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NBA Source: Duncan is MVP

Discussion in 'NBA Dish' started by Looogie, May 6, 2002.

  1. Looogie

    Looogie Member

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  2. The Cat

    The Cat Member

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    YEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

    (passes out balloons and streamers)
     
  3. ZRB

    ZRB Member

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    Extremely well deserved.

    No player has taken such a revolting supporting cast and turned it into a contender like Duncan has since Hakeem in 94.

    He already has a ring, now he has the MVP.
     
  4. francis 4 prez

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    seriously, when duncan went out for like 40 seconds in the game yesterday, i just stared at the players on the court and thought, how they f*** are the spurs so good. i realize as much as robinson is maligned that he is quite valuable and that is part of it, but that team on the court w/o duncan was truly pathetic for being in the 2nd round. didn't read the article, but good for him if he got it.
     
  5. TheFreak

    TheFreak Member

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    There was an article up at ESPN recently where the columnist said the Spurs without Duncan was like LA without Shaq AND Bryant. True.
     
  6. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
    Supporting Member

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    What ZRB said. Duncan earned it.
     
  7. Houstone

    Houstone Member

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    Duncan did deserve it, Jason Kidd is right behind him.
     
  8. JohnnyBlaze

    JohnnyBlaze Member

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    True, true
     
  9. Kam

    Kam Member

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    If this is true, this should be his second MVP award.

    In 1999, he was robbed of MVP by Karl Malone. In that season, I thought he was the best over all player in the League.
     
  10. KellyDwyer

    KellyDwyer Member

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    I thought Zo should have won it in 1999. Remember, the voting ends with a week to go in the regular season, so it truly is a regular season MVP. Duncan may have had the better stats in 1999, but Zo was the MVP.
     
  11. mr_oily

    mr_oily Member

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    true...
    [​IMG]
     
  12. Coach AI

    Coach AI Member

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    He definitely deserves it.
     
  13. KeepKenny

    KeepKenny Member

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    I was scared they were gonna give it to Kidd because of the East coast media bias, but Kidd has SO much more to work with, playing in the crappy east. Duncan deserves it and I'm glad he won it. That game he missed against Seattle should have proved his worthiness to everyone.
     
  14. rockHEAD

    rockHEAD Member

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    [​IMG]
     
    #14 rockHEAD, May 7, 2002
    Last edited: May 7, 2002
  15. haven

    haven Member

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    Good decision. I think a few guys had decent claims, but Kidd didn't, and I was afraid he'd get it. The Spurs are b etter than the Nets... but if you take away each star, the Nets are much better.

    TheFreak:

    You'd rather have Derek Fisher and Rick Fox than Steve Smith and Tony Parker? Or, when healthy, Walker over Robinson?

    Spurs lack a second super-star, but the supporting caste is at least slightly better. I'll agree that both are atrocious ;).
     
  16. Asian Sensation

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    The thing is as much as I hate to admit it Fox and Fisher always come up with the big plays down the stetch. And Horry Mr. Clutch in the playoffs is a nightmare for any opposing team.
     
  17. BigM

    BigM Member

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    what the hell man, tony parker friggin carried that team to the 2nd round and what does he get? maybe finals mvp, who knows?

    seriously though, duncan is probably the best player in the game and more than deserving of the mvp.
     
  18. german rocketfan

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    Here's the article of the Houston Chronicle:

    Duncan becomes Spurs' man for all reasons

    MVP-to-be totes heavy load as breadwinner, cheerleader
    By JONATHAN FEIGEN
    Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
    LOS ANGELES -- This is what MVPs do. This is how they act. This is what they say.

    But they don't always make their shots.

    Tim Duncan made nine of 30 on Sunday, and the San Antonio Spurs lost Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals series to the Los Angeles Lakers.

    With nowhere else to go, like water pouring through a leak, pressure would rush to Duncan. But coming off his second-worst shooting performance of the season, he invited it.

