Someday, I hope Danny and Brad Stevens can turn the Celtics into this

[D.o.s.]

the idea that Tim Duncan's is an 'underrated player' is remarkably overdone

And my point to you is that Duncan is not "underrated" or "overrated" at all.  He's widely believed to be the greatest PF ever... one of the top 10 players of all time... He's properly rated as such.

Sure. You quoted Simmons's ranking of Duncan as part of your case -- go dust it off and read the whole section on Duncan: the whole thing is about how underrated he is. There was also that whole Duncan/South Park column, and beyond the ESPNers you can't find a single Yahoo et. al article about the Spurs that doesn't at least allude to Duncan's tireless consistency and underappreciated demeanor, etc.

[pokeKingCurtis]

We had KG. A speedster in Rondo and a crafty scorer in Pierce. The semblance to the Spurs was quite uncanny.

The reason the Spurs are still in it... Pop said "screw it" one year and started going up-tempo. Doc did not. Now the entire offense is based around Parker and 3's instead of Duncan. Of course, Pop had the luxury of having Duncan for his entire career.

Maybe Doc would have made the change too given the same circumstances.

Can't help but wonder what would have happened had we made a Spur-like change.

[Robert24]

I wish we could get Embiid.

[Global Celtic]

We had KG. A speedster in Rondo and a crafty scorer in Pierce. The semblance to the Spurs was quite uncanny.

The reason the Spurs are still in it... Pop said "screw it" one year and started going up-tempo. Doc did not. Now the entire offense is based around Parker and 3's instead of Duncan. Of course, Pop had the luxury of having Duncan for his entire career.

Maybe Doc would have made the change too given the same circumstances.

Can't help but wonder what would have happened had we made a Spur-like change.

Pop is an elite coach, someone that understands all the aspects involved in elite basketball (Psychology included). Doc's a good coach - not an elite one.

[RyNye]

the idea that Tim Duncan's is an 'underrated player' is remarkably overdone

And my point to you is that Duncan is not "underrated" or "overrated" at all.  He's widely believed to be the greatest PF ever... one of the top 10 players of all time... He's properly rated as such.

Sure. You quoted Simmons's ranking of Duncan as part of your case -- go dust it off and read the whole section on Duncan: the whole thing is about how underrated he is. There was also that whole Duncan/South Park column, and beyond the ESPNers you can't find a single Yahoo et. al article about the Spurs that doesn't at least allude to Duncan's tireless consistency and underappreciated demeanor, etc.

I think there is a massive disconnect with respect to Tim Duncan and the Spurs, though maybe that has changed as a result of these last two high-profile Finals.

Every dedicated and passionate basketball fan has known for at least a decade that Tim Duncan is one of the greatest to ever play the game. But not all basketball fans are so dedicated and passionate; to casual fans, Tim Duncan (and the Spurs in general) have never been exciting enough to capture their attention. If you ask a random person off the street who the best power forward of all time is, you probably won't hear Tim Duncan's name. But if you ask any basketball nerd or reporter or anything, Tim Duncan will be the first name mentioned.

So, there is a segment of the population for which he is underrated in comparison to players like Kobe or LeBron who are more marketable and famous outside of us obsessive fans.

[Celtics4ever]

Duncan bank shot in the low post is one of the best I have ever seen.

[Global Celtic]

the idea that Tim Duncan's is an 'underrated player' is remarkably overdone

And my point to you is that Duncan is not "underrated" or "overrated" at all.  He's widely believed to be the greatest PF ever... one of the top 10 players of all time... He's properly rated as such.

Sure. You quoted Simmons's ranking of Duncan as part of your case -- go dust it off and read the whole section on Duncan: the whole thing is about how underrated he is. There was also that whole Duncan/South Park column, and beyond the ESPNers you can't find a single Yahoo et. al article about the Spurs that doesn't at least allude to Duncan's tireless consistency and underappreciated demeanor, etc.

I think there is a massive disconnect with respect to Tim Duncan and the Spurs, though maybe that has changed as a result of these last two high-profile Finals.

Every dedicated and passionate basketball fan has known for at least a decade that Tim Duncan is one of the greatest to ever play the game. But not all basketball fans are so dedicated and passionate; to casual fans, Tim Duncan (and the Spurs in general) have never been exciting enough to capture their attention. If you ask a random person off the street who the best power forward of all time is, you probably won't hear Tim Duncan's name. But if you ask any basketball nerd or reporter or anything, Tim Duncan will be the first name mentioned.

So, there is a segment of the population for which he is underrated in comparison to players like Kobe or LeBron who are more marketable and famous outside of us obsessive fans.

I think the level of respect and admiration about Duncan/Pop/Spurs culture is higher than ever. There were times where I would get bored watching them, but know they're such a machine (like President Brad Stevens said) that 98% of basketball fans really enjoy the experience. I hope someday we can say that about the Celtics.

[DesertDweller]

We are the Boston Celtics and don't need to take lessons from someone else's style of basketball!!!  shortly the C's will be making it happen again and "Pop" and his Spurs and Lebron and the Heat will be history!!!

[chambers]

Ok well we need to:

1) draft a top 10 all time player. how about the best power forward, even better than Kevin Garnett? Then have that player turn into a 20/10 center for the latter part of his career? Who made the All NBA first team in 2013? Tick.

2) Draft an All NBA second team point guard with a mid first round pick. Tick.

3) sign the arguably greatest basketball coach and one of the greatest basketball minds in the world as your coach for...well basically forever. Tick.

4) get your Hall of fame NBA threesome to sign to team friendly contracts.

Ok lets do this thing!

[oldmanspeaks]

I don't know about ever getting a team that passes as well as San Antonio. I am an old man and I have seen a huge number of great players but never have seen a team that passed as well as San Antonio. In game 4 in particular I was in awe. I have seen better individual passers such a Bird, Stockton, Magic, etc but I have never seen a team where so many people could pass the ball so well. To see 5-6 touches with a purpose time after time is rare to say the least. I can easily see better individual talent than San Antonio as they are old and many have flaws but as team passers they may be in a class by themselves.