Duncan injures Knee!!!

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Beating the Spurs without Duncan would be like beating the Suns without Amare and Diaw

FTFY

 

[dodie53]

Beating the Spurs without Duncan would be like winning the title in a strike shortened season.

atleast it's a title.

 

[Bufalay]

If Duncan missed the playoffs the Suns could beat them with a retired KJ and Penny as their backcourt.

 

[mathbzh]

I hate this thread:

1) You can hate the Spurs but Duncan as a great player deserves a minimum of respect.
2) The Suns have Hill, Amare injury prone players playing heavy minutes Nash could almost be listed in the same category. Will we be at full power during the PO?
3) We should not focus on the Spurs so much. Dallas did the same mistake last year. Would we be able to win against GSW in a first round? Even if Duncan is out, it will be a tough fight to win a title.

We should just focus on our team. Please, wait the playoff to discuss the strentghs and weaknesses of our opponent.

 

[dodie53]

If Duncan missed the playoffs the Suns could beat them with a retired KJ and Penny as their backcourt.

would the Heat accept Banks and Diaw for Jason Williams, a center and Penny?

 

[Louis]

your Rockets are a bunch of lame asses who cant make it out the first round,

I'm actually a Suns fan. The avatar is the Matrix outjumping Yao.

 

[nowagimp]

Frankly I dont wish any knee injuries on another teams player(except the cheapshots like bowen). I would prefer the refs just call a straight game, according to the rules(including hand checks), with no superstar rules, but I guess thats asking too much in the NBA. The end result is meaningless, deserves an asterisk, if the rules are not adhered to.

 

[Taco]

I hope for the Worst

 

[abomb]

MRI is negative. Karma is negative around here too.

 

[JS22]

If the Suns can only beat the Spurs without Duncan, what does it prove? Nothing.

 

[jbeecham]

If the Suns can only beat the Spurs without Duncan, what does it prove? Nothing.

The Spurs have only beaten the Suns without our key players in the playoffs so what does that prove about them? In 04-05 it was without Joe Johnson and last year without Amare & Diaw and Bell wasn't healthy......I don't hear Spurs fans complaining about their championship, despite how tainted most NBA fans think it was.

 

[D-Dogg]

I hope for the Worst,

Your hopes were the worst, and they didn't come true.

 

[F-Dog]

Horry will get his.

Speaking of which, did you see wHorry's quote the other day about going to Orlando next season? The magic is gone with Duncan, so now he's pining for Dwight Howard...

Duncan seems like a genuinely classly player.

That's like saying the Wicked Witch of the West was the only classy one in that castle--all she wanted were her sister's shoes, right?

Of course Duncan doesn't hurt opposing players. That's what the flying monkeys are for.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

In 04-05 it was without Joe Johnson and last year without Amare & Diaw and Bell wasn't healthy......I don't hear Spurs fans complaining about their championship, despite how tainted most NBA fans think it was.

FYI - In the playoffs the Spurs were 3-2 against the Suns with Amare and Diaw playing in 2007 and were 2-1 against the Suns with Joe Johnson playing in 2005. And wishing injury on anybody especially a class act like Tim Duncan who's one of the most respected NBA players in the history of the game is bush league.

 

[F-Dog]

FYI - In the playoffs the Spurs were 3-2 against the Suns with Amare and Diaw playing in 2007...

...and in the games that were fair tests of the teams' relative strengths, they were 1-2.

Hey, if you don't want to believe in taint, that's your own business.

 

[Cheesebeef]

...and in the games that were fair tests of the teams' relative strengths, they were 1-2.

huh? Man, Suns fans who keep crying about this really are confounding to me. Look, Dallas had almost the EXACT same scenario happen to them in their series in 2006, where they were getting beat up all series and Jason Terry (who was killing the Spurs) finally blew a gasket in Game 5 and got suspended for Game 6 at home. What happened? Dallas took a big lead, played their starters heavy minutes and the Spurs prevailed, sending it back to SA for a do or die game and then Dallas manned up, and went out and beat their asses on SA's home-floor to win the series. They proved that even though SA got to them, when push came to shove in a MUST-WIN GAME - they were the better team and they won the series. Stuff happens - teams can either overcome adversity or cry about it. It seems that our fans wish to cry about it. We blew it - plain and simple and then we weren't good enough to overcome out mental mistake. It's as simple as that.

 

[F-Dog]

You're the one crying, with your fancy all-caps.

The Suns made their stand in game 5, as you'll no doubt remember the next time it suits your argument. And who cares whether they deserved to win more than Dallas, anyway? The question is, did they deserve to win more than SA?

 

[Cheesebeef]

You're the one crying, with your fancy all-caps.

The Suns made their stand in game 5, as you'll no doubt remember the next time it suits your argument.

so what? It doesn't take away from the fact that both teams faced adversity and a must-win game on the road. The Mavs won and we got our asses kicked. When it mattered most we crumbled.

 

[nowagimp]

FYI - In the playoffs the Spurs were 3-2 against the Suns with Amare and Diaw playing in 2007 and were 2-1 against the Suns with Joe Johnson playing in 2005. And wishing injury on anybody especially a class act like Tim Duncan who's one of the most respected NBA players in the history of the game is bush league.

