cheap.
My sister wants to know if Michael Finley is married?
The Fan, Houston
She's a little late. Michael married his fiancι last month. To be honest, your sister might have set her sights a little high.
My sister asked to be set up with Beno.
Is his sister a lesbian?
One final reason why I continue to lament Rasho's departure: Few players were funnier.
Shortly after joining the Spurs, Rasho skeptically sized up the diminutive security official who traveled with the team. "Does he carry a gun?" Rasho asked.
"No."
"Does he carry a big knife?"
"No."
"No gun, no knife?"
"Nope."
"Then he's not security. He's a witness."
That's good stuff!
Is Angel_luv related to Ludden?My sister asked to be set up with Beno.
I didn't think Ludden liked Rasho.
Is Angel_luv related to Ludden?
These mailbag articles are a nice change of pace. Johnny is a pretty funny guy.
I was beginning to think that Johnny Ludden was actually Angel_Luv's professional alias.
But I went to high school with Ludden and have seen pictures of Angel and know they are, in fact, two entirely different people, despite the coincidence that they might be the only non-Slovenians who consistently have Rasho's back when it comes to basketball.
Buck Harvey didn't like Rasho and he made no secret of it.
Ludden was usually pretty fair in his analysis of Rasho. This is what he wrote in May:
What he did: Started in place of Nazr Mohammed for first half of season. Good position defender, but struggled against athletic foes. Wasn't a strong rebounder, particularly for a 7-footer.
What's next: Expected to play for Slovenia in World Championships. Spurs will explore trade options for him, but they'll still need some type of center if Mohammed isn't re-signed. Not a bad defensive option given the right matchup most of which are in the Eastern Conference.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b....1706eedb.html
As we know, Rasho was traded to an Eastern Conference team in dire need of help defensively, and the Spurs are still trying to figure out what to do about their center situation.
CIA Angel, eh?
I found this online, thought it was interesting:
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Covering the Spurs was a dream former journalism student Johnny Ludden made come true through his studies at San Antonio College.
"I knew I wanted to be a sports writer ever since I was a sop re in high school," San Antonio Express-News reporter Johnny Ludden said Sept. 8, offering words of motivation to a group of journalism students at a Brown Bag lunch in Room 209 of Loftin Student Center.
Ludden is now in his ninth year covering the San Antonio Spurs for the Express-News, and he writes about 300 bylined stories each year.
"I've written for these guys so long that it becomes difficult," Ludden said. He occasionally finds himself plagiarizing from his own previous stories because of the number of Spurs articles he has written.
"This was my dream job as a kid. I grew up in San Antonio and always wanted to cover the Spurs," Ludden said. "I'm covering the most successful period in the Spurs franchise history."
After graduating from John Marshall High School, Ludden enrolled here from 1989 to 1991, earning first the sports editor position and then editor of The Ranger.
"Professors here helped me get my first job at the Express," Ludden said. In 1991, he transferred to the University of Texas in Austin where he began writing for the student newspaper, The Daily Texan. He served as sports editor and managing editor there. In 1995, he won an internship at the Washington Post.
"When you start out, you always get these horrible assignments," Ludden said, telling the students about a feature story on synchronized diving that he had been assigned. Ludden was eventually offered a newspaper design job at the St. Petersburg Times, but instead decided to work the design desk at the Washington Post. Four or five months later, Ludden received a call from the Express-News and was asked to return to San Antonio to cover college football. Having prior knowledge that he would be assigned to cover the San Antonio Spurs after a couple of years, he accepted the position.
"I started covering the Spurs in the lockout season," Ludden said. He recalled his earlier meetings with Gregg Popovich, the head coach of the Spurs. "Pop could be pretty intimidating at first when I started covering the team."
Students were excited to hear about some of the many perks that a journalism career can offer, such as travel and celebrity acquaintances. Because the Spurs have so many players from other countries, Ludden has had the chance to travel to Argentina, France and Italy. Ludden notes there is a downside to so much travel.
"I spend about a third to half of my year in a hotel room."
Needless to say, a telephone conversation with Tony Parker is not at all uncommon for Ludden.
"When I'm on the road I can sit through everything," Ludden said, explaining how he gets more one-on-one time with Spurs team members during travel. "If you cover an NFL team, you're probably only going to talk to the quarterback once a week," Ludden said.
After nine years, Ludden has had the opportunity to gain the team's trust, learning more about the team than is written in his stories. When asked to impart any juicy, off-the-record stories concerning the Spurs, he responded with humor.
"I always joke that I'm saving them for the book," Ludden said.
http://www.accd.edu/sac/j-p/boast3.html
Good read.
I disagree wholeheartedly with the telephone pole assesment.
The telephone pole doesn't turn blue when alot of pressure is heaped on it.
Wow... Did an alien symbiote take over Ludden's body?
This is the first time I laughed when reading an article by Ludden.
Twice!
Good stuff!
As for the Duncan part of the article, I don't know how many people remember that Tim has a player option after years 5 and 6 of his current 7 year deal. He can opt out in 2008 or 2009.
Don't believe I said anything about the telephone pole having lips my friend....That's because a telephone pole doesn't have lips
I actually know Johnny Ludden's sister.
First off I guess KG didn't get the memo from TD about long term contracts.
Second, I like the mailbag part of this article it was pretty funny. Especially Rasho's assessment of the security guard, which is true when you think about it.
Oh and good post from ggoose25, its good to know what kind of work Ludden put in to be in his position right now.
I'm not worried about Tim anymore.
"Luckily enough, it worked out here. I'm still here and now they're going to have to kick me out."
Fixed.On the day he retires, Tim Duncan will be recognized as the greatest power forward to ever play the game.
The amazing thing is how nobody ever saw Brent's lips move.Shortly after joining the Spurs, Rasho skeptically sized up the diminutive security official who traveled with the team. "Does he carry a gun?" Rasho asked.
"No."
"Does he carry a big knife?"
"No."
"No gun, no knife?"
"Nope."
"Then he's not security. He's a witness."
Probably because he was still in Seattle.
That was all Sho.
Never underestimate the power of an angel to protect her monster.
Fixed
Never underestimate the power of an angel to protect her man from a monster.
Silly old bear.
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