I love Manu, but.....

[SenorSpur]

When he's struggling, it seemingly affects every element of his game to the point where he becomes detrimental. His constant rash of turnovers, erratic shot selection and poor decision-making seem to hurt the team - even when they're ahead.

During those times, I'm only wish he'd let the game come more to him during those instances. Take better shots, attack the basket more, and cut back on the high-risk passes in order to get himself and others going.

By him being our best playmakers, it's imperative that he keep himself mentally in the game at all times. He doesn't always do that. It's very discouraging to watch.

[aka_USAPA]

Na, he's just hurt dude. But I'm old school. If you're hurt, don't play. If you play, don't say you're hurt.

[TDfan2007]

When he's struggling, it seemingly affects every element of his game to the point where he becomes detrimental. His constant rash of turnovers, erratic shot selection and poor decision-making seem to hurt the team - even when they're ahead.

During those times, I'm only wish he'd let the game come more to him during those instances. Take better shots, attack the basket more, and cut back on the high-risk passes in order to get himself and others going.

By him being our best playmakers, it's imperative that he keep himself mentally in the game at all times. He doesn't always do that. It's very discouraging to watch.

Very true. He tried to force things way too much today.

I just hope he doesn't force things even more in game 2 to make up for his poor play tonight. That won't end well for us at all.

[HarlemHeat37]

this is Manu's game..

he's probably the most "deal with the good and the bad" player in the NBA..

he has games where he attracts everybody and attracts comments like "shit, how the fuck did Ginobili make that? oh 4 3's in a row, he's so good!"..but then very often you will hear "what the fuck is Ginobili doing? why is he trying a no-look pass in traffic? why is he taking 10 consecutive step back contested 3 pointers?"..

he's probably the most frustrating player in the NBA..he can't seem to make smart decisions when his shooting is off..

[Discoflux]

Manu is like Odom... huge x factor player.
He'll be back and I hate him.

[Capt Bringdown]

It's up to the coach to manage these things. So Pop knew that it was a gamble to put Manu out there.

It would be nice however, if we could learn from our mistakes and perhaps give some minutes to somebody else.

But then when our creaky bench starts f'n up, we'd say "Why isn't Manu in?"

[MrChug]

Risk vs. Reward.

Reward with Manu >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Risk. Sorry.

[SPARKY]

Pop wants his competitors on the floor as much as possible. Unless it's Bruce, of course...

[Dopey310]

Yea, even though Manu sucked like shit, the Spurs need him on the floor. The Spurs need that offensive threat to keep the defense from collapsing. I'll take a 50 percetn Manu over the majority of that bench.

[Capt Bringdown]

I'll take a 50 percent Manu over the majority of that bench.

I just wish the injury wouldn't effect his basketball IQ. Maybe a lesser talented player could at least not make the same awful mental fuckups.

[Bruno]

Manu was horrible in every aspect of his game. It has nothing to do with hate or love it's a fact.
I don't care what are the reasons of this poor play, it's the result that is important.
I just hope Manu will be able to solve that and play at a good level as soon as game 2.

[DDS4]

If he misses a shot, fine. Miss a defensive assignment, OK sometimes.

But his boneheaded crosscourt turnovers drive me up the wall. Seems like every playoff team, whether it's the Suns, Hornets, or Lakers, capitalizes on those mistakes and fuel a run.

I know, take the good with the bad....but damn, sometimes I wonder where his head is at sometimes.

[duncan228]

I feel for the Manu lovers here. I know what it was like watching Duncan have that horrible game 1 against the Hornets. It's hard to watch your favorite player have such a tough game.

[SenorSpur]

Not to pile on, but he's such a competitor he will often whenever he makes a turnover on the offensive end, he will immediately follow that up with an "ill-advised" foul on the other end - usually to the same guy that he turned the ball over to.

Again, I love the guy. I just want him to play smarter when he's struggling. He's been playing long enough and is a great enough player that he CAN affect the game simply by his presence on the floor - even if his shot is off.

[Taco]

Manu is like Odom... huge x factor player.
He'll be back and I hate him.


Speaking of Odom, I think Udoka played him pretty good

[Slippy]

Not to pile on, but he's such a competitor he will often whenever he makes a turnover on the offensive end, he will immediately follow that up with an "ill-advised" foul on the other end - usually to the same guy that he turned the ball over to.

Again, I love the guy. I just want him to play smarter when he's struggling. He's been playing long enough and is a great enough player that he CAN affect the game simply by his presence on the floor - even if his shot is off.

It's called pressing . You do it even when you're playing hampered because it's mind over body. Sometimes with Manu the adrenalin gets the better of him and he doesn't know any other way. Mostly it leads to good things.

[SenorSpur]

It's called pressing . You do it even when you're playing hampered because it's mind over body. Sometimes with Manu the adrenalin gets the better of him and he doesn't know any other way. Mostly it leads to good things.

