ESPN recalls Manu going BatManu in '09...and then take shots at Manu for Game 6

[SpurPadre]

Apparently, a live bat was taken down during a baseball game tonight and that brought ESPN to refer to other games with bat incidents. So, they refer to Manu's incident with Stuart Scott saying this, "While Manu did his Spurs no favors in the Game 6 Finals, he was the bomb back in '09 and here's one reason why when he swatted that bat..." which prompted the co-anchor to say, "Yeah, maybe if a bat came flying down in Game 6, Manu would've had more time to compose himself and hit that free throw to get their 5th title, haha!" Just thought it was worth mentioning during a slow offseason. Anyone else see it?

[SpurPadre]

sorry for the double-post, guys.

[dallasmaverickslose]

Apparently, a live bat was taken down during a baseball game tonight and that brought ESPN to refer to other games with bat incidents. So, they refer to Manu's incident with Stuart Scott saying this, "While Manu did his Spurs no favors in the Game 6 Finals, he was the bomb back in '09 and here's one reason why when he swatted that bat..." which prompted the co-anchor to say, "Yeah, maybe if a bat came flying down in Game 6, Manu would've had more time to compose himself and hit that free throw to get their 5th title, haha!" Just thought it was worth mentioning during a slow offseason. Anyone else see it?

Sigh... Another slow news day for the folks at ESPN, it seems.

[UnWantedTheory]

Quality shit. :tu

[bd_monster]

Did anyone notice the major drop off in Free Throw percentage this year from Manu? Noone is really talking about that. He shot a way below typical Manu 79% during the regular season compared to 87% from the season before, and 73%!!!! during this years playoffs compared to 85% from the season before. Hell with a busted arms against Memphis a few years ago he shot 78%!

[look_at_g_shred]

Assholes! lol

[elbamba]

Did anyone notice the major drop off in Free Throw percentage this year from Manu? Noone is really talking about that. He shot a way below typical Manu 79% during the regular season compared to 87% from the season before, and 73%!!!! during this years playoffs compared to 85% from the season before. Hell with a busted arms against Memphis a few years ago he shot 78%!

I was watching some of the Golden State series last night and I noticed that Manu kept going 1-2 from the line. He was really bad at the line, which is a pity because for years in the clutch Manu was a guarentee to knock down 2 free throws.

[Juggity]

Yeah I think one of the most incredible stats from this last year is that Tim has become a much more reliable free throw shooter than Manu. Imagine how ridiculous that would have sounded 7 or 8 years ago.

[phxspurfan]

Good to see people recognizing who choked it away and taking shots at Manu.

[Spur|n|Austin]

I'm sure this could have been posted in.... ah F it never mind..

[Budkin]

They all know we should have won.

[Biernutz]

ESPN is a joke. The sports guys once ran the show but now the Mickey people are there.
They push big city's teams or a few players like KD. It's sad...........

[Skull-1]

ESPN with the non-Manu-homer goods right there.

[elmanutres]

assholes at bspn rubbing it in.

[Mikeanaro]

Didn`t see it but fuck espn and fuck manu

[spurs1990]

Free throw?? Not that I've rewatched that horrible game but iirc 8 tos is what really sealed the deal.

[Sean Cagney]

Free throw?? Not that I've rewatched that horrible game but iirc 8 tos is what really sealed the deal.

He hit the damn bat but he could not hit his teammates that game to save his life :(

[PlayNando]

Apparently, a live bat was taken down during a baseball game tonight and that brought ESPN to refer to other games with bat incidents. So, they refer to Manu's incident with Stuart Scott saying this, "While Manu did his Spurs no favors in the Game 6 Finals, he was the bomb back in '09 and here's one reason why when he swatted that bat..." which prompted the co-anchor to say, "Yeah, maybe if a bat came flying down in Game 6, Manu would've had more time to compose himself and hit that free throw to get their 5th title, haha!" Just thought it was worth mentioning during a slow offseason. Anyone else see it?
That's actually pretty funny, tbh. :tu

[ElNono]

lol PETA getting mad at that shit

[therealtruth]

Yeah I think one of the most incredible stats from this last year is that Tim has become a much more reliable free throw shooter than Manu. Imagine how ridiculous that would have sounded 7 or 8 years ago.

