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Ive been waiting for your post, thanks a lot
The Spurs got their revenge against the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday night. Earlier in the season, the Hornets demolished the Spurs in the AT&T Center. On this night, the Spurs survived a late flurry by the Hornets to come away with a 98-89 victory.
The story of the game once again was Manu Ginobili. The Argentine superstar is playing better than a superstar. In fact, he’s the best player in the NBA right now. By far.
As a team, the Spurs looked very good at times. Tony Parker was back in the starting lineup and the Big Three had moments where they all played well together. Defensively the Spurs were very good for large stretches of the game. However, as has been the case most of the season, the Spurs also played poorly for a few stretches and let the Hornets back into the game.
The Hornets are a very solid team. Chris Paul is the head of the snake and he’s probably the best point guard in the entire league right now. He’s tough, extremely talented and fearless. That’s a scary combination to go against. The rest of their roster is packed with talented players.
Overall, it was a good win by the Spurs. They outplayed the Hornets for a majority of the game and deserved the win. The Spurs still have a lot of room for improvement but it’s now possible to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
-Tim Duncan had a very impressive outing. He set the tone early with four blocks in the first half and was just a dominant force all night long. He finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and only one turnover. Duncan also shot 10-for-16 from the field and 5-for-5 from the line. He has played very well of late overall and if he can stay healthy, there’s no reason why he can’t have his most dominant playoff run of his life.
-Speaking of dominant, that’s one of the many words you can use right now when describing Manu Ginobili. The guy is just on fire beyond description. In 37 minutes, Ginobili had 30 points, a career-high 12 assists, six rebounds and a steal, while shooting 10-for-18 from the field. His playmaking this game was incredible. I’m running out of things to say about Ginobili. Like I said earlier, he’s by far the best player in the NBA right now. Compared to how he’s playing now, Ginobili sucked last year in the playoffs. If he can continue this level of play, the Spurs are going to be extremely dangerous once the real season begins.
-Tony Parker got the start and looked healthy. He didn’t play well but the most important thing right now is his health. With as well as Duncan and Ginobili are playing, the team needs Parker healthy to truly be a championship contender. On the night, Parker finished with ten points, four assists, three rebounds and one turnover, while shooting 4-for-13 from the field. Parker actually was hitting his shots at the beginning of the game but he seemed to get tired as the game went along. Hopefully he can regain his form at some point in the next week or so.
-Bruce Bowen reminded Peja Stojakovic that Bowen owns him. Bowen held Stojakovic scoreless until there were eight and half minutes left in the third quarter. All told, Stojakovic only scored that lone basket while Bowen was in the game. This was the most effort we’ve seen out of Bowen in a while. He brought playoff level intensity as he obviously had a chip on his shoulder coming into the game. Bowen hit 2-of-3 shots from the field, including a key three-pointer late in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory.
-Fabricio Oberto played very well, especially early on in the game. Whether or not Oberto played well due to Kurt Thomas being in uniform is open for discussion. Against the Hornets, Oberto finished with eight points, nine rebounds and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field. Oberto played very good defense and was extremely active overall. He made a good case for himself to continue starting despite Thomas’ arrival.
-Robert Horry led the bench players in minutes and played one of his better games of the season. In 22 minutes, Horry had seven points and three rebounds. Two of his points came on a thunderous two-handed dunk that Horry must have pulled out of a time machine. While his shooting was still off (3-for-8 from the field), he’s looking a lot more comfortable on the court. It’ll be interesting to see how his playing time will be affected by the addition of Thomas.
-Damon Stoudamire was the backup to Parker and showed why the Spurs went after him. He played very well during the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter he struggled a bit, which led to a quick hook by Pop. Overall though, you have to be happy with the way Stoudamire has played since the All-Star break. He appears comfortable with the offense and his effort on defense is there. In 16 minutes, Stoudamire had seven points, four rebounds, one assist and no turnovers on 3-of-8 shooting.
-Ime Udoka gave good effort on defense however he wasn't as effective as he’s been in past games. He made a few mistakes that led to Pop forcefully reminding him of the proper procedures. Offensively, Udoka hit 1-of-3 shots from the field in his 17 minutes of play. He still needs to work on the quality of his shot attempts but he’s improving in that regard.