As I said I dont wish injury against any player, except those who make a living threatening injury, Duncan is certainly not one of those. Fans who would wish Duncan injury arent true basketball fans, period.

However some comments on the posts here:

The Mavs did however play against an injured Duncan(plantar facitis made him a shadow of himself) the year they "overcame" cheese. And they wouldnt have done it except manu screwed up, even then it had to be given to them. With a healthy Duncan(like last year), the mavs never even come close to winning that series. they needed the injury to overcome their spurs demons.

For all that I dont consider duncan a classy player, he's such a whiner, perhaps one of the worst ref cajolers the game has ever seen. he never has committed a foul, and he's fouled on nearly every play, in his mind. He initiates contact and immediately wants a foul. He puts his leg out on defense in the lane and setting picks and is never whistled for it. I dont wish him injury in any way, but I dont respect him for his whining and the advantage it apparently gives him. He has enough skill to be great without the whining, he lowers himself by doing it, and contributes to the political spectacle that is modern NBA officiating. Duncan succeeds, so everyone wants to do it and expects the same treatment: endless complaining and little or no technicals. The whole spurs team ends every defensive whistle against them with their palms up, its disgusting.

 

[TucsonDevil]

That's like saying the Wicked Witch of the West was the only classy one in that castle--all she wanted were her sister's shoes, right?

Of course Duncan doesn't hurt opposing players. That's what the flying monkeys are for.

That is hilarious. I assume one of the monkeys that flies hardest at opponents would be Ginobli.

Whether or not I like Duncan has nothing to do with it. I want my team to beat the Evil witch at her full power. No one has beaten the Suns the last three 3 years at full strength. No One... but, that is part of basketball.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The Mavs did however play against an injured Duncan(plantar facitis made him a shadow of himself) the year they "overcame" cheese. And they wouldnt have done it except manu screwed up, even then it had to be given to them. With a healthy Duncan(like last year), the mavs never even come close to winning that series. they needed the injury to overcome their spurs demons.

a) Duncan had his best 7-game series EVER in that series against Dallas. I don't buy the injury excuse. Dude was doing whatever he wanted most of the series. A shell of himself at 32.2 ppg, 56% shooting, 11.7 rpg, 2.5 blocks and 3 assts?

b) The "the Mavs only won because Manu screwed up" argument completely ignores the fact that the Mavs were up 3-1 in the series to start and in game 7, they were up by 20 points before the officials completely changed the face of the game and even though they blew the entire lead, they STILL came back after the Spurs took the lead and then kicked the crap out of them in OT.

I just don't buy that the Mavs were lucky or needed injury to overcome the Spurs. Over the last three years, they are the only team who CONSISTENTLY wins more games than they lose against SA.

 

[F-Dog]

so what? It doesn't take away from the fact that both teams faced adversity and a must-win game on the road. The Mavs won and we got our asses kicked. When it mattered most we crumbled.

I imagine it mattered even more for the Mavericks in the Finals, where they themselves crumbled--in a situation very similar to the Suns/Lakers first-round series two years ago, where the Suns won through with flying colors.


And again, why would it matter? Did Nowitzki get hurt, too?

 

[timmo]

Great thread.
Now I know who to respect and who to filter.
Thanks.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I imagine it mattered even more for the Mavericks in the Finals, where they themselves crumbled--in a situation very similar to the Suns/Lakers first-round series two years ago, where the Suns won through with flying colors.

Are you really comparing that year's Heat team with it's four HOF players to the 2005 Lakers which started Kwame Brown, Smush Parker, and Luke Walton? If only the Suns could get the opportunity to crumble in the Finals, which if course they have yet to do considering they can't beat the Spurs which is only something the Shaq/Kobe Lakers and the Mavs can brag about.

 

[nowagimp]

a) Duncan had his best 7-game series EVER in that series against Dallas. I don't buy the injury excuse. Dude was doing whatever he wanted most of the series.

b) The "the Mavs only won because Manu screwed up" argument completely ignores the fact that the Mavs were up 3-1 in the series to start and in game 7, they were up by 20 points before the officials completely changed the face of the game and even though they blew the entire lead, they STILL came back after the Spurs took the lead and then kicked the crap out of them in OT.

I just don't buy that the Mavs were lucky or needed injury to overcome the Spurs. Over the last three years, they are the only team who CONSISTENTLY wins more games than they lose against SA.

Duncan was immobile, he may have looked good against Diop and Dampier, but consider the defense of the post by the Mavs, awful. On a good ankles he should have been way more productive. The spurs are at their worst when duncan scores alot and gets few dimes(no double teams), its his assists that make the system work. Because he was slow, doubling wasnt needed to win, so the easy baskets by his teammates were few against those mavs. Its not about his baskets, its about those he gets for others that cant score for themselves (like Horry, Bowen, Barry). the suns actually want duncan to score, not to pass. The suns were the most competitive against the spurs last year and limited duncan to 1.1 asst/game. The nuggets allowed him to get 6+ asst /game(but ONLY 20 ppg) and were nearly swept.