Tim Duncan Appreciation

[superdave]

In appreciation of Tim Duncan, aka The Big Fundamental, who announced his retirement today.

Here are some good links I found -

ESPN's Duncan infographic -
http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/15304117/duncan-numbers

Duncan's basketball reference page. Scroll down to see his list of awards and stats including #3 all-time in Defensive Rating -
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/duncati01.html

The Ringer -
https://theringer.com/tim-duncan-retirement-63c201d26f48#.c6iqh424d
https://theringer.com/tim-duncan-retirement-greatest-duels-cdd6b75d73e4#.1bb7ud3pg

[moonpie23]

definitely top 10 for me.......amazing career...

have fun doing.....something, timmy...

[luburch]

What a career. I look forward to reading the flurry of articles about him that will follow.

[phaedrus]

I don't know who #3 is, but the Big Fundamental is easily among the top 2 NBA players the ACC has produced.

[left_hook_lacey]

Thanks for starting this thread.

The subtle announcement which was merely a press release by Spurs PR, is perfect Timmy D. and Spurs fashion. As my grandpa used to say, "Start out how you're gonna hold out."

Well Tim started out as quiet, meek, humble Tim, played 19 years as quiet, meek, humble Tim, and now has retired as quiet, meek, humble, Tim. Start out how you're gonna hold out, indeed.

He'll never get the praise he deserves as one of the most consistent, productive players to ever play the game for the amount of years he has played it. This news was a welcome sight after watching the Kobe Bryant farewell tour all last season.

Good for you Tim. Enjoy whatever the next chapter in your life brings, whatever that would be, because we sure as heck don't know!! lol.

[subzero02]

What an amazing career and player. He experienced a rapid decline these last few seasons but he was oh so good for such a long period of time. When Miami had its miracle comeback in 2013, I thought Tim Duncan was the best player on the court in several games. I actually have a reason to watch sports center for the first time in a while.

[rthomas]

He beat us 4 times while I at Duke and 4 after I left. But I consider myself lucky to see him play in Cameron and always pulled for him in the pros.

[superdave]

Here is Bill Simmon's all-time pro rankings from his 2010 book. It's a good list (and a good book).

http://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/simmons_pyramid.html

If anything were to change on Simmons' list, I bet Duncan and Kobe drop a spot with Lebron leap-frogging them. Hopefully he writes an article about it.

One thing to ponder - Back in 1999, who would have bet Duncan would wind up with more MVP's and more Titles than Shaq?

[MartyClark]

Here is Bill Simmon's all-time pro rankings from his 2010 book. It's a good list (and a good book).

http://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/simmons_pyramid.html

If anything were to change on Simmons' list, I bet Duncan and Kobe drop a spot with Lebron leap-frogging them. Hopefully he writes an article about it.

One thing to ponder - Back in 1999, who would have bet Duncan would wind up with more MVP's and more Titles than Shaq?

Dan LeBatard was mildly grousing today about how Duncan never revealed much of himself to the media or the public.. I loved Duncan as a player, other than his games against Duke. I'm old school and really like a player who is not interested in social media, self aggrandizement, or revealing every inner thought to the public.

Whoever was on with LeBatard today, apparently a former player, knows Duncan and said he's a really interesting guy.

Best wishes to one of the greatest players in NBA history. I suspect we won't see him behind the microphone.

[weezie]

He beat us 4 times while I at Duke and 4 after I left. But I consider myself lucky to see him play in Cameron and always pulled for him in the pros.

He did indeed have Duke's number. Ouch!

[Tripping William]

He did indeed have Duke's number. Ouch!

Until Chris Carawell came along .... :o

(Yes, I know that's urban legend, but I was there that night and will believe what I choose to believe.)

Seriously, though: Is there anyone outside of Greg Newton that doesn't like Timmy D?

[NSDukeFan]

He did indeed have Duke's number. Ouch!

He's pretty much had everyone's number for the last two decades. Great career, great leader, great teammate. Tough the say where he should rank with Wilt, Bird, Magic and LeBron from Bill Simmons' list, but he is in that group along with West, Robertson, Baylor and Kobe among the all-time greats.

[Dukeford]

Until Chris Carawell came along ... :o

(Yes, I know that's urban legend, but I was there that night and will believe what I choose to believe.)

