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Well said.
Generaly, you Americans are all about the stats. That's why still there are whole bunch of people who thinks that KG is even near good as Tim...
Tim is the greatest living player, and he will go down as one of FIVE EVER.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...e.1fc9c7b.html
Dallas Mavericks know Duncan can dominate without big stats
Spurs' star has a role envisioned for Nowitzki
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
SAN ANTONIO – The next step in the evolution of Dirk Nowitzki – apart from that little detail of winning a championship – is taking place in San Antonio.
As always, the Spurs are a step ahead, which would be fine if the Mavericks were certain they would duplicate all the stops on the four-time champs' journey.
But there are no certainties in the sporting world, except for the fact that Tim Duncan will not play tonight, which renders the Mavericks' visit to AT&T Center a lose-lose situation.
Lose, and it looks really bad that they can't beat the Spurs without Duncan.
Win, and it's hollow, though they don't qualify such things in the standings.
Duncan, however, is neither the Spurs' leading scorer, nor their second-best. That would be Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
At 17.6 points per game, Duncan is averaging a career low. His 8.9 rebounds per game is by far a career low.
Yet nobody in basketball views the 7-footer as anything less than the center of the Spurs' universe.
So what it's come to is that Duncan is so great now that he doesn't have to be great. He is such a focus of the defense that Ginobili and Parker and Brent Barry can run loose and just sort of fall into huge games.
"Is it 17?" Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said, wondering about Duncan's scoring average. "It seems like 27 because even when he's not scoring, Ginobili is having his career year off the bench. And Parker has turned out to be the MVP of the Finals.
"Even though he's not averaging the numbers, it still feels like he's getting 27 and 15 every night because he draws so much attention."
If that attention did not come Duncan's way, there's little doubt that numbers would be back up in the stratosphere.
It's no coincidence the Spurs have tied the best start in franchise history (15-3) while Duncan is putting up relatively modest numbers.
"He demands the double-team," Mavericks guard Devin Harris said, "and that gets guys open shots. That means more shots for their No. 1 and No. 2 scorers. Those guys can be more aggressive, and they go from a team that runs everything through the post to a team that is perimeter-oriented and can space the floor."
Which brings us to Nowitzki, who without question is a different type of player than Duncan. But Johnson envisions Nowitzki in a similar role someday, maybe sooner than later. Nowitzki already might be morphing into it. Unlike Duncan, he's the Mavericks' leading scorer, but not by much. He's averaging 21.2 points per game, while Josh Howard is at 21.0.
If those numbers hold through the season it will be Nowitzki's lowest scoring average since his second season.
He's OK with that, at least in part because he's seen what San Antonio has done with Duncan using everything but points to make the Spurs effective.
"Everybody's double-teaming him and he's making them even better," Nowitzki said. "His presence – and we all know he's one of the best defenders – but his presence on the court is unbelievable. He's still one of the most dominant low-post players in the game.
"We all know this league is too good these days that you can win by yourself. You've got to have a great group of guys who can take over games. One guy is not going to get it done. If you want to win the championship, you've got to be solid defensively, and on offense, you've got to know how to attack from a lot of angles. You've got to have a little bit of everything to make the defense pay. Overall, that's what we've been working on over the last couple years."
What Nowitzki doesn't want is to ignore his offense for long stretches, then to have to come up with big plays at crunch time. He doesn't want to stand by, getting everybody else involved, then have to make back-to-back 3-pointers with the game on the line.
He shouldn't have to. But Duncan's aura, which has made the Spurs so successful, is proof that even superstars don't have to put up monster numbers to be the anchors of their teams.
Well said.
Generaly, you Americans are all about the stats. That's why still there are whole bunch of people who thinks that KG is even near good as Tim...
Tim is the greatest living player, and he will go down as one of FIVE EVER.
Avery just steals ideas from Pop
/spur fan rant
Indeed he does, it's working -not so much in Dallas though.
Thank you. Bringing anti-American smack into this thread was both germane and appropriate, and demonstrates that you are not in fact a small-minded bigot who deals in stereotypes.
I look forward to your contributions in the future.
hes right though....
get a life avery
Is it really anti-American?
It generalizes Americans but not necessarily in a bad way.
(Baseball fans are all about stats..) However, the proof is in what the product has been in recent years and the reason why Duncan is not a commercial superstar(which I could care less about).
