Reply With Quote
Black Bolt spoke, and the Suns crumbled.
http://www.statesman.com/sports/cont...420golden.html
Duncan's clutch shot was a power statement
By Cedric Golden
SAN ANTONIO — You surely remember Michael Jordan hanging in midair for what seemed like an eternity before he ruined Craig Ehlo's day with a buzzer-beater in the first round of the 1989 NBA playoffs.
And we can't go more than a couple of weeks without seeing video of Reggie Miller knocking down two three-pointers in five seconds against the Knicks that same postseason.
What about Garfield Heard's "Shot heard 'round the world" that pushed Phoenix into a third overtime against John Havlicek's Celtics in the 1976 finals?
Of those three players, Tim Duncan is more likely to look at Heard, a fellow power forward, and say, "You truly understand what I just did."
Jordan and Miller were guards who made careers of draining perimeter shots that broke opponents' backs and ended their seasons. To his credit, Duncan has made a few game-winning shots in his 11 seasons, but none come close to the big three he hit Saturday.
Manu Ginobili's drive in the second overtime provided the difference in San Antonio's 117-115 playoff win over Phoenix, but that final blow would not have been struck had Duncan not made his first playoff triple since 2005.
I know, Suns fans. No way was that supposed to go in. Not from way out there, so far away from the rim. It's Tim Duncan, for goodness' sake, a career 19 percent three-point shooter taking only his fifth three-point attempt of the season after missing the previous four. Even if he was on his way to 40 points, spotting up behind the three-point arc is far from fundamental for the Big Fundamental.
Doesn't matter. Greatness can overcome percentages, and Duncan, who entered the game having made only 13 percent of his three-point attempts in the playoffs (3 of 23), is the greatest power forward this game has ever seen. So it's really no shock he made one of the biggest plays in a thriller that gave us more twists than karaoke night at Chubby Checker's house.
It started innocently enough in the first overtime, with the relentless Ginobili driving past Raja Bell and drawing Shaquille O'Neal, who correctly left Duncan to lend The Big Assist in the final seconds. They taught us in Little Dribblers to throw it to the open man if there are two players guarding you, and if there is such a thing as Pequeños Dribblers in Argentina, Manu must have received the same lesson.
Except that it wasn't Michael Finley, Tony Parker or Brent Barry on the receiving end of his pass.
"I'm not sure he knew he was kicking it out to Timmy, but it was one heck of a shot,'' Barry said. "I'm going to go home and watch it on instant classics."
Duncan, who had buried a 19-footer in the fourth quarter, set his feet, let it fly and bathed in the fans' eruption as the Suns attempted to figure out how a 16-point first-half lead somehow became a double-overtime battle of attrition.
"I didn't know it was going to happen,'' Duncan said. "Manu turned the corner, and Shaq totally leaves me. I had a wide-open shot."
So the real question is: Was it the perfect play, the perfect result or both?
"He was exactly where he was supposed to be,'' said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "You could imagine my horror when it went his direction. That's not what we expected to happen."
Nor did the Suns, who suffered a crushing blow, not only because victory eluded them in a double-overtime game, but because they were a Duncan three-point miss away from a 1-0 lead in a series that's a virtual lock to go the full seven games.
Let's be fair to Duncan. He's hit big shots before. His 18-foot fadeaway jumper over Shaq and the Lakers in Game 5 of the 2004 Western Conference semifinals would probably be a bigger part of Spurs lore had Derek Fisher not answered with that blind, turnaround jumper with less than a second remaining.
Give Duncan credit for doing what great players have always done: he got it done. Not in conventional fashion but in clutch fashion. Of that, he is accustomed.
It may be years before he makes another three-pointer, let alone attempts one.
He will predictably return to the paint, his office on a basketball court.
When he's finished, Spurs fans will remember how Duncan used to dominate the lane with baby hooks and bank shots.
And Barry will pop in his favorite DVD, the one in which Timmy's three ties the Suns.
Last edited by duncan228; 04-21-2008 at 12:24 AM.
Black Bolt spoke, and the Suns crumbled.
Great article. Thanks for sharing.
