No one expected Tim Duncan, tagged everywhere as a player in rapid decline, to compete for MVP honors this season, or, for that matter, any other season between now and his retirement. But Tim Duncan’s name ought to appear on each and every short list of 2010 MVP candidates. His production this season rivals LeBron James and outpaces Kobe Bryant, depending on how you evaluate such things.
Gregg Popovich recently said, “With everything he’s [Tim Duncan] done for us, if our record was better, you’d hear people talking about him for MVP. And that sounds sort of strange because we thought those years had passed.â€
Well, maybe those years haven’t entirely disappeared.
via Tim Duncan, League MVP? | 48 Minutes of Hell.
Trying to watch what makes Duncan different as he gets older is like Kobe. You see so fewer of the big things, the amazing plays, the incredible shots (not so much with KB, he’s still got those), and so many more of those little things. The way he’s able to instantaneously read the defense when he gets the ball in the block. There’s been a substantial shortening of the time Duncan handles the ball down low this season. You can actually see Duncan analyzing as the entry pass is in flight. It’s like that scene in Sherlock Holmes (film) when he goes through how he’s going to subdue his opponent.
“Guard drifting to position for double team, Jefferson slow to cut. Manu shaking right hand, warming up to fire. Post-defender muscling. Step 1. Plant shoulder to create separation. Step two, hesitate to draw defenders back to perimeter players. Step three, turn and slide, draw arm to shooting position, give slight shove with left, low, to avoid foul and create separation. Step four, deliver bank shot. … Success.”
I looked at the standings expecting to see the Spurs lounging low and desperate, and instead? Despite all the concerns, all the fears, all the negative declarations? They’re right there. Ready for a February-March push before a late March coast and then ramping it up the first two weeks of April. Right on schedule. Tim’s ticktock hands are always on time.
