My NBA team is the Spurs. Just like Trot drew me to the Red Sox, Wake Forest's own Tim Duncan drew me to the Spurs, but to an even greater degree. I already had an inkling for the Red Sox before I learned about Trot; Nomar and Pedro were interesting players and even the whole "curse" angle was appealing in an underdog kind of way. It was different for basketball. Duncan was the only reason I became a Spurs fan - it was quite literally an extension of my unflinching loyalty to Wake Forest.
What scares me is this - I don't want to be that guy who isn't really loyal to a team. See, if Timmy was ever traded or signed elsewhere, I'd be in a crisis. Does my allegiance follow Duncan, or do I stay with the Spurs? The latter seems like the "right" thing to do in terms of fandom morality (and I am a big fan of Parker and Ginobili), but I can't help but feel the former would be my natural inclination. What happens when the Spurs play Timmy's hypothetical new team? Am I really going to root against Tim Duncan? Am I even capable of doing such? I wish I had a nice resolution here, but I don't. I just hope Duncan stays with Spurs until he retires (or at least gets really old) so push and shove can stay very much apart.*
Now to my useless preview, which is actually just some random thoughts about individual players.
Tim Duncan's numbers have been in a steady decline since the '01-'02 season. And I mean virtually all his numbers. Minutes, points, rebounds, blocks, field goal percentage, assists... This is really starting to concern me. I don't like my favorite player getting a little worse every... single... season. But the decline has to stop somewhere, right? Right?
Manu Ginobili is occasionally unstoppable. If you're lucky to catch one of those games on TV, it really is a sight to behold. There is no (and I mean no) more fascinating player to watch than Manu when he's got it going. The problem, of course, is that this only happens a few games a season. There are too many games where Manu contributes next to nothing.
Tony Parker was actually the leading scorer for Spurs last year (see Timmy's decline). I love his signature "teardrop" move - dashing down the middle of the court, casually tossing the ball up in a high arch as he falls forward in the paint. God, I just love it. It's like something out a video game - where you do this one move over and over again and it just keeps working, and the guy you're playing with eventually throws his controller across the room. I can't help but think opposing point guards sometimes feel like throwing their controllers when playing the Spurs.
Bruce Bowen bugs the hell out of everyone on defense. Kobe always gets so furious at him; I love it.
The Knicks were dumb to let Jackie Butler go, but we shouldn't be surprised by that. Let this guy play 30 minutes a game and he'll be a double-double threat, which is exactly what the Spurs need from whoever plays next to Duncan. I also like the Matt Bonner acquisition, as I'm a fan of big men who can knock down the three. He'll likely be a great compliment to Tim's game by drawing defenders away from the post.
Alright, I pretty much maxed out my NBA knowledge for today. I've already half-way written another article about why American basketball teams struggle in international tournaments, so I should have that up in the next couple of days.
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*OK, so that didn't make sense.
Hey, here's something about Halloween - watch Conan's "skelevision" special tonight. The whole show - and I do mean all of it - will look like this...
Awwwwwww yeah.
2 comments:
Ya know who I like in the NBA?
'cause I sure don't.
Sorry, but the commencement of the NBA season is just about as important to me as whether or not that groundhog sees his shadow. College b-ball is where it's at.
but it's TIMMEH!!!!!!
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