Tim Duncan’s Political Swag
An often misattributed saying goes “If you’re a republican in your 20’s, you have no heart, but if you’re a democrat in your 30’s, you have no brain.” It’s been adapted over the years from comments allegedly made by Winston Churchill in the 1950s, but think about it long enough and it might just apply to the Tim Duncan-era San Antonio Spurs.
After struggling with an unfamiliar feeling Saturday, it hit me. I’m a Spurs fan now - at least in part - after years of swearing against it. When did this happen? Have I mellowed with age? Have I abandoned my penchant for flash and flair over the course of the past half decade?
I don’t know, maybe I have. It leads me to believe, though, that if your passion for the game of basketball stems from the San Antonio Spurs’ boring-ass, flop-hard, emotionless style of play, you have no heart. But if you haven’t learned to appreciate and utterly respect that same veteran-based, ingeniously-constructed, four-time NBA Championship-winning style, well, you have no brains.
With the exception of the life-long San Antonio faithful, it’s hard for fans of the nation’s greatest basketball association to get it up for a team that prides itself on bank shots, exaggerated fouls and often questionable defensive procedures (I’m looking at you Bruce Bowen). So why is it they keep winning? And more importantly, why does it matter?
When talking playoffs with a friend of mine, I brought up the fact that I find it hard to pick against the reigning champs, despite the fact that they’ve never won back-to-back titles over the course of their dynasty. I tried to convince him - a Suns fan - that with the return of a healthy Manu Ginobili and the addition of Kurt Thomas, the Spurs ain’t nothing to… well, you know, with.
And I do believe it, with all my heart, so just hear me out. I’m not saying that the Spurs will rout the Suns in their first round match up, or even that they’ll beat them. Heck, I feel bold enough finally admitting that watching the black and silver win basketball games makes me feel all warm inside. I’m a Pistons fan after all, and have proudly spent the past three years of my life devising a plot to break into Robert Horry’s mansion and steal his clutch. And don’t even get me started on a certain shooting guard with a knack for missing free throws.
Simply put, the San Antonio Spurs are an easy team to hate, but it’s only because they’ve been able to absolutely perfect all the intangible aspects of basketball that make wins happen.
They don’t make your heart pump real fast like last year’s Golden State Warriors, and they don’t make you jump out of your chair and pretend to tea bag your roommates like Amare Stoudemire does, but somehow watching these crazy old vets inspires the same imponderable pleasure one gets from watching somebody really, really good at playing Super Mario. It’s kind of boring and predictable (sound familiar?) but awe-inspiring in its efficiency and unassailable dominance.
In game one of their first round series we saw Tim Duncan go yard at the end of overtime to force a second extra frame, probably the most unpredictable thing you’ve seen coming out of San Antonio all season, but the possession leading up to the shot was just one more display of the brilliance that results from the combination of Greg Popovich’s brain and Manu Ginobili’s slippery body.
It’s hard to root for a team just because somebody tells you to, so I won’t even try, but what the San Antonio Spurs do on the basketball court deserves your praise. They may not revolutionize the game the way the Phoenix Suns do but their lack of radical innovation is more than made up for by their consistent ability to stay with something that works.
This post was written by:
Austin Kent - who has written 45 posts on Hoops Addict.
As both contributing writer and assistant editor of HoopsAddict.com, Austin Kent has enjoyed covering the NBA game from behind the scenes since 2006. Additionally, he is currently the sports editor of The Brock Press and has written for a number of basketball websites and newspapers throughout Ontario.
Ummm… can I say genius? This article is where I was at last season. I had fought so long to dislike their slow methodical sets but then I fell in love with the system and players. Now I have a Spurs jersey (BEEENNOOOO!), drafted Duncan this season, vent that Manu should have been an All-Star and no longer care that T-Parker gets to date the sexy Eva Longoria.
This article is fairly pointless. I don’t get any “imponderable pleasure” from watching a team kick other players’ legs. I didn’t know that “perfect[ing] all the intangible aspects of basketball” meant kneeing other players in the man region.
No one denies that the Spurs play well fundementally, but your article addresses none of the reasons for which anyone actually dislikes the Spurs: their dirty play and sometimes specious help from the referees.
Not only was Tim animated, but I saw him call an impromptu staff meeting on the bench in the second overtime, and he looked even more demonstrative then. Its Shaq’s turn.
4 Championships in 10 years. Thats the most in any pro sport. I would say that the Spurs are doing something right. Dirty or not, they win the right way which is fundamentals. If you dont like watching the spurs , then you dont like watching real basketball.
I love the whole “watching a team kick other players’ legs. I didn’t know that “perfect[ing] all the intangible aspects of basketball” meant kneeing other players in the man region.” Crap we hear from Suns fans.
Looked like Nash was trying to undercut Duncan’s legs when he was going for rebounds in that same series. HMM I guess that Nash was sliding up under Tim to try to rebound over his back? Oh ya, lets forget the foul by Shaq or the hard one to Manu’s head. What about Bell taking off Bryant’s head the year before. The truth is that D’Antoni crys about everything. The rest of the team spends way to much time complaining about fairness. The way they present themselves they feel entitled to win a championship because they are the Suns. It is always someone elses fault they lose. The Spurs cheat, the calls did not go their way, yada yada. They need to look in the mirror. Give us Amare for a few years so he can learn to play defense and he will be an absolute beast.
no time for addressing all the nonsense in this article. SA is not boring, Tony is not boring, Manu is not boring, Duncan (and his fundamentals, his tenacity and humbleness) is not boring, it’s all very beautiful. You don’t have to respect them, just try to like the true basketball game, where people actually defend. Dunks, etc., etc., is all BS.
And, please, SA has nothing to do with Republican -which has nothing to do with brain-…
The whole article is pretty pathetic…
“…steal Horry’s clutch…” Loved the article and it is so true. The one constant knock against the Spurs is their lack of flair. Have any of these people not seen Manu’s contorsionists moves through traffic to finish at the basket? Parker’s ability to slice through a defense and get into the paint (and finish while being fouled)? And personlly, I love Duncan’s bank shots. Good Job Austin!
Thanks for this. As a die hard Spurs fan (and an even bigger basketball fan) I’ve always found the Spurs very entertaining.
It’s good to see them make a fan of an “outsider”/former-hater.
Great article. Now that the flavor-of-the-week stlyes of the Suns/Mavs/Warriors have proved to be fun but unsuccessful, the disciplined fundamentals of the Spurs look more and more intelligent. And, they’ve managed their salary cap better than most other teams– look for a couple of the older guys to retire this year (or just not be resigned), and my bet is the Spurs replace them next season with Euro-star Tiago Splitter, and some young free agents like Ryan Gomes, Kelenna Azubuike, Desagana Diop… In all likelihood, the Spurs will be even better next year, while Phoenix and Dallas will see their chances of winning a title pretty much disappear.
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