Lebowski Brickowski
12-07-2007, 03:31 PM
6th Man Manu (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/steve_aschburner/12/06/manu.spurs/index.html?eref=mostpop)
--Pretty much standard fare for this topic, at least what I've read so far --
It is tempting to chalk up Manu Ginobili huge and timely performance Wednesday against Dallas -- in his first start of the season for San Antonio, with the Spurs forced to face their arch rivals with franchise guy Tim Duncan on the side in a suit -- as one of those exceptions that proves the rule.
Except that, for the life of me, I've never understood that goofball saying. It always sounds like something a grandparent might spew, almost reflexively, a dose of grown-up illogic one step beyond "I know you are but what am I?'' If there is a rule, why would it take an exception to prove it? Why would there necessarily even be an exception in the first place?
Um, we digress. This much is certain: Ginobili was exceptional in the Spurs' 97-95 home victory over the Mavericks, and the game he had as a starter, while Duncan nursed a sprained right ankle, did demonstrate anew why he is so valuable to the defending champions as the NBA's most productive sixth man in 2007-08.
And the 6-foot-6 Argentine is exceptional when it comes to embracing his role off the bench, 94.7 percent of the time so far, in a no-fuss, no-muss way we seldom see in this league.
In a land of 7-foot athletes, 10-foot baskets and 20-foot egos, it is rare when a player can be selfless enough to earn his $9 million salary by cheerfully doing what his coach instructs and his team needs.
"It's refreshing to see -- and it's upsetting to say that,'' Spurs backup guard Brent Barry said. "We've gotten to the point in professional athletics where we just expect somebody to be upset with that role or automatically assume it's a demotion of some sort.
"Ultimately, I think that's what people assume it comes down to: saying you're in the starting five, as opposed to not being announced in arenas around the country. ... I don't know how much importance there is in that for guys on our team.''
OK, so we've all heard plenty about "the Spurs' model'' and how they do things differently down there in that part of Texas, about how coach Gregg Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford essentially recruit or (better word) select the players on their team as much for character as for talent. We've heard it and heard it and heard it, like a boss' harangue, all the way into June for three of the past five years.
Fact is, it is real and it works, as evidenced again by the best record in the Western Conference entering Friday's play. And that's why, when I informed Ginobili that I asked Popovich what sort of financial incentive has been promised for his happy compliance with this sixth-man role, everyone already was in on the joke.
"Thank you very much!'' Ginobili said, smiling broadly as he grabbed and shook my hand. "Finally!''
Then, of course, there is Popovich's answer to that question.
"He gets just wonderful praise for being a team player. Nothing monetary,'' the coach said.
And there it is again, ladies and gentlemen: the Spurs' way.
"I would like to think that,'' Popovich said. "We try to spend as much time to bring people to the program who have, quote-unquote, gotten over themselves.''
It isn't easy getting over Ginobili's contributions to San Antonio's 16-3 start. Beyond those 37 points he scored against the Mavericks, 25 of them after halftime, to boost the Spurs to 11-0 at home, there was the 31 he got at Minnesota five days earlier as his club erased a 14-point deficit. Ginobili, 30, is the only player in the NBA who is averaging more than 18 points (20.3, actually) while playing less than 30 minutes (29.2). He ranks 25th in scoring and 22nd in steals and free-throw attempts, but only 118th in playing time.
He started against Dallas because Duncan was out but is virtually guaranteed to go back to the bench as soon as the Spurs' All-Star big man returns.
"We talk about it,'' assistant coach Mike Budenholzer said. "It's one of the great debates in our coaches' meetings: 'Would we be even better [if Ginobili started]? Is it helping us as much as we think it is?' You're always questioning slash investigating slash trying to figure out the best way. I think we're all pretty convinced that this is the best way to do it.''
They all have gone back and forth on it at various times, frankly, since Ginobili arrived in 2002, helped off the bench as San Antonio won the 2003 NBA title, then really started to assert himself the following season. The two-time Italian League MVP started 38 times in 2003-04, led Argentina's national team to the Olympic gold medal in the 2004 Athens Games and went 74-for-74 in starting lineup appearances in 2004-05. Ginobili made it to the All-Star Game that year and averaged 20.8 points in the playoffs as the Spurs won another championship.
But he came off the bench nine times in 2005-06 and San Antonio bumped from 57 to 59 victories. Popovich subbed in Ginobili 39 times last season, and the Spurs won 63 games. A pattern was established.
"Sometimes it's hard when you have all your best players out there. They can't all five have the ball,'' Budenholzer said. "There's usually somebody who's initiating the attack, whether it's Timmy in the post or Tony [Parker] or Manu on the perimeter. So when you have three in the game at the same time, you feel to some degree like you're wasting one of them.
"Especially when you're talking about making the defense honor something. Obviously Manu can catch and shoot, but those other guys -- Michael Finley, Brent Barry -- they are as good as or better at playing off the ball. So [using Ginobili off the bench] gives you that ability to come in with a good player when another one comes out, and we try to keep two of them on the court at all times.''
