I think the TNT announcers were saying the Spurs are the oldest team in the league right now. Duncan is only 31 and reaching the years Hakeem entered his prime yet so far this season he's had some very unDuncan like performances. Currently he's averaging only 16 and 9 compared to his usual 20/10 self. Against the Lakers where he didn't have to log a lot of minutes he only had 5 points 5 boards. Now I know the Spurs usually coast through the regular season til around January where they have their annual rodeo road trip and turn it on, but so far Duncan just doesn't appear to be his usual dominant self. I expect him to change by the All-star break, but the question is, is Duncan starting to show his age more rapidly than expected? And does it look like the Spurs are any more legitimate contenders to repeat than other top teams? To be honest I'm getting Hakeem impressions when Barkley became a Rocket. Hakeem deferred more of his offensive touches to Barkley and started his decline albeit not nearly as noticeably. He was still a very dominant force. I expect Duncan to be the same, but it really seems like he's deferring more of his workload to Ginobli and Parker this season so far. Thoughts?
You answered a lot of your own questions. He's getting older but he's still the best PF in the league. He can be dominant if he has to be and yes he is deferring a lot to Gino and Parker.
He's getting older, and he's played a lot of games. You have to consider he's played about 140 playoff games, which is about the equivalent of two extra seasons. Maybe more since a lot of those playoff games were ugly, physical games that were more draining than a random January contest against some lottery team. He's showing his age, because he can't dominate an entire regular season like he used to - so he's going to defer to his teammates, play at a steady pace - and then turn it on down the backstretch heading into the playoffs.
spurs are reknown for cruising the first half of the season but after allstar break they tend to turn on the afterburners to guarantee a top 3 seed but coming into the ASG their still in cruise mode, dont know if this is to preserve their energy throughout the earlier part of the season, in order to keep enough in the tank for the homestretch into the playoffs, but thats just do how they do things. their good enough to 'cruise' yet keep a respectable W/L record, but just wait till after ASG, the world champ spurs wake up around then. so i wouldnt look too much into poor performances from TD before ASG, i dont think the drive and determination kicks in till after ASG and if he is playing terrible then, then perhaps further discussion would be appropiate
I don't think he's ever been this bad even during early season cruising; look at the games against us and two games ago against the LA Lakers; he was pretty awful. Of course now that I say that he will come out and kick Yao's ass tomorrow just to prove me wrong.
Ha ha. I suspect Duncan is just losing interest in the regular season. Tonight shows that he can up it if needed.
Damn, it seems like everytime someone start a thread like this, it just jinxed the rockets..... stop all this crap already.
People have been saying the same thing about Duncan the last 3 years to start every season, it seems. Then the playoffs roll around, and he dominates. The Spurs pace themselves very slowly in the regular season, because they know they're good enough to get a top seed anyways and that they know how to win when the games become really important.
We hate him, but the man is one of the most consistent players in NBA History. I don't think Duncan and the Spurs are going all out right now. He's still averaging 18 and 10 this year in only 33 minutes, so he's still a VERY GOOD player. He'll pick it up later in the year, I expect another 20/10 season from him.
Shaq is the player who is not only showing his age, but playing like he belongs on the senior basketball league at the YMCA!