-Michael Finley only played 11 minutes and went 1-for-5 from the floor. I’m not sure if he was injured or was just having a bad night but he appeared to be a step slow. Hopefully it’s not an injury because Finley has been playing very well as of late. With Brent Barry’s status in limbo, the Spurs can’t afford an injury to a swingman right now.
-Matt Bonner got some minutes and didn’t do much. With his outside shooting struggling as of late, Bonner’s overall aggressiveness seems to have diminished. Jacque Vaughn got two minutes in the fourth quarter after a couple of ill-advised shots from Stoudamire.
-Kurt Thomas didn’t play but while on the bench, the Spurs explained the rule to him about not leaving the bench if a fight breaks out. It was the first time Thomas had heard of the rule.
-Pop coached a pretty good game. His troops came out fired up and played well for the most part – especially to end the first half and to the end the game. The defense was impressive most of the game and the offense even seemed to find its rhythm at times.
Playing Duncan and Ginobili 38 and 37 minutes respectively is a questionable strategy but I guess we’ll see if either player wears down as the season progresses. Right now, Duncan and Ginobili seem to have responded favorably to the extended minutes.
The one problem I had with the Pop’s coaching was when he pulled Stoudamire and inserted Vaughn into the game in the fourth quarter. The team is struggling to score points and Pop’s response to put in Vaughn for the first time? I would much rather he let Stoudamire work through his struggles or put Parker back into the game a minute early.
The bottomline is the Spurs won again. The midseason struggles are hopefully a thing of the past. The Spurs are due for a loss any game now but as long as they stay healthy, this team looks to be headed in the right direction.
The Spurs next two games are the Hawks on Monday and the Mavericks on Thursday. Both games are at home and both games will be against new-look squads. Hopefully the win streak stands at seven after it’s all said and done.
Believe.
Ive been waiting for your post, thanks a lot
I think over the last 5 games we've seen Manu in a gear that we've never seen before. The reliability of his pull-up jumper, step-back and 3 has never been this consistent over this long a period, and it's energising his entire game... yup, this is a new gear for Ginobili, and it's an absolute joy to watch.-Speaking of dominant, that’s one of the many words you can use right now when describing Manu Ginobili. The guy is just on fire beyond description. In 37 minutes, Ginobili had 30 points, a career-high 12 assists, six rebounds and a steal, while shooting 10-for-18 from the field. His playmaking this game was incredible. I’m running out of things to say about Ginobili. Like I said earlier, he’s by far the best player in the NBA right now. Compared to how he’s playing now, Ginobili sucked last year in the playoffs. If he can continue this level of play, the Spurs are going to be extremely dangerous once the real season begins.
Totally! Rob looks like a pensioner most of the time with those balky hips and that frozen-kneed gait, and then he pulls out a dunk Tyrus Thomas would be proud of! That, and his transition blocked shots out of nowhere, will always amaze me - you can never see them coming, they just arrive out of the blue.Two of his points came on a thunderous two-handed dunk that Horry must have pulled out of a time machine.
Great win, and I love the grit they showed after digging themselves a hole wtih that 19-2 run they allowed.
SPAM is just over the horizon...
Like I said earlier, he’s by far the best player in the NBA right now. Compared to how he’s playing now, Ginobili sucked last year in the playoffs.<<
This is an unfair statement. Yeah, maybe Manu wasn't as hot shooting the ball last playoffs, but the rest of his game was as good, if not better. He consistently came up big on the road for the Spurs, in Games 3 and 4 at Denver, Game 5 at Phoenix, Game 4 at Utah, and Game 4 at Cleveland. He was arguably their best player in the Finals, all things considered, and had one stretch of games where he had three double-doubles in a row. Heck, he ended the Suns series with like a 33-11-6 or something line in Game 6.
Manu might not have dominated the games from start to finish, but he was as clutch as clutch gets last playoffs and it's a shame that the only details you remember are Tony Parker holding the Finals MVP trophy and the stupid DVD the NBA put out.
It's sad that when Ginobili has one of the finest games of his career you still have to throw a "yeah but" in there. Why can't you just accept it for what it is, a really hot stretch by a very talented, hungry player? You sound like Ducks or Sequ and it's pathetic how you emphasize the negative. I swear I was just waiting for you to mention the play where he lost Pargo for a backdoor lay-up.
You know what has me bat worried? Manu is playing as well as he possibly can and the Spurs are squeaking games out. THAT's what you should be focusing on. Instead of writing how Manu so-called "sucked" last playoffs, maybe you should worry more about how Parker is sucking right now.
