If Duncan wins #5, will people start rating his career above Shaq?

[Odinn]

Yeah, but for the most part, he was not as effective throughout '06 due to plantar fasciitis. The Dallas series was incredible, but for the most part, his mobility didn't seem the same that year, even though to his credit, he didn't really miss any games.

I'd say he was better in '05, except for injuries, they caused him to miss a career high 16 games, and he wasn't 100% during the playoffs. He was a bit more athletic in general in '05 when he was healthy, but he was healthy throughout '07 unlike '05 and '06 and nearly shot a career high from the field at 54.6%, which was just behind his rookie percentage of 54.9%.

Actually I'm not standing against this line;
Tim was great in '07. He had a better season than he had in '06, and arguably '05 as well.

We had a discussion like this before in "the best player year-by-year" thread about 1999. Do you remember?
IMO, Duncan wasn't worse in 2006 compared to 2005 and 2007. He just had a worse season.

[Droid101]

As for their primes and accomplishments;

Your chart has so many statistical and numerical errors it's not even worth using.

[Da_Realist]

If anyone is the modern day Bill Russell, it's clearly him.

Duncan overlooked in search for next MJ

[Odinn]

Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate what Tim is doing and what he still means to his team(see my earlier post), and I'm aware of Pop's quotes, but I still consider Parker the best player on this team like most people do.

I am not exactly saying Duncan is better then Parker. In regular season, it was Parker. In playoffs, it's a toss up. But that was not my point. It's similar to Kareem's 1985 season and playoffs. Do you think Kareem was the best Laker in 1984-85 season?..

[thelucifer69]

Tim Duncan hasn't been the reason they're winning. Tony Parker and outrageously over-performing role players and bench have been getting them wins.

Tim Duncan has been on the decline since he lost finals MVP to his point guard.

TD was way better than TP in 2007 Playoffs check stats:
TD: 27.4PER 22PPG 52.1%FG 11.5RPG 3.3AST
TP: 18.7PER 20.8PPG 48%FG 3.4RPG 5.8AST

In fact TD 2007 Playoffs stats even better than Kobe 2009, 2010 Playoffs

TP got MVP cause Cavs give him to much open court

[ShaqAttack3234]

I am not exactly saying Duncan is better then Parker. In regular season, it was Parker. In playoffs, it's a toss up. But that was not my point. It's similar to Kareem's 1985 season and playoffs. Do you think Kareem was the best Laker in 1984-85 season?..

Very close. Magic was adding the outside shot around '84 and '85, and Kareem had lost a bit defensively, but still remained the one Laker who drew double teams and easily their best scorer. I guess it was kind of 1.A/1.B with Kareem the man in the half court(and still more of a defensive presence than Magic), but Magic was the man with their trademark fastbreak.

I'd go with Kareem without hesitating through 1983, and Magic without hesitating from the '86-'87 season on, but those middle years are very tough.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Actually I'm not standing against this line;
Tim was great in '07. He had a better season than he had in '06, and arguably '05 as well.

We had a discussion like this before in "the best player year-by-year" thread about 1999. Do you remember?
IMO, Duncan wasn't worse in 2006 compared to 2005 and 2007. He just had a worse season.

Yeah, I vaguely remember. A healthy Duncan or Duncan by the playoffs was just as capable, I'm just saying that throughout the season, Duncan was limited so he wasn't always as capable in '06 because of that.

Parker's their best player, but Duncan's contributions would be more difficult for the Spurs to replace than Parker's.

That may be true because it's a point guards league, though the number of point guards who could replace Parker this season might be similar to the number of big men, I'd have to think. KG might be one, especially since he's proved capable of playing center, and Howard would be the other. Prior to the playoffs, I may have said Bynum, but his immaturity could kill the Spurs.

What point guards do you think could replace Parker in the Spurs system? I'd be hesitant to include Westbrook because the thing Pop really wanted this year was for Parker to be more of a facilitator.

I am not exactly saying Duncan is better then Parker. In regular season, it was Parker. In playoffs, it's a toss up. But that was not my point. It's similar to Kareem's 1985 season and playoffs. Do you think Kareem was the best Laker in 1984-85 season?..

Very close. Magic was adding the outside shot around '84 and '85, and Kareem had lost a bit defensively, but still remained the one Laker who drew double teams and easily their best scorer. I guess it was kind of 1.A/1.B with Kareem the man in the half court(and still more of a defensive presence than Magic), but Magic was the man with their trademark fastbreak.

I'd go with Kareem without hesitating through 1983, and Magic without hesitating from the '86-'87 season on, but those middle years are very tough.

And I can agree that it was clearly Parker in the regular season and the 1st round, but clearly Duncan in the 2nd round.

[Pointguard]

I have Kobe ahead of Wade on my GOAT ranking list.
I have Shaq as the most dominant player from '00-02.

However, I believe if Duncan had a player like Wade there would be no questions as to who was better between Duncan and Shaq. The ring count thing would be a dead issue. The only question would be between whose team was it in SA. Duncan was a much better team player than Kobe or Shaq and a more positive influence. He won like they won and never really had somebody offensively like they always had. Both Kobe and Shaq should have won more and Duncan should have won less. In the end winning percentages are about the same. And this is with Kobe and Shaq having had top position players on their team almost the entire '00 decade to help burden their record and playoffs.

[D-Wade316]

I rate his career over Shaq, but Shaq's peak is the reason why he's lower on the list for me. Winning a ring would put him over Shaq.

[rmt]

As currently constructed, Duncan is more important to the Spurs than Parker is because of the depth of the backcourt/perimeter players and the lack of quality big men. So even with Parker shooting 1-9 (7 points), SA beat LAC easily in their first game. Parker's points are replaceable but Duncan's defense/post game are not replaceable by Diaw, Bonner, Blair and to some extent Splitter (who is closest to replacing what Duncan does for the Spurs).

A 5th championship would be icing on the cake for Duncan at this stage of his career. His stats vs LAC:

34 minutes per game
21 points
59.4% from the field
80% at the line
9.3 rebounds
3.3 assists
2 blocks
1.3 turnovers
1.8 fouls
+69 plus/minus

Not bad for a 36 year old. I'd say he's been about even with Parker this playoffs.

[DJ Leon Smith]

TD had a better career, Shaq had a better peak. Most sane fans will agree.

Of course, Kobe fans will try to say that KB had a better career and peak. That's why they're Kobe fans. They suck on his balls like they're drowning and Kobe's balls are their only source of oxygen.

[comerb]

No. If you ever watched Shaq play in his prime you'd know this.

[Whoah10115]

I hate these threads.



He's already ahead of Shaq.


There.

[LBJMVP]

dont really understand why people knock kobe from being in the top 10...

besides the ISH community, most of the planet will have kobe in the top 5 a couple years after he retires.


as for duncan being higher than shaq... i dont think so.

[Big#50]

Duncan has been the Spurs best player since the break. He has been the most Important player in the playoffs. All Parker does is take more shots.