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The illustration from the article.
Great story on Manu.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24151741/
For Spurs to repeat, Manu must be the man
Wreckless? Perhaps. Crazy? Maybe. But Ginobili is key cog for San Antonio
By Bill Woten
The San Antonio Spurs’ goal of an elusive repeat championship most likely will be determined by a player taken second-to-last in the 1999 NBA draft, someone whose on-court sanity has been questioned by his coach but who is also a favorite of both Kobe Bryant and TNT analyst Charles Barkley.
Yes, it should come as no surprise in the wildest season ever for the NBA’s Western Conference that Manu Ginobili, a player deemed crazy by teammate Tony Parker as well as Suns coach Mike D’Antoni, has played the best basketball of his life.
At age 30 and in his sixth NBA season, Ginobili has posted career-highs in points (19.5), minutes (31.1), rebounds (4.8), assists (4.5) and 3-point accuracy (40.1 percent), a number that has improved every season.
Among the highlights: Back-to-back 37-point outbursts — one as a starter, one off the bench — in victories over the Mavericks and Jazz in December, 46 points and eight 3-pointers in a road win against the Cavaliers in February, two games of 7-for-9 accuracy on 3-pointers against the Timberwolves. Oh, there was a highlight-reel dunk over the Rockets’ 7-foot-6 Yao Ming, too.
Ginobili, who maintains strong family ties in his homeland of Argentina, overcame numerous challenges to establish himself as one of the best basketball players in the world. So, brushing aside another challenge, a groin injury that forced him to miss three of the last four games of the regular season, should just be part of his routine.
With the playoffs beginning Saturday, of the roadblocks teams will encounter on a le drive, the one constructed by the Spurs is the most formidable. Yes, all roads to that le still run through San Antonio.
While Parker, along with stalwart Tim Duncan also are vital to the Spurs’ pursuit of another NBA crown, whether they reach it or not will be on Ginobili. Not long ago, that statement, much like the player himself, would have been — well, crazy.
Unique style
The foray sometimes begins with a through-the-legs — the defenders’ legs, not his own — dribble or pass and ends with a circuitous attack on the basket, where Ginobili, crashing into would-be shot blockers, throws down an unexpected dunk. Didn’t see it coming? That goes for a lot of people, both on and off the court.
After all, Ginobili’s pro career in this country began as an afterthought. He was selected by the Spurs late in the second and final round of that aforementioned 1999 draft. Ginobili had just completed his first professional season in Italy. Both he and the Spurs knew at the time that he wasn’t ready for the NBA. San Antonio tabbed him because, coming off a championship, the Spurs didn’t have a pressing need. At the same time, they didn’t like any of their other options in that draft slot.
Ginobili didn’t sign right away with San Antonio. Instead, continuing to play in Italy, he improved. Did he ever. In 2001 he was named MVP of the Italian League and led Bologna to the Italian and Euroleague championships. In 2002 he was again named MVP of the Italian League. Ready for a new challenge, and armed with the game to take him there, Ginobili signed with the Spurs in the summer of 2002. Two months later, he led Argentina to a stunning victory over the United States in the World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis, the first U.S. loss ever in international compe ion when using NBA players.
As a rookie with the Spurs in 2003, Ginobili was a role player who helped capture the NBA championship. He showed signs of genius, but the good was too often offset by daring maneuvers that resulted in missed shots or turnovers. This approach clashed with disciplined San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, who yanked Ginobili from one game and, according to an article in USA Today, asked him, “If I put you back in the game, are you going to act anything like a normal human being?”
Slowly, Ginobili won over even Popovich, who opened up the offense a bit to let Ginobili and Parker, the quick point guard from France, be themselves. Sure, the mistakes continue to agitate, but they are fewer and are far outnumbered by successful, game-changing plays.
“(Ginobili’s) not easy to coach, and Pop and him are an ideal pairing because Pop is comfortable enough to give him the rope to let him be Manu,” said SuperSonics coach P.J. Carlesimo, lead assistant coach in San Antonio for five years through 2007. “And that’s what he’s got to be. I think it’s been a great relationship because Pop can get all over him when he does his crazy stuff, but he also knows that a lot of nights his crazy stuff turns out good.”
In his book Miracle on 33rd Street about the 1970 New York Knicks, author Phil Berger described Walt Frazier in this way: “Frazier had the kind of entranced joy inside the game’s rhythm that surfers are said to have in a wave’s curl.”
Ginobili plays the game on the same surfboard: fast, slow, up, down, in, out, each move precisely measured and delivered at the correct time and place. With no end of variables in constant movement around him, Ginobili appears comfortable.
“He has exquisite timing and feel, and plays at a perfect pace, always controlling his tempo,” said David Thorpe, director of skills development for NBA and college players at the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla.