Stop excusing his play by saying at least he's healthy now. He's playing exactly the way he was before Pop sat him for nine games: He can't ing shoot, he's not getting nearly as many lay-ups as he used to, his defense is completely non-existent to the point where he gives up on any and all screens and he's not being very aggressive on either end of the floor.
Pop has to do something to get him to wake the up and get back to playing like Tony Parker. Either he has to bench him or Manu, because right now Manu has been too successful, too much has happened, and when he's on the court, Manu is getting the lion's share of the plays and the touches. Tony can't play effectively that way and he becomes tentative.
Maybe the burden of being a scorer and facilitator has fried Tony's circuits and he's overwhelmed. Maybe he should ride the pine for a while and look to come in and be the energy guy and just score. Either that or go back to how things were. I don't like the big three starting at the same time because all it does is either diminish Tony or Manu's effectiveness (depending on how hot the other guy is) and ruin our bench. Especially with no Brent now, we need a bench scorer.
hahahahaahahaahahaha
wow
I thought I was defensive about Manu, but wow
I actually think Manu had one of his best games in Game 6 vs the Suns in the playoffs last year...Given the situation and the stakes, he was phenomenal in that game. As well as clutch in Game 5 vs the Suns...Then the Game 4 of the Finals, he just took over in the fourth quarter...I don't think he sucked at all...
But, I think timvp's point is that compared to how amazingly Manu is playing right now, everything before seems below standard...just because it's like Manu is playing on a crazy level lately!
Last edited by greens; 02-24-2008 at 06:41 AM.
hahahahaahahaahahaha
wow
I thought I was defensive about Manu, but wow
I think he misread the context of that "Manu sucked last playoffs" statement not seeing it as a comparative statement...talk about jumping the gun and having a chip on your shoulder for Manu.
haha seriously
That post was beyond classic
Gotta love the Church of Manu. I say Ginobili is by far the best player in the NBA ... and still that isn't good enough. No one in their right might could honestly say that Ginobili was playing anywhere near this level since maybe the 2005 playoffs, and even then he wasn't playing this well.
And for those who struggle with reading comprehension, I didn't say Ginobili sucked last year in the playoffs. I didn't even say he didn't play well. Read it again slowly and you'll realize it was a compliment.
But yeah, the Church of Manu somehow gets mad when Ginobili is called the best player in the NBA and resorts to bashing Tony Parker.
Shocking.
Gotta love the Church of Manu. I say Ginobili is by far the best player in the NBA ... and still that isn't good enough. No one in their right might could honestly say that Ginobili was playing anywhere near this level since maybe the 2005 playoffs, and even then he wasn't playing this well.
And for those who struggle with reading comprehension, I didn't say Ginobili sucked last year in the playoffs. I didn't even say he didn't play well. Read it again slowly and you'll realize it was a compliment.
But yeah, the Church of Manu somehow gets mad when Ginobili is called the best player in the NBA and resorts to bashing Tony Parker.
Shocking.
You also got compared to Ducks and Sequ!
But, though, sometimes, people do have English as a second language so perhaps the above poster misunderstood the statement...
Also his jumpshot is a lot more improved over last year, and it was already noticeable during pre-season. So it took about a year for him to raise his effectiveness off of Pop's jumpshot recommendation (game shifting suggestion).
It's always been good and he's always had that all around game, but now he can make his jumper just as much as he was good at finishing in the paint.
I really hope he continues to make his threes as if they were layups into the post-season.
26-44 3 G's @ 59 percent is pretty insane
He's really scaring/pissing off all the other team's fans
That was cute!
Go here:
http://www.nba.com/hotspots/
and check out Manu's chart, then compare it to other good SGs. He's hitting that midrange better than most of the other great SGs in the league (I compared him against Ray Allen, Michael Redd, Rip Hamilton, Kevin Martin), but curiously he's stone cold from the left block!
Last edited by RuffnReadyOzStyle; 02-24-2008 at 06:38 AM.
So remember kiddies, reading comprehension is always vital!
Also his jumpshot is a lot more improved over last year, and it was already noticeable during pre-season. So it took about a year for him to raise his effectiveness off of Pop's jumpshot recommendation (game shifting suggestion).
It's always been good and he's always had that all around game, but now he can make his jumper just as much as he was good at finishing in the paint.
