PDA

View Full Version : Hoopsworld Manu Article



KoriEllis
09-04-2004, 01:21 AM
Where Would the Spurs Be without Emanuel David Ginobili?
By Emmett Shaw
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Sep 3, 2004, 21:29

www.hoopsworld.com/article_9549.shtml (http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_9549.shtml)

Winning basketball goes beyond the superstar. The secret is balance, teamwork, hustle, and defense. -- Red Aeurbach

I think you have to have true love and balance. Those are the two most important English words. -- John Wooden

The Spurs gave it up ($52 million) for Manu Ginobili this summer. And why not? He's a rare classic, a basketball artisan.

The Athens Olympics established what Ginobili's first two NBA seasons portended. That he's dangerous to leave alone and slippery to guard when defenders tend to him. The 6-6 South American is quick to share the rock, often ingeniously, understanding how it is that teammates get free. And as important as anything about him, Manu makes liars out of those who say foreign players don't play good defense. He's a defensive gem -- a quick, tough, competitive son of a gun.

Ginobili is a winner; balance is the watchword. Defend, score, pass. He maintains a symmetry between the three whether or not his shots are falling. In so doing, his balance makes him a cult star among those who cherish the game as poetic. When Charles Barkley starts screaming "Ginobili!" on national TV, it's his way of saying, "Manu has the love!"

Ginobili is a winner on the court because he's a winner off it. I've seen him take lots of time for the kids in many places from Paris to Sacramento even as most players mutely go about their pre-game routines. He's one of the warmest people in the NBA. Not only a Spanish speaker but a Latin American native well known in Western Europe, Manu is the perfect symbol of basketball's globalization.

And now he has Olympic Gold in 2004 (Argentina) added to NBA Gold in 2003 (San Antonio) on top of Euroleague Gold in 2001 (Virtus Bologna), an unprecedented triple. He wins because he cares. Everywhere the Spurs go, there he is on the court early to shoot, just as Steve Kerr always was on his teams.

Anyone who obsessed over the USA's Men's team's play in Athens missed a great basketball tournament. And a lot of NBA critics can't have it both ways. The NBA is loaded with foreign players who don't just make the rosters -- they make the league better. It's been projected that 40% of the loop's players will be foreign born by decade's end. If the NBA is a bad basketball league, how did its players named Ming, Pau, and Manu shine in Athens? The NBA isn't bad. Sports Center's "dunks and threes" coverage of it is bad. The firing of so many coaches is bad. Excessive player movement is bad. But NBA basketball is awesome.

A player like Ginobili is proof of that. NBA players keep getting bigger and quicker, but the court is still just 94 by 50 feet. There's an ever increasing space shortage out there for scorers. It takes quick, slim but sturdy, skilled athletes like Manu to slip into open space and do damage before they're swarmed by size.

Manu is in John Havlicek's realm as one of these type players. "Hondo" scored 26,000 points from 1962 to 1978 and made Hall of Fame. If in his prime today, Havlicek would have game stats like Manu's (12 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals). That's how much the league has improved.

John Havlicek (never playing with a 3-point line) averaged 1.08 points per FG attempt. Dominique Wilkens averaged 1.24. Michael Jordan finished his career at 1.31. In his two seasons in SA, Ginobili is at 1.25. He stacks up very well with these extraordibnary gentlemen, though he's limited usually to 30 minutes per game for reasons of team depth and strategy as much as for stamina reasons.

Manu will now get some backpay from the Spurs' owners for all he's already done for them. He played for the league's "million dollar exception" for two of his prime years, considering he came over as a 25-year-old. Without Manu SA would never have made it to the Finals in 2003, much less won a gold ball. That gold ball gives the franchise a cache in the basketball world that makes it possible to attract a Rasho Nesterovic or a Brent Barry, or makes a Jason Kidd or Karl Malone consider joining.

Manu (now 27) should produce well for the life of his new 6-year pact, barring a bad injury. His team titles indicate he has a certain something that helps him excel at playoffs. His NBA stats are all improved in his 34 career post-season games except for a tiny drop in shooting percentage -- and that particular ratio would tend to fall in the heat of more aggressively contested games.

All players can improve. A coach would recommend that Manu hook more of his layups rather than finger roll as much. An added turnaround jumpshot inside would combat physical, strong defenders like Derek Fisher from foiling him. The Spurs' last play against LA in Game 5 appeared to be an intended handoff to Manu, but Fisher wrestled him away from the exchange. (Tim Duncan improvised a long basket over Shaq instead.) As with all great passers, some of Ginobili's more creative and riskier ideas don't pan out. But if anyone deserves all the good things the profession has given him, it's this young man.

Linton Johnson III

The Spurs picked up the undrafted 6-8 Tulane product, a player of classic SF dimensions who played about 20 games for Chicago last season. Linton rebounded at a nice clip of 12 per 48 minutes for the Bulls. He was listed as a restricted FA, but apparently Chicago has relinquished his rights. I got to see Johnson play a couple of games at Summer League in Utah, including a good night he had against Charlotte. He shot the ball well at Salt Lake, although he didn't for the Bulls. The first idea will be for Linton to play good defense for the the Spurs -- establish himself that way and add his offense to that as he develops. It's not news, but the roster has the look of a serious contender. SA now has 14 players under contract:

Duncan
Ginobili
Nesterovic
Johnson III
Tony Parker
Bruce Bowen
Devin Brown
Romain Sato
Brent Barry
Beno Udrih
Robert Horry
Malik Rose
Tony Massenburg
Sean Marks

hegamboa
09-04-2004, 01:36 AM
Michael Jordan finished his career at 1.31. (pts per FGA) In his two seasons in SA, Ginobili is at 1.25.

That's pretty good company....

Solid D
09-04-2004, 04:21 AM
This is an outstanding article with lots of good insights, comparisons and observations. Nice job, Mr. Shaw.

Manu is actually an artist as much as he is an athlete out on the basketball floor.

Slomo15
09-04-2004, 05:38 AM
The NBA isn't bad. Sports Center's "dunks and threes" coverage of it is bad.Very true!

smeagol
09-04-2004, 07:39 AM
Excellent article!

Pretty much sums up my view on Manu.

One catch though:


The 6-6 South American is quick to share the rock . . .
and

Not only a Spanish speaker but a Latin American native well known in Western Europe . . .

What's so difficult about saying "The Argentinean . . .".

Tony Parker is not referred to as "European", is he?

In any case, nice article Emmet.

ShineOnYouCrazyManu
09-05-2004, 11:38 PM
Because actually it's Argentinian or Argentine, I guess...but i might be wrong... :Q