Second Star

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Without a doubt. Tonight was the 3rd night in this young season in which Ginobili managed to score over 20 points on 12 shots. He's shot the ball well thusfar and he's been making things happen all over the court per usual. Nice to see considering that the potential was there for an early season letdown after his busy summer. Right now I would say the biggest problem facing him is the potential for him to hit a wall come about mid to late January. I think right now he may be running a bit on adrenaline laced fumes. Hopefully I am wrong. If he can keep this up then he is without a doubt the Spurs' second best player and also he is a legitimate second star. If not for Manu tonight the Spurs would have struggled during the 3rd and definitely would have been beatable irregardless of their decent defensive performance tonight.

MB got that pic out of MY sig. :smoking

Actually I got it off of yahoo but if it'll make you feel better then I'll say it's yours.

I'm still sticking by my "crazy" prediction that Manu will be the All-Star game MVP.

Let's just pretend MB didn't say that.

After 4 games? Come on.

TP and Manu BOTH need to be playing sharp basketball all around. They can share the role of 'second star' or whatever in their own respective ways.

I want to see TP score more efficiently and stop pressing. I also want to see Manu cut down on his turnovers a bit. A lot of times he throws it away right after a steal or his teamattes might not always be ready for them -- but regardless, I don't want the TOs to be a habit.

Guru,

It's not crazy. I said last year if he ever gets to an All-Star game, he'd be MVP. All that game is about is playground ball, NBA style. Manu would be sick in that environment.

http://aol.nba.com/media/spurs/ginobili_308_030304.jpg>>>>>>>>>http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/j/.../HOT-SAUCE.jpg

I don't think Manu will hit a wall. Maybe a mini-slump here and there, but that's to be expected. I think he is too well-conditioned to hit a slump, plus, I'd expect that Pop has a "rest" plan for his players.

Hmmm.... that might be an interesting question to ask Pop .... Does Pop ever mandate rest for players? I think this is a legit question given the obligations of international ball. Proper rest is an integral part of conditioning.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

Actually I got it off of yahoo but if it'll make you feel better then I'll say it's yours.

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That is one of the best basketball pics ever. I hope the photographer got a nice bonus for his/her efforts.

He's the anti-Mercer. He makes it look easy, hits a good percentage, involves teammates, and you're surprised to look up and see that he has 20. Twelve shots? Multiple times? That's sick.

Yep, and there were some people who thought I was crazy for picking him up in the third round of one of the FSP drafts...

Duncan, Manu and TP is an amazing core to have. Manu seems to be showing his best form in the Spurs uni this season. Whether he can keep up the production for 82 games is another story, but he's got the ability to be a bonafide star in this league (hence the new contract ;)).

It's hard to determine who is our 'second star' per se out of Manu and Tony, but hell, we are lucky to have that problem. :elephant

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Originally Posted by Aggie Hoopsfan

Yep, and there were some people who thought I was crazy for picking him up in the third round of one of the FSP drafts...

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That's nothing! I grabbed him at #61 overall in FSP #2 league. Arroyo was taken (autodrafted?) at #59. :drunk

That's nothing I got him at pick number 12, 1st round.

Just checked, it was actually in the 4th round, 40th pick overall. :D

That was a steal Aggie. 40th!?

Yep, and all I got was "um, okay, a little high..."

the guy is a 7 cat monster (points, boards, assists, steals, FT%, FG%, 3s).

Little observed fact: after tonight he's 7-16 (44%) on three pointers.

Second Scorer

Exactly what I was thinking after watching the game (replay, missed live version) just now.

Oh, and for the record...Manu was already the Spurs' 2nd best player as of last season.

So far, Manu is playing at an all-star level. As long as he doesn't hit a wall, the Spurs are in great shape. Another good thing is the Spurs have kept his minutes down.

Now Parker is going to have to raise his play to match Manu ... then the Spurs will really be set.

They are doing a great job managing Manu's minutes. For example tonight he came out with six minutes left to go in the first, but then went back in with 2 minutes left in the quarter. I don't think they are going to overplay him at all and continue to play him in small stretches until he's in full swing.

He's avg. .1 less than he did last season so far.

29.4 last season. 29.3 this season. Not including todays 31 minute game.

He's shooting 53.7% from the field so far :wow

That's awesome considering that's probably the weakest part of his game.

Ok, with last nights game, he is now avg. 29.75 minutes or 30 minutes per game.

While avg. 21 pts, 7 rebs, and 4 asts a game. All up from last year.