So why was Duncan inbounding the ball when he was the most reliable free throw shooter?

[Typhoon]

Manu played bad but Tim Duncan choked it up, and Parker had no presence... but Manu will always be the scapegoat, but whatever Manu haters can eat a dick.

[Juggity]

So why was Duncan inbounding the ball when he was the most reliable free throw shooter?

Not sure what you're referring to, but Tim was a very good free throw shooter this year, and had career high numbers.

[VBM]

So why was Duncan inbounding the ball when he was the most reliable free throw shooter?

The real question is why not put Gary Neal in the game as a potential FT shooter. The minute Duncan inbounded to Kawhi, everyone knew he was missing at least one.

[DMC]

"ESPN doesn't support us!!! We hate ESPN!!!"

"Here's an article from ESPN that supports us"

[Skull-1]

He hit the damn bat but he could not hit his teammates that game to save his life :(

Lol lol lol

[elmanutres]

Manu played bad but Tim Duncan choked it up, and Parker had no presence... but Manu will always be the scapegoat, but whatever Manu haters can eat a dick.
tim and kawhi were the only ones that showed up in g7. this ain't tim's fault. manu was wearing a heat jersey underneath. if it wasn't for manu giving the heat free fast break passes we would've won that series in 5

[Skull-1]

tim and kawhi were the only ones that showed up in g7. this ain't tim's fault. manu was wearing a heat jersey underneath. if it wasn't for manu giving the heat free fast break passes we would've won that series in 5

[ElNono]

tim and kawhi were the only ones that showed up in g7. this ain't tim's fault. manu was wearing a heat jersey underneath. if it wasn't for manu giving the heat free fast break passes we would've won that series in 5

wtf, manu had a good game 7... one of the few guys that did show up... 18/5 and the only guy along with Tim with a positive +/-... you wanna whine about game 6, go right ahead...

[Skull-1]

wtf, manu had a good game 7... one of the few guys that did show up... 18/5 and the only guy along with Tim with a positive +/-... you wanna whine about game 6, go right ahead...

Gave the ball away and missed a wide open pass down the stretch for all the marbles...

[Sean Cagney]

wtf, manu had a good game 7... one of the few guys that did show up... 18/5 and the only guy along with Tim with a positive +/-... you wanna whine about game 6, go right ahead...

Manu showed up through three or so in game 7, but those TO's just careless down the stretch killed us :( He threw that one over his shoulder I will still remember in the 4th and I said game over :( So many nightmares I remember in those finals. Manu did come to play through three in game 7, his rainbow three as well helped us late in the game, but his TO's were at crucial times and Tim had one as well if I remember correct. Tim and Kawhi showed up big in game 7, Manu did for most of the game until those poor decisions, but after that not a soul showed up in game 7 to try and win it. I hate those finals man, damn.

[ElNono]

Gave the ball away and missed a wide open pass down the stretch for all the marbles...


Manu showed up through three or so in game 7, but those TO's just careless down the stretch killed us :( He threw that one over his shoulder I will still remember in the 4th and I said game over :( So many nightmares I remember in those finals. Manu did come to play through three in game 7, his rainbow three as well helped us late in the game, but his TO's were at crucial times and Tim had one as well if I remember correct. Tim and Kawhi showed up big in game 7, Manu did for most of the game until those poor decisions, but after that not a soul showed up in game 7 to try and win it. I hate those finals man, damn.

- Lead the team in assists
- Only one more turnover than Tim
- Hit a crazy 3 pointer down the stretch to keep us in the game

Crying about Manu in game 7 is nuts. He doesn't put up those 18/5 and it's a blowout. The whole 'careless' stuff is baloney: Tony got locked down and completely erased by Lebron. Manu stepped up, attacked more, scored more and assisted more. Neal was MIA. Diaw posted a -18.

