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Even though he does not believe in God, I have faith in the man. Get well. Do work. Win.
Ginobili predicts complete recovery
Jeff McDonald
Manu Ginobili boarded a flight to Argentina late Sunday afternoon, headed home for the first time in nearly a year.
This time, he planned to stay awhile, using his vacation to relax with friends and family and do all the things that a wandering son and brother does when he finally gets a chance to return home.
“I’ve got almost everything packed up and ready to go,” Ginobili said from his San Antonio home a few hours before leaving for the airport. “There was a lot to pack.”
Ginobili could be bringing everything but the kitchen sink back with him to Buenos Aires. It still wouldn’t match the baggage he carried the last time he made the trip home.
Last summer, the Spurs guard boarded a similar flight to his homeland to prepare for the Olympics in Beijing, bearing the weight of an entire nation’s expectations on his shoulders. He left behind an employer that had urged him to reconsider his loyalty to country and a Spurs fan base just praying he’d survive the summer in one piece.
Ginobili, the star of Argentina’s Olympic team, came back from Beijing in a boot after reinjuring the left ankle that had given him trouble during the 2008 playoffs. That twist of both ankle and fate led to a series of injuries that wiped out most of Ginobili’s 2008-09 season.
In his first interview since April 5, the day before a stress fracture in his right distal fibula put a premature end to the most tumultuous season of his career, Ginobili said Sunday that he expects to be fully recovered by the opening of training camp in October.
“For the past month or so, I haven’t felt any pain, even to the touch,” Ginobili said. “I don’t have any doubt I’ll be 100 percent before training camp starts.”
Much is riding on Ginobili’s latest recovery effort. Nothing the Spurs accomplish this offseason, either via the draft or free agency, will mean much if Ginobili cannot approach the form that made him the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2007-08.
Injury-plagued from start to finish, Ginobili missed all but 44 games last season, including all of the Spurs’ first-round playoff ouster against Dallas. He averaged 15.5 points, his fewest since 2005-06, while his shooting percentage dipped to 45.5 percent, his lowest since 2003-04.
As Ginobili heads home this summer, again recovering from an ankle injury but this time without an Olympic quest to hijack the healing process, he does so under no marching order other than to get well.
His long-term future in San Antonio could depend on it.
Ginobili, who will turn 32 next month, is entering the final year of a contract scheduled to pay him close to $16.1 million next season.
The Spurs had begun preliminary talks about a contract extension last summer before Ginobili left for China. Those negotiations were shelved when Ginobili re-injured his left ankle at the Olympics, and they have yet to resume.
“They want to see that I am healthy,” Ginobili said.
Ginobili is hopeful he can reach a deal that would allow him to finish his career in San Antonio.
“I have said a thousand times, I would love to stay here,” Ginobili said. “You know how the NBA is, though. There are not a lot of players who get to start and finish in the same place. I love San Antonio. If I have to take another road, you do what you have to do. But it would not be my first option, for sure.”
For the Spurs, who have played with their star guard injured for much of the past 14 months, the preferred option is to have Ginobili healthy.
The news so far this offseason has been encouraging.
An MRI taken Thursday showed the bone in his right leg completely healed. Ginobili expects to return to running and jumping next month, and he should be able to begin basketball work not long after that.
“All the things I have not been allowed to do, I should be allowed to do soon,” he said.
This summer, Ginobili hopes to reinvigorate his career in the same manner it went south last summer.
By boarding a plane to Argentina.
*********************
87 number of regular-season and playoff games the Spurs played during the 2008-09 campaign
44 games Ginobili played during the 2008-09 season, the fewest of his seven-year career
90 average number of regular-season and playoff games per season Ginobili played during his first six seasons
*********************
A painful 14 months
Spurs guard Manu Ginobili has spent much of the past 14 months either injured or rehabilitating from injury. Here is a glance at Ginobili’s recent treks to the training room:
April 2008: Ginobili experiences soreness in his left ankle during the Spurs’ first-round playoff series against Phoenix, but he continues to play through the discomfort.
May 2008: The pain in Ginobili’s ankle gets progressively worse. By the Western Conference finals against the Lakers, he is a s of himself.
Aug. 22, 2008: Playing for Argentina in the Beijing Olympics, Ginobili re-aggravates the ankle injury. Diagnosed with a ligament impingement, he undergoes arthroscopic surgery two weeks later.
Nov. 24, 2008: Ginobili makes his season debut at Memphis, having missed the first 12 games recovering from surgery.
