I blame TP for Manu's sucking :stirpot:
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I blame TP for Manu's sucking :stirpot:
Both. But I don't worry too much, because Ginoboli is so talented, that even if hes in decline athletically, he makes up for it with his all around game.
First I could give him a game or two because of sickness but I think he was feeling fine the other day so I don't think it was because he was sick. I don't think it's due to him being tired physically. How tireding is it to shoot jump shots now and not be aggressive at all driving through the lane or at least try to get to the line like he's capable of. His shots are just not falling and he's not even trying to be aggressive at this time.
There is something going around that is a respiratory illness. It doesn't cause much fever, but you get hoarse, have mucus in you lungs and it affects your respiration.
Most people in good health just dismiss it as a minor cough because it doesn't have dramatic effects--and I bet a trained athlete like Many would try to ignore it because of his competitive nature.
It takes several weeks to get over it.
Slump and perhaps just taking it a bit easy here and there. We all know Manu is one of the best at turning it up when he needs to...
As long as he's healthy, a slump/sickness doesn't really matter. His inability to finish at the rim, on the other hand is very discouraging. He seems to have lost a lot of jumping capability comparing from last year.
I don't know what it is, obviously, but Ginobili can't play like he was at the beginning of the season for extended periods of time, this shouldn't be news to anybody..
Last year, when he had his dominant stretch in the 2nd half, people seem to forget that he was very underwhelming in the 1st half of the year..his passing was still great, but he was having a lot of trouble finishing at the basket, similar to right now..
I do agree that he does look sick, but I really don't expect Manu to play at the level from the first 1/4 of the season, all year..hopefully he's playing like that in March and beyond, but as of right now, he'll have his struggles, and he needs more rest..hopefully Anderson returns soon..
There's no logical reason to think it's decline related. He was playing at a ridiculous level to start off the season. He didn't all of a sudden lose that in a couple of weeks. It's not minutes related, because his minutes have steadily gone down as the season has wore on and it's not injury related, because he hasn't had one.
It's a slump/sickness. He was due for a slump. Other than post broken nose in the playoffs last season, he basically played out of his mind the entire year calendar year of '10. At some point, he was going to tail off. Virtually everyone does, particularly players with his age and mileage.
I'm becoming gradually more annoyed with him by the game (just like I do when any player on the team's play steadily declines), but I'm not concerned to the point where I don't think he can replicate the play we saw out of him the vast majority of '10.
The Spurs are in a 1 game slump.
Harlem is right tbh.
I congratulate you first of all, I'm shocked I've read this post from a Laker fan.
I would have to disagree with the bold, but that is just me. It's actually something that's frustrated me a lot the past 3 years or so, I actually think TD takes tons of forced shots, and the reason they seem forced is because of his sharp decline in athleticism. Even in 05 he wasn't really athletic, his youth in his legs left him way long ago, one of the earliest for a superstar that I can think of. A lot of times when he drives he doesn't have the quickness or leaping ability to be able to get off a clean shot, and the result is some tossed up, off balanced, falling down ugly ass shot..and it goes in a decent amount, but it looks terrible many of the times. He also takes some forced weird fadeaways from time to time too, but note: I've barely watched games this season as I only catch the national TV games, and there hasn't been too many so far this season...a lot are coming later in the season.
But yes, Manu definitely gets into chucking moods and it kills me when players fuck the offense like that, a la Kobe. Especially the 3s..it's great that he makes a good amount, but damn does he take a lot of them. I really hope he doesn't take more than 4 or 5 a game come playoff time, he better be driving that lane cus that's his bread and butter.
It's a slump, obviously.
Duncan doesn't get into "jack mode" like Manu or Kobe, but he definitely forces stupid shots..his shot selection is so annoying, especially the last few seasons, particularly during the regular season..
Manu's 3-point shooting is obviously annoying..when he actually sets his feet and gets a clean 3, he rarely misses..however, he loves taking off-balance, contested 3s, which become frustrating..
Manu is clearly on the decline. I told that to someone on this site before he went this far into this "slump". he relies on his jump shot too much and the reason he hasn't been able to hit much of anything the last ten games is because his legs are shot. He also can't get to the rim as he used to--you can tell quite easilly. he used to be able to get to the rim at will and finish better than anyone. best example his legs aren't there: he's been stuffed by the rim twice so far this season. it doesn't get any clearer than that.
he's such a good player though that he's still unbelievable. but yeah, his legs are gone. 1 month ago i was saying he was saving his legs for the playoffs (that was the reason he wasn't driving), but after seeing his shot not fall at a great % for quite a while now, that's indicative that he doesn't have the strength in his legs that he used to have. legs are the most important thing in a jumpshot, esp. for a guard--a guy like dirk will be able to shoot forever as he barely even gets off the floor.
slump.
defense is down too. i think.
playing like trash lately...
His three point shooting has been inconsistent lately. He needs to hit them on a regular basis so the defense closes out on him harder. When Manu is at his best is when his threes are going down around 40%, imo.
I thought his effort on defense was good so far... he's not having much success, but it's not for lack of trying. His offense is just not there right now.
Last few games (excluding today), I think it was sickness + slump + recognizing that other players were stepping up and he didn't have to do to much for the Spurs to win. Manu does this shit every season and comes up big sometime around the ASB so I'm not worried.
Rondo can thank Manu for his stat line tonight. Getting cheap assists by passing to Allen/Pierce when they shook Manu off screens, and getting cheap steals by picking off horrible Manu passes.