People like to focus on the negative and nit-pick on specific plays (understandable in the heat of the moment, seeing it's a Finals game 7), but looking objectively at the whole game he was superlative and one of 3 players that actually showed up and gave the Spurs a chance to win that game.

[elmanutres]

wtf, manu had a good game 7... one of the few guys that did show up... 18/5 and the only guy along with Tim with a positive +/-... you wanna whine about game 6, go right ahead... i'm not whining about game 6. but it didin't matter if manu had a good game 7 or good game 5. He still threw that series away with that acrobatic shit and missed fts. manu might as well been the second player ever to win the finals mvp from a losing team alongside jerry west

[Kool Bob Love]

manu might as well been the second player ever to win the finals mvp from a losing team alongside jerry west

What kind of bullshit.......them fighting words tbh.

[ElNono]

i'm not whining about game 6. but it didin't matter if manu had a good game 7 or good game 5. He still threw that series away with that acrobatic shit and missed fts. manu might as well been the second player ever to win the finals mvp from a losing team alongside jerry west

Mattered enough to post your whine about it, tbh. I'm gonna disagree about that assessment of the series too. There's plenty of blame to go around if you want to play the blame game. After all, fuckups, missed freebies and acrobatic shit included, we were 28 secs away from a championship. Manu wasn't the only one to miss a freebie down the stretch and he certainly wasn't the guy sitting TD when we needed a rebound. Would have we won the series if Manu played better? possibly. But that logic extends to a lot of players in the team on different games (Tiago, Neal, even Green and Tony in the last game if we gonna get picky).

But the blame game sucks and it's pretty stupid. I'm sure they all gave it the best shot, and came up short. What ifs and coulda, shoulda won't make an iota of difference right now.

[Sean Cagney]

- Lead the team in assists
- Only one more turnover than Tim
- Hit a crazy 3 pointer down the stretch to keep us in the game

Crying about Manu in game 7 is nuts. He doesn't put up those 18/5 and it's a blowout. The whole 'careless' stuff is baloney: Tony got locked down and completely erased by Lebron. Manu stepped up, attacked more, scored more and assisted more. Neal was MIA. Diaw posted a -18.

People like to focus on the negative and nit-pick on specific plays (understandable in the heat of the moment, seeing it's a Finals game 7), but looking objectively at the whole game he was superlative and one of 3 players that actually showed up and gave the Spurs a chance to win that game.

He did give it his all in game 7, he was tired though late and body willing no more! He seriously did some stupid ass passes late in the 4th and you remember and I do, but I hardly blame him for that game 7 when Tony (He might have been hurt though or was and seriously slowed down), Green, Neal etc. don't show up at all! NONE! I will not blame game 7 on Manu, no way will I do that although he did some passes that looked like he was drunk out there and just handing the ball to them. I do not get into that +/- crap most of the time, meaningless state alot of times to me since it is who you are with on the floor and how they do as well.


I won't blame Manu for game 7, I will agree with you there. Some did not show up at all, period.

[spurs1990]

I don't want to turn this into a bash Manu thread but I just looked at the boxscore and he contributed 8 out of the team total of 13 turnovers for Game 6. Spurs were -21 when he was on the court.

Point blank we'll always pinpoint various specific plays in that final minute but like Timvp put it afterwards, if Manu is a DNP, Spurs win going away.

And If you can recall another player having an equally abysmal series clinching game I'll shake your hand.

[ElNono]

He did give it his all in game 7, he was tired though late and body willing no more! He seriously did some stupid ass passes late in the 4th and you remember and I do, but I hardly blame him for that game 7 when Tony (He might have been hurt though or was and seriously slowed down), Green, Neal etc. don't show up at all! NONE! I will not blame game 7 on Manu, no way will I do that although he did some passes that looked like he was drunk out there and just handing the ball to them. I do not get into that +/- crap most of the time, meaningless state alot of times to me since it is who you are with on the floor and how they do as well.

