gilmor
04-26-2007, 01:07 AM
Boy.. I love Manu to bits.. and I am different from Aaaron and TPark, I love Parker too..
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA042607.01D.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.3b1d2f7.html
Buck Harvey: Manu goes back, and that's a sign
Web Posted: 04/26/2007 12:18 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
George Karl talked about the whistles Denver didn't get, just as he did two years ago. But this was different. This time Manu Ginobili wasn't Karl's target.
That's Karl. He complains with great versatility.
That's also Ginobili thus far in this series. He hasn't been talked about much.
He's been just another guy hidden by Tim Duncan and Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson. Ginobili was also just another Argentine on Wednesday, with Fab Oberto leading the Spurs in rebounding.
But there was a telling stretch that started late in the third quarter. Then the Ginobili of 2005 appeared. And when Denver closed within four points in the final minute, with both the Spurs and the crowd nervous, Ginobili forced his way through a handful of Nuggets just as he did two years ago.
If the Spurs are to repeat what they did in Denver in 2005?
They will need that Ginobili.
They will need something special, because the Nuggets again looked far better than their record. One play — such as Marcus Camby banging a dunk off the rim — could have changed everything.
As for Karl's gripe: There won't be many games where Iverson shoots 25 times and doesn't get a free throw in return.
But there were similar signs in Denver two years ago. The Nuggets headed home with a split, having won 20 of their last 21 games in their building, and they thought they had both attitude and altitude on their side.
Ginobili, again coming off the bench, checked in with the Spurs trailing in that Game 3. Then he went one-on-one, followed with a 3-pointer and kept going. Ginobili went on to score 32 points, finishing with a drive with three Nuggets banging him to the floor, and afterward Karl responded because his players hadn't been able to.
"He's difficult to defend or ref or watch," Karl said that night, "unless you are the San Antonio Spurs."
Karl now says it was just gamesmanship. Karl has since admitted his love for Ginobili, and Karl went so far that Ginobili laughed. Karl called Ginobili "perfect."
Ginobili was nearly perfect that postseason. He followed the Denver series by scoring 39 points in Game 5 against Seattle, then made the pass that eliminated the Sonics in the following game.
Ginobili stayed on the run against Phoenix, then opened with 53 points in the first two games against Detroit. He slipped Robert Horry the game-winner in Game 5 before combining with Duncan to win Game 7.
He had already been an All-Star before that postseason, and this past season he put together his best numbers. But he's never been better than what he started in that 2005 Game 3 in Denver; the Spurs would have never won their third title without every shot and bruise he took.
All of it is possible again, but there were few signs of that for the first six quarters of this series. Ginobili had gone 4 of 15 in the opener, and he started as slowly Wednesday. His best play early involved losing the ball — before a quick flip to Bruce Bowen set up a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer.
What was going on?
"The Nuggets are doing a great job on him," said Gregg Popovich, and Ginobili said the same afterward. Without driving lanes, Ginobili says he tries to set up others.
Ginobili had only one basket late in the third period when he lost the ball again. Horry saved him, blocking Iverson from behind on the resulting fast break, and that's when something changed.
Ginobili stretched past Camby on a drive, threw in a 3-pointer and scored all but two of the Spurs' points in this stretch. As it was in 2005, what others did to Ginobili didn't matter as much as what he did.
"Manu was Manu," Duncan said.
Manu acted like Manu on Wednesday, too, coming off the floor with fists pumping. He calmed down as always in the locker room, and he was respectful of what comes next.
"You saw how hard it was to beat them here," Ginobili said. "Imagine how hard there."
With the Ginobili of 2005?
It's not hard to imagine how.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA042607.01D.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.3b1d2f7.html
Buck Harvey: Manu goes back, and that's a sign
Web Posted: 04/26/2007 12:18 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
George Karl talked about the whistles Denver didn't get, just as he did two years ago. But this was different. This time Manu Ginobili wasn't Karl's target.
That's Karl. He complains with great versatility.
That's also Ginobili thus far in this series. He hasn't been talked about much.
He's been just another guy hidden by Tim Duncan and Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson. Ginobili was also just another Argentine on Wednesday, with Fab Oberto leading the Spurs in rebounding.
But there was a telling stretch that started late in the third quarter. Then the Ginobili of 2005 appeared. And when Denver closed within four points in the final minute, with both the Spurs and the crowd nervous, Ginobili forced his way through a handful of Nuggets just as he did two years ago.
If the Spurs are to repeat what they did in Denver in 2005?
They will need that Ginobili.
They will need something special, because the Nuggets again looked far better than their record. One play — such as Marcus Camby banging a dunk off the rim — could have changed everything.
As for Karl's gripe: There won't be many games where Iverson shoots 25 times and doesn't get a free throw in return.
But there were similar signs in Denver two years ago. The Nuggets headed home with a split, having won 20 of their last 21 games in their building, and they thought they had both attitude and altitude on their side.
Ginobili, again coming off the bench, checked in with the Spurs trailing in that Game 3. Then he went one-on-one, followed with a 3-pointer and kept going. Ginobili went on to score 32 points, finishing with a drive with three Nuggets banging him to the floor, and afterward Karl responded because his players hadn't been able to.
"He's difficult to defend or ref or watch," Karl said that night, "unless you are the San Antonio Spurs."
Karl now says it was just gamesmanship. Karl has since admitted his love for Ginobili, and Karl went so far that Ginobili laughed. Karl called Ginobili "perfect."
Ginobili was nearly perfect that postseason. He followed the Denver series by scoring 39 points in Game 5 against Seattle, then made the pass that eliminated the Sonics in the following game.
Ginobili stayed on the run against Phoenix, then opened with 53 points in the first two games against Detroit. He slipped Robert Horry the game-winner in Game 5 before combining with Duncan to win Game 7.
He had already been an All-Star before that postseason, and this past season he put together his best numbers. But he's never been better than what he started in that 2005 Game 3 in Denver; the Spurs would have never won their third title without every shot and bruise he took.
All of it is possible again, but there were few signs of that for the first six quarters of this series. Ginobili had gone 4 of 15 in the opener, and he started as slowly Wednesday. His best play early involved losing the ball — before a quick flip to Bruce Bowen set up a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer.
What was going on?
"The Nuggets are doing a great job on him," said Gregg Popovich, and Ginobili said the same afterward. Without driving lanes, Ginobili says he tries to set up others.
Ginobili had only one basket late in the third period when he lost the ball again. Horry saved him, blocking Iverson from behind on the resulting fast break, and that's when something changed.
Ginobili stretched past Camby on a drive, threw in a 3-pointer and scored all but two of the Spurs' points in this stretch. As it was in 2005, what others did to Ginobili didn't matter as much as what he did.
"Manu was Manu," Duncan said.
Manu acted like Manu on Wednesday, too, coming off the floor with fists pumping. He calmed down as always in the locker room, and he was respectful of what comes next.
"You saw how hard it was to beat them here," Ginobili said. "Imagine how hard there."
With the Ginobili of 2005?
It's not hard to imagine how.