Tag: Patrick Ewing

Spurs still working into form, crush Knicks

The San Antonio Spurs have won their third straight game over the New York Knicks, 94-84 at Madison Square Garden but the significance of the game is one for the record books.  Spurs stalwart Tim Duncan posted team and NBA records on this night.  Duncan set the record for most wins with  a single team, eclipsing John Stockton’s 953 and looks to extend that record another 60 or more games this season, which should put it out of reach for a considerable time what with NBA players switching teams every two to four years.  Duncan will be breaking his own record every time he steps on the floor.

Thus far this year, Duncan has passed Alex English to move into 16th place All Time scoring, moved into 8th in Career Rebounding passing Nate Thurmond then two days later passed Patrick Ewing to move into 6th place career blocks.  He passed Moses Malone in April to move into 11th place NBA All Time career games and moved into 14th place passing Kevin Garnett in the NBA All Time Scoring list.

The Spurs take on the Wizards tomorrow night before heading back to the Alamo City for a game against the Charlotte Hornets.  Tickets for both games are still available so be sure to get out and support your Spurs either on the road or at home!

 

‘Spur for life’ star emphasizes winning over 54 percent pay cut










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Given the chance to do it all over again, Tim Duncan might have opted to hold his tongue, or at least offer a polite “no comment.”

He might have considered the wartime aphorism about loose lips sinking ships and how the idea might also apply to NBA contract talks.

When, on the cusp of free agency last May, Duncan christened himself a “Spur for life,” it was a heartening moment to fans who hoped he might end his Hall of Fame career in the place it began.

The sentiment turned out to be devastating to any chance Duncan had of playing hardball with Spurs management at the negotiating table.

“I’m an awful negotiator,” Duncan said, chuckling. “My agent was mad at me the whole time.”

Duncan was on hand at the Spurs’ practice facility Tuesday for the start of his 16th NBA training camp. That would have been surprising only if the notoriously casual dresser had arrived in something out of Craig Sager’s wardrobe.

Though technically a free agent for about a week in early July, the 36-year-old Duncan said he never seriously considered retirement and never remotely entertained the idea of playing elsewhere.

“I’ve been here for so long,” said Duncan, who took no calls from rival teams. “This is home for me.”

That’s a welcome statement for NBA observers who still cringe at the memory of Hakeem Olajuwon in a Toronto Raptors jersey or Patrick Ewing in Seattle SuperSonics green.

By accepting a three-year, $30 million deal to return to the Spurs, Duncan put his money where his mouth was.

Last season, Duncan earned $21.15 million, making him one of the NBA’s highest-paid players. This year, he will take home $9.6 million, a 54 percent pay cut that ranks below such not-so-luminaries as Corey Maggette, DeAndre Jordan and Hedo Turkoglu on the league’s salary list.

A 13-time All-Star and two-time league MVP, Duncan will be the fourth-highest paid player on the Spurs this season, behind Manu Ginobili ($14.1 million), Tony Parker ($12.5 million) and Stephen Jackson ($10.05 million).

If Duncan can resume his mid-30s mini-renaissance — he averaged 15.4 points and nine rebounds in a career-low 28.2 minutes per game last season — the power forward could rate as one of the league’s biggest bargains in 2012-13.

The last time the public saw Duncan on a basketball court, he put up 25 points and 14 rebounds in the Spurs’ Western Conference finals ouster at Oklahoma City.

“The way I felt and the way I was getting up and down and the way I was moving, I had no doubt I’d play a couple more (seasons),” Duncan said.

Duncan’s decision to return at a cut rate might also be read as a referendum on his team.

The captain would not have returned if he did not believe the Spurs — two wins away from a return to the NBA Finals a season ago — can remain among the league’s elite for at least a couple more years.

“We all hate losing,” Duncan said. “We all hate coming out here and feeling like we wasted our time. That’s why you want to put it all on the floor and do the best that we can.”

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich — Duncan’s coach since the day he was drafted No. 1 overall in 1997 — joked the summertime negotiations with his star power forward grew contentious.

“He was just as big a pain in the neck as he was when he almost went to Orlando,” Popovich said, referencing Duncan’s serious flirtation with the Magic during free agency in 2000. “He toyed with me. He lied to me. He intimidated me. He threatened me.

“In the end, it worked out. But I had to take much abuse to get it done.”

