Resting Tim Duncan

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Tim Duncan has not looked himself over the last few games, so much so that Gregg Popovich kept him out of the Timberwolves game. Undoubtedly, this has everything to do with the weariness associated with right quad tendonosis. I’m all for Popovich resting Duncan as much as needed between now and the playoffs. I’m fine, for example, with losing to the Celtics tomorrow night in favor of resting Duncan. In fact, I want to gauge reader response to the following suggestion: Should Popovich go to a policy of resting his stars on back to backs?

Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker all play late into the year and–in the case of Parker and Ginobili–over the summer nearly every season. That takes its toll. It’s one of those things where the actual mileage exceeds expectations if one simply projects distance off make, model and year. The Spurs will not win championships apart from the a healthy core, something which is all too obvious this season.

The Spurs have 3 sets of back-to-backs remaining in the 08/09 campaign. I favor Popovich finding a way to rest his stars in one game of each of those pairs. This would likely include alternating games where, say, Duncan and Parker did not dress. This could also be a helpful way to get George Hill and Drew Gooden minutes prior to the postseason.

But I have three questions for our readers: 1) what do you think about this scheme, 2) would you mind if Popovich used it indefinitely, and 3) would you feel shorted if you attended a game on a back to back in which Popovich was resting a star? Related to all this is the difficult Catch-22 of securing the 2-seed at the cost of grinding the legs of Tim Duncan. Factor that into your thinking.

  • Krista

    The playoffs are what matter. Getting there is primary and seeding is secondary. This season, the only thing I care about is not being seeded 8th. Other than that, it doesn’t really matter. I’d rather the Spurs be a healthy 7 seed than a worn out, injured 2 seed.

    As a season ticket holder, I’ve seen plenty of the big 3 and would rather see them in business casual during back-t0-backs of the regular season than in business casual during the playoffs.

    I might feel differently if I only was able to attend one or two games a year, but I hope that I’d care more about their health than my wants. My first year as a season ticket holder was 96-97, so I know about expectations not being met. But even then, I enjoyed watching them play. It didn’t really matter who was playing or against whom the Spurs were playing.

    So, to answer your questions: 1) if it’ll help them be healthier for the playoffs, I’m all for it; 2) again, if it’ll help them be healthier for the playoffs, I’m all for it; 3) no I would not feel shortened, because the playoffs are more important.

  • Martin

    I fully agree with Krista that rings are what matter…and to get them, we need the team at full strength

    Apart from that, I would like to get the bench up to speed…remember that conversation between Mase and TP where they said “we are going to be beast when we get in sync”?? Fully support it, we need Mason and Bonner to get their shots back and Gooden to gain confidence in the system so he can become the leading big man of the second unit…

    I believe that seeding won’t matter, anyway we’ll have to face LAL, except there is a major upset down the road (The other day I was reading an old post from Bill Simmons on The Sports Guy saying that there was no chance SAS could go past Dallas in the 2007 playoffs…and win a 4th ring) Maybe Dallas/Phoenix can turn to be to LAL what GSW were to Dallas in 07…

  • dtm

    as a diehard spurs fan-

    1. maybe you rest one of the big 3, but not all.
    2.if you play heavy minutes the night before, then i don’t mind. but see my answer to 1. but we need to win games. even though the spurs have the experience to win on the road, with everything going on with timmay and manu, home court definitely helps.
    3. i’m in NY, so if the second game of a b2b was at msg and i went and some guys are sitting out, then yes, i’d feel shorted, cause i bought tix to see timmay/tony/manu play and execute.

    as a manager in my fantasy basketball league… having duncan and ginobili on my team, duncan resting is killing me in my h2h league! LOL

    duncans numbers haven’t been the same since he sat out a couple weeks back… and i mentioned that he didn’t really post up and want the ball in the final mins vs okc in the other article… this isn’t good at all.

  • Jimbo

    I think the Spurs should have two goals for the remainder of the regular season – get (and stay) healthy and lock up the #2 seed. Goes without saying that without being completely healthy this team isn’t going deep into the playoffs.