“He is a high-level athlete, extremely balanced and agile. He is technically superior — shots, fakes, moves off the dribble, footwork in his triple-threat game. He lulls defenders to sleep, then speeds up and slows down. He has every trick in the book. There just aren’t 10 shooting guards on the planet that have all those things in one combination, maybe five.”
Popovich’s headaches were alleviated not just because Ginobili matured but because he improved all aspects of his game. Consensus is that what makes Ginobili stand out is his intelligence, most notably an ability to see elements of the game, absorb them, incorporate them, improve upon them. A combination of athleticism and a en.
“His best quality is that he’s very smart. His basketball IQ is huge,” said the Rockets’ Luis Scola, a teammate and friend of Ginobili’s on Argentina’s national team.
Opponents are painfully aware of his cerebral abilities.
Houston’s Shane Battier, one of the league’s premier defensive players and keeper of a database of opponents’ abilities and tendencies, described the difficulty in checking Ginobili.
“What makes him really tough, though, is that he can shoot it as well as he is an amazing finisher,” Battier said. “He understands angles really well. He understands how to exploit the holes in the defense. It’s difficult to try to come up with a game plan against him. He really is unique.”
Family tradition
Following — and at times annoying — in the footsteps of his father and two older brothers, all of whom played professionally in Argentina, Manu practiced by himself on the sidelines while his brothers took part in organized practices. As the family’s youngest, Manu lost more than his share in early compe ions. Losing upset him very much, but it also drove him back to the court.
He became a gym rat, in part because the Ginobili men were always at the gym in their hometown of Bahia Blanca, a city located 350 miles southwest of Buenos Aires and dubbed the unofficial capital of basketball in soccer-mad Argentina, but also because “my mother never wanted a hoop in the back yard,” said Manu’s brother, Leandro Ginobili, via telephone from Bahia Blanca.
Success did not come quickly to Manu. He wasn’t the best player on his youth teams, and given his slight build at the time, coaches encouraged him — ultimately without success — to stay away from the basket, where taller and stronger players did their work. Hence, his shooting touch developed first.
But it was the poster of Michael Jordan on his bedroom wall that gave a glimpse of the style Ginobili wanted to play: relentless, punishing drives, into and around any and all defenders, often with angles difficult to plot even with a protractor.
“Once he picks up the ball, Manu, like a lot of international players, does a really nice job of not running in straight lines,” Thorpe said. “He kind of takes two steps in different directions to go around opponents setting up for charges. I call it the ‘Ginobili Move.’”
Ginobili’s passion and determination never wavered, but a growth spurt and that innate ability to continually add elements to his game paid huge dividends. At age 19, he was named rookie of the year with a professional club in Argentina. He was on his way.
Ginobili’s long journey from South America to s om in Europe and now the NBA has been dotted with two constants: his dynamic style of play, and winning.
Since Ginobili arrived in San Antonio for the 2002-03 season, the Spurs have won three championships. In the years they didn’t win, it took Derek Fisher’s catch-and-turn buzzer-beater in 2004 and a Game 7 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in 2006 to derail them, the latter of which included both good and bad Manu in the final minute of the fourth quarter: his tie-breaking 3-point shot and his ill-advised foul on Dirk Nowitzki’s drive that gave the Mavericks a 3-point play. Dallas won in overtime.
In the off-season, Ginobili poured in 29 points in Argentina’s upset of Duncan, Allen Iverson, LeBron James and the rest of Team USA in the 2004 Olympic semifinals. Argentina went on to win the gold medal.
All of Ginobili’s success in the NBA and the Olympics have made him a hero in Argentina, where his image appears on billboards. He is also followed by adoring fans, autograph seekers and paparazzi, making it difficult for him to go out in public.
“We are a soccer country, but with the arrival of Manu to the NBA a lot of people begin to see him and see the sport. Manu now is like an icon,” said Leandro Ginobili, who added that the family-and-friend gatherings in Argentina to watch NBA Finals games on television are “ceremonies.”
His wish
Duncan once described Ginobili’s style as controlled chaos, and indeed the flair-and-dare game is a perfect fit for the playoffs, a time of year when the timid retreat. For his career, Ginobili’s minutes (27.8 regular season, 30.4 playoffs) and scoring average (14.7, 15.6) both increase in the postseason.
“He’s one of my favorite players I’ve ever been involved with on any level,” Carlesimo said. “He’s one of, if not the best, compe ors I’ve ever coached or ever seen. He’s just a very, very special guy, one who doesn’t come along very much.”
Following a pre-game workout at a mid-season road stop in Seattle, a short interview with Ginobili reveals two things: one, he is noticeably polite, humble and soft-spoken, the complete opposite of the attack mode displayed on the court; and two, his nose, the subject of teasing as a child, is not only large, it’s crooked.