Teams traditionally have sought ways to balance their attacks, often yanking a key player in the first quarter -- think Grant Hill in Detroit, John Stockton in Utah, plenty of others elsewhere -- so he's fresh enough to play with reserves in the second. Having a contributor of star caliber willing and able to handle the bench is way more efficient.
"As a coach, you're trying to figure out ways to not have those drop-offs,'' Minnesota assistant coach Jerry Sichting said. "Some guys aren't able to come in and instantly be hot or have energy. It takes them a minute or two to warm up. And certain players make an impact as soon as they walk on the floor. Bobby Jackson was that kind of guy. Ginobili is tailor-made to do that. They're not going to have many of those quarters or even four-to-six-minute stretches where they really struggle to score.''
Popovich has no rules for Ginobili when he's in the game.
"I think, just in general, he looks to be an explosive offensive player, more so than when he started,'' the coach said. "A good amount of the time he's on the court, Tony and Tim are off the court. So he's the main cog in our offense. He knows that. He enjoys that.''
That means the ball is in his hands, with the lane open for one of his slashing drives, left-handed to finish or right-handed most often to earn another trip to the line. Or he gives up the ball, increasingly against double teams, and finds a spot around the arc for when it comes back to him.
Ginobili says now that he doesn't understand the hang-up some of his NBA peers have about starting. But that's not entirely true. To this day, he's acutely aware that Parker (34.5 mpg) and Duncan (32.3) play more than he does. Back when Popovich first used him off the bench, he had questions about his role and even his contract.
"I still wasn't settled in the league,'' he said. "I didn't know what to expect. It kind of hurt me in the beginning. I was going to be a free agent, and I was worried.''
And like a lot of players, who get grilled and egged on by family or friends, Ginobili was told endlessly that he should be starting. By the good folks of Argentina, to whom Ginobili is spelled J-o-r-d-a-n.
"I had a whole country pissed the first year,'' he said with a laugh. "Pop knows it. But after a while, they understood. Now it's been five years. It's OK.''
More than OK. Ginobili can see from the bench what the Spurs need against that night's foe, then try to inject it. And as Barry said, "He ends up playing starter's minutes anyway. It's kind of the same thing they're doing in Dallas; [when] Jason Terry comes in off the bench, he plays 37 minutes. So he's a starter in a substitute's role. He's Clark Kent, then he checks in and gets his Superman cape on.''
If Clark Kent used a park bench instead of a phone booth, anyway.
--Pretty much standard fare for this topic, at least what I've read so far --
It is tempting to chalk up Manu Ginobili huge and timely performance Wednesday against Dallas -- in his first start of the season for San Antonio, with the Spurs forced to face their arch rivals with franchise guy Tim Duncan on the side in a suit -- as one of those exceptions that proves the rule.
Except that, for the life of me, I've never understood that goofball saying. It always sounds like something a grandparent might spew, almost reflexively, a dose of grown-up illogic one step beyond "I know you are but what am I?'' If there is a rule, why would it take an exception to prove it? Why would there necessarily even be an exception in the first place?
Um, we digress. This much is certain: Ginobili was exceptional in the Spurs' 97-95 home victory over the Mavericks, and the game he had as a starter, while Duncan nursed a sprained right ankle, did demonstrate anew why he is so valuable to the defending champions as the NBA's most productive sixth man in 2007-08.
And the 6-foot-6 Argentine is exceptional when it comes to embracing his role off the bench, 94.7 percent of the time so far, in a no-fuss, no-muss way we seldom see in this league.
In a land of 7-foot athletes, 10-foot baskets and 20-foot egos, it is rare when a player can be selfless enough to earn his $9 million salary by cheerfully doing what his coach instructs and his team needs.
"It's refreshing to see -- and it's upsetting to say that,'' Spurs backup guard Brent Barry said. "We've gotten to the point in professional athletics where we just expect somebody to be upset with that role or automatically assume it's a demotion of some sort.
"Ultimately, I think that's what people assume it comes down to: saying you're in the starting five, as opposed to not being announced in arenas around the country. ... I don't know how much importance there is in that for guys on our team.''
OK, so we've all heard plenty about "the Spurs' model'' and how they do things differently down there in that part of Texas, about how coach Gregg Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford essentially recruit or (better word) select the players on their team as much for character as for talent. We've heard it and heard it and heard it, like a boss' harangue, all the way into June for three of the past five years.
Fact is, it is real and it works, as evidenced again by the best record in the Western Conference entering Friday's play. And that's why, when I informed Ginobili that I asked Popovich what sort of financial incentive has been promised for his happy compliance with this sixth-man role, everyone already was in on the joke.
"Thank you very much!'' Ginobili said, smiling broadly as he grabbed and shook my hand. "Finally!''
Then, of course, there is Popovich's answer to that question.
