Duncan's role becoming more Admiral-like for deep Spurs

SAN ANTONIO -- This No. 50 was supposed to give Tim Duncan and the Spurs fits. Hornets coach Byron Scott told us as much as he explained the upgrade from Tyson Chandler to Emeka Okafor.

"You know how much I love TC," Scott said of his former post. "Duncan has had a night off guarding him every night. He's going to have to guard Emeka a little bit in the post. That's the thing that I feel gives us a little bit different look."

Not enough of a difference for Duncan, who cut his NBA teeth guarding another No. 50. Is there a better Big Man School than going up against a Hall of Famer every day in practice?

Yes, Okafor is a better option with the ball over Chandler, but he's no David Robinson.

New Orleans could have used Robinson in his prime, the Iceman and the rest of the San Antonio greats whose jerseys are hanging in the AT&T Center rafters. Might as well throw in Pistol Pete, though that still might not have been enough Wednesday night. With Duncan playing the part of a late-career Admiral, the Spurs toyed with New Orleans 113-96 in the regular-season introduction for both.

San Antonio is embarrassingly deep. To center on a Player of the Game from the opener may be as tricky as picking the Spurs' team MVP this season. There are too many places to start. Gregg Popovich's roster went from a "talent deficit" to 10 deep in the first quarter.

"I don't know where the minutes are going to go," Pop said before the tip. "Who's going to be in the top eight or nine? Who will those guys be? Who will we come to depend on more than other people at the end of games? None of that is determined at this point."

The end-of-the-game lineup wasn't any clearer after this one. Twenty-point leads in the second quarter tend to drain the drama out of the proceedings, while not giving the coaching staff much to dissect. The Spurs came in waves. Tidal waves.

"Pretty good start to the season," Popovich said. "Obviously, if you start with a win that's always more fun. We got to play a lot of guys and a lot of guys played pretty well."

Stress, a lot. Six scored in double figures, with Tony Parker (17) and Manu Ginobili (16) pacing the balance sheet. Celebrated offseason pickups Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess combined for just 14. None of the Spurs played more than 29 minutes. That's a recipe for success in back-to-backs -- San Antonio is back at it Thursday night at Chicago -- and throughout 82 games for a team with five guys over 30.

"That's the idea," Michael Finley said.

While No. 21 is still All-NBA caliber, Duncan appears to be moving into the neighborhood Robinson ruled as San Antonio's elder statesman. As the Spurs evolved into the Three Amigo setup of Duncan-Manu-Tony, there wasn't a need for the Admiral to score 20 a night.

Defense and rebounding became the focus for the former scoring champ. Ten and 10 from Robinson was plenty. Duncan is cut from the same "stats don't matter" cloth. He wasn't one of the half-dozen in double figures, but his 12 rebounds in just 22 minutes were a game high.

Duncan's biggest contribution may have been the timeout tutoring of San Antonio's newest cult hero, DeJuan Blair. The rookie second-round pick was the club's second-leading scorer and rebounder in the preseason. Popovich isn't sure how and where to work the 265-pounder from Pitt in, but he knows he has to work him in.

"Da Beast," as Blair is called by teammates, finished with a ho-hum 14 points and 11 boards.

The Spurs weren't opening with one of the league's lowly dregs. These two franchises battled for seven long games in the Western Conference semifinals just 17 months ago. After an injury-riddled season, Scott expects to be back among the West's elite. Even if the pundits, in his mind, don't anticipate much happening in the Big Easy.

"They expect us to win 49 or 50 games," he said, which doesn't sound too bad. "I think a lot of the experts see us as a team losing in the first round, if anything maybe getting to the second round, but no further than that. It's a lot of the same expectations we had two years ago, except two years ago we felt that we weren't getting any respect. This year we feel we're getting the respect, so to speak.

"That little chip on our shoulder is good."

The Spurs swiped it aside, but the Hornets aren't going to be as lost as they were Wednesday. Chris Paul may be the best point guard around; David West is an All-Star power forward, and Scott isn't about to send back a center with Okafor's mobility, ability to pass and efficiency on the block. Okafor had only practiced three days and was still working his way through the offensive sets when Duncan and the Spurs arrived on the schedule.

Okafor finished with a solid 18 points and 10 rebounds, earning high praise from Paul and Scott. "Emeka was outstanding," Paul said. "I'm happy to see the intensity he brought." Scott called him a ball magnet.

Maybe Okafor does make a difference against their Southwest Division rivals down the line. Just don't expect No. 50 to catch the Spurs off guard. They've seen it before.

Art Garcia has covered the NBA since 1999. You can e-mail him here.

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