But like a big chrome bumper on a classic 1950s automobile, it has served its purpose of protecting the interior — for the most part. And with the curtain about to go up on what Ginobili, San Antonio and Argentina hope will be a dynamite run to the Finals, family members are eager for more celebrations but also amazed.
“We never thought this,” Leandro Ginobili said. “The family think he plays really good in Europe, but never in the NBA, the level that he plays. We are really surprised with all the things Manu does with his career in the United States.”
Manu, meanwhile, knows this is where his game belongs. He marveled at the longevity of teammate Robert Horry, who is 37 and in his 16th NBA season.
Does Ginobili think he will play as long as Horry?
“Ahh, in my case it’s gonna be a little harder. It’s going to be harder.
“I wish.”
Hardships and wishes. It’s a formula that’s served Ginobili so far.
The illustration from the article.
great article
he is the SPurs only hope
Ginobili Finals MVP..
just saying...
tp played the best the last two games
and there are only articles on manu
I thought of this before I posted the article. I did not want to start a Parker/Manu thread.
tp played the best the last two games
and there are only articles on manu
Parker has played great the last couple of games and the Spurs need him to continue that to get the repeat.
They also need Manu to play at his best. And Duncan. And Bowen. And everyone else.
It's a team game, none of them can win it alone. Especially this year, with the West so tough.
I posted this because it was a wonderful article on Manu. I do the same when I find articles on any Spur.
tp played the best the last two games
and there are only articles on manu
because the Spurs have lived and died by his play this season
if he can play like he did when he was scoring 30+ the Spurs will cruise to a le
I am not trying to make it a tp vs manu thread
I just do not get the media
they do not give tp alot of praise ever
even when he won the finals mvp
I think barry , kurt, ime, booner are the keys for the spurs
manu,tp and duncan will bring it
it will be the role players that will get the spurs the w
I used to think Manu's hair held his secret powers.
Then the bald spot.
But now I know the truth behind Manu's abilities...
It's all in the Schnoz.
You have a point there. I find more articles on Manu than Parker. Maybe it's his resume and his style of play that gets the attention.
Anyway, I thought this was a great piece on Manu.
Dude, seriously...
tp played the best the last two games
and there are only articles on manu
Quite sucking on TP's balls. One can't praise Manu without bowing down to TP at the same time?
Listen, we need all three of them if we are going to get anywhere. So quit being jealous that your loverboy isn't getting any attention, while Manu is.
Plus, Eva's getting jealous.
Well, Manu does seem to have a more well rounded game than Parker, not taking anything away from TP because he's also an essential piece to this team.
P.S. I don't care which Spur is out getting the most articles written about, as long as it's THE SPURS.
dude why do you not get off of manu's balls
duncan228 sees my point to an extent
the media likes dunks
but manu does dunk some but most of his articles are not about dunks
Pop is soAs a rookie with the Spurs in 2003, Ginobili was a role player who helped capture the NBA championship. He showed signs of genius, but the good was too often offset by daring maneuvers that resulted in missed shots or turnovers. This approach clashed with disciplined San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, who yanked Ginobili from one game and, according to an article in USA Today, asked him, “If I put you back in the game, are you going to act anything like a normal human being?”
I loaded the page before you explained yourself.
But, I agree with WildcardManu: who cares???
As long as we get a Chip.
This is the greatest era in Spurs history. Just milk it for all it's worth.
And we should just enjoy it before we become a lottery team some years later.
Plus, Tony had suffered for a large portion of the year, and Manu carried the team until Tim and Tony felt up to snuff.
Jesus ... that nose is getting bigger and biggerThe illustration from the article.
Nice article.
The Spurs best weapon to counter the Pheonix Suns is Manu Ginobili. He has owned them in the past, however, in the last two regular season games he has struggled mightily against them for some reason. On a court with Steve Nash, he could arguably be the best guard on the floor in this series. Make it happen Manu
Very good article, lots of supporting evidence, accurate imo. If he hasn't watched Manu a lot, he's done a lot of research. Nothing struck as weird or wrong. Bill Woten, noted.
cyrano de bergerac
say anything about me... but not the nose.
Finals MVP !!!!!!!!!
Great article. You gotta love Manu. But to say it's on Manu whether or not we win the le is pretty stupid. Tim will be the deciding factor because his presence on BOTH ends of the floor will be needed and vital. But whatever, at least people understand how great Manu has become.
You posted an amazing article. I truly enjoyed reading it. Thanks very much.
And please don't pay ANY attention to ducks...you as well as every poster on this forum knows that he just wants to bash Manu at every turn or turn it into the TP/Manu debate. My advice is just to ignore the annoying posters...and post any articles that you want to post because there are a lot of amazing posters on this forum that appreciate the articles and enjoy reading them.
I know you also like to post TD's articles as well as articles for other Spurs players. And we like reading them. So don't let one annoying poster bother you or prevent you from continuing to post articles...
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