dunno if already posted, if so. sorry
Top 50: Manu Ginobili, no. 29
by Adam Sweeney
Underrated. It might be the most overused word in sports. As hoop-aholics we always beat our chests and stand on the curb shouting about how our favorite player gets no love. Therein lies the roundball rub. Our arguments are often dismissed because of our allegiances. This case foManu Ginobilir Manu Ginobili’s greatness can’t be. Why? Because as a Houston native, I loathe the San Antonio Spurs. I can assure you that no bias exists here. I went to college twenty-five minutes away from San Antonio and had to listen every day about the San Antonio Spurs dynasty. I made it my mission to debunk the fantasies Spurs had about their team. The thing is that the more you examine Manu’s career, the better he becomes. In fact, Manu may be the most underrated, there’s that word again, player of our generation.
Fact: Kanye West can cry about how a VMA was robbed from Beyonce but one of the truly great steals in history came when the Spurs grabbed Manu Ginobili with the 57th pick in the 1999 NBA Draft. Let me throw out a stat, seeing as we spent the last few weeks drinking the champagne of greatness that was Michael Jordan’s career. Manu is only the second player ever to win a NBA Championship, Euroleague le and Olympic gold medal. But you still don’t get it.
Seeing is believing and anyone who saw the San Antonio Spurs fall apart in the playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks last year got a huge dose of how important Manu is to the team’s success. Say what you want about the addition of Richard Jefferson. Give deserved praise to Tim Duncan as the greatest power forward ever. Gasp at Tony Parker’s speed and emergence as a team leader. A run at an NBA le begins and ends with Manu Ginobili.
And what’s funny is that as NBA fans we only got a partial glimpse of the picture. Before he came to the Association, The Argentine was tearing it up in Argentina and the Italian League. MVPs? He’s got them, winning the 2001 Euroleague Final Four MVP. He was only voted one of the thirty-five greatest players ever but we don’t want to talk about that. The NBA is king, oh wait, except when Manu led Argentina to Gold in the 2004 Olympics. Yeah, he was the MVP of that also. Perhaps it’s Manu’s foreign origins that make us shy away from him. You make the call.
If that wasn’t enough, the most exciting player in S.A. is the first sixth man to win All-NBA honors. If Ben Gordon is worth over $50 million, what is Manu’s value? You can’t put a price on it. Unlike Gordon, who is at his best when he is coming off the bench, Manu has proven he could dominate as a starter. The stats don’t lie. In a five-game stretch as a starter last season, he averaged 34.4 points per game and 6.6 assists per game in 37.4 minutes per game. Efficiency, Manu is thy name.
How well-rounded is Ginobili’s offensive game? A New York Times article regarding Shane Battier, the defensive student of the game that he is, studied the very subject. Battier is given data to study every opponent. The results speak for themselves. “Manu Ginobili is a statistical freak: he has no imbalance whatsoever in his game,” the article offers. “There is no one way to play him that is better than another. He is equally efficient off the dribble as he is off the pass, going left and right and any spot from on the floor.” It’s true. You’re just as likely to get beaten by a quick slash to the lane as you are a bucket from behind the line when it comes to Ginobili. He can score from anywhere. On any other team he would be a perennial All-Star.
But it’s not about that. See, unlike other players who are too caught up in the “importance” of getting starter’s minutes (see Allen Iverson), Manu Ginobili kills ‘em softly any way the team needs him. He doesn’t mind letting Timmy and Tony have their names on the marquee, even though he could lead the team in points and assists. He just keeps on keeping on and counts the championship rings at the end of the day.
The word clutch has become synonymous with Kobe Bryant but it’s an undeserved association. Yeah, you guessed it, Manu’s the real heir to the last minute throne. Forbes did a study chronicling the top players in the last five minutes of a game including overtime. It wasn’t even close. Manu topped the list and shoots lights out at a 57.4% clip. Your boy Kobe? 44.8%. Do I have your attention yet?
The only thing that can stop Manu Ginobili is his health and he has suffered a few setbacks in the past few years. The 2008-2009 season ended unceremoniously for him as he had to shut it down with a stress fracture in his right distal fibula. That only means you’ll be sleeping on him this upcoming season, just like the majority of us have slept on the Spurs all these years. So when you are watching the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals next season, perhaps against the defending champion Lakers, don’t be shocked if Manu slaps the taste out of your mouth with a game-winning three. The quiet ones always sneak up on you. The funny thing is you’ll be the one left speechless. Manu Ginobili has been doing it his entire career and yet we still can’t find words to describe him. For now, underrated will have to do.
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It's been ages since I saw this kind of article about Manu from a non-spurs journalist. It's great to see that the press is starting to value Manu as much as we do. He has been underrated many years in comparison to other stars.
cia pop
many articles on manu
then trade him?
The today's SLAM article on Manu was posted yes ay :
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135319
I have the power to see the futureand share it with you
Wouldn't oyu just love that . . .
I love spur les yes
players who can not play in playoffs that make 10.5 million I have no need for
and the irrational hate starts early
or does it ever end?
Ducks, I guess you want to trade duncan too, and hate Duncan then, too...because he is the same as Manu in the regard you mentioned. After all, he was injured in 2000 against phoenix in the playoffs, and could not play (I think that was the year)...they could have won it then.
Duncan was injured this last year in the playoffs as well, and his chronic condition means he will probably be "injured" this year. So how come you are not arguing we should trade Duncan too?
Hating Manu is a lame gimmick.
ducks just hates on ginobili so much because manu didn't want to give his sorry ass an autograph.
Ducks is a lame gimmick.
so you just.. didn't look at all... to see if it was posted.... or what?
manu was hurt 2 years in a row
in playoffs
and did not play
duncan missed one playoff year
manu is injury prone not duncan
manu can only play 25 minutes a game duncan 40 regular
get tony parkers nuts out of your mouth you biased
THANK YOU for writting this article .. there are only few people who knows the real MANU .. his been underrated since he came to the nba .. only MANU can take his team on his shoulders and win a gold medal in the biggest stage of them all, the olympics. but kobe needs lebron,wade,melo and paul to win a gold medal. MANU can surely stand beside kobe and say "i'm as good as you are or even better"!!!
MANU=
It's slightly unfair to overlook Tim Duncan.THANK YOU for writting this article .. there are only few people who knows the real MANU .. his been underrated since he came to the nba .. only MANU can take his team on his shoulders and win a gold medal in the biggest stage of them all, the olympics. but kobe needs lebron,wade,melo and paul to win a gold medal. MANU can surely stand beside kobe and say "i'm as good as you are or even better"!!!
MANU=
manu will come out firing from all cylinders come play off time this coming season. book it!
what has tp have to do with manu?
espcially his health?
Nice article by Adam Sweeney.
Hope Manu comes back strong. One of my favorite players in the league.
even spurs hater on this forum know this as all they can ever say about manu deals with his health. it is almost as if they wish him to be hurt just to lessen the chances the spurs have.
even kobe has repeatedly praised manu. the man's game is just something to behold. lebron? no-i am happy as i got to witness manu in my own backyard.
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