Feb. 16, 2009: Experiencing soreness in his right ankle that did not subside during the All-Star break, Ginobili does not make the final leg of the Spurs’ rodeo road trip. Doctors diagnose him with a stress reaction in his right distal fibula, which will sideline him for 19 more games.
March 25, 2009: Cleared by the team’s medical staff to return to action, Ginobili plays 14 minutes in a victory at Atlanta.
April 5, 2009: Ginobili again feels discomfort in the right ankle during a loss to Cleveland. He returns to San Antonio to be examined by the team’s medical staff.
April 6, 2009: Doctors determine Ginobili’s stress reaction has become a more ominous stress fracture, and they pronounce him out for the rest of the season and the playoffs.
Even though he does not believe in God, I have faith in the man. Get well. Do work. Win.
I'm not a basher of McDonald but?
Ginobili = $10,725,000Ginobili, who will turn 32 next month, is entering the final year of a contract scheduled to pay him close to $16.1 million next season.
The non-existent fact checking strikes again.
Last edited by duncan228; 06-08-2009 at 12:39 AM.
I wonder if he is doing it to mess with ST
Kori and 228:
Oh, McDonald
Ginobili should help himself by adjusting his game so he isnt falling to the floor 3-4 times a game.
Okay, that one qualifies as shocking. It's bad enough that he didn't check. (How hard would it be? Thirty seconds and a couple of clicks?) But to write about the game for a living and not have any sort of logic check in place that $16 Million would be a max contract for his number of years? Or that guys like Vince Carter or Pao Gasol are getting paid more than he is?I'm not a basher of McDonald but
Ginobili = $10,725,000
I'm not one of the bandwagon McDonald bashers, but damn. You would think he would at least sense that $16 Mil sounds a little high.
Props to McDonald for landing the Ginobili interview. That is very Ludden-esque
Great to hear that Ginobili is healing. Hopefully he doesn't suffer any setbacks and can come back and play his customary 70-75 regular season games next year and then be strong for the playoffs. And McDonald's point is true .... whatever the Spurs do this summer won't compare at all to having a healthy Ginobili next year.
No way McDonald, come on!
+1Props to McDonald for landing the Ginobili interview. That is very Ludden-esque
Great to hear that Ginobili is healing. Hopefully he doesn't suffer any setbacks and can come back and play his customary 70-75 regular season games next year and then be strong for the playoffs. And McDonald's point is true .... whatever the Spurs do this summer won't compare at all to having a healthy Ginobili next year.
As far as McDonald goes, it's not that he's a horrible writer, it just seems he's either too lazy or just flat-out couldn't care less about the Spurs.
It's not too much to ask for a team's beat-writer to know basic facts about someone's salary or be familiar with the team's history, is it?
If only they allowed knee, elbow, and shoulder pads... he would be set.
Great news re his injury being completely healed. Best to take it easy in the offseason. Same with Duncan.
EDIT: You shouldn't give him props just yet...Props to McDonald for landing the Ginobili interview. That is very Ludden-esque.
I don't think there wasn't any interview at all in this case... that's all taken from Manu's Facebook updates and previous interviews... there is absolutely nothing i repeat NADA new that he hasn't said before elsewhere on this article... the MRI is the only new thing to it and he can get that data from other sources than Manu...
Last edited by urunobili; 06-08-2009 at 10:17 AM.
Looks like McDonald finally found Manu's facebook page...
And the $16 million figure... I wonder if he just wrote that number and thought "I'll check later", but never did. Sloppy as usual. The MRI I haven't heard about, so that's definitely good news.
yeah pretty interesting that he posted this right after Manu posted on his Facebook that he was packing up and getting ready to go back to Argentina. Good to hear about his MRI results.
Good news
Janobliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
If we stay healthy and if Pop wakes the and plays Hill much more often, we have a legitimate shot at returning to the Finals
Except timvp wrote than an hour before Whottt's accusation.
oh oh...Except timvp wrote than an hour before Whottt's accusation.I'll edit my post... :Self Owned
Do you call him Timvp at home? I do not know why that makes me laugh when I think about thatExcept timvp wrote than an hour before Whottt's accusation.
did he not saying he had 5 more years left playing in the nba to
hopefully he is right for once though
Did ducks just say something positive about Manu?
Ducks secretly loves Manu. He said, and I quote:
Did ducks just say something positive about Manu?
"Bosh is better than Manu. Not!!!!!"
Let's say he completely recovers.
What are the chances Manu Ginobili can be a serviceable 2 guard for us next year (including the playoffs)?
I don't think he can play a full season at the level he competes at and then help us win a championship.
Maybe I'm wrong.
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