San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan (left) and former Houston Rockets' Dikembe Mutombo joke while helping volunteers construct the 5th Ward Legends Playspace Friday Feb. 15, 2013 in Houston, Tx. The event is part of the NBA All-Star weekend. (Photo by Edward A. Ornelas/Express-News)
By Mike Monroe
HOUSTON ? Forty-five seconds into one of his least favorite All-Star weekend activities, Tim Duncan?s response was interrupted from afar during a mandatory Friday morning session with reporters peppering him with questions both perceptive and inane.
?How are you doing, old man,? former Spurs forward Robert Horry shouted across a hotel ballroom overflowing with inquiring minds.
?What?s up?? Duncan shouted back to ?Big Shot Rob,? the seven-time NBA champion who helped the Spurs win their third and fourth NBA titles in 2005 and 2007 before retiring in 2008, at age 37, after five seasons in silver and black.
?Can you still walk?? Horry said, punctuating the question with a cackle.
?A little bit,? Duncan said. ?Just a little bit, but I?m still younger than you, buddy.?
Horry?s question about Duncan?s ambulatory skills was hardly impertinent. He knew the Spurs captain sat out the first four games of the rodeo road trip after Washington?s Martell Webster rolled into the back of his legs in a game at the AT&T Center on Feb. 2, sending the Spurs captain sprawling to the floor in pain.
Clutching the left knee that has been an occasional bother since surgery was required to repair torn cartilage late in the 1999-2000 season, Duncan wasn?t thinking about the ? significance of being selected for his 14th All-Star Game a year after being left off the Western Conference roster, a first for his career.
?I was in a lot of pain and had no concept of time frame,? Duncan said. ?I didn?t know how long I?d be out or how I?d feel the next day.
?I got lucky, so I?m here.?
Luck was a byproduct of informed caution. Duncan has been wearing a brace on his left knee for the past two seasons and says he would not be in Houston this weekend had he been without it when Webster hit him.
?From what I hear,? he said Friday, ?it saved my (anterior cruciate ligament). Overall, it?s saved my career the last couple of years.?
Duncan also credits rigorous adherence to a program of healthy eating and offseason conditioning that has made the 36-year-old lighter and quicker and taken some of the strain off the creaky left knee.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has held him out of games in recent seasons, even when healthy, because he wants him at optimal health for the playoffs.
?The only thing we really do, and we?ve done it for a lot of years, is we usually sit down and pick a number for (average) minutes,? Popovich explained. ?That?s what we try to stick to for the season. We?ve done that with Timmy, Tony (Parker) and Manu (Ginobili). That?s the one thing we do before the season starts, and we see how close we can stay to that.
?As far as what games they play and what games they don?t play, that depends a lot on the nicks and bruises they have and how quickly the games are coming. If there are a lot of back-to-backs or four in five nights or seven in nine days, five in eight days, we try to put some money in the bank for later in the season, so to speak.?
Health aside, Duncan was named to the Western All-Star squad because he has had his most productive season in four years and his best defensive season since the last time the Spurs hoisted the Larry O?Brien trophy as NBA champions, in 2007.
Blocking five shots in the one game he did play on the rodeo trip put Duncan at 2.8 blocks per game, the second-highest total of his career. Only in his MVP season of 2002-03 was he a more effective shot-blocker. He takes particular delight in blocking more shots now that he has lost much of what limited athleticism he ever had.
?He amazes me with his ability to dominate games just through his basketball intelligence and fundamentals,? said Spurs forward Matt Bonner, in Houston to compete in tonight?s 3-point shootout. ?They don?t call him ?The Big Fundamental? for nothing. Always being a step ahead of everybody, mentally, is just incredible to watch. He?s still at the top of his game at this point in his career.
?Honestly, I don?t see any signs of him slowing down. People ask me how long I think he can play. Until he?s 50? 60? I don?t know. It just seems like what he does, he could do forever.?
Fountain of youth
As Tim Duncan prepares to make his 14th All-Star Game appearance at age 36, here?s a comparison of his per-game averages this season to those he logged in the Spurs? last NBA title season in 2006-07:
2012-13?? ?Stat?? ?2006-07
17.2?? ?Points?? ?20.0
9.6?? ?Rebounds?? ?10.6
2.8?? ?Blocks?? ?2.4
2.8?? ?Assists?? ?3.4
50.2?? ?FG pct.?? ?54.6
82.4?? ?FT pct.?? ?63.7
Source: NBA.com
mikemonroe@express-news.net
Twitter: @Monroe_SA
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