Kori Ellis
05-17-2005, 12:08 AM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA051705.1D.buck.27feed69b.html
Buck Harvey: More Manu? What Spurs need, minute by minute
Web Posted: 05/17/2005 12:00 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
Either Gregg Popovich is holding back Manu Ginobili. Or Ginobili's body is.
Either Popovich is being too cautious with Ginobili to make sure he's fresh. Or Ginobili is what he is, a 30-minute player without the endurance to play longer.
Which is it?
The answer doesn't matter, not tonight, when sore legs should be as forgotten as the grind of the 2004 Olympics.
This is when the stars play.
Leaning on Ginobili would go against Popovich's season-long theme. He hasn't coached the Spurs as much as he has rested them.
Popovich has spent the season managing their minutes, trying to find days off, concerned they are burning up their energy reserves. The same was true last week in Seattle, when the Sonics worked out while the Spurs took a day off.
Popovich has had reason to be protective, especially with Ginobili and Tim Duncan. Maybe no duo in the world has put in as much time on a court over the past two years whether in the NBA or internationally as the Spurs' two All-Stars.
Popovich knows them better than anyone, and he knows Ginobili is a peculiar star. Ginobili burns fuel the way a jet does; when his engines run hot, exhaust is visible.
Exhaustion is, too. And that's likely why no All-Star averaged fewer minutes than Ginobili did this season. He averaged less than 30 minutes over 74 games because, in the eyes of Popovich, this jet flies better in short bursts.
Injuries were a factor, but so is his style. Any coach looking at Ginobili's angular body knowing his game is built around fury would want to make sure he had the oxygen to play the way he does.
After all, Ginobili was averaging almost 34 points per 48 minutes going into Sunday, and that's the third-best ratio anywhere in these playoffs. If he's worn down, does that efficiency drop?
Perhaps. His Game 3 moment against Denver, with 32 points, came in only 31 minutes.
But there also are signs his body belies what is inside. Twice this season Ginobili played 40 or minutes in a game, and the results suggest this jet could go trans-Atlantic if necessary.
The first time, in Phoenix, Ginobili finished with 48 points, including a finishing, two-hand dunk in overtime. Tired? The Suns were from chasing after him.
The second time, at the end of the season against the Clippers, Ginobili merely had 40 points. His nine assists that night made up for his low point total.
But bothered by an assortment of bruises that earned him Brent Barry's nickname, El Contusion, Ginobili's time on the bench became El Longated. He finished the season trying to heal.
This series reveals the same pattern. Ginobili played 28, 31 and 30 minutes in the first three games, then followed with 25 on Sunday. Or, fewer than Nick Collison.
Granted, the end of the game on Sunday skewed the box score. Popovich pulled Ginobili as well as Duncan with a lot of time left in the fourth quarter when the Sonics' lead extended. Again, Popovich was notably concerned then with resting, since there were over eight minutes left when Duncan sat down.
But even if a few minutes were added to Ginobili's final number, would his time Sunday compare to others around the league? It didn't in the same game.
Ray Allen went 41 minutes on a sore ankle. Antonio Daniels played 38, Luke Ridnour 39.
Other series played Sunday offered an even greater contrast. Stephen Jackson lasted 40 minutes, Dirk Nowitzki 44, Rip Hamilton 45.
And then there were the Suns, who live on their best players as no team does. Four played 43 or more minutes, and two (Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire) also were Olympians.
Did the Suns lose to Dallas on Sunday because they were out of gas? "We had the gas," coach Mike D'Antoni said.
He instead attributed the loss to the Suns being "a young team thinking we have two games left at home."
The Spurs aren't as young, but they aren't old, either. Duncan and Ginobili are in their 20s, as much in their primes as they will ever be.
So entering a pivotal Game 5? With other Spurs struggling?
Either play Ginobili.
Or risk resting him and the other Spurs throughout June.
Buck Harvey: More Manu? What Spurs need, minute by minute
Web Posted: 05/17/2005 12:00 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
Either Gregg Popovich is holding back Manu Ginobili. Or Ginobili's body is.
Either Popovich is being too cautious with Ginobili to make sure he's fresh. Or Ginobili is what he is, a 30-minute player without the endurance to play longer.
Which is it?
The answer doesn't matter, not tonight, when sore legs should be as forgotten as the grind of the 2004 Olympics.
This is when the stars play.
Leaning on Ginobili would go against Popovich's season-long theme. He hasn't coached the Spurs as much as he has rested them.
Popovich has spent the season managing their minutes, trying to find days off, concerned they are burning up their energy reserves. The same was true last week in Seattle, when the Sonics worked out while the Spurs took a day off.
Popovich has had reason to be protective, especially with Ginobili and Tim Duncan. Maybe no duo in the world has put in as much time on a court over the past two years whether in the NBA or internationally as the Spurs' two All-Stars.
Popovich knows them better than anyone, and he knows Ginobili is a peculiar star. Ginobili burns fuel the way a jet does; when his engines run hot, exhaust is visible.
Exhaustion is, too. And that's likely why no All-Star averaged fewer minutes than Ginobili did this season. He averaged less than 30 minutes over 74 games because, in the eyes of Popovich, this jet flies better in short bursts.
Injuries were a factor, but so is his style. Any coach looking at Ginobili's angular body knowing his game is built around fury would want to make sure he had the oxygen to play the way he does.
After all, Ginobili was averaging almost 34 points per 48 minutes going into Sunday, and that's the third-best ratio anywhere in these playoffs. If he's worn down, does that efficiency drop?
Perhaps. His Game 3 moment against Denver, with 32 points, came in only 31 minutes.
But there also are signs his body belies what is inside. Twice this season Ginobili played 40 or minutes in a game, and the results suggest this jet could go trans-Atlantic if necessary.
The first time, in Phoenix, Ginobili finished with 48 points, including a finishing, two-hand dunk in overtime. Tired? The Suns were from chasing after him.
The second time, at the end of the season against the Clippers, Ginobili merely had 40 points. His nine assists that night made up for his low point total.
But bothered by an assortment of bruises that earned him Brent Barry's nickname, El Contusion, Ginobili's time on the bench became El Longated. He finished the season trying to heal.
This series reveals the same pattern. Ginobili played 28, 31 and 30 minutes in the first three games, then followed with 25 on Sunday. Or, fewer than Nick Collison.
Granted, the end of the game on Sunday skewed the box score. Popovich pulled Ginobili as well as Duncan with a lot of time left in the fourth quarter when the Sonics' lead extended. Again, Popovich was notably concerned then with resting, since there were over eight minutes left when Duncan sat down.
But even if a few minutes were added to Ginobili's final number, would his time Sunday compare to others around the league? It didn't in the same game.
Ray Allen went 41 minutes on a sore ankle. Antonio Daniels played 38, Luke Ridnour 39.
Other series played Sunday offered an even greater contrast. Stephen Jackson lasted 40 minutes, Dirk Nowitzki 44, Rip Hamilton 45.
And then there were the Suns, who live on their best players as no team does. Four played 43 or more minutes, and two (Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire) also were Olympians.
Did the Suns lose to Dallas on Sunday because they were out of gas? "We had the gas," coach Mike D'Antoni said.
He instead attributed the loss to the Suns being "a young team thinking we have two games left at home."
The Spurs aren't as young, but they aren't old, either. Duncan and Ginobili are in their 20s, as much in their primes as they will ever be.
So entering a pivotal Game 5? With other Spurs struggling?
Either play Ginobili.
Or risk resting him and the other Spurs throughout June.