I won't blame Manu for game 7, I will agree with you there. Some did not show up at all, period.

He had 4 turnovers the entire game. I know they get magnified because of the stakes, and everyone keeps around the last few images. But the reality is that Tony had 5 in Game 2 (which we lost) and Tim had 4 in Game 3 (which we won by a blowout).
Game 6 was certainly an aberration for Manu with the turnover situation, but game 7 was within the normal parameters, and he dished up a team best 5 assists along with his 18 points.

Alongside Manu, Tim and Kawhi really worked the boards, and put up solid numbers. But after that, you have Tony with 10 pts, 4 assists on 25% shooting, and then it gets ugly.

Give some credit to Miami too, they played great defense. They adjusted to Green hitting from outside, and really fought. I still think it's a miracle they won that game 6, but like Pop once said, sometimes you need a little bit of luck too, and this time they definitely lucked out (or we didn't, however you want to put it).

[ElNono]

I don't want to turn this into a bash Manu thread but I just looked at the boxscore and he contributed 8 out of the team total of 13 turnovers for Game 6. Spurs were -21 when he was on the court.

Point blank we'll always pinpoint various specific plays in that final minute but like Timvp put it afterwards, if Manu is a DNP, Spurs win going away.

And If you can recall another player having an equally abysmal series clinching game I'll shake your hand.

And he put a +19 when he was on the court in Game 5, with 10 of the total 21 assists in that game... which we likely don't win if he is a DNP. You can play that game all day.

Sure, he sucked on Game 6. But by the numbers, he also was pretty good in game 7.

Overall though, he only had 1 good game and 1 great game for the series, and sure, you expect more from your third wheel.

[Strategic]

And he put a +19 when he was on the court in Game 5, with 10 of the total 21 assists in that game... which we likely don't win if he is a DNP. You can play that game all day.

Sure, he sucked on Game 6. But by the numbers, he also was pretty good in game 7.

Overall though, he only had 1 good game and 1 great game for the series, and sure, you expect more from your third wheel.Third wheel? By choice, Manu was the highest paid Spur last season.

[Sean Cagney]

He had 4 turnovers the entire game. I know they get magnified because of the stakes, and everyone keeps around the last few images. But the reality is that Tony had 5 in Game 2 (which we lost) and Tim had 4 in Game 3 (which we won by a blowout).
Game 6 was certainly an aberration for Manu with the turnover situation, but game 7 was within the normal parameters, and he dished up a team best 5 assists along with his 18 points.

Alongside Manu, Tim and Kawhi really worked the boards, and put up solid numbers. But after that, you have Tony with 10 pts, 4 assists on 25% shooting, and then it gets ugly.

Give some credit to Miami too, they played great defense. They adjusted to Green hitting from outside, and really fought. I still think it's a miracle they won that game 6, but like Pop once said, sometimes you need a little bit of luck too, and this time they definitely lucked out (or we didn't, however you want to put it).
I guess the last image you had is the one you think of, Manu was playing good until those bonehead turnovers late, as you said the stakes make it stick out more. I still wonder why this year at times he would just stumble and hand the ball to the other team like he was giving it to them? Thats not like Manu IMO, he was always wreckless but as most said his shots fell then and FT's and he forced more TO's so he made up for it more, this year with the falloff of some of those it was more glaring when he made a mistake. He did play pretty good in game 7 though until late in the game with some TO's. Tony played awful in game 7 no doubt, when you put a big man on him and on top of that his Hammy he is very ineffective as we have seen in the past.

[ElNono]

Third wheel? By choice, Manu was the highest paid Spur last season.

Considering teams don't re-negotiate contracts every year, it should be fairly obvious that salary doesn't always match defined roles or production.

This has been Tony's team for the last few years, even if due to salary structures, he wasn't the highest paid player until now.