I really hope he continues to make his threes as if they were layups into the post-season.
26-44 3 G's @ 59 percent is pretty insane
He's really scaring/pissing off all the other team's fans
Would you say Manu 2008 > Manu 2005?
I guess the regular season...since it's still too early to judge anything more...
^^ yeah, Manu is playing out of his mind, and it is incredibly memorable to watch, but I really wanna see if he can somewhat keep this up through the playoffs when we really need it.
Wow, in the last 5 games,
That was cute!
Go here:
http://www.nba.com/hotspots/
and check out Manu's chart, then compare it to other good SGs. He's hitting that midrange like few other players, but curiously he's stone cold from the left block!
and all of those percentages are off the hook the least is at 50 percent 66, 88 100. My favorite jumper he's been making since Toronto is that 15 ft one falling away from like two defenders at midrange on the left block.
Manu's playing better than video game Manu. I know because I could only get about 10-11 rebounds on good games, using him on the Spurs.
(then again, he averaged about 20 steals)
Manu is playing the best basketball of his career right now...like in some article I read the other day...he never even scored 40 points in a game in Europe. He's pulling a Steve Nash or something...he's never been this good and I'd bet he'd be the first to admit it.
As for last year...it wasn't his best year but Manu and Obero basically iced several of those finals games...in particular game 4. I honestly thought they didn't get enough credit for the way they'd work together to get a basket whenever the Cavs were about to get close. Tony and Tim had the numbers...but Manu and Oberto kind of took care of business in the key moments. They did the stuff that Robert Horry usually does to win his teams championships...the stuff that just kind of fills in the cracks of a championship run.
As I was watching the game, I thought Chris Paul was dominating Stoudamire. I really thought he struggled. But then I check the boxscore and his +/- is +12. I'm like, wtf? What game did I just watch.
I think Damon was pretty solid...plus he hit some key shots. I think his three pointer was really impressive, the one where he faked the defender off of him, then shot it right away. It really energized everyone.
As long as he's healthy it's Manu, there's no reason for him to not continue to deliver in the playoffs.
I think one factor that might be a reason for Manu's level of intensity is the fact that the Western Standings make the game wins a lot more important, Popovich quote from the game was like "You can end up first through ninth as far as seating goes. You can’t really decide that you’re going to turn it on a little bit later, it’s got to be turned on now.”
so maybe Manu's just a freak, and its like something innate that's triggered when it comes to big games/important wins.
But I also think it has to do with his refinement of his jumpshot because he wants to keep playing.
Wow
Just thinking back on my time as a Spurs fan, which extends to early 90's, I think these last 5 games by Manu, statistically speaking, could be the best 5 game stretch by anyone not named Tim Duncan or David Robinson... I'm actually almost certain it is
Yeah, it didnt' really show up on paper, Manu played more of the energy guy. He usually would score in bunches and close games with freethrows, but he didn't have to take on his 2005 role and I don't think he got consistent until the Phoenix series.
His 2007 regular season was his statistical best up until that point. So I hope he's pulling a Steve Nash as a late-bloomer. More championship contention.
What the ???
I think he misread the context of that "Manu sucked last playoffs" statement not seeing it as a comparative statement...talk about jumping the gun and having a chip on your shoulder for Manu.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when reading his post. I think it scared me a little!
I, too, think it was taken entirely out of context.
Good stuff.
I disagree with you on Tony looking healthy... Go back and watch the game again and look how how many times he pulled the ball out on a 1 on 2 or 3 situation.
Healthy Tony takes that ball to the rack every time.
I realize that Chandler is a beast under there as a shotblocker... but many of the times he pulled up were without Chandler in the game.
Thanks TIMVP your post are better than sunday's newspaper, anyhow some comments.
1. I seee a great team play effort, by stats we can see we did a great game, many players doing good thing here and there.
2. Besides that another comments quoting you.
This guy is amazing, he's playing very well lately, even from FT's line (the only stat he could improve).
What about his ...
In another Manunight, many manumoments happens, manuratio was good from the field, manuassists make step up his manumates, Manu also make some manusteals and decent manurebounds.
I do agree even if he needs more time, we could send him home for 3/4 days more, TP would importante in closed games later in the season.
Old Bruce is making things happen
Not so bad
About new kids on the block I'd like to see a second unit playing, let's say...
Bonner Thomas Damon Udoka Finley
For the rest ... I can't wait for your next recap!
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