I’ve always had just a little bit of hatred for Tim Duncan. It’s not that I don’t like his game. It’s not that he’s done anything that’s offended me (other than some whining at calls from time to time). No, when I think about Duncan rationally, there’s very little not to like.

Of course, I’m not thinking about Tim Duncan rationally. I’m thinking about him through the eyes of a KG guy. Duncan’s generally regarded as a better player than KG and the primary piece of evidence is the collection of rings that he’s gathered. Duncan’s been the best player on four World Championship teams. As for KG, well, there was that one year where he nearly made The Finals.

To say that there’s an achievement gap between Duncan and KG in the post season is to understate the truth. I still believe that KG is Duncan’s equal (his supporting cast has always been >> Garnett’s) and I also believe that he may be able to show the world that this coming June. Perhaps. Anyway, there are some things that Duncan does better than KG, that’s undeniable. He’s a better shot blocker than KG and he’s a better low post scorer. That low post scoring thing is not a small matter. Too many times I’ve seen KG jab step and then settle for the fall away jumper when I’d love to see him move off his guy toward the basket. I’ve never understood why KG can’t/doesn’t do this. At the same time, it’s hard not to admire Duncan’s moves. He’s The Big Fundamental, and that works for him.

Today’s Strib has an article about BigAlJefferson (from now on, that’s one word) and his admiration for Duncan’s footwork. Normally, stories like this don’t do much for me – I’m 42 years old, eight inches shorter (at least) than Duncan and my feet are as if planted in concrete. Big deal, I can admire Duncan’s footwork, too. But, BigAlJefferson really does have nice footwork, himself. He’s not a passer, he’s much not a defender, he doesn’t have great range, but he’s got a lot of nice low post moves. I like that in a low post player. So, yeah, BigAlJefferson, take notes from The Big Fundamental. Maybe tonight I’ll watch without that feeling of hatred and more of plain old appreciation for one of the true greats in the game.

Tonight the spread is San Antonio –10. GreekHouse would counsel me not to take that –10 bet, but I’m not a good listener. I’m going with the defending World Champions and I’m giving the 10 points. (The over/under is 192.)

One more thing. It's hard not to be bitter sometimes about the way things turned out with KG if you are a passionate fan (damn you McHale and Taylor!). At times I get testy about this club because of that. But, I have never, ever, EVER seen this group of guys lay down like the Knicks did last night. That was the most unprofessional display of basketball I have ever seen in all the years I've been watching the NBA -- and I saw the J.R. Rider years. Boston could have, if they had wanted to, beaten that Knicks club by 70. I like the effort our hometown club has been giving -- that was a heckuva come back this week against Dallas. So, they play hard, which is about all you can ask of the players.

<GreekHouse>I watched a big chunk of the Knicks game last night too. The closest thing to it that I had ever seen was back in 2005, when the Wolves got destroyed by Phoenix. That night was devestating for Wolves fans. They had been struggling but were still over .500 and if they got it together, they could still make a good push for one of the top playoff spots. Instead, they came out and got completely demoralized. A team who is in the running for a championship will never get beaten like this, especially at home.

Of course, that game was a lot different than the Knicks game. They looked like they have thrown in the towel about 5 minutes into the game. Still, I imagine that right now Knicks fans have to feel a lot like I did on that night almost 3 years ago. Their franchise is a mess. The players don't respect the coach, they've got tons of bloated contracts, and they've got nothing in the way of future superstars. At least the Wolves were able to trade Garnett to bring in some young talent and help accelerate the rebuilding process. What are the Knicks going to do? They can't exactly get that kind of value from Marbury or Randolph.

Last night was a really weird night in the NBA. There were only 3 games and they were all blowouts. Houston lost by 19 to the Warriors, and in a remarkable turnaround, the Nuggets turned a 17-point 2nd quarter lead into a 28 point loss. That's a 45 point swing for those of you keeping score at home. In the 4th quarter of that game, Carmelo Anthony was ejected after he hit Vujacic in the throat as he tried to run past. The Nuggets are fortunate that the Knicks game happened on the same night or everyone would be talking about them right now. There has been some bad blood between the Wolves and the Nuggets going back to when the Wolves were good. I still haven't gotten over it and I hope that team goes down in flames.

The interesting thing about last night is that the closest game was decided by 19 points. For all the talk about how bad the Wolves are, they haven't suffered a loss that big all season. The Wolves have been competitive in almost every game they've played so far including an inspired effort against a very good Dallas team on Wednesday, as well as a near win against a now 14-3 Orlando team at the beginning of the season.

Many people are surprised or upset about the Wolves current record, but what did you expect? We knew they weren't going to win a lot at the beginning of the season. There will likely be more pressure from the media for the Wolves to attempt to accelerate the rebuilding process and this is the time where the Wolves front office needs to show restraint and not have a knee-jerk reaction to a bad record. In fact, you could really argue that the Wolves season has gone ideally right now. They're not playing terribly and they're a front runner to win the NBA lottery. I wouldn't expect the front office to make a bad move during the season, but it would seem typical of them to bring in a crappy overpriced veteran in the offseason.

I don't heartily disapprove of SBG's bet tonight. The line last time was Dallas -14. Now we go to play a Spurs team which is considerably better and the line is down to -10. If I were to pick a side, I'd probably pick the Spurs on this one. Instead, I'm going to wuss out and put a silly 55 SBG$ bet on the over.</GreekHouse>