goliath
05-01-2005, 01:51 AM
DENVER — Buck Harvey
Manu Ginobili's nose just got bigger.
So did his stature.
Ginobili came off the bench to jumpstart a Spurs team showing nothing. He came up with a late 3-pointer when seemingly no one could score. And at the end, with the clock counting down, he went to the basket yet again and took a hard blow to his regal beak.
Bent, maybe, but never broken.
It was only a few months ago when Ginobili sat in the Pepsi Center locker room, and he couldn't believe how far he had come.
As an All-Star?
As a grown man wearing bright, red socks.
"Look at this," Ginobili said then before the game, yanking on the uniform accessory before the All-Star Game. "And you know what? I love it."
He loved being among the game's best, and he loved everything attached to it. And maybe that's another reason he went back to his life as a backup this week with such zeal, culminating Saturday night when he took over when it was Tim Duncan's turn to go to the bench.
After being an All-Star, starting or not starting just didn't matter anymore.
The way this is going, Ginobili may never start another game. He came off the bench Wednesday with 17 points in 18 minutes in the rout, and Saturday he actually did more.
He had to. A loud crowd believed in the Denver altitude and a team that had won 20 of its last 21 at home, and the Nuggets responded early. When Ginobili checked in, the Spurs trailed 14-8.
Ginobili then went one-on-one, followed with a 3-pointer and he kept going. He had no choice. Duncan picked up his third foul in the second quarter with some keen acting by Kenyon Martin.
When Ginobili finished his run with a cut and drive, he'd put together 19 first-half points on his way to a career playoff high of 32.
"I saw the team wasn't being as aggressive as we were before," he said afterward, "and I wanted to change that. That's my job now."
If it looks familiar, that's because it is. When Ginobili came off the bench as a rookie, similar things happened. Ginobili and the Spurs went on the road three times in 2003 with playoff series tied at 1-1, with crowds howling, with opponents pumped up, and three times the Spurs won and took back those series.
First against Phoenix, then Dallas and finally New Jersey. And against the Nets, a familiar figure made the difference at the end. Ginobili came up with two late scores.
The Spurs needed two more wins in each series, but they knew after those Game 3s they would come. The Suns, Mavericks and Nets likely felt the same in their hearts. "It's a statement game, for sure," Danny Ferry said Saturday. "It's like you are saying, 'Let's see where we are.'"
Where are they today? Thanks to Ginobili, right where they want to be.
It almost didn't happen. The Spurs were so determined to go to Duncan, no matter the result, they forgot about Ginobili.
Maybe this will change in coming years. But when Duncan is heading toward a 5-for-19 night, shouldn't the Spurs look to their other All-Star?
They should when Ginobili feels it like he did Saturday. And with less than three minutes left, with the Nuggets within three points, Ginobili all but grabbed the game for himself.
He drove hard inside and earned a trip to the free-throw line. Another point about him this night: He was one of the few guys on either team who made his free throws.
George Karl complained afterward about how the refs favored the Spurs, centering on Bruce Bowen and Ginobili. Bowen has heard the rant before, but Ginobili rarely has.
Most coaches see him as smart. Karl said: "He's difficult to defend or ref or watch unless you are the San Antonio Spurs."
Karl had to grimace a minute later, when Ginobili followed with his 3-pointer. That shot changed the dynamics of the rest of the night. It was the play of a leader, the play of a man who has stepped up in the playoffs before, and what followed further highlighted that.
When Ginobili threw his body in the pack one more time — taking a shot to his nose and prompting Carmelo Anthony's ejection — the NBA likely realized something else.
It's time to order another pair of red socks for Ginobili for next February.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/....22dece56f.html
Manu Ginobili's nose just got bigger.
So did his stature.
Ginobili came off the bench to jumpstart a Spurs team showing nothing. He came up with a late 3-pointer when seemingly no one could score. And at the end, with the clock counting down, he went to the basket yet again and took a hard blow to his regal beak.
Bent, maybe, but never broken.
It was only a few months ago when Ginobili sat in the Pepsi Center locker room, and he couldn't believe how far he had come.
As an All-Star?
As a grown man wearing bright, red socks.
"Look at this," Ginobili said then before the game, yanking on the uniform accessory before the All-Star Game. "And you know what? I love it."
He loved being among the game's best, and he loved everything attached to it. And maybe that's another reason he went back to his life as a backup this week with such zeal, culminating Saturday night when he took over when it was Tim Duncan's turn to go to the bench.
After being an All-Star, starting or not starting just didn't matter anymore.
The way this is going, Ginobili may never start another game. He came off the bench Wednesday with 17 points in 18 minutes in the rout, and Saturday he actually did more.
He had to. A loud crowd believed in the Denver altitude and a team that had won 20 of its last 21 at home, and the Nuggets responded early. When Ginobili checked in, the Spurs trailed 14-8.
Ginobili then went one-on-one, followed with a 3-pointer and he kept going. He had no choice. Duncan picked up his third foul in the second quarter with some keen acting by Kenyon Martin.
When Ginobili finished his run with a cut and drive, he'd put together 19 first-half points on his way to a career playoff high of 32.
"I saw the team wasn't being as aggressive as we were before," he said afterward, "and I wanted to change that. That's my job now."
If it looks familiar, that's because it is. When Ginobili came off the bench as a rookie, similar things happened. Ginobili and the Spurs went on the road three times in 2003 with playoff series tied at 1-1, with crowds howling, with opponents pumped up, and three times the Spurs won and took back those series.
First against Phoenix, then Dallas and finally New Jersey. And against the Nets, a familiar figure made the difference at the end. Ginobili came up with two late scores.
The Spurs needed two more wins in each series, but they knew after those Game 3s they would come. The Suns, Mavericks and Nets likely felt the same in their hearts. "It's a statement game, for sure," Danny Ferry said Saturday. "It's like you are saying, 'Let's see where we are.'"
Where are they today? Thanks to Ginobili, right where they want to be.
It almost didn't happen. The Spurs were so determined to go to Duncan, no matter the result, they forgot about Ginobili.
Maybe this will change in coming years. But when Duncan is heading toward a 5-for-19 night, shouldn't the Spurs look to their other All-Star?
They should when Ginobili feels it like he did Saturday. And with less than three minutes left, with the Nuggets within three points, Ginobili all but grabbed the game for himself.
He drove hard inside and earned a trip to the free-throw line. Another point about him this night: He was one of the few guys on either team who made his free throws.
George Karl complained afterward about how the refs favored the Spurs, centering on Bruce Bowen and Ginobili. Bowen has heard the rant before, but Ginobili rarely has.
Most coaches see him as smart. Karl said: "He's difficult to defend or ref or watch unless you are the San Antonio Spurs."
Karl had to grimace a minute later, when Ginobili followed with his 3-pointer. That shot changed the dynamics of the rest of the night. It was the play of a leader, the play of a man who has stepped up in the playoffs before, and what followed further highlighted that.
When Ginobili threw his body in the pack one more time — taking a shot to his nose and prompting Carmelo Anthony's ejection — the NBA likely realized something else.
It's time to order another pair of red socks for Ginobili for next February.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/....22dece56f.html