Seriously, though: Is there anyone outside of Greg Newton that doesn't like Timmy D?

What is the urban legend?
Tried to google their names together but didn't get anything.

[BobbyFan]

He's pretty much had everyone's number for the last two decades. Great career, great leader, great teammate. Tough the say where he should rank with Wilt, Bird, Magic and LeBron from Bill Simmons' list, but he is in that group along with West, Robertson, Baylor and Kobe among the all-time greats.

Duncan is above all of the bolded. He's right up there with Olajuwon as the best defensive player I've seen. The defensive positioning was as good as it gets; he didn't need to block shots at a high rate because he walled off offensive players so well. He was playing elite level defense up until halfway through this past regular season when his body did him in quickly, as it usually does for athletes at his age. Offensively, he was the best post man of his era not named Shaq - a terrific foundation to run the offense through, and consistently came up big as a scorer in critical moments. As an overall player, he was the best of his generation.

His selflessness and prioritization of winning over ego will ultimately, and rightfully so, be his legacy. It inherently motivated his teammates, made transitioning and restocking easier on the organization, and allowed Popovich to be Popovich. They won 5 titles and each team was different from the other. It's awfully rare in superstars - he's probably the closest the sport has ever seen to Bill Russell - but he had it and it adds to his on-court greatness.

[sagegrouse]

He did indeed have Duke's number. Ouch!


2/5 * at [2] Wake Forest 8 Winston-Salem, N.C. (Lawrence Joel Coliseum) W 73-68 14,407 9 p.m. ESPN

The year is 1997. Duncan's senior year -- at Wake. Didn't we use Carrawell for a time guarding Tim Duncan?

[Nick]

I read this morning that through 4 college seasons and 19 NBA seasons, Tim Duncan never missed the playoffs. Impressive!

Also, The Onion has kindly put all of their Tim Duncan stories in one place...

Tim Duncan: An NBA Legend Rides Into The Sunset At A Safe and Prudent Speed (http://www.theonion.com/articleslideshow/tim-duncan-nba-legend-rides-sunset-safe-and-pruden-53193)

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Can someone merge all the comments on TD from the 2016 summer NBA thread to here?

Thanks

[Tripping William]

What is the urban legend?
Tried to google their names together but didn't get anything.


The year is 1997. Duncan's senior year -- at Wake. Didn't we use Carrawell for a time guarding Tim Duncan?

Yep, this is the game: February 5, 1997, in Winston-Salem. Duke defeated then-#2 Wake at Lawrence Joel. The urban legend part is that 6'6" freshman Carawell "shut down" Duncan, although I'd hardly call 26 points (on 11-of-13 shooting) and 7 boards a "shutdown." C-well did get a key block on Tony Rutland, though, and Duke came away with the upset win on its way to claiming the ACC Regular Season title, after two years in the wilderness.

[PackMan97]

The best Duncan trivia I can remember is that NC State's Todd Fuller won the ACC scoring title over him in '96 :)

I was talking to my wife about Timmy last night and this announcement and my allergies were just going crazy. I was explaining to her that he is the last guy i know of still playing that graduated when I did.

I wonder what Duncan's life would have be like had Hurricane Hugo never destroyed the pool he swam at and caused him to take up basketball. He had dreams of competing in the 1992 Olympics and follow his sister who was a '88 Olympian. He tried to swim in the Ocean while the pool was under repair but his fears of sharks cut that short. About half a year later his mom died from cancer and he never swum competitively again. He did promise her that he'd finish college. The rest as we say is in the record books.

Good luck to Tim in the next chapter in his life.

[Edouble]

Thanks for starting this thread.

The subtle announcement which was merely a press release by Spurs PR, is perfect Timmy D. and Spurs fashion. As my grandpa used to say, "Start out how you're gonna hold out."

Well Tim started out as quiet, meek, humble Tim, played 19 years as quiet, meek, humble Tim, and now has retired as quiet, meek, humble, Tim. Start out how you're gonna hold out, indeed.

He'll never get the praise he deserves as one of the most consistent, productive players to ever play the game for the amount of years he has played it. This news was a welcome sight after watching the Kobe Bryant farewell tour all last season.

