duncan228
09-29-2009, 11:56 PM
Healthy again, Spurs' Ginobili hopes to earn his keep (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Healthy_again_Spurs_Ginobili_hopes_to_earn_his_kee p.html)
Jeff McDonald
It seemed like an innocuous question, the kind one might pose to any acquaintance one hasn't seen since April.
“Hey Manu,” someone asked a certain Spurs guard earlier this week, “how was your summer?”
Manu Ginobili was quick with the answer.
“Winter,” he corrected. “It was a lot of winter.”
Ginobili spent most of what North America would call summer at home in Argentina, where the seasons are flip-flopped and winter comes in May.
The second winter of Ginobili's 2008-09 calendar went much like the first. There wasn't much basketball involved.
After missing 43 games last season — including all of the playoffs — with various ankle ailments, the prescription for Ginobili's offseason included rest, rest and more rest.
The one non-negotiable rule: No picking up a basketball.
“I guess they didn't trust my judgment,” Ginobili said.
Ginobili arrived at training camp completely healed of the stress fracture in his right distal fibula that ended his season on April 5, and had transformed one of the league's most feared postseason performers into a helpless spectator for the Spurs' first-round playoff ouster against Dallas.
Of all the additions the team made during the offseason, and there were many, the one they might be most excited about is a healthy Manu Ginobili.
The Spurs were 36-12 with him in the lineup last season. They were 23-20 without him, including five playoff games.
“Hopefully, Manu will just be Manu,” Tony Parker said.
The last time Ginobili took an entire Argentine winter off — in 2007 — he responded with the best season of his NBA career.
A repeat would be nice for the Spurs. It would also be nice for Ginobili's pocketbook.
At age 32, Ginobili is entering the final season of his contract. Spurs general manager R.C. Buford says there is no firm timetable for talking to Ginobili about a new one.
“It could happen during the season, or it might happen after,” Buford said. “We'll just have to see.”
Even then, the Spurs will have to decide how much a 33-year-old Ginobili with a history of leg injuries is worth. The team will almost certainly want him to prove he isn't damaged goods before committing more money to him.
Coach Gregg Popovich will do what he can to keep Ginobili well enough to earn his keep.
Popovich estimates Ginobili, though physically healthy, arrived at camp in “C-plus shape” due to his offseason of relative inactivity. Even so, Popovich doesn't plan to push him too hard toward an A-plus.
Ginobili went through about three-fourths of Tuesday morning's practice, and sat out the evening session entirely.
“We'll keep him on that sort of schedule and try to be smart about it,” Popovich said.
Ginobili's injury saga began 18 months ago.
He originally injured the ankle during the 2008 playoffs, aggravated it while competing for Argentina in the Beijing Olympics, then underwent surgery just before the start of training camp last year. He missed three separate swaths of last season dealing with lingering complications.
By the time the playoff series against Dallas rolled around, Ginobili was shackled to the bench in street clothes, helpless. He felt he had let his teammates down.
“Not being able to lose with them, to win with them, to share the same emotions,” Ginobili said. “I really suffered.”
The Spurs are happy to have Ginobili back, because it makes the team better. But they are also happy to have Ginobili back, because it makes Ginobili happy.
“He's been a basketcase for at least year now, with his health so up and down,” Tim Duncan said. “He just wants to be a basketball player.”
His long winter finally over, his bum leg at last healed, Ginobili will have that chance again.
*********************
The Manu factor
Manu Ginobili missed 43 games last year, including the playoffs, while nursing various ankle ailments. Here is a look at how the absence affected Ginobili and the Spurs:
GINOBILI
• Games: 44 *
• Scoring average: 15.5 ppg
• FG percentage: 45.4
• 3-point percentage: 33.0 *
SPURS
• Record with him: 36-12
• Record without him: 23-20 (including playoffs)
* — career low
Source: Express-News research
Jeff McDonald
It seemed like an innocuous question, the kind one might pose to any acquaintance one hasn't seen since April.
“Hey Manu,” someone asked a certain Spurs guard earlier this week, “how was your summer?”
Manu Ginobili was quick with the answer.
“Winter,” he corrected. “It was a lot of winter.”
Ginobili spent most of what North America would call summer at home in Argentina, where the seasons are flip-flopped and winter comes in May.
The second winter of Ginobili's 2008-09 calendar went much like the first. There wasn't much basketball involved.
After missing 43 games last season — including all of the playoffs — with various ankle ailments, the prescription for Ginobili's offseason included rest, rest and more rest.
The one non-negotiable rule: No picking up a basketball.
“I guess they didn't trust my judgment,” Ginobili said.
Ginobili arrived at training camp completely healed of the stress fracture in his right distal fibula that ended his season on April 5, and had transformed one of the league's most feared postseason performers into a helpless spectator for the Spurs' first-round playoff ouster against Dallas.
Of all the additions the team made during the offseason, and there were many, the one they might be most excited about is a healthy Manu Ginobili.
The Spurs were 36-12 with him in the lineup last season. They were 23-20 without him, including five playoff games.
“Hopefully, Manu will just be Manu,” Tony Parker said.
The last time Ginobili took an entire Argentine winter off — in 2007 — he responded with the best season of his NBA career.
A repeat would be nice for the Spurs. It would also be nice for Ginobili's pocketbook.
At age 32, Ginobili is entering the final season of his contract. Spurs general manager R.C. Buford says there is no firm timetable for talking to Ginobili about a new one.
“It could happen during the season, or it might happen after,” Buford said. “We'll just have to see.”
Even then, the Spurs will have to decide how much a 33-year-old Ginobili with a history of leg injuries is worth. The team will almost certainly want him to prove he isn't damaged goods before committing more money to him.
Coach Gregg Popovich will do what he can to keep Ginobili well enough to earn his keep.
Popovich estimates Ginobili, though physically healthy, arrived at camp in “C-plus shape” due to his offseason of relative inactivity. Even so, Popovich doesn't plan to push him too hard toward an A-plus.
Ginobili went through about three-fourths of Tuesday morning's practice, and sat out the evening session entirely.
“We'll keep him on that sort of schedule and try to be smart about it,” Popovich said.
Ginobili's injury saga began 18 months ago.
He originally injured the ankle during the 2008 playoffs, aggravated it while competing for Argentina in the Beijing Olympics, then underwent surgery just before the start of training camp last year. He missed three separate swaths of last season dealing with lingering complications.
By the time the playoff series against Dallas rolled around, Ginobili was shackled to the bench in street clothes, helpless. He felt he had let his teammates down.
“Not being able to lose with them, to win with them, to share the same emotions,” Ginobili said. “I really suffered.”
The Spurs are happy to have Ginobili back, because it makes the team better. But they are also happy to have Ginobili back, because it makes Ginobili happy.
“He's been a basketcase for at least year now, with his health so up and down,” Tim Duncan said. “He just wants to be a basketball player.”
His long winter finally over, his bum leg at last healed, Ginobili will have that chance again.
*********************
The Manu factor
Manu Ginobili missed 43 games last year, including the playoffs, while nursing various ankle ailments. Here is a look at how the absence affected Ginobili and the Spurs:
GINOBILI
• Games: 44 *
• Scoring average: 15.5 ppg
• FG percentage: 45.4
• 3-point percentage: 33.0 *
SPURS
• Record with him: 36-12
• Record without him: 23-20 (including playoffs)
* — career low
Source: Express-News research