TIMMY TIME!

Duncan está jugando realmente mal al final de los partidos contra Detroit, a tal punto que algunos están empezando a dudar de él.

Creo que mañana deberá realmente dominar el partido para redimirse, y ruego que así sea. Eso o que Manu meta 40. Ok, prefiero que Manu meta 40. Je. Y gane MVP.

Prometo que si eso pasa hago algo públicamente sacrificado... podría bajar 5 kilos, por ejemplo. Aunque eso a la larga es más para mi que otra cosa. Ok, les invito a los primeros cinco en mandar un mail a tomar una cerveza. Bueno, eso lo puedo hacer igual. No se, algo hago.

Voy a estar tan contento que seré capaz de casi cualquier cosa...

Mientras, lean. Crédito a Bill Simmons de ESPN Page 2.

Is anyone else torn on this Tim Duncan thing? Did any of the other top-20 players in NBA history ever display anything close to the Tim Duncan "I'm not even sure if this next free throw is hitting the rim" face? Remember, this isn't the first time he's looked shaky in a big playoff series. Two years ago, after he played a terrible Game 2 against the Nets, I wrote this sequence about him:

"Duncan might be the Most Valuable Player in the league, certainly the first guy you would build a franchise around … but after watching him for six seasons, should we still worry about his crunch-time nerves like this? Will he ever peak the way Hakeem did in '94 and '95? Will he ever destroy the league for an entire spring, lay his stamp on everyone and everything, and head into the summer thinking to himself, 'You know what? There isn't a guy in the league who can stop me.' I'm just not getting that vibe from him. Duncan is great, but he's not that great. At least not yet."

Believe me, I'm not falling prey to the reactionary journalism that seems to be sweeping the nation right now, where you can make one point on one day and completely contradict yourself the next, with no repercussions. Whatever happens tomorrow night, it won't change the fact that Duncan is the best power forward of all time, as well as one of the top 20 players ever. But there are levels of greatness. For instance, you would have had to pretty much murder Bill Russell to win a Game 7 against him. Same with MJ and Bird. Other superstars were a little shakier at times – like Magic, who played the 1984 Finals with both hands around his neck. But that experience made him stronger, and by 1987, he was a cold-blooded killer at the end of games.

And I guess what I'm trying to say is this: I don't see that same quality from Tim Duncan. Does he have it in him? Can he protect his house? In my book, that's the most compelling story of Game 7. Nothing else is close.

(As always, the poor Pistons get overlooked. Again. Sorry, guys.)