Welcome back, Mr 4th Quarter.

[Martin R]

nice to see you back, Manu.

Now I can say we are a title contender. No Manu, No chance.

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/anexos/imagen/07/667078.JPG

M

[violentkitten]

dog had me worried though. was he trying to hit sarver with that crosscourt pass in the 4th?

before i forget, sarver was cracking me up with that captain's suit. kinda like the old guy in caddyshack. but i digress.

[Nikos]

Manu's turnovers were pretty damn bad. Some were pathetic even by his overaggressive standards.

That said, he did do well scoring the ball in the second half. Good enough considering how poorly the rest of the team did. But I want to see more from Manu. So far this playoffs he has been horrible if you compare him to his regular season output.

I do like the fact Pop played him 38 minutes. Manu should not be playing less than 35-36, even if he is tired. This the freaking playoffs. Manu doesn't even seem to be expending that much energy on D like 2003 for example. I find it hard to believe he can't play 35 or 36 minutes considering there are no back to backs.

[Martin R]

agree Nikos.

Manu is not playing as we know he is capable of.
That keeps me as a believer. Manu is about to explode and that will make the SPURS better.

M

[violentkitten]

yeah, those weren't overaggressive turnovers. he airmailed that pass and then he skipped that other pass too long.

[Rick Von Braun]

Manu's turnovers were pretty damn bad. Some were pathetic even by his overaggressive standards.

That said, he did do well scoring the ball in the second half. Good enough considering how poorly the rest of the team did. But I want to see more from Manu. So far this playoffs he has been horrible if you compare him to his regular season output.

I do like the fact Pop played him 38 minutes. Manu should not be playing less than 35-36, even if he is tired. This the freaking playoffs. Manu doesn't even seem to be expending that much energy on D like 2003 for example. I find it hard to believe he can't play 35 or 36 minutes considering there are no back to backs.

Then you are almost explicitly suggesting he has to start. I have said this a zillion times, if Manu gets into the floor around the 6 minutes mark of the first and third quarter, he cannot play more that 36 minutes, meaning 18 consecutive minutes with no breaks on each half. Last night, he was only able to play 22 minutes in the second half because he started in the second half.

I have never understood how people in this board use the argument that Manu cannot play too many minutes and at the same time they are very adamant of bringing him from the bench. It is a blatant contradiction :dizzy

You have the ride the fucking horses that brought you here. It is not rocket science to find a rotation where Tim, Tony and Manu start the first 6 minutes of the 1st and 3rd quarter, play the last 5-6 minutes of the second and fourth quarter (the latter assuming it is not a blowout), and guaransheeds that 2 out of the 3 remain on the floor the rest of the time.

[Dartherus]

Then you are almost explicitly suggesting he has to start. I have said this a zillion times, if Manu gets into the floor around the 6 minutes mark of the first and third quarter, he cannot play more that 36 minutes, meaning 18 consecutive minutes with no breaks on each half. Last night, he was only able to play 22 minutes in the second half because he started in the second half.

I have never understood how people in this board use the argument that Manu cannot play too many minutes and at the same time they are very adamant of bringing him from the bench. It is a blatant contradiction :dizzy

You have the ride the fucking horses that brought you here. It is not rocket science to find a rotation where Tim, Tony and Manu start the first 6 minutes of the 1st and 3rd quarter, play the last 5-6 minutes of the second and fourth quarter (the latter assuming it is not a blowout), and guaransheeds that 2 out of the 3 remain on the floor the rest of the time.
GREAT post, I truly don't understand some 'energy from the bench' BS, if so, why wouldn't Detroit bring Sheed from the Bench?

If you want to optimize usage of your best players, you have to start them to be able to give them the max amount of minutes possible, with the adequate rests inserted in the middle.

Manu's huge Basketball IQ make him contribute a lot even when he's in an off night. That can't be said on other players, who rely more in physical capabilities more than in intelligence during the game.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

I said before game 5 Manu would take over and will do the same on Friday. This guy has more medals and rings than the entire Suns team combined. He has been MVp in Europe 2 times. He has been in finals where the smaller object they would throw at you is a battery. Games like last night fire him up pretty good. He got his confidence back and now he will be unstoppable.

[Martin R]

I said before game 5 Manu would take over and will do the same on Friday. This guy has more medals and rings than the entire Suns team combined. He has been MVp in Europe 2 times. He has been in finals where the smaller object they would throw at you is a battery. Games like last night fire him up pretty good. He got his confidence back and now he will be unstoppable.

