3-on-3: The possibility of a canceled season

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Photo credit: The Brit_2

It’s Monday and you know what that means: this week’s Spurs 3-on-3. This week, we tackle three questions focusing on the post-apocalyptic world of a cancelled NBA season. No, we don’t want that to happen. Yes, we do like to be optimistic. But you know what? This lockout has pretty much sapped the optimism right out of me. Instead, we’re going to get all bleak on you in hopes that turns our fortunes around.

1. Fact or fiction. The big three should play abroad if the season is cancelled?

Graydon Gordian, 48 Minutes of Hell: Fiction. Tony Parker is already playing overseas, and Manu looks poised to make the leap back to his old Italian league. But I don’t see why Tim Duncan would subject himself to any additional wear and tear, much less the risk of serious injury.

Timothy Varner, 48 Minutes of Hell: Fiction. Tony Parker’s age and Manu Ginobili’s competitive spirit make a year of overseas play the right option for their careers, but Tim Duncan wouldn’t benefit from the action and shouldn’t subject his body to the risk of injury.

Andrew McNeill, 48 Minutes of Hell: Fact. It’s not going to happen, at least for Tim Duncan it won’t, but it might still be worthwhile. Tony Parker’s already overseas. Manu will probably follow. Duncan won’t play if the season is wiped out, but he could use a few games this season, just to see some game action.

2. How does a possible cancelled season affect Tim Duncan, a year older or a year of rest?

Graydon Gordian, 48MoH: There’s obviously the chance a cancelled season will mean the end of Duncan’s career — this is the last year on his contract — but it may mean Duncan has actually rested too much. At his age, it’s important to strike a balance between activity and rest, and the lockout is possibly tipping the scale too far towards the latter.

Timothy Varner, 48MoH: A cancelled season could mean Tim Duncan’s career is over. I don’t think that sort of prolonged rest will help him at all. At Duncan’s age, the body needs consistency more than anything else. Too much activity hurts, but no activity whatsoever is a precondition for retirement.

Andrew McNeill, 48MoH: One more year on the body. Sure he’s avoiding some wear and tear, but I think you have to treat him like an old car. You have to take it out every month or so at least to keep it running. A whole season lost could lead to the wheels falling off.

3. What will Spurs fans miss the most in the event the 2011-12 season is cancelled?

Graydon Gordian, 48MoH: Watching Tim Duncan. Duncan is no longer the dominant player he once was, but opportunities to watch him don the silver and black grow fewer by the day. As the lockout drags on, we’re missing an opportunity to truly savor who Duncan is and what he has done for the franchise.

Timothy Varner, 48MoH: Tim Duncan. Gregg Popovich. An official goodbye to what was an historic run. Maybe that’s a little too much drama, but it’s possible a cancelled season is the final piece of punctuation on the Spurs’ recent dynasty.

Andrew McNeill, 48MoH: Manu Ginobili’s highlight video of plays on YouTube. Manu is 34 years old, like Tim Duncan, he doesn’t have a lot left in the tank. He can only play his reckless, creative, spur-of-the-moment style so much. If we lose a year of that, imagine the never before seen plays that blow up Twitter that we’ll miss.

  • Joe Perez

    Alright! Enought! To much of nothing here thats why the team went out to get a the top trainer. The Big Three got their own trainers so you can call it a year of rest or rust. I think they are just going to be out of sink but ready to goooo.

  • Titletown99030507d

    We might as well start over and rebuild next season, dump all the high profile contracts if allowed, loose as many as games as possible , get a nice lottery pick yeah us and 30 something other teams, and oh yeah have a big party for Tim, Manu and Tony. Was a nice run. Can’t wait for the DVD.

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  • Bry

    So disappointing. I’m baffled why they didn’t even send a counter offer. They could have made a few changes in their favor (but kept it at 50/50) and then send it back to the league and the decertified anyway! That would have put it on the league. I don’t get it. Man, think of how many Hall of Fame players are gonna lose a crucial piece of their late career. Timmy, Manu, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, to a lesser extent Nowitzki. It hurts all the older teams, like SA, Dallas, and the Lakers (how old is Fisher?); all teams that won at least 50 games last year. All this coming off the most successful NBA season in recent memory? Man, this sucks….

  • james evans

    This the worst move possible for Tim and the older players. I don’t think either side is going to blink and, unless some sanity prevails that has been absent, we are in for a very long year of no basketball. These guys, in one the worst economic periods in decades, are virtually burning 4 billion dollars up. They’ll never get it back either. Tim might be tempted to get back some of the 20 million he’s going to lose by forcing one more year. Wouldn’t you? He’ll still be better than our alternatives, but at a big piece of the cap in all likelihood.

  • Titletown99030507d

    How much of that 20 mil? Hope Timmy settles for 5-6 mil for one more year. Wow how do you come to grips seeing 20 mil circling the drain?

  • Titletown99030507d

    Timmy is the one getting burned the most. He’s probably thinking of just retiring like some of the posters have mentioned. Call it a career and kick back on the beach in St.Croix and just being plain ol Theodore.

  • Tyler

    I think the players’ union is scrambling at this point. In many ways, this feels like a desperation move. If they had planned more carefully, they would have started the decertification process months ago (like the NFL). That would bring the fight to the courtroom and add a little more uncertainty to the situation. The fear of the unknown might add a little leverage to the players’ side. Instead, negotiations failed precisely because the owners have little incentive to give in to any player demands.

    Everyone (including the players) knew the owners were going to get the better part of this deal, but from a pure tactical standpoint, the players have been outmaneuvered at every point in the negotiations. The owners clearly have a plan, and they’re executing it. The players union? It’s hard for me to see a plan there.

    IMO, the players need to get the owners back to the bargaining table. And even though the revenue split won’t get any better than 50/50, they might be able to make progress on a few minor system issues. The fact remains, the players will lose much, much more than they will gain by holding out.

  • http://48minutesofhell.com Andrew A. McNeill

    It’s got to be tough to stomach, but I would assume Duncan has a trustworthy enough business manager that he won’t take too much of a financial hit.

  • titletown99030507d

    It’s the owners faults for paying ridiculous contracts to players that don’t pan out and now want out. If they want to be competitive on an even keel with all the other teams without spending too much money then firstly put every team in the lottery every year and agree with the other teams not to pay them over a set point. Secondly cut your season to 41 games and after that start a 30 team playoff system. How more even can you get. Everybody’s happy?

  • Betamale_v2

    Its tarts with a lock out. it ends with a lockout