Understand. He can start by simply taking better care of the basketball.

[florige]

I feel for the Manu lovers here. I know what it was like watching Duncan have that horrible game 1 against the Hornets. It's hard to watch your favorite player have such a tough game.


Not to mention that it is the SECOND series in a row that one of the big three has layed a MAJOR egg that pretty much F'ed us for game 1.

[DarrinS]

Not to mention that it is the SECOND series in a row that one of the big three has layed a MAJOR egg that pretty much F'ed us for game 1.


Isn't that pretty much par for the course this season? That's why I don't think anyone should worry too much.


The Spurs aren't consistently good, but they're not consitently bad either. Expect better perimeter shooting and a better Manu on Friday. :flag:

[urunobili]

Manu was horrible in every aspect of his game. It has nothing to do with hate or love it's a fact.
I don't care what are the reasons of this poor play, it's the result that is important.
I just hope Manu will be able to solve that and play at a good level as soon as game 2.

Bruno do you know why Pop didn't play Oberto more in the 4th quarter? his job on odom was outstanding in the first half...

[florige]

Isn't that pretty much par for the course this season? That's why I don't think anyone should worry too much.


The Spurs aren't consistently good, but they're not consitently bad either. Expect better perimeter shooting and a better Manu on Friday. :flag:



Also while I'm not too worried that we will play better because we always do, I am moreso worried that LA will play alot better too in the 1st half Friday. We pretty much just got outhustled to everything last night in the 2nd half. Well 4th qtr.


Yeah. I'm wondering what Parker will do if we make it to the Finals. Shoot 0-9 with 10 turnovers or something crazy like that in game 1...:lol

[stretch]

IMO Tony had a lot to do with this loss. In the second half, they closed off his driving lanes, and he had a lot of trouble scoring, and his inability to run an offense showed. I have always said, my knock on Tony Parker is he is way too one dimensional. If you cut off his driving lanes, he has trouble doing much of anything else, as he is not a true point guard, and his jumpshot largely relies on the confidence he gets from driving. He is a good scorer, but he has GOT to make better desicions when trying to run an offense. I saw far too many times he drove and got bottled up down low and ended up forcing a pass, often missing someone wide open somewhere.

However Ginobili will not play that poorly again.

So I still think the Spurs win the series in 6.

[Allanon]

IMO Tony had a lot to do with this loss. In the second half, they closed off his driving lanes, and he had a lot of trouble scoring, and his inability to run an offense showed. I have always said, my knock on Tony Parker is he is way too one dimensional. If you cut off his driving lanes, he has trouble doing much of anything else, as he is not a true point guard, and his jumpshot largely relies on the confidence he gets from driving. He is a good scorer, but he has GOT to make better desicions when trying to run an offense. I saw far too many times he drove and got bottled up down low and ended up forcing a pass, often missing someone wide open somewhere.

However Ginobili will not play that poorly again.

So I still think the Spurs win the series in 6.

Parker pretty much disappeared in the 4th. I wonder if it was also because Pop was trying to get Manu going? I saw Manu with the ball at the point alot instead of Tony.

Good stuff, except for the prediction. :lol

[DarrinS]

IMO Tony had a lot to do with this loss. In the second half, they closed off his driving lanes, and he had a lot of trouble scoring, and his inability to run an offense showed. I have always said, my knock on Tony Parker is he is way too one dimensional. If you cut off his driving lanes, he has trouble doing much of anything else, as he is not a true point guard, and his jumpshot largely relies on the confidence he gets from driving. He is a good scorer, but he has GOT to make better desicions when trying to run an offense. I saw far too many times he drove and got bottled up down low and ended up forcing a pass, often missing someone wide open somewhere.

However Ginobili will not play that poorly again.

So I still think the Spurs win the series in 6.



You're right. Tony Parker is not a true point guard -- he's more of a slashing scorer. While I agree that Manu will play better, I also think the Lakers won't suck ass in the first half again. I didn't notice what the Lakers were doing to Tony because I was too busy trying to figure out what was wrong with Manu.

[stretch]

I didn't notice what the Lakers were doing to Tony because I was too busy trying to figure out what was wrong with Manu.

It seemed like they had a man down low always keeping an eye on Parker, showing him a double was ready to come at him every time he drive, and that partly discouraged him from driving, and when he did drive, he was unable to get a shot off, and would often end up getting swarmed under the basket. I think Phil knows that he is not really a PG, and isn't a great passer nor has great vision, and is trying to exploit that when he gets stick in traffic or kills his dribble.

[Slippy]

Understand. He can start by simply taking better care of the basketball.

Offcourse he can take better care of the ball. Just try remembering they were the same type of turnovers that we've seen from Manu before . That is simply Manu. Same goes for Tony and Tim when they commit TO's. They usually the same kind.