Solid D
01-15-2006, 03:06 AM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA011506.1C.BKCspurs.grizzlies.gamer.30f9b0c.htm l
Web Posted: 01/15/2006 12:14 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/images/0115spurs_ginobili_wl.jpg
As Manu Ginobili has bounced from starter to reserve back to starter, supplying his reckless energy wherever Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sees fit, he has maintained this modest assessment of his role:
Starting games isn't important. It's how you finish them that matters.
Ginobili proved that adage true Saturday night. He closed out his first starting assignment in more than a month by throwing a lob pass to Tim Duncan for the decisive basket with 7.2 seconds remaining in the Spurs' 80-79 victory over Memphis at the AT&T Center.
The inbounds pass was Ginobili's seventh assist of the evening. He also scored a team-high 20 points for the Spurs, who survived despite surrendering a 15-point lead in the second half.
"I think it gave everyone a feeling of normalcy to have him back in the starting lineup," Popovich said. "Timmy knows what Manu does and vice versa. The whole team felt probably just a little bit more normal."
Duncan and Ginobili hooked up for the winning basket after Bobby Jackson found Pau Gasol for a vicious dunk with 8.5 seconds left to give the Grizzlies their first lead since the closing moments of the opening quarter.
The Spurs initially lined up with Robert Horry as their inbounder, but called another timeout after seeing how Memphis set its defense. Having noticed that Gasol was fronting Duncan, Popovich changed the play to make Ginobili the inbounder. If Gasol defended Duncan similarly, Ginobili's first option was to lob the ball toward the rim.
Ginobili did just that. Duncan softly tipped the pass through the basket before the Grizzlies had time to react.
"It was an excellent pass, right on the money, and he caught it in the air and made a tough shot," said Gasol, who admitted he lost contact with Duncan. "It was a close shot, but still a tough shot."
The shot also left the Grizzlies with more than enough time to attempt their own heroics. Jackson took the inbounds pass and used a screen from Gasol to separate from Tony Parker. As Duncan switched onto him, Jackson let fly from 19 feet, then watched his shot skip off the rim.
"I was actually playing him for the drive, and he surprised me with the shot," said Duncan, who totaled 19 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. "So I just tried to get my hand up as much as possible."
Jackson had fueled the Grizzlies' comeback by scoring six consecutive points in a span of 88 seconds.
"He got on a roll," Popovich said. "I thought the last one was in, too."
Ginobili's own long-range shooting helped stake the Spurs to their lead. He made three of five 3-point attempts in his first start since Dec. 10. He also found Horry in the left corner for a 3-pointer that helped slow Memphis' comeback with 1:18 remaining.
Popovich said he decided to move Ginobili, who had played well off the bench since missing two weeks with a sprained right foot, back into the starting lineup to give the team "some steadiness."
"This gives the guys a starting point now as to, 'This is our starting team. We go from here,'" Popovich said. "Now everybody can learn from this point how to adjust, where they might come in, how many minutes they might play. But it begins with Manu starting."
Even after Ginobili initially returned from his injury, Popovich kept Michael Finley in the starting lineup to see if the team would be best served using Ginobili's energy off the bench.
Finley approached Popovich before Friday's practice to tell him he thought it was time Ginobili started again.
As it turned out, the move seemed to benefit both players. After missing 61 of 90 shots the previous 10 games, Finley matched Ginobili's three 3-pointers while scoring 12 points.
"I didn't want to lose what Manu had been giving us," Finley said. "When I went back to the bench that was my mindset: to give us that same energy and aggressiveness that he had been giving us."
Even after regaining his starting job, Ginobili thinks the Spurs have a lot to improve. The Grizzlies were playing on the second night of a back-to-back and still came within an errant jump shot of beating them. The Spurs might not be as fortunate when they play in Memphis on Monday.
"I think we have to really look inside ourselves and see what's wrong because we're not playing the way we're supposed to," Ginobili said. "Not even the way we we're playing two weeks ago. We have to step up."
