Is it time to start Manu again?

[TMTTRIO]

Manu's been playing horrible for a while now. I don't know what's up with Manu but he just seems to not really be in it lately. Some things that I have noticed is tonight Pop didn't even think about putting him in the game until about the 2:00 mark in the first quarter and ended up yanking him a few minutes later. He also really hasn't had the opportunity to get involved in the games either. Lately he's only been taking about 7 or 8 shots a game the same amount as some other bench players when I think he needs to be involved more in the offense and even those shots seem to come later on in the game. Manu is a rhythm player. I really think we need to get him involved in things early on to build his confidence up so he can play well. If we want to go far in the playoffs we will need him scoring more. Well anyways I'm glad we won and it was great to see Barry have a great game tonight.

[ducks]

why should pop reward him for sucking him by starting him

he peaked to soon

[powerpower]

because that's what he did for barry????
isn't manu worth more than barry to the spurs and us ????????????yes duuuhhh

[ducks]

people said the same think when barry started and manu was benched


it has been proven manu coming off the bench is better for the team
he plays the same amount of minutes
he gets more touches because usually tp or duncan are not on the court so he is one or two option

there is some time when the big three are on the court (late in the game) though
but you want your best options then
last night barry was on fire why pull barry for manu
and when manu is on fire pop should stick with him alittle longer then normal
but manu wears out quicker then barry because of how he plays

[tmtcsc]

Last night was the first chance I had to watch Manu play since right before the Clipper game. I was shocked. I kept asking the people around me at the game what was going on. Manu didn't check in at the usual time and when he did, he was floating around on the court like a non-factor. It was bizzare. That's not him.

I too, was wondering what may have happened between him and Pop. The Manu I am used to showed up late in the 4th but for 3 + quarters he had 1 pt, 1 rb and 1 assist.

Something's up. I don't think starting him will change anything either. He just wasnt part of the team. It's like they didn't run much for him or his teammates didn't look for him or he just passed up shots.

[Guh-No-Bleee!!!]

Guh-No-Bleeeee!!!!

[Bruno]

It's Pop fault if manu isn't playing well. :rolleyes

AFAIK, Manu is human. He has been awesome for more than three months wether as a starter or from the bench and he is just having a "bad" week. Manu not playing well this week has likely nothing to do with Pop (or with Parker :lol ), a 82 regular season games is very long and you can be sometimes not at 100% physically, mentally or in your game.

[ducks]

mentally I think he is tired
he has missed shots if you look at a quote he said he was glad one went thru it was good to see
hopefully that will return his confidence

[powerpower]

i don't know but i think that manu is having problems with pop i really do......may be is because manu wants to play for argentina this summer ... i don't know...but they better smooth everythis out before the playoffss....and pop should have a better offensive plan for gino because we are not going to go anywhere on tony's shoulders when playoffs come

[DarrinS]

He wasn't THAT bad. That turover late in the game was unexcusable. I hope that's not a sign of things to come in the playoffs. You have to be even MORE focused in the last seconds of a game.


ON the bright side, I liked the pick and roll he and Elson were running. Elson is also a pretty damn good shooter, but he seems too hesitant to take his own shot sometimes.

[ducks]

i don't know but i think that manu is having problems with pop i really do......may be is because manu wants to play for argentina this summer ... i don't know...but they better smooth everythis out before the playoffss....and pop should have a better offensive plan for gino because we are not going to go anywhere on tony's shoulders when playoffs come


and when manu was playing well manu knew pop did not want him to play for his country then

[powerpower]

yeah but then we could not see them being mad at each other because manu was playing well!

[Clutch20]

1 KEY to Spurs off/def flow: players understanding their roles, through and through.

Manu past 2 weeks: having to get out of his role to fill gaps due to awkwardly created offensive sets, positions, assignments, etc.

Manu today: tired of creating fix-it game and just gets in to be there.

What happens next?

[Gros Membres!]

