Spurs' Ginobili: ‘I've still got things to work on
By Mike Monroe - Express-News
Ordinarily, a seven-year NBA veteran such as Manu Ginobili would approach the final game of the preseason as a relief.
This time, Ginobili would be happy for a few more exhibition games.
“I think I've still got things to work on,” Ginobili said after Thursday's practice before catching a flight for today's preseason finale with the Indiana Pacers.
“The years before, I felt like I was ready and didn't need the preseason. This year, I did need it, and playing 20 or 25 minutes, like last game (22:55 Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder) was really useful for me.
“I really do need this next game so I start feeling better, start making more decisions and get to play with the ones that are going to be on the court more.”
Coming off a 44-game season ended by a stress fracture in his right distal fibula, Ginobili slowly has been working his way back into regular-season game shape and getting his rhythm back. He spent some time at point guard Tuesday, but does not expect to play at the point against the Pacers.
“There are some parts of the game where I'm probably going to bring it up two or three times, but I think for the preseason, two of the best three players we had were our two point guards,” he said, heaping praise on both Tony Parker and George Hill.
“George is doing great, and we have Roger (Mason), that had a great season last year, too, so I think we're going to be covered at the point.”
Ginobili believes it will take a couple of months before a roster that will feature at least six new players begins to realize its full potential.
“We know this is a process,” he said. “We've got a long way to go.”
Roster trimmed: The Spurs trimmed their roster to 16 players after Thursday's practice, waiving guard Curtis Jerrells, the former Baylor University and Austin Del Valle High School star.
Jerrells appeared in five of the Spurs' six preseason games, averaging 3.6 points and 1.8 assists in 14.8 minutes. His downfall in a longshot attempt to make the roster: 7 for 25 shooting. He was 0 for 4 from 3-point range.
Malik Hairston and Marcus Williams are the lone remaining Spurs who do not have fully guaranteed contracts. The Spurs are allowed to keep as many as 15 players. They must be down to 15 by Monday.
Ex-Spurs cut: The past few days have been tough for former Spurs. Ime Udoka, who had two solid seasons as a Spurs backup, was waived on Tuesday by the Portland Trail Blazers.
Other former Spurs who were cut loose: Melvin Ely (Kings), Anthony Tolliver (Heat) and James White (Nuggets).
“George is doing great, and we have Roger (Mason), that had a great season last year, too, so I think we're going to be covered at the point.”
I find this statement by Manu kind of odd. It almost seems as if the spurs players' themselves feel the need to defend Pop's worst coaching decisions.
its a contract season, has to be on pops good side or else......
at the overanalysis of a sentence which most probably was a throwaway statement by Manu.
Good Lord.
when I read the article, that statement stood out to me also. Yeah, roger has a good regular season, but to correlate that with his questionable point play wasn't necessary by Manu. I wish players actually said true & meaningful things more often, but mostly it's just mindless pap...“George is doing great, and we have Roger (Mason), that had a great season last year, too, so I think we're going to be covered at the point.”
I find this statement by Manu kind of odd. It almost seems as if the spurs players' themselves feel the need to defend Pop's worst coaching decisions.
T Park? It is not overanalysis of anything, that statement was not true and not necessary. He should have just said "we're going to be covered at point..."
Good Lord.
You've indirectly addressed my point already.
Maybe Manu didn't think the question through completely. Maybe he was referring to Mason's season as a whole and his impression of it. Maybe he was thinking along the lines of Mason only having to bring the ball up in situations where either Parker or Hill were unavailable. Maybe he was thinking more about Mason's stints at PG early in the season rather than Mason as the backup PG later on.
The point is, unless someone specifically and directly asks him to elaborate on what he said, it's incredibly silly to jump on any player statement and start speculating about his motivations for saying it.
Spurs only have 2 PGs on their roster so there is a good chance that Manu or Mason plays some point this season. Spurs could solve that by adding a 3rd PG but he will take a roster spot and cost money.
For me, the choice is very easy. I take the roster spot and money over having a player like Vaughn instead of Mason as 3rd PG.
Bruno..2 quick OT Cap question:
If the Spurs cut Williams and keep Hairston:
1. How many regular season days does his 50K guarantee pay for?
2. What is daily cost of keeping beyond that date?
Agreed. Some of you are reading way too much into this one. Manu was just asked about the necessity of him bringing up the ball and he stated that Tony, George and Mase have it covered. Plus, Pop probably put Manu at PG to help him get his wind and some rhythm back.
Good Lord.
Also, Manu has never publicly criticized or even made an allusion to his teammates' poor play. That's not the way he operates and y'all should know better.
ok, I see what you're saying, I guess we agree.
Agreed. What do some of you expect him to say? "Well if Hill has problems, we're in deep trouble because Roger sucked hard as a PG last year. I can't believe the club didn't sign a decent 3rd string PG."
all good, but on the other hand if a player plays point badly, manu shouldn't falsely praise his point play... he should simply not mention it.Also, Manu has never publicly criticized or even made an allusion to his teammates' poor play.
(regarding mason here...)
Semantics.
He said Roger had a good season last year, which is true, he never said Roger was good as a PG.
Sounds like Manu is begging for preseason minutes from Pop, he should really stop doing that. I know he is eager to play, but he should not be so hasty.
A NBA season is 170 days long. So, the cost of a prorated minimum salary is: (number of days)/170. The luxury tax hit is also prorated.
When you look closely at the situation, you also had to look at the waivers rule. A player stay 2 full working days on waivers and is still paid by his team during that time.
For Hairston, each day cost $4332 in salary and $4856 in luxury tax. He will break the $50K guaranteed after 10 days on the roster. To cost nothing to Spurs, he must have cleared waivers on November 5th (included). November 5th is a Thursday, so 2 working day before is November 3rd. The latest Spurs can keep Hairston for free is November 3rd.
And if Williams deal is fully non-guaranteed, the deadline to waive him for free has passed. Even if Spurs waive him today, he will clear waivers on Tuesday that is the first day of the season. Williams will at least cost $4856 in salary and $4856 in tax. It could have been a hint that Williams will be kept but Spurs waived Hairston just after the deadline last year while his contract was fully non-guaranteed.
I've been long but I think it's more interesting to know the rule instead of only the answer.
Having Roger as a 3rd or 4th point guard on our team really isnt that bad.... I dont want him in a role where he has to bring it up and make decisions alot, But in case of injury or Other Reasons, he is Better then what alot of other Teams Have...
It is, and thank you.
You can apply that more generally to life. People are more concerned with how others perceive their comments rather than clearly elucidating their position on an issue. Its called "political correctness" and it allows problems or issues to fester rather than clearly resolving them. Kinda like spraying Lysol on a pile of dog in your kitchen instead of picking it up. Yeah the stench goes away immediately, but next week, you still have a pile of to deal with.
Nice analogy.
Thanks for the explaination, but when was the deadline to waive non-guaranteed players for free?
Everytime I drop by ST to read up on my favorite team it never ceases to amaze me as to how knowlegeable and plugged in some of you guys are. Thank you Bruno for the interesting read.
Ginobili obviously does not like to play point guard.
Actually, I think he might age very well as a point guard.
The key is we have to waive one between Malik and Marcus before Oct 26, when the final roster is officially set. Since we could not have 16 players on roster, waiving Williams would have cost less than 10000 dollar, but waiving Hairston would give up 50k, so I think Spurs would keep Hairston, and waive Williams in a day or two.
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