Duncan Isn't in a Lone Star State

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5451-2003Jun2.html?nav=hptoc_s

Duncan Isn't in a Lone Star State
Spurs' Quiet Leader Leads Way by Spreading the Wealth


By Steve Wyche
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 3, 2003; Page D01


Before the season, the San Antonio Spurs signed Chinese forward Mengke Bateer, a free agent who had been let go by the lowly Denver Nuggets. Bateer's credentials didn't matter to Tim Duncan, the NBA's reigning most valuable player. The 6-foot-11 all-star forward was one of the first players to welcome Bateer and the only one to take the time to learn enough Chinese to make him feel as welcome as possible.

"He went out of his way, when Bateer came here, to know some Chinese words and expressions so he could play around with him," Spurs assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "What's impressed me more than his on-the-floor performance -- and that is saying a lot because he is so great -- is the kind of teammate he is. We recently had a big win and when we got on the plane, he's sitting next to Bateer, who is not even on the playoff roster, to play video games.

"That guy has zero ego. None."

Duncan was once reluctant to acknowledge his talent, and, to a degree, he still is. However, this season in particular, he has begun to understand that without him, the Spurs would probably be a lottery team, not one that battled through the rugged Western Conference to get to the NBA Finals -- which begin Wednesday -- where the surging New Jersey Nets await. Duncan is the Spurs' leading scorer, leading rebounder, best defender -- a case could be made for swingman Bruce Bowen, but he was second-team all-defense and Duncan was first -- and the guy who is the focal point of everything.

"He sets the tone for this team and what this team is about," Carlesimo said.

Now that Duncan has grasped that, he has emerged, as Coach Gregg Popovich said, as a legitimate "superstar."

"As the year has progressed, Timmy has become more and more demonstrative," Popovich said. "He's really understanding the effect he has on both ends of the court and he's demanding from his teammates. That's a sign when a star steps up to that superstar status. He really understands the effect he has but also the responsibility he has to make that happen. He cherishes that responsibility so he's having a really good time with that."

Duncan surprisingly agreed.

"I feel like I've been playing well and I'm very confident right now," he said during the Western Conference finals, in which San Antonio eliminated Dallas. "They look to me down the stretch to get things done. That's my role and I've accepted that."

Greatness typically is defined as one who can both have individual success and also make his teammates better -- and win. During the regular season, Duncan averaged 23 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.9 blocked shots in leading the Spurs to 60 victories. In the playoffs, he's improved to 25 points per game, 14.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and increased his field goal percentage from 51 to 54 percent in series victories over the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks.

He posted a 37-point, 16-rebound exclamation point in Game 6 of the Spurs' series against Los Angeles, knocking the defending champion Lakers out of the playoffs. Then he opened the Western Conference finals with games of 40, 32 and 34 points and 15, 15 and 24 rebounds, respectively.

"Tim Duncan is probably the best big man, as far as his footwork and using the fundamentals," Nets Coach Byron Scott said.

As far as making players better, every one of San Antonio's role players has had a breakout game during the postseason, which is directly related to Duncan. When the Lakers double-teamed Duncan from the wing in the conference semifinals, Bowen made seven three-pointers en route to 27 points.

Dallas tried the same thing, and Manu Ginobili capitalized on the Mavericks' mistake with 21 points in Game 4 of the conference finals. Point guard Tony Parker has emerged more than any of San Antonio's secondary players, but having the big man in the middle has allowed him to do significant damage from both inside and out. With Duncan consuming interior defenders, forward Malik Rose had 25 points in the Spurs' Game 2 victory over Dallas.

Then there was Steve Kerr. In the Spurs' series-clinching Game 6 victory over the Mavericks, Kerr came off the deep end of the bench to score 12 points in 12 minutes.

Praise went straight to Duncan.

"When you have Tim down there it's the ultimate weapon," Kerr said. "They were zoning up and collapsing on Tim, and I knew I was going to be wide open. I was fortunate that my shots were going in."

Said Popovich: "He's become really quite the master at understanding how he is being played. Whether people are just allowing him to go one-on-one or whether it's the other extreme like when we played Phoenix, where before the ball even gets there he's already aggressively double-teamed, or somewhere in between where people just kind of dig and hang around and that sort of thing. It was key for us because we go through him all the time, [and] for him to trust and involve his teammates was really a big deal. I simply feel he's making great decisions between being aggressive for himself and at the same time making sure he includes everyone else when it's appropriate."

Duncan may be destined for his greatest string of performances yet. When the Spurs and Nets last met in the playoffs, it was April 24, 1976 -- Game 7 of the ABA finals. Julius Erving led the Nets past George Gervin's Spurs. The next day, Duncan was born.

Basketball wasn't part of the plan then; Duncan grew up in the Virgin Islands as a competitive swimmer. As a teenager, however, he approached the game in studious fashion and flourished at Wake Forest, where he was named the Naismith player of the year in 1997. He had an immediate impact on the Spurs and, with a steady diet of bank-shot jumpers and stout defense, he led San Antonio to the 1999 NBA championship in his second season in the league.

The Orlando Magic tried to woo him to join Grant Hill but Duncan opted to stay in low-key San Antonio, where he is expected to sign a long-term deal after next season. Just a year ago there was speculation that Duncan would opt out of his contract after this season and leave for a larger market to join a player like Jason Kidd or Tracy McGrady.

That talk has stopped. The speculation now is that Kidd or Jermaine O'Neal could be lured to San Antonio to play with Duncan. He is the attraction now.

"The guy loves to play basketball. But some of the other stuff that superstars bask in, that's not Tim," Carlesimo said. "That's why playing in San Antonio is a nice fit for him. If Tim doesn't do another interview, press conference or [receive] any more accolades, he'd be happy going back to the house with his wife and dogs and listening to his teammates get all the credit."


© 2003 The Washington Post Company