Tim Duncan You Were Fooled

Very interesting article

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Tim Duncan heard the voice, screaming demands during his first four seasons with the Spurs.

There is no mistaking Avery Johnson's high-pitched, nasal intonation and his New Orleans accent, and Duncan grew accustomed to following Johnson's commands when the two were teammates on the Spurs.

Now the coach of the Dallas Mavericks, Johnson used that familiar voice on Friday to confuse the Spurs' All-Star power forward in the fourth quarter of the Mavericks' 90-85 victory.

As the Spurs ran their offense in front of the Mavericks' bench in the second half, Duncan was well within earshot of Johnson's unique inflection. So the Mavericks coach instructed his defenders to double-team Duncan every time he caught the ball in the low post.

Turns out it was a ploy, a wrinkle that perhaps only Johnson could have executed against his old teammate. Johnson had privately ordered his defenders not to follow his directive.

Johnson had set up the tactic by aggressively double-teaming Duncan nearly every time he caught the ball in the post in the first three quarters. Duncan grew wary of the double teams and did a good job of finding open teammates.

"They came (at me) just about every time in the beginning," Duncan said. "In the fourth quarter, Avery just stood over there on the bench and yelled like they were coming, but they didn't."

It was a masterful mind game won by his old teammate, and it rankled Duncan to admit it.

"A very bad (mind game)," Duncan said, "but yeah."

The Mavericks held the Spurs scoreless for 4:59 in the fourth period, squandering an opportunity to extend the 76-73 lead Manu Ginobili gave them with an end-to-end drive that resulted in a three-point play 8:37 remaining.

Their next score came on Ginobili's 3-pointer with 3:38 to play, and Duncan owned up to his role in the critical stretch.

"Honestly, I'll take full and total blame for that situation right there," Duncan said. "It was just bad reason my part.

"(The Mavericks) were half-and-half (on defense). They weren't double-teaming. They weren't doing anything, and I wasn't drawing anybody to me and wasn't taking the shots when they were there. Just bad reads on my part."

Duncan always is candid when he makes mistakes, often more critical of himself than need be. He seemed angrier with himself for falling for Johnson's mind game than for allowing the Mavericks seven offensive rebounds in the second half, most of them critical to Dallas' comeback.
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Avery's coaching has been nothing short of excellent.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketb...tories/MYSA0106

 

Did anyone really doubt he would make a superb coach though? He was basically a head coach on the floor for the last few seasons of his playing career anyway.

 

I always wished he would of came and coached the spurs, he is just real insprational and a great motivator

 

Yeah, but he freaks out pretty easily, maybe it's just beacuse he is young and stuff.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Flow Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah, but he freaks out pretty easily, maybe it's just beacuse he is young and stuff.</div>

Yeah, he's gone on ridiculous tirades in the press room the last two postseasons.