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TD is ing awesome.
The city of San Antonio is blessed to have him as a Spur.
San Antonio's slam Dunc
By Steve Kerr
Sunday, May 13, 2007 2:42 am EDT
I have to come clean: Not once this season did I make mention of Tim Duncan for MVP.
I realize I'm not alone -- there weren't many people on the Duncan bandwagon when it came to discussion of the award -- but as the playoffs continue and basketball fans focus on the San Antonio Spurs star on a nightly basis, it seems absurd that he wasn't at least in the MVP picture all season.
After all, Duncan enjoyed one of his best seasons in years, averaging 20 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game and shooting 54.6 percent from the field. Following a season in which he struggled with plantar fasciitis in his foot, Duncan regained the bounce in his step and once again has dominated on the block.
I think the main reason Duncan was so under the radar on the MVP screen is that his game just isn't that entertaining. He's not Steve Nash, weaving his way around defenders and finding open teammates with passes that come from impossible angles. He's no Dirk Nowitzki, a 7-footer with hair flopping and three-pointers dropping in transition. And he's not Kobe Bryant, wowing fans with his incredible combination of athleticism, scoring skills and footwork.
Duncan is just Duncan -- fundamentally sound, strong, resilient and dominating in a very efficient way. He posts up on the block and either scores with one-on-one coverage or draws a double team and passes to an open teammate. Defensively, he anchors the best defense in the NBA by positioning himself in the right spot over and over again, thwarting guards with his long arms and fending off big men with his strength. He doesn't block shots like Marcus Camby, but his presence makes more of an impact. Ask Nash if he knew Duncan was around when he missed several driving scoop shots in San Antonio's 108-101 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.
Think about what else Duncan did in Game 3. He scored 33 points, grabbed 19 boards, got both Amare Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas in foul trouble and blocked three shots. When the Spurs had to have a hoop, they went to Duncan. When they needed a stop, they relied on him to guard the paint and cover the rim. He didn't have any Baron Davis highlight reel plays that will be replayed on "SportsCenter" but he wore down the Suns the same way he has worn down opponents for 10 years in the NBA.
Now San Antonio has a leg up on Phoenix going into Game 4 on Monday. The Suns were able to stay close despite a poor shooting night from Nash (6 for 17) and foul trouble that limited Stoudemire to 20 minutes. But unlike Game 2, they weren't able to contain Duncan's teammates.
Manu Ginobili busted out for 24 points, Bruce Bowen hit two threes and Michael Finley, Brent Barry and Robert Horry all hit timely shots. As Mike D'Antoni said before Game 2, Phoenix can afford to have Duncan score 30 points -- he's probably going to do that regardless of what the Suns do defensively -- but they can't afford to have everyone else rolling.
The dilemma D'Antoni faces is that his squad didn't double-team Duncan all night, yet the Spurs' role players still got off. Phoenix may have to show Duncan some double-team looks to throw him out of his rhythm, but it doesn't want to commit all out to him and let everyone else get going.
If the Suns are going to win Game 4, they have to do a better job on Bowen and others defensively. But more importantly, they'll have to get better games out of Nash, Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa, who never got anything going in Game 3. But even with a great offensive game from its usual suspects, Phoenix still will have to deal with Duncan, who probably is the best player in the league. Even if morons like me forgot to mention that during all the MVP talk.
TD is ing awesome.
The city of San Antonio is blessed to have him as a Spur.
Tim is clearly the best in the league when it matters most, the playoffs. At least right now he is. That's another reason I don't care about regular season accolades. Tim is putting himself in position to capture is 4th playoffs MVP award, which carries much more weight than the is other 2 regular season ones.
The man just understands the game, and how it is suppose to be played. He really turns it up for the playoffs. He just gets it done on both sides of the floor.
He was playing with a confidence I haven't seen in a while. He never got frustrated, he didn't to refs as much as he usually does, and more importantly, he was the leader by example last night. I can't think of a single other player in the NBA who affects the court on both ends the way he does...
he gets bored during the regular season
he likes to be like horry to a certain extent during the regular season
Anyone notice that TD has made exactly 12 field goals in each game against the Suns so far? He's averaging over 31 pts, 15 rbs and shooting over 57% for the series.
TDs turn-around, fall-away, bank shot from the baseline should be on every highlight reel on espn.
TD = teh MVP
Glass!
Too late, Stevie. You see your Suns going down, and want to jump on the Spur wagon? Kick to the face. Go back and lick D'Antoni's butt crack some more.
So, Duncan needs to have flopping hair and make 3-point shots on a regular basis to be put in the MVP talk?
I'm so sick of Kerr jumping on and off bandwagons.
Hey, this is like the 20th-greatest Spur of all time you guys are ragging on.
Steve said that Jason Terry was the most clutch shooter he's ever seen. I take much of what Stevie says with a grain of salt.
Motion 2nded.
I will never understand people who say Duncan's game is not fun to watch, to me his game is beautiful. He does everything well on that court on both ends. To me it is a blight on the fanbase around the NBA today. They are engineered to like players that make the ESPN highlight reel, guys who dunk the ball, yell and pose while their man is running down the floor and getting an easy layup. Tim is the best player in the NBA period and should get far more credit for it.
Whenever people say/write that Tim Duncan isn't exciting to watch I can only think, 'Was Kareem exciting to watch ?'
And what is so exciting about Shaq, when it gets right down to it. Is Dampier exciting to watch ? Diop ? How about Yao, is he exciting to watch ? I could go on....
For a big man, TD is one of the MOST exciting to watch. The 'boring' label is a bad rapp for both TD and the Spurs in general.
It's probably important to remember that we are a society that watches the race for the crashes. The average NBA viewer doesn't tune in to watch Ron Artest's game, which is actually kind of a shame, because he's very good when he actually plays. The boring label is lame, but it's hardly unexpected. Nobody wants to see nice guys win, especially from a small city in Texas. It's fun to discuss, but I sometimes wonder if some of us should just accept it and move on.
The problem is what the league deems as exciting to watch and the fans deem as exciting to watch is not the type of play that wins les. Guys like Vince Carter who are flashy and fun to watch but have serious deficiencies in their games are not leading anyone to a le.
thanks steve for calling yourself a MORON, ain't that the truth.
Lay off of kerr.
Kerr's floaters are still all entrenched in the mavs banners after the 03 butt raping.
Yeah, and according to that logic Avery's just a nice 'aw shucks' guy, a 'Spur at heart because he hit a few jumpers in 1999', not a coach who lives every breathing moment for beating the Spurs in the playoffs and would (and has) stab every single Spur on the court in the back given the chance.
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