I see you know the Italian and the Euroleague quite well. lol. ;)

[SpurOutofTownFan]

I see you know the Italian and the Euroleague quite well. lol. ;)

Didn't get what you are trying to imply.

[DDS4]

yeah, those weren't overaggressive turnovers. he airmailed that pass and then he skipped that other pass too long.

My god I was cursing Manu left and right for those idiotic passes.

[Martin R]

Didn't get what you are trying to imply.

about the batteries thrown at you while playing.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

about the batteries thrown at you while playing.

It is actually true and it happened several times. D'Antoni also told stories about that. The crowds are much worse than those in the US. They get away with more stuff than here. I was born in Argentina and I've followed manu for a long time. He's the reason I noticed the spurs for the first time. Then I fell in love with the Spurs' play style.

[Martin R]

It is actually true and it happened several times. D'Antoni also told stories about that. The crowds are much worse than those in the US. They get away with more stuff than here. I was born in Argentina and I've followed manu for a long time. He's the reason I noticed the spurs for the first time. Then I fell in love with the Spurs' play style.

they are much MUCH worse than in the US. It is actually MOB time there. People is really agressive and even jump to the court from time to time....

imagine. :oops

[boutons_]

"they are much MUCH worse than in the US"

soccer teams' sideline benches are shelters, sorta like bus stops, and some soccer stadiums have 10 ft high fences separating the stands from the field.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

I was bout to comment on that. In Italy the problem starts with soccer. The riots there are terrible. So it comes down to the rest of the sports. Basketball is pretty big in Italy as well as soccer. Soccer being the first.

2 videos from ginobili: league and last shot at the olympics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HV0b2Mi12M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HV0b2Mi12M

[SpurOutofTownFan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGFKntIwCrA here you go

[timvp]

A) I'm going to wait for two good games in a row before I welcome Manu back. A lot of us thought he was back after Game 3, but that wasn't the case.

B) I think Manu should start. For whatever reason, he's not having that much success coming off the bench in the playoffs. I think starting Manu makes the ceiling of the Spurs' potential lower, but if it helps Manu be Manu, I'm all for it.

C) I can live with his turnovers as long as he's being aggressive.

D) His rebounding was a huge part of the Game 5 win. And I was impressed with his ability to play as many minutes as he did in the second half. Although perhaps some of his turnovers late can be attributed to him getting tired. It didn't seem like he was tired, but it would make sense that he was. When's the last time Manu played that many minutes in a half?

[beirmeistr]

Then you are almost explicitly suggesting he has to start. I have said this a zillion times, if Manu gets into the floor around the 6 minutes mark of the first and third quarter, he cannot play more that 36 minutes, meaning 18 consecutive minutes with no breaks on each half. Last night, he was only able to play 22 minutes in the second half because he started in the second half.

I have never understood how people in this board use the argument that Manu cannot play too many minutes and at the same time they are very adamant of bringing him from the bench. It is a blatant contradiction :dizzy

You have the ride the fucking horses that brought you here. It is not rocket science to find a rotation where Tim, Tony and Manu start the first 6 minutes of the 1st and 3rd quarter, play the last 5-6 minutes of the second and fourth quarter (the latter assuming it is not a blowout), and guaransheeds that 2 out of the 3 remain on the floor the rest of the time.

Great post. I was hoping manu would start game 5 so the Spurs start fast with their best players. It would be a great move if Pop started him in game 6.

[mVp]

When's the last time Manu played that many minutes in a half?

I don't know... but he played the entire last quarter, I think the last time that happened was in March against the Kings

BTW, absolutely agree with all you said

[powerpower]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnn nnnnnnnnuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu


manu made me eat dirt with his game 5 performance

[MmP]

I really don't know if Manu can play around 35-40 minutes. I think Pop should know that better than us. Maybe if you make him play that amount of minutes for 3 or 4 games in a row he'll end up with an injury. But I definetly agree with the fact that Manu has to play more minutes because he's a streaky player. If he finds it he's gonna keep scoring and increasing his confidence, which is all about that in a player like Manu: getting self confidence and making things happen.Then he can be pretty much like that 2005 Manu. In the other hand I think he has to stop with that jump shot a little bit, especially in this series I've seen him taking too many of those and bringing down his confidence.