On Second Thought…
By Coup
…I think maybe a better word to describe Tim Duncan is undervalued. I don’t think there are too many who put Duncan on the pedestal he deserves to be on. The man has insane numbers and has been doing this ever since college. I mean how many people can average double-doubles and college and immediately carry that over to the L? Just like there is no one who can guard Shaq, there is no one who can guard Tim Duncan. Period. He is one of the greatest post players to ever play the game of basketball.
The All-NBA Team was a joke this year. There is no way Amare Stoudamire should be a first team selection. No way is he in Tim Duncan’s league. No way is he better than Yao Ming, Kevin Garnett, Chris Bosh or Dwight Howard. Ok I could hear the argument with Dwight, but if you switch them I doubt the Magic would be in the playoffs. I admire his grit and determination to comeback from such a serious injury but I do not think he is one of the top 5 players in the league. I don’t think he is one of the top 5 post players in the league. I do not rank him in my top 20 players. I…just don’t see it people. The guy has zero post moves. He has no defense…how can you be All-NBA first team and you got lit up by Kwame Brown. Statistically he didn’t even average a double double…while the four posts he was voted ahead of did. If anything I guess it is a tribute to Steve Nash, but is he that good? I firmly disagree. How can D-Wade be third team all-NBA? The things he was doing pre-injury was ridiculous, he was legit in the MVP talk for a while.
Another strike against Amare; his mouth. What is he thinking calling the Spurs ‘dirty’? Does he not know he is playing into their hands? And also he comes off like a big whiner and I’m sure someone on some show will point it out. Look at Bill Laimbeer. Now that motherfucker was a dirty player. Go watch what the Pistons used to do to MJ…its not even close to what you’re supposedly going through. So Bowen stuck his foot under you and Manu kneed you in the balls…big deal. Go score, dunk, don’t cry to the media. Set a hard screen, discreetly get them back on the court…don’t go to the media. I completely think he handled that the wrong way. You think those veterans over in the Spurs locker room aren’t licking their chops? If I’m a guy like Robert Horry or Michael Finley and I know how to get a shot in without getting caught..I’m doing it. It’s already in his head. I swear between his issues and the Matrix’s issues the Suns have next to no shot.
Also, Chicago may very well win this game by double-digits but I do not want to hear any of this ‘Chicago is back’ nonsense. They still can’t win in Detroit.
Simmons had an article on how playing “NellieBall” or SmallBall or whatever cannot win in the longhaul. He had some valid points, but then he said this;
“We’ve been down this road before with Drexler’s Blazers (1989-1992); with the ’01 Bucks, ’85 Nuggets and ’87 Bucks; with Nellie’s Dallas teams; even with Nellie’s Warriors in ’91 and ’92.”
This is where he lost me. See his whole argument was based on the fact that those types of teams cannot win in the long run. The 89-92 Blazer teams were completely different than the Warriors or any of the other teams he listed.
First off those Blazer teams had records that went a little something like this; 59-23, 63-19, 57-25. The Blazers had two post guys; Buck Williams and Kevin Duckworth and they still made it work. They didn’t exactly play small. Also, those Blazer teams went to the Finals two of those years (should have been three). And in those finals, those Blazer teams won one of the first two games on the road (before completely gagging it in the Memorial Coliseum both times). Please, keep Rip City out of your damn arguments out of your columns before I unleash the Jefferson High boys on you.
Speaking of Chicago…they just cut the lead to five.