How to stop Tim Duncan

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How to stop Tim Duncan

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Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com Posted: 18 hours ago // front-end hack to remove postedTime from Rumors page until a better way can be determined if (document.URL.indexOf("/name/FS/rumors") != -1) document.getElementById("postedTime").style.display = 'none';

Forget about all those power rankings that don't have the Spurs towering above the rest of the league.

Because Ray Allen can be bullied into marginality, the Sonics are not designed to excel in the rough-and-tumble playoffs. Because the Suns bench is so thin, the starters are playing too many minutes to keep all of their body parts intact. (Ditto for Miami.) Because the Kings are still soft around the edges (to say nothing about Bobby Jacskon being out for the duration), Sacramento is fatally inconsistent. Because Detroit thinks they can turn on their championship game plan whenever the spirit moves them, the Pistons are living in a dream world.

Forget about records and winning streaks, the best team in the NBA is the San Antonio Spurs. Period.

While we're at it, forget about Manu Ginobili's crafty creativity, Tony Parker's improved shooting accuracy and fleetness afoot, Bruce Bowen's defense and long-range shooting, Malik Rose's ressurection, Brent Barry's kinetic 3-ball power, and Gregg Popovich's genius. The Spurs' destiny rides on the performance of the NBA's most supreme player — Tim Duncan.

This guy is so good that his brilliance was even foretold by Shakespeare:

"Besides, this Duncan ... hath been so clear in his great office, that his virtues/ Will plead like angels ... "

Even so, TD is still a "human mortal" with all the weaknesses attendant to that condition. So here's how to take full advantage of those weaknesses to control Duncan and defeat the Spurs:

One option is to simply play Duncan straight-up, concede his 40 points, and try to shut down everybody else. The biggest danger here is that Duncan might very well shoot 20 free throws (and if his current numbers hold true, make 13 of them), and cripple the Spurs' opponents with foul trouble. This tactic can work but necessitates a deep bench and a game-long commitment.

Zones can be effective if used sparingly — especially a 2-3 alignment to surround Duncan and deny him the ball. The trade-off is that a pass covers more ground more quickly than a defender can shuffle, slide, or even run full-speed.

One way to stop Tim Duncan is to muscle him off his favorite spots. (Steve Yeater / AP)

Accordingly, snappy reversal passes will easily uncover an unguarded shooter (Bruce Bowen, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Robert Horry, and/or Brent Barry). If their shots are falling, then so will their opponents.

Another way to reckon with Duncan is for his opposite numbers to muscle him off his favorite spots — a tactic that's more difficult this year because of the NBA's newly-mandated no-defense rules. It's still possible, however, to overplay Duncan's top-side shoulder as soon as he receives the ball (his left shoulder when he's on the right box, and vice versa). The idea is to deny him the middle, force him to turn baseline, then quickly plug the paint with another big man.

Hopefully, Duncan will succumb to the temptation to shoot jumpers without benefit of the backboards-or else have to pass through or over four long arms.

If done correctly, doubling Duncan in the low-post is always a sound strategy. However, he should be jumped on the move and not on the catch because he has considerable trouble picking up his dribble (especially going left) and making the right pass. Also, Duncan is so big and so long that doubling him after he catches an entry pass enables him to calmly scan the floor until he can identify (and unload the ball to) an open teammate. Because TD is much better at passing to perimeter players than to cutters, the player guarding the weak-side big man should jump into the middle while the other three play denial defense.

Furthermore, when TD is double-teamed on either block and subsequently unloads the ball to a perimeter player, he sometimes gets too lazy to re-post.

It also should be noted that Duncan needs to set up his favorite moves by executing a single dribble in the low-post. This maneuver allows him to stretch forward or pull-up for a short jumper or jump hook, step through and under for a flipper, or make a reverse spin to find an appropriate angle for one of his bankers. That's why the timing of the double-team is crucial-the doubler should be moving before Duncan's initial dribble hits the floor.

Duncan has a much stronger presence on the left box than on the right. In the latter position, he's wont to dribble once toward the middle, then pivot baseline for his deadly right-handed jump hook. That's why, whenever TD does plant himself on the left box he should be overplayed baseline, sent to the paint, and quickly two-timed.

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Duncan can also be fronted. Defenses can put maximum pressure on the erstwhile passer and compel him to execute the perfect pass, i.e., one that is not just looped over the post-defender, but is thrown higher, deeper and aimed toward the lower-front edge of the backboard, allowing Duncan room to separate himself from his man and move to meet the ball.

This is a difficult touch-pass to throw, even for hardened NBA veterans. It's also a risky business since the Spurs are one of the league's most intelligent squads, and will undoubtedly shift the weak-side big man to the foul line. As long as Duncan can turn and seal his own defender on his back, a pass to the high-poster creates a clear lane for another pass into TD for a layup. Still, just to keep the Spurs from getting too comfortable, TD should be fronted every few minutes.

Of course, the best way to slow down a scorer is to make him work harder than he wants to work on defense. For sure the refs are always reluctant to saddle Duncan with early foul trouble (being fully aware that he's a Double-MVP), yet he should be frequently posted and iso-ed. And when driving to the bucket, the ball must be taken into Duncan's body to cramp his reach and diminish his shot-blocking capabilities.

Should Duncan catch the ball fifteen feet or so from the basket, then let him shoot, shoot, shoot until his right arm gets weary. Jump shooters don't nab too many offensive rebounds. Also, if his shooting angle is less than 45 degrees (computed from the horizontal plane of the backboard), Duncan is often unsure whether to bank his shot or shoot it clean.

The result is frequently a glass-breaker.

Duncan's influence can also be minimized if the pace of the game can be stepped up. Instead of letting them wheel their offense around TD and inexorably dissect a defense, force the Spurs ball-handlers to make decisions on the run. Both Parker and Ginobili are always on the verge of warp-speed anyway, so any encouragement will tempt them into foolish moves and silly turnovers. The Spurs will certainly look to run out for easy scores, but this is not what they want to do for 48 minutes.

Not easy? Hey, if stopping Duncan and thereby defeating the Spurs was easy than TD would be just another ordinary seven-foot multi-millionaire.

Charley Rosen, former CBA coach, author of 12 books about hoops, the next one being A PIVOTAL SEASON — HOW THE 1971-72 LA LAKERS CHANGED THE NBA, is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.

[★아라한★]

팀 던컨에 대한 의문인데 그냥 보기엔 팔뚝도 다른 센터들에 비해 두껍지 않고 (비슷한 키의 일급 센터들에 비해서) 중량감도 떨어지게 보이는데그런데 어떻게 그 전쟁같은 포스트에서 안밀릴수가 있죠??? 통뼈인가요??

[SlamDuncan]

예전에 NBA Action 보니까 던컨 나왔는데 보웬한태 그랬나?? 로즈한태 그랬나?? 던컨이 허리에 손올리고 자기도 팔에 근육있다고 했는데^^;;;; 은근히 근육에 신경쓰는 건가??ㅋㅋ