[ElNono]

I guess the last image you had is the one you think of, Manu was playing good until those bonehead turnovers late, as you said the stakes make it stick out more. I still wonder why this year at times he would just stumble and hand the ball to the other team like he was giving it to them? Thats not like Manu IMO, he was always wreckless but as most said his shots fell then and FT's and he forced more TO's so he made up for it more, this year with the falloff of some of those it was more glaring when he made a mistake. He did play pretty good in game 7 though until late in the game with some TO's. Tony played awful in game 7 no doubt, when you put a big man on him and on top of that his Hammy he is very ineffective as we have seen in the past.

He had a poor season by his own standards, no doubt. What I noticed about him this past season is that he wouldn't shoot much at all. He finished a lot of games with maybe 5 or 6 shots total. Might be related to the transformation of his game to more of a creator, or it might be a lack of confidence in his shot. He also had trouble finishing at the rim, which in general was a novelty, seeing he always been one of the best finishers there. Hopefully, it was just an off-year. If not, he's only on a 2 year deal, so nothing to freak out about, IMO.

As far as Tony, lost in the game 6 debacle was that he shot 26% (6-23) in that game, and he followed it up with a 25% shooting in game 7, while averaging about 40+% shooting in the 5 games prior. But just like with Manu, I'm not going to throw him under the bus. He hit a great shot in Game 6, and he played as hard as he could. Miami is a solid defensive team, with a lot of talent, and it makes sense that eventually they'll erase certain players from the equation. The Spurs could overcome that with role players like Green hitting like crazy. And for Miami it's not much different. Chalmers was huge for them in Game 6 and Battier in Game 7.

Personally, what I found most discouraging is a guy like Splitter bringing so little to the table in that series. Here's a guy that was an integral part of the best Spurs lineup all season long, but could only play 4 minutes in game 7.

[Sean Cagney]

He had a poor season by his own standards, no doubt. What I noticed about him this past season is that he wouldn't shoot much at all. He finished a lot of games with maybe 5 or 6 shots total. Might be related to the transformation of his game to more of a creator, or it might be a lack of confidence in his shot. He also had trouble finishing at the rim, which in general was a novelty, seeing he always been one of the best finishers there. Hopefully, it was just an off-year. If not, he's only on a 2 year deal, so nothing to freak out about, IMO.

As far as Tony, lost in the game 6 debacle was that he shot 26% (6-23) in that game, and he followed it up with a 25% shooting in game 7, while averaging about 40+% shooting in the 5 games prior. But just like with Manu, I'm not going to throw him under the bus. He hit a great shot in Game 6, and he played as hard as he could. Miami is a solid defensive team, with a lot of talent, and it makes sense that eventually they'll erase certain players from the equation. The Spurs could overcome that with role players like Green hitting like crazy. And for Miami it's not much different. Chalmers was huge for them in Game 6 and Battier in Game 7.

Personally, what I found most discouraging is a guy like Splitter bringing so little to the table in that series. Here's a guy that was an integral part of the best Spurs lineup all season long, but could only play 4 minutes in game 7.

Yep, Splitter shows what I call that IT factor or lack of it by not showing up when you need him in the biggest games, some have it some do not. Either way the Spurs shot bad overall in games 6 and 7, fatigue and the Miami D probably had alot of do with it but they could have played alot better overall IMO in those two games. They still almost won it spite all we are talking! Thats a very good team we have. If Manu can find his shot more next year, Kawhi can continue to grow, Duncan can somehow put up numbers close to what he did this year, Tony stays healthy, Belli comes in and takes some of the load off the bench and Green continues to develop and as you said Splitter actually comes to play in games I think we have a good shot to go far and compete for a title again.

[Skull-1]

I don't want to turn this into a bash Manu thread but I just looked at the boxscore and he contributed 8 out of the team total of 13 turnovers for Game 6. Spurs were -21 when he was on the court.

Point blank we'll always pinpoint various specific plays in that final minute but like Timvp put it afterwards, if Manu is a DNP, Spurs win going away.

And If you can recall another player having an equally abysmal series clinching game I'll shake your hand.


And he seemed to forget how to dribble until Game 4.