He has a point. I have always wondered why garnett is even mentioned in the same breath as Duncan. Aside from putting up numbers in the regular season and a semi-flukish run to the WC finals, his resumè is overflowing with first round flame outs and an inability to will his team to advance.
Good now tell that to Coach Adleman
Garnett stopped being mentioned in the same breath as Duncan prior to this year, because his team was a joke. Now that he's been traded to a contender, he is being mentioned in the same breath again.
Garnett is an athletic and versatile big man, who is willing to defer to his teammates and sacrifice his stats in order to win. He is more athletic and versatile than Duncan, but he is not as good working in the low post, and doesn't have as good a feel for when he needs to stop deferring and take over a game. I would rank him somewhere between third and fifth among power forwards all time.
There are a lot of basketball fans who have a much easier time identifying with Garnett than they do Duncan, and that tends to introduce some degree of emotional irrationality into whatever debate there is.
I actually agree with MONTENEGRINO. Take a look at the all star game.
'nuff said.
Don't know if it is so much "stealing", but Avery and others do tend to look at what the Spurs do, and try to copy them. It is flattering to be the one that all teams would love to clone themselves after.
It's like some of the coaches constantly ing that Manu is "flopping" to draw charges, but you know every last one of them would give their left nut to have a Manu on their team.
I don't understand why spurs fans get their panties in a wad over it. The Spurs have four les, it stands to reason other teams are going to try and duplicate what has made them so successful.
Since it really isn't an "all star game", but more of a "popularity" game. When you have to have "X" amount of players at each position and "X" number of players from each team on the ballot, there is no way it could ever truly be an "All Star Game".
I get what you're saying. I really do. Its the same with me, when they mention Argentinians being Manu homers. I feel dissed too... but the sad fact is, most Argie Manu fans ARE bandwagon fans, and this is something I have to get over myself. Same thing with you Extra. America is OBSESSED with stats when it comes to basketball. It is what it is. It doesn't mean that every American is, just that most are.
I am not anti-American. I just don't understand those people who thinks that dunk is better than win. That sales stats are better than true basketball genius. That athletic freak is better than man who plays like it ment to be played. That looser is better than one of the greatest winners in sports EVER.
I dont know why schools consider it cheating when classmates copy answers on tests either. It stands to reason if that one kid is passing the class, everyone is going to copy him.
I agree with you Monte, but there is a certain aesthetic to the game that can extend beyond the au es of just winning and losing. At the end of the day, it's entertainment for those who consume it, which is probably all you can ask for.
Hope you're being facetious. It's hard to tell sometimes.I dont know why schools consider it cheating when classmates copy answers on tests either. It stands to reason if that one kid is passing the class, everyone is going to copy him.
Hmmm, Am I right to be saying that Tim has not played the 4th quarter in alot of these games? Am I right in saying that his injury, where he bairly played a quarter might hurt his stats? Its stil a little early to say he slowing down. Doesnt anyone look at past stats? I dont recall him ever having great stats coming out of the gate, exactlly the opposite. I could be wrong, but I think were looking way to much into this at this time.
As for Avery Stealing Ideas. come on now, Im sure he talks to Pop alot. He learned last year that how little the reg season means. I could be wrong about this, but it seems he is slowing down on the amount of min his players are putting in. Wonder where he go that idea?
On another note, anyone notice the season Brent Barry is having? Guy seems on fire. Wasnt long ago people wanted his head on a stick. Going to give this guy props for the job he has done so far. Some awsome passing,some awsome shooting from the 3 and lastly, some awsome D...yes I said D.
Speaking of D, is it me, or is the team D lacking a bit this year. It doesnt bother me to see teams hitting open look shots, but I cant stand to see players get points in the point uncontested. Seems to me alot of drives to the basket are getting a little less attention. Maybe its not stressed at this point of season, but if you dont practice good D now, you cant expect it to show up later on. Heres hoping it changes and im completly wrong.
ya, I was, the interwebs suck for that kind of stuff.
There's a balance between "We'll just flip a switch when April rolls around," and going all out from November onward. The Rockets won a le as a six seed, but other than that, you need a top-four seed and HCA for at least one round to realistically have a shot. In the West this year, that means about 55 wins. And yes, Avery is limiting minutes, Dirk in particular.
Why can't Spur fans be alittle upset that an ex-spur is taking ideas from his old coach and using them with his team? Me myself, I do not care, but I could see why Spur fans would be upset.
spurs are ranked 27th in opponent field goal percentage and yet 3rd in points allowed. go figure.
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