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Web Posted: 01/15/2006 12:14 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/images/0115spurs_ginobili_wl.jpg
As Manu Ginobili has bounced from starter to reserve back to starter, supplying his reckless energy wherever Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sees fit, he has maintained this modest assessment of his role:
Starting games isn't important. It's how you finish them that matters.
Ginobili proved that adage true Saturday night. He closed out his first starting assignment in more than a month by throwing a lob pass to Tim Duncan for the decisive basket with 7.2 seconds remaining in the Spurs' 80-79 victory over Memphis at the AT&T Center.
The inbounds pass was Ginobili's seventh assist of the evening. He also scored a team-high 20 points for the Spurs, who survived despite surrendering a 15-point lead in the second half.
"I think it gave everyone a feeling of normalcy to have him back in the starting lineup," Popovich said. "Timmy knows what Manu does and vice versa. The whole team felt probably just a little bit more normal."
Duncan and Ginobili hooked up for the winning basket after Bobby Jackson found Pau Gasol for a vicious dunk with 8.5 seconds left to give the Grizzlies their first lead since the closing moments of the opening quarter.
The Spurs initially lined up with Robert Horry as their inbounder, but called another timeout after seeing how Memphis set its defense. Having noticed that Gasol was fronting Duncan, Popovich changed the play to make Ginobili the inbounder. If Gasol defended Duncan similarly, Ginobili's first option was to lob the ball toward the rim.
Ginobili did just that. Duncan softly tipped the pass through the basket before the Grizzlies had time to react.
"It was an excellent pass, right on the money, and he caught it in the air and made a tough shot," said Gasol, who admitted he lost contact with Duncan. "It was a close shot, but still a tough shot."
The shot also left the Grizzlies with more than enough time to attempt their own heroics. Jackson took the inbounds pass and used a screen from Gasol to separate from Tony Parker. As Duncan switched onto him, Jackson let fly from 19 feet, then watched his shot skip off the rim.
"I was actually playing him for the drive, and he surprised me with the shot," said Duncan, who totaled 19 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. "So I just tried to get my hand up as much as possible."
Jackson had fueled the Grizzlies' comeback by scoring six consecutive points in a span of 88 seconds.
"He got on a roll," Popovich said. "I thought the last one was in, too."
Ginobili's own long-range shooting helped stake the Spurs to their lead. He made three of five 3-point attempts in his first start since Dec. 10. He also found Horry in the left corner for a 3-pointer that helped slow Memphis' comeback with 1:18 remaining.
Popovich said he decided to move Ginobili, who had played well off the bench since missing two weeks with a sprained right foot, back into the starting lineup to give the team "some steadiness."
"This gives the guys a starting point now as to, 'This is our starting team. We go from here,'" Popovich said. "Now everybody can learn from this point how to adjust, where they might come in, how many minutes they might play. But it begins with Manu starting."
Even after Ginobili initially returned from his injury, Popovich kept Michael Finley in the starting lineup to see if the team would be best served using Ginobili's energy off the bench.
Finley approached Popovich before Friday's practice to tell him he thought it was time Ginobili started again.
As it turned out, the move seemed to benefit both players. After missing 61 of 90 shots the previous 10 games, Finley matched Ginobili's three 3-pointers while scoring 12 points.
"I didn't want to lose what Manu had been giving us," Finley said. "When I went back to the bench that was my mindset: to give us that same energy and aggressiveness that he had been giving us."
Even after regaining his starting job, Ginobili thinks the Spurs have a lot to improve. The Grizzlies were playing on the second night of a back-to-back and still came within an errant jump shot of beating them. The Spurs might not be as fortunate when they play in Memphis on Monday.
"I think we have to really look inside ourselves and see what's wrong because we're not playing the way we're supposed to," Ginobili said. "Not even the way we we're playing two weeks ago. We have to step up."
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