jiggy_55
04-05-2010, 02:39 AM
Not sure if this was posted already.
http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-100404/daily-dime
1. The Spurs Following Ginobili's Lead
J.A. Adande
ESPN.com
We can't go through the rest of the buildup to this summer's free agent frenzy without Manu Ginobili's name featured prominently among the impact players. Can't.
Ginobili is just as important to the Spurs as Kobe Bryant is to the Lakers, only with one fewer championship on his resume and about 86 million fewer dollars scheduled to be deposited in his bank account from 2011 to 2014. On Sunday, Ginobili was the impact player on the court, his 32 points on 10-for-22 field goal shooting leading the Spurs to a 100-81 victory over Bryant and the Lakers at Staples Center on a game that made you rethink who should fear whom if they meet in the playoffs -- and made you believe the Spurs might want to hurry up and get an extension done for Ginobili before he becomes a free agent on July 1.
Ginobili has been the driving force behind the Spurs' run of six victories in their past eight games, with the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Magic among the victims. He assumed some of the ballhandling duties after Tony Parker went down with a hand injury on March 6, and had to run the offense for most of the second half Sunday when George Hill sprained his right ankle. All Ginobili did was score 17 points in the fourth quarter, which the Spurs owned 33-22. This after he baited Ron Artest into a little push-fest near the end of the first half that drew a double-technical foul and locked the officials into Artest, which quickly led to another personal foul on him when he stayed close to Ginobili and got the Lakers on the wrong side of the officials, according to Phil Jackson.
Ginobili's all the way back from the lower leg injuries that hampered him from the 2008 playoffs through the duration of last season. As a consequence, the Spurs are back from a team on the fringes of the playoffs to one that could do serious damage once the postseason starts. There are other factors, including Richard Jefferson's integration into the team (finally) and Tim Duncan's healthier knees. But Ginobili has been the gauge of the Spurs for some time now. As he's gone from 13 points a game and 40 percent shooting before the All-Star break to 22 points and 49 percent shooting since the big bash in JerryWorld, the Spurs have moved to within 2 ½ game of the No. 2 seed (with a showdown against Dallas awaiting at the end of the season).
"He had a tough first half of the year, as we all know, but he's been playing All-Star caliber basketball for the last month," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "That's the major reason why we kick-started it. Our rotations are more solid, trust on the team on both ends, execution-wise, has been better -- but Manu's play has been instrumental in us winning games."
The Spurs have almost $52 million committed to Time Duncan, Parker, Richardson Jefferson and Antonio McDyess next season, money that's all wasted if they don't bring back Ginobili. And Ginobili's cost is going up on a nightly basis. It's like Tyronn Lue's 2001 NBA Finals again, only extended over two months.
"Of course it's really helping me," Ginobili said. "But it's not a consequence of my free agency. I just play as hard as always. I'm in a good stretch now, I'm feeling good, shots are falling."
Now that people are clamoring for Ginobili from New York to Spain, is his preference come back to the Spurs?
"Ohhh, uhh, yeah," Ginobili said. "I've played eight great years in San Antonio. I love everybody; front office, teammates and fans. Of course. But I'll be a free agent, so I'm going to listen to everybody."
The Lakers said they got Bryant's extension finalized last week because they didn't want it to be a distraction during the playoffs. For Ginobili, there's no indication his uncertain status has affected him or the team.
"Manu's, he's just such a competitor," Popovich said. "If you told him you were going to sign him to a gazillion bucks or if you had no interest in him coming back again, he'd play the same way. It really wouldn't affect him a bit.
"I was worried earlier in the year watching him. I was worried athletically. I was worried energy-wise. He just seemed to be off. He's the Manu now that we've seen help us win championship in years past."
If he helps them win another, they've got to bring him back. The prospect of a championship seems much less preposterous than it was a month ago. The Spurs have taken down the best the league has to offer in the past couple of weeks. They'd likely have to start every series on the road, which could drain the energy from their old legs. But if any team has the mental capacity to overcome the lack of home-court advantage it's San Antonio. The Spurs sure seemed more committed to their plan Sunday then the Lakers, who once again turned to three-point shots (they fired 21, hitting only five) when they couldn't work their offense.
The Spurs did their best to stay ahead of the current eighth seed Portland Trail Blazers and avoid a first-round matchup with the Lakers, which Popovich said is the main objective.
"The ones that say we don't care who we play, they're full of baloney too, because we're all trying to hide from the Lakers," Popovich said. "I mean really. 'Who do you want to play in the first round?' 'Oh, the Lakers'. What an idiot."
He reiterated that stance after the game, even though it's easy to imagine them giving the Lakers fits. They played a tough series in the 2008 Western Conference Finals, which turned on a call the league later admitted was blown. They've split the four games this season, winning their two by a total of 39 points. Parker, who always gives the Lakers problems, averaged 21 points the two times he played against them, and Hill scored 21 when he played a full game in Parker's place.
Popovich says the broken bone in Parker's right hand should be healed enough for him to return between the final two games of the regular season and the first two games of the playoffs, with the April 12 game against Minnesota as the target. He said Hill, who will have further tests on the ankle Monday, "is probably going to be out a while."
That mean more work for Ginobili. And if current pattern holds, that means even more money for the Spurs to spend this summer.
