Tim Duncan (photo. Jonathan Mannion)
Today is Tim Duncan’s birthday. As we were combing through our archives looking for some of our best Timmy posts to add to the celebration, we found this one from last year and couldn’t resist the re-post.
And while we’re at it, also see:
Duncan’s place in this ranking of the 10 Best NBA Players Since 2000 and his spot in among the best power forwards of this generation.
Last night on TNT’s “Inside The NBA” – R.I.P. until next season by the way – Shaquille O’Neal ran down his list of the best dunks of the postseason. If you hadn’t heard Kenny and Chuck running their mouths, you would’ve assumed it was a “best of Tim Duncan getting yammed on.” It seemed like every other play ended with Spalding imprinted on the forehead of San Antonio’s anchor. It was funny, until I went back and looked at some tape and realized, “Oh my god, Tim Duncan really did get dunked on almost every game in the playoffs!” Derrick Favors caught him during the first round. Blake Griffin dunked on him enough in the second round that even Shawn Bradley felt bad. And Serge Ibaka was throwing him all over the court in the Western Conference Finals.
Timmy, we love ya. But with that 10-inch vertical of yours, it might be time to start taking some charges (and lord knows how much I HATE those).
Here are the five best “posterizations” handed out on Tim Duncan during the 2012 NBA Playoffs.
*** *** ***
5. SERGE IBAKA ON TD
As great as his numbers were in the Spurs final game of the season – 25 points, 14 rebounds and 41 minutes – Duncan looked old and immobile in the second half. He took a couple of bad jumpers, and struggled to move defensively. Gregg Popovich had no choice but to play the old man big minutes, and on this critical play in the third quarter, it showed. Give Duncan some love though… earlier in the series, he caught Ibaka with a stuffed animal in his mouth and packed one on his grill (Duncan was also guarding Ibaka when the forward pulled off that insane cuff dunk in the lane. We won’t count that for the simple fact that TD didn’t really contest it… which was probably a good decision.).