    I would not be opposed to having 2 (or even all 3) of the big 3 rested on back-to-backs and in certain other winnable games as well. While Pop has managed Parker’s minutes very well, I would especially like to see him get a game or two off given the minutes and the offensive load he has carried this year. As an added advantage, resting the stars would give lesser lights like Hill, Udoka and Gooden time to shine and develop their games in the Spurs’ system.

  • http://www.maxmktg.com Tom

    I would add to the other comments that Manu needs to get into game shape. With his health in mind, he also needs as many of the remaining games to get into form.
    Also, I prefer the Big 3 playing limited minutes and staying in game form than missing entire games. Whether Tim’s scoring is down because of injury or because a week off disrupted his rhythm is debatable. It could have been both.
    In the playoffs there is generally a good amount of time between games. Keeping the #2 seed is important for the second round and slipping to #4 would create a second round matchup with LA.

  • dtm

    the more i think about it.. maybe only duncan needs rest.

    parker was out early in the season. so he “rested” due to injury.
    manu’s been in street clothes more than on the court for the season. he’s “rested” due to injury.

    in years past, popp never really rested anyone. this was the time of the year that the spurs “turned it up” so to speak. this is the time of the year that they started to build momentum, playing great basketball going into the playoffs.

    rest guys vs winnable games? really, i thought okc was a winnable game and we didn’t rest anyone.

    i think the new guys learn the system BETTER if they are playing WITH the big 3 on the court rather than playing without them.

  • Olexiy

    Who needs the seed? The healthy Big 3 will crush any opponent (excluding the LAL) even without the homecourt, so lets risk the seed and get healthy.

  • VI_Massive

    I’m fine with it. If I were a casual fan and bought tix, I’d probably be upset, but I’m such a Spurs geek I’d be thrilled to see any game.

    The NBA season is too long, especially considering many players play for their nation during the NBA off season.

    With an older team like ours that always plays deep into the playoffs, whose guys play for their countries, who’ve struggled with health, it would be stupid not to give the guys extra rest.

  • Mike T

    I agree with DTM that only Duncan needs to rest. It might throw off our rhythm too much with all 3 getting rests. Also, Manu needs as many games as he can in order to get back into the swing of things once he’s healthy.

    I wouldn’t mind even seeing Duncan rest both games of a back to back if the Spurs win the first game without him and feel like the next game is not a must win in order to hold onto the #2 seed (or is winnable without him).

  • ThatBigGuy

    1) This scheme is good. Timmy needs the rest. Play him enough to win and pick the weakest of the back to back teams to not dress him. 2) Pop should use it indefinitely as a tool to keep guys healthy and rested for a playoff run. 3) I’ve attended games since the Hemisphere arena. I consider myself a serious fan. I honestly don’t have a problem with buying a ticket and not seeing a Big 3 play. I enjoy watching Bonner bounce around and Hill get better.

    Look, the ultimate goal of every team is to win a ring. I think, as Spurs fans, we all understand that the organization will do all the right things to make that happen. After 4 rings, not only do I understand, but I trust them completely. We’d have at least 2 more rings if it wasn’t for untimely injuries (Manu last year and Derek Anderson’s shoulder in 2001).

    I also think, as Spurs fans, we hold our team to a higher calling than mere entertainment. Our team wins, yes, but it wins with blue collar players, who are genuinely nice guys. They contribute positively to the community. I think most fans can identify with the players and may actually consider them an extended family of sorts. I know my family and I do. Whatever they do as an organization is ok by me.

  • Will

    Seriously, would you rather have 2nd seed or a healthy big 3 during the playoffs? It’s a no-brainer. Health >>>> seed.

    I trust Pop to get the players just where they need to be when the playoffs start and he should do anything he deems necessary to reach that goal (and luckily, he can).

    Re: attending a game w/o the big 3, that would definitely suck for somebody like me who might only see a couple of Spurs game live in his life. But if it means more rings it’s a small sacrifice that I’m ready to make! And if it becomes a policy then people will know not to buy tickets for the 2nd game of back-to-backs (the Spurs tend to lose those games anyway so it probably wasn’t a great idea to attend them in the first place!)

  • edodgret

    consider a tennis player and resting every other round, will he win? isn’t it against a player’s commitment to ticket buying fans that he should perform on all games. or should a team published their schedules without their players so that fans can know and don’t need to watch if star players will not play…

    so sad for the fans like me