"He gets just wonderful praise for being a team player. Nothing monetary,'' the coach said.
And there it is again, ladies and gentlemen: the Spurs' way.
"I would like to think that,'' Popovich said. "We try to spend as much time to bring people to the program who have, quote-unquote, gotten over themselves.''
It isn't easy getting over Ginobili's contributions to San Antonio's 16-3 start. Beyond those 37 points he scored against the Mavericks, 25 of them after halftime, to boost the Spurs to 11-0 at home, there was the 31 he got at Minnesota five days earlier as his club erased a 14-point deficit. Ginobili, 30, is the only player in the NBA who is averaging more than 18 points (20.3, actually) while playing less than 30 minutes (29.2). He ranks 25th in scoring and 22nd in steals and free-throw attempts, but only 118th in playing time.
He started against Dallas because Duncan was out but is virtually guaranteed to go back to the bench as soon as the Spurs' All-Star big man returns.
"We talk about it,'' assistant coach Mike Budenholzer said. "It's one of the great debates in our coaches' meetings: 'Would we be even better [if Ginobili started]? Is it helping us as much as we think it is?' You're always questioning slash investigating slash trying to figure out the best way. I think we're all pretty convinced that this is the best way to do it.''
They all have gone back and forth on it at various times, frankly, since Ginobili arrived in 2002, helped off the bench as San Antonio won the 2003 NBA title, then really started to assert himself the following season. The two-time Italian League MVP started 38 times in 2003-04, led Argentina's national team to the Olympic gold medal in the 2004 Athens Games and went 74-for-74 in starting lineup appearances in 2004-05. Ginobili made it to the All-Star Game that year and averaged 20.8 points in the playoffs as the Spurs won another championship.
But he came off the bench nine times in 2005-06 and San Antonio bumped from 57 to 59 victories. Popovich subbed in Ginobili 39 times last season, and the Spurs won 63 games. A pattern was established.
"Sometimes it's hard when you have all your best players out there. They can't all five have the ball,'' Budenholzer said. "There's usually somebody who's initiating the attack, whether it's Timmy in the post or Tony [Parker] or Manu on the perimeter. So when you have three in the game at the same time, you feel to some degree like you're wasting one of them.
"Especially when you're talking about making the defense honor something. Obviously Manu can catch and shoot, but those other guys -- Michael Finley, Brent Barry -- they are as good as or better at playing off the ball. So [using Ginobili off the bench] gives you that ability to come in with a good player when another one comes out, and we try to keep two of them on the court at all times.''
Teams traditionally have sought ways to balance their attacks, often yanking a key player in the first quarter -- think Grant Hill in Detroit, John Stockton in Utah, plenty of others elsewhere -- so he's fresh enough to play with reserves in the second. Having a contributor of star caliber willing and able to handle the bench is way more efficient.
"As a coach, you're trying to figure out ways to not have those drop-offs,'' Minnesota assistant coach Jerry Sichting said. "Some guys aren't able to come in and instantly be hot or have energy. It takes them a minute or two to warm up. And certain players make an impact as soon as they walk on the floor. Bobby Jackson was that kind of guy. Ginobili is tailor-made to do that. They're not going to have many of those quarters or even four-to-six-minute stretches where they really struggle to score.''
Popovich has no rules for Ginobili when he's in the game.
"I think, just in general, he looks to be an explosive offensive player, more so than when he started,'' the coach said. "A good amount of the time he's on the court, Tony and Tim are off the court. So he's the main cog in our offense. He knows that. He enjoys that.''
That means the ball is in his hands, with the lane open for one of his slashing drives, left-handed to finish or right-handed most often to earn another trip to the line. Or he gives up the ball, increasingly against double teams, and finds a spot around the arc for when it comes back to him.
Ginobili says now that he doesn't understand the hang-up some of his NBA peers have about starting. But that's not entirely true. To this day, he's acutely aware that Parker (34.5 mpg) and Duncan (32.3) play more than he does. Back when Popovich first used him off the bench, he had questions about his role and even his contract.
"I still wasn't settled in the league,'' he said. "I didn't know what to expect. It kind of hurt me in the beginning. I was going to be a free agent, and I was worried.''
And like a lot of players, who get grilled and egged on by family or friends, Ginobili was told endlessly that he should be starting. By the good folks of Argentina, to whom Ginobili is spelled J-o-r-d-a-n.
"I had a whole country pissed the first year,'' he said with a laugh. "Pop knows it. But after a while, they understood. Now it's been five years. It's OK.''
More than OK. Ginobili can see from the bench what the Spurs need against that night's foe, then try to inject it. And as Barry said, "He ends up playing starter's minutes anyway. It's kind of the same thing they're doing in Dallas; [when] Jason Terry comes in off the bench, he plays 37 minutes. So he's a starter in a substitute's role. He's Clark Kent, then he checks in and gets his Superman cape on.''
If Clark Kent used a park bench instead of a phone booth, anyway.