I have watched more than a few, why don't you use the collection money so you can get a new pair of glasses and can get rid of those rose colored ones you have been looking through!
Okay. Tell me who he defers too. Smith. Nope. Rose. Nope. Robinson. Nope. Parker. Nope. The late great Daniels. Nope. Bowen. double Nope. Bzzzz. Sorry times up and you lose.
What does what kind of fan I am have to do with your lame take that "Tim Duncan is soft & likes to defer to other in crunch time, there is no disputing that! "
I agree that Duncan is a great player, I just do not think that at the end of the game he says "guys give me the ball & let me do my thing, nobody else better take that last shot", I think the majority of the other "superstars" like the game to rest on their skills. Duncan just passes out of double teams, without trying to just score on both defenders & just generally does not DEMAND the ball.........you just did not see that from Hakeem/Jordan/Magic etc. & do not see that these days from T-Mac, Kobe, Iverson etc....I think you must do that to even be considered as the "best". But I agree that Duncan is a nice little player to build a team around, the Spurs have gone far with him every year.
Let's take a look at the last game Shaq played against the Spurs: It's game 5 of 2002 Spurs-Lakers series, the Spurs are up at halftime and Duncan has put up huge #s so far. Shaq is sent to help contain Duncan so the Lakers can close out the series. Result.... Duncan shoots......gets rejected by Shaq Duncan shoots......gets rejected by Shaq Duncan shoots......gets rejected by Shaq Duncan shoots......gets rejected by Shaq Duncan shoots......gets rejected by Shaq Shaq blocks Duncan 5 times to help the Lakers seal the deal. I'd say when Shaq wants to stop Duncan, he stands a fair chance at doing it.
Duncan is actually clutch in most games, witness the Spurs regular season record over the last few years. People get the idea he's not clutch specifically because of his play against the Lakers in the playoffs. He generally has gotten covered by Shaq and doubled when he tries to take Shaq outside a bit at the end of those games. Duncans strength is not putting the ball on the floor from the perimeter like Dirk and KG so Shaq and the double that flashes is pretty effective against him, particularly at the end of the game when the refs swallow the whistle on any Shaq fouls. Pattern has been Duncan passes out of the double, his team mates don't come through, he loses confidence, stops passing, forces things and gets a turnover. Same story two years running. But give him a Kobe and give Shaq Steve Smith and the story changes. Spurs have played Shaq tough on defense but Kobe kills them. Popovich explained it well when someone asked him after the Laker's game the other night. He said Shaq's not the problem because you know where he's going to be and can double him. It's Kobe coming from the perimeter that is difficult to account for and cover with doubles. Hopefully a year older Parker, Ginobili, and Claxton will change that. Spurs are built now specifically to take on the Laker's where they're vulnerable with speed and transition and pic and roll if Parker and Ginobili hit their mid-range jumpers. Shaq sucks at covering the pic and roll in particularly. He's either too lazy, too slow, or doesn't want to take a cahnce on fouling trying to slide back. The Spurs also picked up plenty of strong bodies and fouls in Willis and Bateer to use on Shaq. I particularly would like to see how Bateer matches up on Shaq. That's one big, strong dude and Shaq ain't going to be able to shoulder or butt bump him into the basket. btw I do like the Rockets and think their going to be real tough when Yao Ming gets a little seasoning. If the Spurs pick up a good FA with the cap space they have next year, it should be a great rivalry. If Spurs don't pick up a Kidd or Brand type, in a couple of years the Rockets will likely have their number. At this point anybody beats those damn Lakers is good.