J.A. Adande is a columnist for ESPN.com.
http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-100404/daily-dime
1. The Spurs Following Ginobili's Lead
J.A. Adande
ESPN.com
We can't go through the rest of the buildup to this summer's free agent frenzy without Manu Ginobili's name featured prominently among the impact players. Can't.
Ginobili is just as important to the Spurs as Kobe Bryant is to the Lakers, only with one fewer championship on his resume and about 86 million fewer dollars scheduled to be deposited in his bank account from 2011 to 2014. On Sunday, Ginobili was the impact player on the court, his 32 points on 10-for-22 field goal shooting leading the Spurs to a 100-81 victory over Bryant and the Lakers at Staples Center on a game that made you rethink who should fear whom if they meet in the playoffs -- and made you believe the Spurs might want to hurry up and get an extension done for Ginobili before he becomes a free agent on July 1.
Ginobili has been the driving force behind the Spurs' run of six victories in their past eight games, with the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Magic among the victims. He assumed some of the ballhandling duties after Tony Parker went down with a hand injury on March 6, and had to run the offense for most of the second half Sunday when George Hill sprained his right ankle. All Ginobili did was score 17 points in the fourth quarter, which the Spurs owned 33-22. This after he baited Ron Artest into a little push-fest near the end of the first half that drew a double-technical foul and locked the officials into Artest, which quickly led to another personal foul on him when he stayed close to Ginobili and got the Lakers on the wrong side of the officials, according to Phil Jackson.
Ginobili's all the way back from the lower leg injuries that hampered him from the 2008 playoffs through the duration of last season. As a consequence, the Spurs are back from a team on the fringes of the playoffs to one that could do serious damage once the postseason starts. There are other factors, including Richard Jefferson's integration into the team (finally) and Tim Duncan's healthier knees. But Ginobili has been the gauge of the Spurs for some time now. As he's gone from 13 points a game and 40 percent shooting before the All-Star break to 22 points and 49 percent shooting since the big bash in JerryWorld, the Spurs have moved to within 2 ½ game of the No. 2 seed (with a showdown against Dallas awaiting at the end of the season).
"He had a tough first half of the year, as we all know, but he's been playing All-Star caliber basketball for the last month," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "That's the major reason why we kick-started it. Our rotations are more solid, trust on the team on both ends, execution-wise, has been better -- but Manu's play has been instrumental in us winning games."
The Spurs have almost $52 million committed to Time Duncan, Parker, Richardson Jefferson and Antonio McDyess next season, money that's all wasted if they don't bring back Ginobili. And Ginobili's cost is going up on a nightly basis. It's like Tyronn Lue's 2001 NBA Finals again, only extended over two months.
"Of course it's really helping me," Ginobili said. "But it's not a consequence of my free agency. I just play as hard as always. I'm in a good stretch now, I'm feeling good, shots are falling."
Now that people are clamoring for Ginobili from New York to Spain, is his preference come back to the Spurs?
"Ohhh, uhh, yeah," Ginobili said. "I've played eight great years in San Antonio. I love everybody; front office, teammates and fans. Of course. But I'll be a free agent, so I'm going to listen to everybody."
The Lakers said they got Bryant's extension finalized last week because they didn't want it to be a distraction during the playoffs. For Ginobili, there's no indication his uncertain status has affected him or the team.
"Manu's, he's just such a competitor," Popovich said. "If you told him you were going to sign him to a gazillion bucks or if you had no interest in him coming back again, he'd play the same way. It really wouldn't affect him a bit.
"I was worried earlier in the year watching him. I was worried athletically. I was worried energy-wise. He just seemed to be off. He's the Manu now that we've seen help us win championship in years past."
If he helps them win another, they've got to bring him back. The prospect of a championship seems much less preposterous than it was a month ago. The Spurs have taken down the best the league has to offer in the past couple of weeks. They'd likely have to start every series on the road, which could drain the energy from their old legs. But if any team has the mental capacity to overcome the lack of home-court advantage it's San Antonio. The Spurs sure seemed more committed to their plan Sunday then the Lakers, who once again turned to three-point shots (they fired 21, hitting only five) when they couldn't work their offense.
The Spurs did their best to stay ahead of the current eighth seed Portland Trail Blazers and avoid a first-round matchup with the Lakers, which Popovich said is the main objective.
"The ones that say we don't care who we play, they're full of baloney too, because we're all trying to hide from the Lakers," Popovich said. "I mean really. 'Who do you want to play in the first round?' 'Oh, the Lakers'. What an idiot."
He reiterated that stance after the game, even though it's easy to imagine them giving the Lakers fits. They played a tough series in the 2008 Western Conference Finals, which turned on a call the league later admitted was blown. They've split the four games this season, winning their two by a total of 39 points. Parker, who always gives the Lakers problems, averaged 21 points the two times he played against them, and Hill scored 21 when he played a full game in Parker's place.
Popovich says the broken bone in Parker's right hand should be healed enough for him to return between the final two games of the regular season and the first two games of the playoffs, with the April 12 game against Minnesota as the target. He said Hill, who will have further tests on the ankle Monday, "is probably going to be out a while."
That mean more work for Ginobili. And if current pattern holds, that means even more money for the Spurs to spend this summer.
J.A. Adande is a columnist for ESPN.com.