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<!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="font-size:large;">Two of a Kind: One sidekick to Duncan</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><br>
<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Sam R</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->.</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br>
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<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Exactly who is Duncan's sidekick in '04?</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> <br>
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Tim Duncan has been the Spurs’ main offensive weapon since he joined the team in 1997. He is powerful, dominant, fundamentally sound, unselfish, and he has always had a sidekick. Until this year.<br>
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Standing comfortably at 23-3, the Spurs have repeatedly shown why they are one of the top teams in the league. The main reason why they are so powerful, so early this year is that they have so many offensive weapons: Parker, Manu, Devin, Duncan, Malik, and occasionally Bowen, Rasho, and Beno. This is a new concept for team used to winning in the style of Old Western movies. Every great hero had his sidekick. It wasn’t until David got Duncan that the Spurs got their first championship. It wasn’t until Duncan became a young David that the Spurs won their second. This is not an uncommon formula. Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen. Shaq had Kobe (although Kobe will tell you it was the other way around). Rip Hamilton had Ben Wallace. Magic had Kareem. Larry had Bill. Championships are won by pairs, and it’s no coincidence that winning one championship usually means that another one will follow shortly.<br>
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Even with the past few games in which France has gotten more respect from one city that it as from several nations, there is no clear second option. Manu can break out for 20 points a night, and he proved that he could do so with consistency in the beginning of the season. Once Manu faded, Devin Brown took his cue and grabbed the spotlight with high percentage shooting. This carried him a few games as well. Just as quickly as Devin stepped out, Parker stepped in. A scoring point guard who is just as happy dishing out 12 assists as he is scoring 25 points, Parker gets into the lane and breaks down defenses with ease. When he scores over 20 points, the Spurs are all but guaranteed the win. <br>
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The problem the Spurs are facing is about as a good a problem as any team could have. Simply put, they have too many scorers. There are so many applicants for Duncan’s sidekick position that it’s almost nerve wracking trying to predict which player will have a big game. It isn’t that Spurs fans want less offensive threats, it’s that they want what they’re used to: two, consistent scorers that they can count on for a certain number of points each night.<br>
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Spurs fans have been raised on consistency; they’ve been force fed predictability as long as the Spurs have been a winning franchise. Perhaps Manu is a great metaphor for the changing of times. David was in his final year when Manu emerged as a true contributor in the league. As unpredictable as Manu can be, he is consistent. There is order amongst the chaos of behind-the-backs, no-looks, spins, fakes, cross-overs, and the endless number of tricks which Manu uses to light up the crowd and the score board each game. He is predictably unpredictable each and every night. The Spurs and their fans can count on him to play a style of basketball which is anything but fundamental. It’s the black sheep amongst the herd of white. And it’s just the kind of basketball that will keep the Spurs winning for years to come.<br>
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One of the most frequent, and most difficult questions to answer during training camp and much of pre-season was “Who is going to be the second scoring option?” The answer was just as clear as it was hard to accept: there would be no sidekick. Truth be told, there will be many games when Duncan is not even the star. Spurs fans aren’t used to this. They crave for a David Robinson, a Sean Elliot, a yin to the proverbial yang. Duncan, meanwhile, could not be happier. He has his choice of options to pass the ball to when he gets double teamed. From there, the Spurs have several options to whom they can swing the ball for an even more wide open look. The answer to the question of shooting is not a single player, as many had hoped Brent would be, but rather a group of players who mesh seamlessly to become one solid unit. One sidekick to Duncan.<br>
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And one more championship for the Spurs.
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<!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://donttakemeseriously.blogspot.com/">Don't Take Me Seriously: The Samr Blog</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>
</p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p204.ezboard.com/bsanantoniospurs62937.showUserPublicProfile?gid=maorza@sanantoniospurs62937>Maorza</A> at: 12/29/04 2:45 am<br></i>
2003 