Good for you Tim. Enjoy whatever the next chapter in your life brings, whatever that would be, because we sure as heck don't know!! lol.

No, I think he's recognized as the greatest power forward of all time and a five time NBA Champion. Can you explain what you mean exactly?

Also, I would definitely not use the word "meek" to describe Tim Duncan.

[PackMan97]

Also, I would definitely not use the word "meek" to describe Tim Duncan.


LOL! No, but he is so far out of place in the modern NBA I wouldn't know how to describe him and would probably use meek as well. Upon further reflection the one word I would use to describe Dunan as a player is unassuming.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unassuming
Simple Definition of unassuming
: not having or showing a desire to be noticed, praised, etc

[Tom B.]

He beat us 4 times while I at Duke and 4 after I left. But I consider myself lucky to see him play in Cameron and always pulled for him in the pros.

I assume you graduated in 1995? If so, it's actually worse than you remember. Duncan beat Duke five times while you were at Duke:

Twice during the 1993-94 regular season.

Twice during the 1994-95 regular season.

Once in the 1995 ACC Tournament (Randolph Childress hung 40 on us in this game, en route to breaking the ACC Tournament scoring record).

But Duncan only beat Duke three times after you left -- twice during the 1995-96 regular season, then once in the 1996-97 regular season. Duke finally broke the streak in Duncan's last game against Duke, in Lawrence Joel Coliseum on February 5, 1997.

[Billy Dat]

What an all-time great player. The list of his accomplishments is amazing and makes an argument that he could be the greatest to ever play. I won't make that argument, but he's a lot closer than I thought he was.

I must say, though, that I was usually rooting against him. He killed Duke while at Wake, his first title came against my favorite NBA team the Knicks, I was pulling against him almost every other finals including against the Nets, the Heat and the Cavs. I guess I was pretty neutral when they beat the Pistons. The only time I rooted for him hard was the 2004 Olympics where, in my opinion, he did a pretty poor job leading that team and ended it off by stating "FIBA sucks" in response to his perception of the officiating. So, he repeatedly broke my heart!

I'll always remember him missing that bunny with Shane defending when Miami came back from the dead to beat the Heat in 2013. It was the end of Game 7, and when he missed it, he covered his face with his jersey and let out an anguished scream. That's about as close as we ever got to see how much he cared, aside from his inspired play, and it endeared him to me. Although I was rooting for the Heat in 2014, I was happy to see that group win again especially because I think their finals performance was the finest team basketball I have ever witnessed.

[sagegrouse]

LOL! No, but he is so far out of place in the modern NBA I wouldn't know how to describe him and would probably use meek as well. Upon further reflection the one word I would use to describe Dunan as a player is unassuming.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unassuming
Simple Definition of unassuming
: not having or showing a desire to be noticed, praised, etc

More like an old-time baseball star: Gehrig, Musial, Mays or Aaron.

[wsb3]

He beat us 4 times while I at Duke and 4 after I left. But I consider myself lucky to see him play in Cameron and always pulled for him in the pros.

Despite Tim beating us I still remember being pleased when he returned for his Senior season. He was so good for college basketball...

[Skitzle]

I appreciate Tim Duncan too.


That is all.

[Tripping William]

Also, I would definitely not use the word "meek" to describe Tim Duncan.

He may have been thinking of Erik, a college contemporary of Duncan. :D

[royalblue]

The Duke losses to Tim were tough but I went to 2 beat downs of the heels by Tim in 96 and 97. Tim thanks for crushing the Heels in those meetings.

[Ggallagher]

The article in today's WSJ about Duncan cracked me up (and sort of made we want to cry). During his junior year, Duncan contributed to some psychology work, and due to his input, he ended up being listed as a co-author of a book that was published involving the research.

Then the publisher decided to bring free copies of the book to Wake Forest for each of the listed authors, including Tim Duncan. Wake Forest had to jump through hoops with the NCAA trying to figure out if a free copy of the book Tim co-authored would be viewed as an impermissible benefit. Really??????????????????

Compared to the stunts that were going on at uncheat, I'm thinking a free copy of a book you assisted with as part of your course work shouldn't be too hard to justify.

Really, really, really different concepts of the student-athlete.