Check this out: watch the play again from the top-down shot. Manu drove and drew two guys, Finley was parked in the far corner, Thomas was in the near post with two guys on him (what was Bell doing hanging out in the post near Thomas?), and guess who was wide open in the corner - TP. Tim had enought time to switch it to him for the open 3, but chose to take it himself. Interesting choice, eh?
I think that means one of three things: either Tim didn't trust TP's shot (doubtful), he didn't know how much time he had left (also doubtful), or Tim simply chose to take the live-or-die responsibility upon himself. What a leader, and what a man.
Tim said that he saw the corner shooters covered (yeah I know Tony was open but Tim didn't see him) and since they decided to stay doubling Manu, he had to shoot it himself.
Thanks. Gee, TP sure was wide open though! I just watched it 5 times and no-one was anywhere near him.
In no way am I suggesting there's a problem with what happened or something darker below the surface here. If anything, I was surprised that Bell was so out of position to guard either Tim or TP - they were up by 3, I mean what the was he doing??? Surely he should have been close to TP just as Hill was on Finley. Defensive lapses like that win or lose playoff series.
Needing a 3 in that situation, I'm a little surprised that Pop didn't sub Barry for TP...
Well the three set plays were:
Manu
Finley
Tim
So Tim wasn't supposed to be looking for TP (which explains why he didn't see him). Manu was supposed to try to get free. He couldn't - passed to Tim, who looked for Finley. Finley wasn't open, so Tim shot.
Nice article. Thanks!
Well Tim was in a row heated up, he felt it so he let it fly, if it didn't went in then we would be all disscusing why he did not pass or slash inside.
Great players do unbelivable things and have tendency to play idyvidual and take responsibility for the decisions
Man, this one goes right beside Sean and Horry's shots in 99 and 05.
What a gunner........
"Power Statement" no, Duncan's shot was a wing and a prayer that was answered.
If you want to see a "Power Statement" take a look a LeBron's 1 handed flying dunk shot against Washington on Saturday. Now that was a freaking Power Statement and one of the best in game Dunks i have ever seen!
Maybe this is not the correct thread, but may I ask what the name of Duncan's 2nd child is?
I couldn't find it on slamduncan.com or the Wikipedia.
This just in...the temperature in this morning hit 31 degrees fahrenheit, three pigs were spotted coming in for a landing at SA international, and monkeys have started flying out of my butt.
This is a little bit misleading, I think. If we are to believe Tim's teammates, then Tim does shoot the three fairly well now for a forward. He just doesn't attempt them in games because he hasn't really had to and his primary work is in the post.
I like that better than any fancy nickname people want to dub it with.
And duncan228, I like the number of gold/orange things in your avatar, counting all the whole and partially covered ones.
It was just an amazing moment in Spurs history. Just incredible.
Agree with this. It was a desperation shot from a great player but no way a power statement.
I ask for the name of Duncan's second child because around the time of his birth I was not following the Spurstalk closely & so missed the information.
Would anyone be kind enough to answer me?
I would answer you but I don't know the answer, so my ability in that department is impaired. However, I would suggest perhaps looking up "TIm Duncan" on Wikipedia, or any other numerous Tim Duncan web sites one may find by using popular internet search engines such as Google, Metacrawler, or AskJeeves.
If anyone would know this, it would be duncan228, but even I doubt that. Tim has been very CIA this past year about his second child. Other than a mention of him (with no name) during training camp last year, I haven't read anything about baby Tim.
Thank you!
His son's name hasn't been mentioned anywhere. We know he was born last summer. Duncan has been even more fierce in protecting his family's privacy since his daughter was born in June '05.
I try to respect his obvious wish for privacy. If I find anything official on his son's name I'll post it.
Thanks.And duncan228, I like the number of gold/orange things in your avatar, counting all the whole and partially covered ones.
Duncan's 3 point stats, for his career:
24-126 in the regular season, 4-24 in the Playoffs, including Saturday's.
Tony was not wide open
Bell even made move towards Tony but as he saw Tim going to shoot he changed the direction, but that was too late as Timmy executed the shot.
If Tim would pass the ball to Tony earlier in the action bell would be all over parker. If Tim would fake and pass to open (if realy Tony would be open) he probably would rush the shot we don't know that.
So many if's I don't want to bother
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
