EL SEGUNDO HERALD July 21, 2016 Page 5 Duncan Retires, but Is He Better Than Kobe? By Adam Serrao Nothing about Tim Duncan was ever flashy. Standing at 6 feet 11 inches tall, Duncan was a quiet, gentle giant who let his play on the basketball court speak for itself. If there was one thing that stood out the most “His career will speak for itself as being perhaps one of the best careers a power forward has ever experienced in the history of the league.” about Duncan, it was the five championship trophies that he collected and brought to San Antonio throughout his 19 year NBA career. Just as silently as Duncan came, he also left. On July 11, Duncan quietly announced his retirement from the NBA. There was no big press conference. No crying at a podium. No bright lights or glitz and glamour. Just one simple announcement that came through the newswire and like that, Duncan was gone and retired. His career will speak for itself as being perhaps one of the best careers a power forward has ever experienced in the history of the league. As good as Duncan was, though, will he be overshadowed by Los Angeles’ very own, Kobe Bryant? Duncan and Bryant happened to retire from the game that they both so loved in the same exact year; Duncan after 19 years of service, Kobe after 20. The conversation about who was the better player can go on and on, as it has, listing stat after stat comparing the two players to one another in every single numerical category. Not only would that be boring, though, but it also wouldn’t work. Duncan and Bryant played two exclusively different positions on the basketball court, so comparing the two players to one another by statistics only would be like comparing the health benefits you receive from a fruit as opposed to a vegetable. They’re both beneficial to your health, so just consume both. That’s what we’ve done with the careers of Bryant and Duncan. We’ve already consumed them. They were both good for us. But is there a way to tell which one was better? Proponents of Bryant will go off saying that he averaged so many points a game, scored so many points in his career and made so many All-Star games. Duncan’s supporters, on the other hand, will list his player efficiency rating, rebounding numbers and total blocked shots. Again, those numbers are all boring and mean nothing because the two players play different positions on the court. Duncan should have more rebounds. Kobe should have more points. What really stands out about a career, however, is how you played with others and the result attained at the end of the regular season. The Spurs have won 71 percent of the games that have been played throughout Duncan’s career. That’s a pretty staggering number that is given even more light once it is realized that in his 19 years in the NBA, Duncan has never been on a team that has won less than 50 games. That’s pretty impressive; especially considering that Kobe and the Lakers are coming off of the final season of his career in which they won a total of 17 games. Duncan had the unique ability to be selfless, take less money to get better players on his team, take the back seat to players like Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard, and continuously put his team in a position to win, year after year. Bryant, meanwhile, had to be the A, number one, alpha dog, man-of-all-men every time he stepped out there on the court. That same drive and ambition is certainly what led to five championships for the Black Mamba, but it’s also what pushed certain players away, decreased the talent on the team, and led to back-to-back franchise-worst seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers. While “The Big Fundamental” - as Duncan was plainly called - experienced continued success with his team, year after year, Bryant See Duncan, page 12 Douglass M O R T U A R Y “Our Family Serving Yours Since 1954” B U R I A L - C R E M A T I O N - W O R L D W I D E T R A N S F E R P E T M E M O R I A L P R O D U C T S 500 EAST IMPERIAL AVENUE EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA 90245 Telephone (310) 640-9325 • Fax (310) 640-0778 • FD658 Up and Adam Tartars Volleyball Season Spoiled by South By Adam Serrao The Torrance Tartars boys volleyball team had a rather successful season this past year but couldn’t seem to escape the shadows of their rivals from South High. A second “The Tartars didn’t spend any time licking their wounds or feeling sorry for themselves because of their losses to the Spartans.” place finish in the Pioneer League standings followed by a playoff berth highlighted a list of accomplishments for the Tartars this season. The Spartans, however, proved to be the pesky cross-town rivals this year that the Tartars were to them last year. Despite an early playoff exit, though, and some struggles against their rivals from South, Torrance persisted to have a great all around year. With experience to build off of and a year to learn from, head coach Nathan Jones and the rest of the Tartars look like they should be placed towards the top of the Pioneer League in their sport for some time to come. Last year, the Tartars certainly proved to be a thorn in the side of the Spartans on their way to an undefeated league season and a first place Pioneer League finish. En route to their division crown, Torrance wound up beating South High two straight times and lost only one set to their rivals all year long. Unfortunately, that success would come back to bite the Tartars just one year later. A reinvigorated and rejuvenated team from South High wouldn’t forget about the sweep that Torrance put on them just one year earlier. South was out for revenge versus the Tartars and unfortunately for Torrance, they would get it. The first matchup between the Tartars and the Spartans came rather early on in the year. Only five games into the season, the two teams would get their first rematch since the Tartars sweeping last year. Both teams came out with passion and the first set was close at the start, but South ultimately pulled away to take it, 25-16. Torrance would battle back, taking the second set, but the Spartans had all of the momentum on their side as they rallied and defeated Torrance, two sets to one. “It was a tough match, I thought we fought pretty hard and gave it our best,” Torrance senior, Jared Kuwae said. “It just wasn’t our game today. Next time we play them, we’re getting them.” Kuwae was the player of the game for Torrance on the day, finishing the game with 11 kills. Unfortunately for Kuwae and the Tartars, the next matchup would feature more of the same. Torrance would wind up playing South two more times on the year, but contrary to Kuwae’s prediction, the Spartans would prove to simply have the Tartars number. Two 3-0 sweeps ultimately put a wrench in Torrance’s season and saw the Tartars drop well behind South High in the standings, while also losing the season series to their rivals, 3-0. While those losses certainly hurt, there was much more to play for in a season where even second place could get you into the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs. The Tartars didn’t spend any time licking their wounds or feeling sorry for themselves because of their losses to the Spartans. Instead, they regrouped and rallied to beat every other team they faced in league play. The Tartars swept their league opponent Leuzinger without losing a set in either match. They went up against Centennial and did the same exact thing. In fact, the only time that the Tartars lost a set to anyone but South High in the Pioneer League this year was when they lost a close 25-21 set to North and a close 30-28 set to West. Otherwise, the Tartars finished their league play unblemished, rallying from their losses to South to go 8-2 in Pioneer League competition. While Torrance finished their league play on fire, the playoffs became another story. Their first-round matchup was to be against a Valencia Vikings team that, like the Tartars, finished in second place in their division with only two league play losses on the year. A matchup that seemed pretty even from the outset quickly turned ugly for Torrance. The first set of the match ended with Valencia up by 10 points. While the second and third were closer by margin of victory (25-21, 25-17), the Tartars still failed to gain any momentum. In their firstround playoff match, Torrance was swept 3-0 and watched their season come to an abrupt end. Coach Jones hopes that the future looks bright for his team, but he will have to deal with a ton of player turnover due to graduation. Captain, Kyle Nakahira, will be leaving the team, in addition to Max Perez, Aaron Sindac, Mayur Ahir, and the aforementioned Kuwae, to name a few. With only four juniors and four sophomores on the varsity team this year, it may be tough for Jones to piece together a roster with a lot of experience for next year. Somehow though, the Tartars always find a way to get things done. Don’t expect to see Torrance out of the playoff race once next year’s volleyball season gets underway. •
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