Duncan describes a more laid-back approach to contract talks: “Sat down with Pop. He said, ‘Do you want to get it done?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘OK, let’s go.’ It was pretty easy.”

As has been his custom for the past several years, the 6-foot-11 Duncan reported to camp looking trim at 255 pounds.

Throughout last season’s lockout-shortened campaign, Duncan complained less frequently about the knee soreness that had plagued him in recent years. He missed just eight games last season, all for rest purposes.

Encouraged by his health last season, Duncan says he can envision playing out the duration of his new contract, which would take him to age 39.

He has not ruled out signing on for another tour of duty when this deal is up.

“I hope I feel that good at the end of this contract,” Duncan said.

If that’s the case, and Duncan does decide he wants a deal to keep playing, here’s one piece of unsolicited advice: Let your agent do the talking.

jmcdonald@express-news.net

Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN

Key dates

Today: Intrasquad scrimmage (free admission, open seating) — 7:30 p.m., ATT Center

Saturday: First preseason game — vs. Montepaschi Siena, 7:30 p.m., ATT Center

Oct. 31: Regular-season opener — @Hornets, 7 p.m., KENS NBA TV

Nov. 1: Home opener — vs. Thunder, 8:30 p.m., TNT




























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Can Herring help Duncan discover Fountain of Youth?

It’s got to be a strange thing to be Matt Herring today.

On the one hand, you’ve just landed a plum job as the strength and conditioning coach of the Spurs. On the other, there are no players around to strengthen or condition, and won’t be until the NBA’s labor morass mercifully ends.

At this point, we can only imagine what Herring’s typical day at work might entail. We half envision him spending his afternoons leading Gregg Popovich in suicide sprints up The Hill behind the Spurs’ vacant practice facility.

Herring might not arrive in San Antonio with players to coach, but he does arrive with goals. One of them: He hopes to help Tim Duncan add years to the tail end of his career.

“You can have a positive impact on a guy like Tim Duncan and helping him get three, four, five more years out of his career and end on his terms,’’ Herring, formerly of the University of Florida, .

If Herring can really help Duncan discover the Fountain of Youth, it would make him the Spurs’ most important addition since perhaps Duncan himself. At age  35, Duncan is clearly slowing down.

His decline has been gradual, and he remains one of the league’s most productive big men, but the decline has been sure. No longer the Spurs’ offensive centerpiece, Duncan last season saw career lows in minutes (28.4), points (13.4) and rebounds (8.9) per game.

Duncan was surprisingly durable last season, the likely result of the dip in minutes, missing only one game until the day he landed on Ekpe Udoh’s foot in a March 21 game against Golden State.

Duncan never fully recovered from that ankle sprain, and was still obviously limited in the Spurs’ first-round playoff ouster against Memphis. That injury was mostly bad luck, but Duncan still those chronically sore knees that support his 6-foot-11 frame aren’t getting any better as he bears down on 40.

It remains to be seen what the Spurs’ new Director of Athletic Performance can do to slow Duncan’s aging process. Herring comes with impeccable credentials, having participated in back-to-back national championships at Florida and a Final Four run at Oklahoma State. But he’s no miracle worker.

Under the tutelage of Mike Brungardt, a 17-year Spurs strength and conditioning veteran, Duncan already kept himself in top shape. He tossed the truck tires in the summers and did the cardio and engaged in the sparring sessions with boxer Jesse James Leija, all in attempts to prolong his career.

Even with team-sanctioned activities outlawed this offseason, Duncan has been at it again this summer, recently spotted on a San Antonio high school track running wind sprints in the sweltering South Texas heat.

Nothing Duncan does, however, can stop the next birthday from coming. Herring’s aim will be to try to mitigate the effects of those birthdays piling up.

When it comes to big men aging (somewhat) gracefully, the gold standard is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who at 38 was still devastating opponents with his sky hook to the tune of 23.4 points per game. The days of averaging 20 points are over for Duncan, if for no other reason that Popovich is determined to keep his minutes in check.

History says Duncan is still a few years from the retirement home.

Jabbar played until he was 41, Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing until they were 39, Shaquille O’Neal until he was 38, David Robinson until he was 37 — albeit each with varying levels of success.

Duncan will never be the MVP Duncan again. But, with Herring’s help, there’s no reason he can’t at least join the League of Late 30s Big Men. That’s the goal, anyway. With little else to do these days, Herring will have plenty of time to dream it.

After that, he can get started on adding years to Manu Ginobili.