Bill Simmons (ESPN Page 2) take on Manu

[Mr. Peabody]

AND JUST TO BE FAIR, FOUR RIDICULOUS STATEMENTS FROM ESPN THE MAG'S PREVIEW

1. Manu Ginobili "should be in the LeBron/Wade conversation." Um, let's not have that conversation until Manu stops mailing in games and disappearing on the road. Cool?

Link (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/051102)
________
Meliya (http://www.girlcamfriend.com/cam/Meliya/)

[TheTruth]

Fuck that.
We should wait to have the debate until Lebron and Wade have two rings on their hand.
Fuck Simmons, if Manu played for the Celtics he'd be smoking his cock on a regular basis.

[Phenomanul]

AND JUST TO BE FAIR, FOUR RIDICULOUS STATEMENTS FROM ESPN THE MAG'S PREVIEW

1. Manu Ginobili "should be in the LeBron/Wade conversation." Um, let's not have that conversation until Manu stops mailing in games and disappearing on the road. Cool?

Link (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/051102)


If I recall correctly Ginobili owned the Nuggets at Denver, the Sonics at Seattle and the Suns at Phoenix... He couldn't own the Pistons at Detroit becuase he was hurt...

[MaNuMaNiAc]

mailing in games?? dissapearing on the road??? what the fuck??

[Marcus Bryant]

eh, who cares?

Just win, baby.

[Solid D]

I am more stricken by Simmons questioning why Oklahoma City for the temp home for the Hornets.


2. Oklahoma City, NBA Team
Excuse me, the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets? Why hasn't more been made out of this? We have an NBA team playing in Oklahoma City right now! What's the record for "Most combined hours a visiting NBA team spent stuck in their hotel room playing video games because there was absolutely nothing else for them to do?" And why wasn't Vegas involved as a temporary home? Why does the commish keep fighting this? The NBA players want Vegas, the fans want Vegas, Vegas wants Vegas, the groupies want Vegas ... who's against Vegas? Seriously, is there one person? They couldn't have given Vegas a clandestine test run with the 2006 Hornets? Really?

If the argument is there is nothing to entertain people in OKC other than video games, what better place to place NBA Entertainment? Vegas is most certainly the entertainment capital but look at the distractions. Most people spend money in Vegas to make money, while they are "being entertained". I think Simmons answered his own question. :lol

Journalist myopia runs deep.

[TwoHandJam]

A little too much PCP in his coffee today perhaps.

[MiNuS]

does this guy not watch basketball?


Ginobili's 48points in Phoenix!On the road!

Lebron & Wade both are talented but talent doesn't always bring in the bacon.

[MaNuMaNiAc]

I'm not arguing that Manu is better than LeBron or Wade, because I actually think he is not, but I don't think this guy was thinking when he made that comment!!

[Obstructed_View]

AND JUST TO BE FAIR, FOUR RIDICULOUS STATEMENTS FROM ESPN THE MAG'S PREVIEW

1. Manu Ginobili "should be in the LeBron/Wade conversation." Um, let's not have that conversation until Manu stops mailing in games and disappearing on the road. Cool?

Link (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/051102)
He must mean the "chicken man" game in Phoenix and the "Mavericks championship" game in Dallas.

[Kori Ellis]

He's talking about several road games in the postseason where Manu's stats sharply declined.

[T Park]

He must have missed games 3 and 4 against Denver

Games 1,2, and 5 against Phoenix

Game 3 4 6 vs Seattle


Classic.

Whatever, hes just bitter the Spurs didnt come through on them winning it all two years ago.


Hell Stephen A Smith picked the SPurs to walk away with the ring yesterday on ESPNews.

[nkdlunch]

How dare he!?? we all know Manu dissapears at home as much as on the road. It's true he dissapears but its very seldom and every other spur not called Duncan also dissapears that way.

What matters is that even when Manu dissapears, he does the little things that help us in the end. like last night in the 4th quarter.

[Obstructed_View]

He's talking about several road games in the postseason where Manu's stats sharply declined.
I wonder how many of those games the Spurs lost. Seriously, those are really lame arguments. It would make more sense to say that Manu shouldn't be in the conversation because of his big nose and white skin.

[Brutalis]

You can't compare Manu, a true world Champion on all levels to two young NBA stars who have only proven nothing yet. No disrespect.

[ALVAREZ6]

eh, who cares?

Just win, baby.
Damn Right.

[Oh, Gee!!]

It is hard to compare Manu to those two b/c of the difference in age and roles. LeBron is the man in Cleveland and Wade will be the man in Miami in the next two years. Manu doesn't carry the same load as Bron-Bron and D-Wade. So what?
We have Manu and we're a better team for it.