It's Pop fault if manu isn't playing well. :rolleyes

AFAIK, Manu is human. He has been awesome for more than three months wether as a starter or from the bench and he is just having a "bad" week. Manu not playing well this week has likely nothing to do with Pop (or with Parker :lol ), a 82 regular season games is very long and you can be sometimes not at 100% physically, mentally or in your game.
+1 COME ON!!! The guy has been playing great over the past month and I think he may be going through a little mini-slump. Manu has always risen to the challenge come playoff time and I think it is best that he take it easy now and save his legs for the Playoffs.

Keep in mind there could be a total of 14 games in the playoffs before we see someone like the Mavs. And that would be after running with the Suns for at least 4, probably more like 6. Manu's body always concerns me and I think he's wise to let some of the guys who have been SUCKING take the burden for the next stretch.

[powerpower]

do u actually think he is only saving himself for the playoffs.....i don't know but if he loses his rythm which i think he's lost...it's going to be bad in the playoffs for him!

[Solid D]

I agree that last night in the Pistons game, Manu came in later because the Spurs were really in a great flow with Brent in there.

Ever since Ruben Patterson checked Manu so well in Milwaukee, he's been out of rhythm and lower in confidence. It seems like defenders have been paying more attention to Manu without the ball. Delfino did a nice job of staying with Manu last night up until Carlos gave Manu that little gap he needed to hit the big three in the 4th quarter.

He'll get his rhythm back soon enough.

[powerpower]

yeah like last year in the playoffs
let's hope not!

[exstatic]

When Manu isn't shooting well, and he isn't now, the rest of his game suffers, especially his new mid range game. If they're not playing him tight, it's tough for him to go around them and stop on a dime and fire up that 12-15 footer. If he starts burying the J again, look for the rest of his game to go nuclear.

[sprrs]

yeah like last year in the playoffs
let's hope not!

He was beyond awesome in last year's playoffs.

[v2freak]

Manu deserves to not be knocked for not forcing things, IMO.

[powerpower]

He was beyond awesome in last year's playoffs.

hah
last year was not :P!

[Pugglekicker_21]

Mentally tired is my guess. Maybe he's wating for the playoffs. Everyone has bad stretches now and then.

[Nikos]

Does it really matter if Manu starts? Its simply a label at this point, Manu will always be in at key moments of the game.

[2centsworth]

Parker inserted back into the lineup is my guess. I takes Tony and Manu time to get used ot each other.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

why should pop reward him for sucking him by starting him



It worked for Hedo, Barry, and Finley, among others...

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

Manu deserves to not be knocked for not forcing things, IMO.
This is a good comment. Manu's weird in that he accepts his cold shooting nights pretty early on, and if Pop recognizes that and doesn't call enough plays, he has no problem letting the others take the offensive load if they're still winning. I think the only time Manu gets concerned is when the rest of the team is slacking. He'll go down swinging for the team.

[ducks]

It worked for Hedo, Barry, and Finley, among others...
manu should be beyond everything here things manu>then those players

[aaronstampler]

I think the problem is that coaches have figured out the whole 2nd unit deal. Now whenever Manu is on the court with Fin, Horry, Vaughn and Oberto/Bonner and he catches the ball the other team just throws a trap at him instantly and he has to give it up to one of the other guys and unless Finley's hot, nobody's going to make a shot.

When he plays with actual good players it's Tony and Tim's show and he's usually frozen out of the offense. The way I see it, the only wrinkle they could throw into the 2nd unit now is to switch Brent and Fin's roles.

With Tony and Tim you don't really need a 3rd scorer that often and maybe with Brent shooting so well teams will think twice about trapping Manu. I doubt Pop would try this though so late into the season.

Something has to be done though because that 2nd unit is struggling once more in the first 4 mins of the 2nd/4th quarters. But yeah, Manu has to get more shots and be more aggressive taking it to the basket. It's not a good sign when more than half of his shots are 3s...