By Ron Tillery
March 27, 2005
Credible people close to the San Antonio Spurs believe that Tim Duncan's ankle injury is more serious than the team is reporting. Duncan, they say, will be out until next season.
Memphis Commercial AppealAnd here in my neck of the woods.....the
New York Daily News woke us up to this in the morning back pages.....
Tim & none
That's what Spurs' chances for title are if Duncan's out
From Seattle to Phoenix to Dallas, and in every Western Conference playoff town in between, team executives, players and coaches are on a Tim Duncan watch.
A week ago,
Duncan severely sprained his right ankle and could be out for the rest of the regular season with ligament damage that may not fully heal until next season. His status for the playoffs, and how effective he can be in the postseason, is the most significant development in the West since the Lakers broke up their mini-dynasty last summer by trading Shaquille O'Neal to the Heat.
"The entire West changed dramatically with Shaq leaving the Lakers," said Seattle GM Rick Sund this past week. "If Duncan is not 100% when the playoffs start, it changes things in our conference in a big way. I've always felt that Phoenix was the best team out here, anyway, even before Duncan went down. But he is the most dominant player in the West . . . If he's not his normal self for the playoffs, then that gives everybody a legitimate shot to get to the Finals."
The loss of Duncan could be a huge break for the Sonics, who could finish with the No. 2 seed, even with Vladimir Radmanovic, their third-most important player, out for the rest of the regular season with a leg injury.
But the biggest winner could be Phoenix, which is looking at its first No. 1 seed since posting the best record overall in 1993. That would cap a remarkable turnaround. The Suns finished in the lottery last season after winning only 29 games.
"Tim is an obvious impact player and his absence could certainly affect the Western Conference playoff picture," said Bryan Colangelo, the Suns' GM. "The No. 1 seed has been our goal all along, and we have competed neck-and-neck with the Spurs all season. What we need to worry about, however, is that we stay sharp and focused and compete each night as if nothing has changed."
There hasn't been a Western Conference champion outside of the Lakers or San Antonio since Utah won the conference in 1998. Since then, the Lakers and Spurs have won five of the last six NBA championships, with Detroit finally ending the West's domination last June.
"I can't worry about how this will impact us for the playoffs, because I really don't know at this time," said Spurs executive VP-coach Gregg Popovich. "Tim's disappointed because he was starting to get on his roll. But he knows that is over with and he's got to start over. So he's got to start to change gears and has gotten into rehab mode."
The West could well come down to how Duncan's recovery goes between now and the start of the playoffs on April 23.
"The Spurs are one of the few exceptions in that if they have Duncan, it doesn't matter if they have the homecourt advantage," said Boston coach Doc Rivers. "They've got veterans, they've been together and they've won. But without Duncan, you might see a team like Houston go to the Finals. They've got two stars - Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, one inside and one outside - and a ton of veterans who can shoot. I wouldn't be shocked to see them go far. Because without Duncan, the West now is actually a small conference and a speed conference."
And suddenly, a conference up for grabs.
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