duncan228
11-25-2008, 01:46 AM
Manu comes back to find new blessings (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Manu_comes_back_to_find_new_blessings.html)
Buck Harvey
One blessing in disguise is actually not in disguise. Corey Maggette simply wears a Golden State uniform.
Just last summer, Maggette was the Spurs' free-agent dream. He could score, and he was athletic, and the Spurs offered him a lot of money. Maggette found more, a $50 million package, with the Warriors.
He can still score, and he's still athletic. But Maggette has never been much of a teammate, and he doesn't pass, and he has as many 3-pointers this season (5) as Roger Mason Jr. had Monday night.
Had the Spurs gotten their dream last summer, they wouldn't have Mason.
There's another blessing in disguise, and Manu Ginobili likes to talk about this one. He argues his chronically sore ankle could have broken down in December, or even March. So Ginobili wonders if he wasn't lucky to collapse in Beijing and force the operation.
That's only half the story. The Spurs would have preferred Ginobili not play for Argentina, because they could have monitored the ankle and perhaps made a medical decision earlier in the summer. If the ankle wasn't responding and it wasn't surgery could have been in July. Ginobili would have been back at least a month earlier.
But that brings up the final blessing in disguise, the one that was on display in Memphis. After all, if Ginobili had returned a month ago, would Mason be making people forget about Maggette? Would a rookie, George Hill, already be playing as if he belonged?
Would Gregg Popovich be looking at the best backcourt, in terms of both talent and depth, that he's ever had?
Popovich won't go there yet, and he didn't last week. Then, when asked if the injuries to Ginobili and Tony Parker had helped create depth, Popovich said: It's imminently logical, but in reality it doesn't always work that way. It will work for some guys, for some guys it won't. ... All in all, it's overrated.
That's Popovich, ever the contrarian. Sometimes a question bothers him, and he won't admit to anything. After Monday night, however, he has no choice.
Then Ginobili returned by scoring a point for every game he missed. With an assortment of ball-fakes and 3-pointers and drives, he looked as if he hadn't changed.
But his teammates had. They were younger and more accurate, and they acted as if they had been with the Spurs as long as Ginobili had.
Back to the blessing would either Mason or Hill have been this far along with Ginobili and Parker on the floor?
Ginobili would have been running the point for these two, and he would have been taking their shots at the end of games. Instead, Mason and Hill were asked to do more, and they helped the Spurs to a 6-6 record, and they began to believe in themselves.
Maybe even too much. There was one moment in the first half Monday, when Mason dribbled without an open lane as the shot clock ticked down. Ginobili stood at the 3-point line, arms outstretched.
Mason didn't pass. And afterward, when asked in a television interview about Ginobili, Mason said nice things but used this phrase to describe him: He's just another guy who can make plays for everybody.
No, Ginobili is not just another guy, and Mason will see this as the season goes along. If Mason thought he's been getting open looks thus far, for example, he should wait until Ginobili drives baseline and whips a pass to him.
There's time for them to learn each other, and Popovich has more to learn about them, too. Against a small lineup, he might put Mason, Hill, Parker and Ginobili on the floor together with Tim Duncan.
But the biggest step has already been taken, and this is about the blessing in disguise. Because Ginobili hasn't been around, Mason and Hill are ready to play next to Ginobili. They've been making plays in his place, and they did at the end of the third quarter in Memphis.
Then Mason threw in a 3-pointer in a two-for-one situation. And Hill ended the quarter with another.
Fittingly, Ginobili watched from the bench.
Buck Harvey
One blessing in disguise is actually not in disguise. Corey Maggette simply wears a Golden State uniform.
Just last summer, Maggette was the Spurs' free-agent dream. He could score, and he was athletic, and the Spurs offered him a lot of money. Maggette found more, a $50 million package, with the Warriors.
He can still score, and he's still athletic. But Maggette has never been much of a teammate, and he doesn't pass, and he has as many 3-pointers this season (5) as Roger Mason Jr. had Monday night.
Had the Spurs gotten their dream last summer, they wouldn't have Mason.
There's another blessing in disguise, and Manu Ginobili likes to talk about this one. He argues his chronically sore ankle could have broken down in December, or even March. So Ginobili wonders if he wasn't lucky to collapse in Beijing and force the operation.
That's only half the story. The Spurs would have preferred Ginobili not play for Argentina, because they could have monitored the ankle and perhaps made a medical decision earlier in the summer. If the ankle wasn't responding and it wasn't surgery could have been in July. Ginobili would have been back at least a month earlier.
But that brings up the final blessing in disguise, the one that was on display in Memphis. After all, if Ginobili had returned a month ago, would Mason be making people forget about Maggette? Would a rookie, George Hill, already be playing as if he belonged?
Would Gregg Popovich be looking at the best backcourt, in terms of both talent and depth, that he's ever had?
Popovich won't go there yet, and he didn't last week. Then, when asked if the injuries to Ginobili and Tony Parker had helped create depth, Popovich said: It's imminently logical, but in reality it doesn't always work that way. It will work for some guys, for some guys it won't. ... All in all, it's overrated.
That's Popovich, ever the contrarian. Sometimes a question bothers him, and he won't admit to anything. After Monday night, however, he has no choice.
Then Ginobili returned by scoring a point for every game he missed. With an assortment of ball-fakes and 3-pointers and drives, he looked as if he hadn't changed.
But his teammates had. They were younger and more accurate, and they acted as if they had been with the Spurs as long as Ginobili had.
Back to the blessing would either Mason or Hill have been this far along with Ginobili and Parker on the floor?
Ginobili would have been running the point for these two, and he would have been taking their shots at the end of games. Instead, Mason and Hill were asked to do more, and they helped the Spurs to a 6-6 record, and they began to believe in themselves.
Maybe even too much. There was one moment in the first half Monday, when Mason dribbled without an open lane as the shot clock ticked down. Ginobili stood at the 3-point line, arms outstretched.
Mason didn't pass. And afterward, when asked in a television interview about Ginobili, Mason said nice things but used this phrase to describe him: He's just another guy who can make plays for everybody.
No, Ginobili is not just another guy, and Mason will see this as the season goes along. If Mason thought he's been getting open looks thus far, for example, he should wait until Ginobili drives baseline and whips a pass to him.
There's time for them to learn each other, and Popovich has more to learn about them, too. Against a small lineup, he might put Mason, Hill, Parker and Ginobili on the floor together with Tim Duncan.
But the biggest step has already been taken, and this is about the blessing in disguise. Because Ginobili hasn't been around, Mason and Hill are ready to play next to Ginobili. They've been making plays in his place, and they did at the end of the third quarter in Memphis.
Then Mason threw in a 3-pointer in a two-for-one situation. And Hill ended the quarter with another.
Fittingly, Ginobili watched from the bench.