Manu has that Gold Medal confidence right now. It's amazing how much better confidence can make a player.

yeah, he actually looks more confident on court then he did last year so hopefully he can continue doing this all season long.

I asked which young foreigner in the backcourt would take the bigger next step.

It's Manu.

Parker is a skinny undersized shooting guard with a handle.

Manu is a versatile player who brings it every night.

I don't understand. I thought the Spurs had no talent outside of Duncan. At least that's what I recall reading on the 'internets' once.

The Spurs wasted valuable title time developing this talent.

We're just starting to realize a signifigant ROI in Manu.

Parker still is up and down.

No one ever had an issue with Ginobili.

People like you and I thought about upgrading Parker to win now.

Oh so the Spurs did have talent other than Duncan.

Parker last year scored more consistently than Manu. He had MANY more big games during the year, and diversified his skills this summer. He took over more than one game during the playoffs.

Other than not playing well for 4 games, what more do you want from him? He is still developing.

I´m confused, some here told me Gircek>Manu....

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I don't understand. I thought the Spurs had no talent outside of Duncan. At least that's what I recall reading on the 'internets' once.

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I remember you saying the same thing when you were pining for old man Kidd, something about wasting Duncan's prime without a second star.

I didn't say the Spurs didn't have talent outside of Duncan. Yes, I did say the Spurs would be hard pressed to turn down an opportunity to add an all-NBA 1st team member to the one they already had.

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The Spurs wasted valuable title time developing this talent.

We're just starting to realize a signifigant ROI in Manu.

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As far as I'm concerned, the Spurs received a full Return On their Investment in the first year of Manu's contract (2-yr., $3M) when the Spurs won the NBA Championship. He was closing out all their games during the playoffs even in in his first year. You'd be hard-pressed to prove, at $3Meg total that they didn't get their desired return the first year.

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Parker last year scored more consistently than Manu. He had MANY more big games during the year, and diversified his skills this summer. He took over more than one game during the playoffs.

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I agree that he had MORE big scoring games. But he was acually less efficient of a scorer than Manu last season if you factor in shot attempts. Sure Parker took over a bit more, but the efficiency stats showed that if Parker wasn't hitting his field goals at a 50%+ clip, he was going to struggle because he never got the FT line, and when he did he was erratic -- not to mention his erratic three point shooting as well.

This season I want them BOTH to score more and increase their efficiencies -- but last season they both were pretty close if you factor in the 82 game season and even in the Laker series. Parker showed more scoring promise, but didn't capitilze once he encountered his first BAD game in the playoffs.

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Second Star.

29 points on 12 shots
7 rebs
7 assists
6 steals
1 block
5 for 6 on 3s
35 minutes

dang, that was an amazing game by manu.. had me worried when he got hit in the back tho..

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Originally Posted by Emeyin

dang, that was an amazing game by manu.. had me worried when he got hit in the back tho..

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Not to mention the Shaq elbow to the forehead right after Shaq slapped Timmy.

What was the deal with the Shaq elbows tonight? One to Tim's left cheek and then one to Tim's throat within about 5 minutes. I thought elbows contacted over the shoulder were an auto DQ from the game.

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Originally Posted by grjr

Not to mention the Shaq elbow to the forehead right after Shaq slapped Timmy.

What was the deal with the Shaq elbows tonight? One to Tim's left cheek and then one to Tim's throat within about 5 minutes. I thought elbows contacted over the shoulder were an auto DQ from the game.

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I was thinking the exact same thing. I know that at least one of those elbows was intentional.

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Originally Posted by grjr

Not to mention the Shaq elbow to the forehead right after Shaq slapped Timmy.

What was the deal with the Shaq elbows tonight? One to Tim's left cheek and then one to Tim's throat within about 5 minutes. I thought elbows contacted over the shoulder were an auto DQ from the game.

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:p

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That cheap shot foul of an elbow in the kidneys that put Manu cheek-to-floor and getting up slowly is what I'm afraid we'll see more of, as teams focus on Manu as game-changer/winner. If you can't beat him, beat on him.

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A few days ago, I said on one of these threads that unlike most teams that compete for championships with two superstars, the Spurs have one superstar and two little stars that revolve around him in Parker and Manu.

I'm beginning to change that opinion. Manu may become a big star, if not a superstar, if he keeps up his game at this level. Now if Parker can just raise his game a fraction or two...

he's shooting phenomenally right now......that shooting consistency was all his game lacked.

Go Manu Go!!!