[Reggie Miller]

When I was a kid, I had a game called "Stat-O-Matic" Baseball. I had a similar basketball game. These were board games that used buggle gum cards as both your playing piece and the source of your players' stats.

You had to use your imagination and do a LOT of math, but they were fun. They didn't account for any of the "real life" factors that influence real games, unless you figure that the season statistic averaging represents this pretty well.

Manu is part of a real team that wins real championships. With the salary cap, you can't play "Stat-O-Matic Basketball" and build a real life fantasy team like Steinbrenner tries to do every year in baseball.

Manu is already a star in the NBA and international basketball. A few off nights or an injury will never change that.

The fact that LBJ or Wade may be better is totally irrelevant. They'll never meet in a "must win" game this year. Take it to the bank.

[IcemanCometh]

uhm I would trade Manu for Wade or Lebron in a heartbeat. Fuck Manu AND Parker.

The only reason we didn't play Miami in the Finals is because Wade got hurt in the final game vs Detroit.

[sungo99]

I wrote a response in my blog. I would cut and paste but there's a jpeg and html involved.

http://poundingtherock.com/

[MaNuMaNiAc]

uhm I would trade Manu for Wade or Lebron in a heartbeat. Fuck Manu AND Parker.

The only reason we didn't play Miami in the Finals is because Wade got hurt in the final game vs Detroit. truly admirable, you ungrateful piece of crap

[Oh, Gee!!]

uhm I would trade Manu for Wade or Lebron in a heartbeat. Fuck Manu AND Parker.

The only reason we didn't play Miami in the Finals is because Wade got hurt in the final game vs Detroit.

Then we could trade Duncan for Shaq, right? :rolleyes

[nkdlunch]

uhm I would trade Manu for Wade or Lebron in a heartbeat. Fuck Manu AND Parker.

The only reason we didn't play Miami in the Finals is because Wade got hurt in the final game vs Detroit.

we'd trade you'r fake-fan-ass for a Doritos bag in a heartbeat too. biatch.

[FromWayDowntown]

I don't see how you can honestly question Iceman's statement. If I was the GM and Cleveland called to offer me James for Manu straight up, I wouldn't even let the dude finish his sentence before accepting. Same with Wade.

Manu is a fantastic talent and a strong-willed competitor, but he's never going to be a 23+ ppg scorer who can also distribute (6+ assists), and defend in the same package. Wade and James are each that guy, plus younger than Manu.

James and Wade are cornerstone players; Manu might make several all-star teams, but he's never going to be in the league MVP conversation like Wade and James will be in each of the next 5-10 years.

[cheguevara]

I don't see how you can honestly question Iceman's statement.

he said fuck Manu and Parker

fuck Iceman

[FromWayDowntown]

he said fuck Manu and Parker

fuck Iceman

I took that more as "Fuck [I'd deal] Manu AND Parker [for James or Wade]" I don't disagree with that idea, if that's what Iceman was saying.

[IcemanCometh]

yes i said Fuck, I'd deal manu AND parker both for either of them. bunch of fucking babies

[Marcus Bryant]

Um I'd deal Emmanuel for LeBron and throw in Pepe Le Pew too.

[Spurminator]

Only on a Spurs board would this be such a crazy suggestion... :lol

[xcoriate]

Bill Simmons rocks my socks.

[tekdragon]

Yeah. Let me think about this for a while...wait, does 1/10000000 of a second count as a while? Because that's how long it took me to make either of those trades. I love Manu and all, but Dwayne Wade? LeBron James? Manu's a top 15 guy. These are top 8 guys. There's really not much to think about.

[diego]

neither shoot the 3 as well as manu
lane might get real tight unless parker's shot actually improves

[MaNuMaNiAc]

Yeah. Let me think about this for a while...wait, does 1/10000000 of a second count as a while? Because that's how long it took me to make either of those trades. I love Manu and all, but Dwayne Wade? LeBron James? Manu's a top 15 guy. These are top 8 guys. There's really not much to think about.
really?? how about chemistry???

[smeagol]

LeBron? Wade? Do they have a gold medal?

'Nuff said.

:cooldevil


































J/K

[FromWayDowntown]

neither shoot the 3 as well as manu
lane might get real tight unless parker's shot actually improves

And neither have hair as long as Manu.

Other than the fact that it will never happen because the front offices in Miami and particularly Cleveland are too smart to allow it, are you really going to get nit-picky about James and Wade?

The math is simple (as GW might have once said):

guy who's really popular and talented < balla who is a supreme talent and will become popular

[FromWayDowntown]

really?? how about chemistry???

Manu would fit right in with the Cavs, plus he'll have Tony to help him through those awkward early days.

Look, this is all hypothetical. But if you can get a young player who is already one of the top 10 players in the league for a marginal all-star who is a big-game player, you do it.

Not that the Spurs would ever have that chance . . . .