    As with scoring, rebounding or shot blocking, if the Spurs had someone else to take on the expectations, even if they had whatever David Robinson has left, they would be welcome to share the burden. But they don't, so Duncan assumed that responsibility, too.

    "The load is on me," he said, "and I welcome it."

    Duncan officially will be named the league's Most Valuable Player in San Antonio on Thursday, NBA sources said on Monday, edging New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd.

    But if the timing of Duncan's emerging as the MVP-elect seemed awkward, in many ways it could not have been better. He had 26 points, 21 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots Sunday. But the 86-80 loss showed the Spurs cannot win unless he does everything magnificently well.

    The Spurs won 58 games this season, and the gap between Duncan's scoring and rebounding and that of the Spurs' next most productive player was larger than for any other MVP candidate. (Duncan averaged 25.5 points per game, Robinson 12.2. Duncan averaged 12.7 rebounds, Robinson 8.3.)

    Duncan led the Spurs in scoring 72 times and in rebounding in 69 games. He was Western Conference Player of the Week a league-best six times and Player of the Month three times (tied for the most with Shaquille O'Neal).

    But more than even that, the Spurs said Duncan's determination to assume whatever responsibility necessary made him more than one of the league's stars.

    "Being MVP is everything that's wrapped up inside of him," forward Malik Rose said. "That guy brings it every night. We ask him to do so much for so long out there. And he does it like the best. All the things we ask him to do, he's top five in the NBA. That's unbelievable. To be any question about the MVP would be crazy."

    Duncan missed his first 10 shots Sunday and his first six shots of the second half. He said the Lakers played well defensively but that his misses came on shots he would happily take again.

    The Spurs praised Duncan for everything else he did, particularly when he was not shooting well, and noticed he took responsibility for the loss and for whatever is to come.

    "Great players with great character do that," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He did everything he could do, even though the ball wasn't going in. That's what makes players go to that next level to be great. A lot of players when their shots don't go in just die."

    But to do everything, Duncan had to do more this season than score, rebound and block shots. When the Spurs rebuilt the roster, he even had to say the right things. He has become relatively chatty as a leader simply because it was something else the Spurs needed.

    "With Avery (Johnson) and Sean (Elliott) not there anymore, it really left a void leadership-wise, and Tim Duncan stepped into that," Popovich said. "What's great about it is it's not really him to be vocal. He's a pretty stoic type. But he's been unbelievably vocal at games, practices and timeouts because he realizes people feed off him.

    "Tim, I think, has had an MVP season. Obviously, the play is there, the things he's done, the numbers, the (67) double doubles and all those things. He's delivered and played his (butt) off. He had to put this team together on his back with a whole new perimeter. The one (Tony Parker), two (Steve Smith) and three (Bruce Bowen) are basically new, and one of them (Parker) is 19 years old."

    Duncan reacted to such praise with his typical expressionless shrug.

    Of news of his MVP triumph, he said: "It will be great if it does (happen). It's not of great importance right now. The important thing right now is the game tomorrow."

    On defending O'Neal, he said: "It's tough having to lean on him the whole time. It's my job. I'll do it. I'm not going to say I enjoy doing it. I'll do it because I have to do it."

    He answered pretty much everything the same way. He will take the shots and responsibility, become a leader and a cheerleader, even defend Spider-Man or Superman or whoever O'Neal is in the mood to be, because Duncan has to. That's what MVPs do.

    "It's not something I consciously did," he said. "It's something I've grown into."

    Thursday in San Antonio, what he has grown into will become official.
     
  19. arno_ed

    arno_ed Member

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    Shaq is the best in the nba. But he was not the mvp this year, he relaxed the whole year. Duncan is the mvp this year. I'm verry glad Kidd didn't get it.
     
  20. Live

    Live Member

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    Very well-deserved.

    If any of you are either too young or just don't remember what the Rockets looked like during the late '80s\ealry '90s, just look at the Spurs.

    Duncan, much like Dream during the late '80s\early '90s, is carrying a lotto team.

    Actually, to Duncan's credit, at least Dream had a good PF in Thorpe.
     

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