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also lacking youth, durability, hops, and quickness
Spurs' Ginobili lacking confidence
Mike Monroe
SALT LAKE CITY Three games into a somewhat halting return to the Spurs lineup after missing five games with a left groin strain, guard Manu Ginobili is encouraged with his physical condition and his level of fitness.
Next up: Regaining the confidence that has made him one of the NBA's most dynamic players.
I felt great before the game, Ginobili said after Saturday's 106-99 loss to the Denver Nuggets at the AT&T Center. The good thing is I'm feeling really good after the game, too.
Ginobili says self doubt has robbed his game of much of its effectiveness.
I'm lacking a lot of stuff, mainly confidence, he said. I'm still hesitating, doing things I don't usually do passing up shots or not attacking the rim as hard. Maybe I'm thinking too hard, or worried because I already missed six games. I really don't know.
Ginobili's crisis of confidence has put Spurs coach Gregg Popovich in a tough spot. He needs Ginobili to be one of his go-to guys down the stretch of close games, but only if he is making good decisions.
After giving Ginobili only three seconds in the fourth period of Thursday's loss to the Celtics, Popovich had him on the floor for nearly eight minutes of the fourth against Denver, but Ginobili missed all three of his field goal attempts and committed a turnover.
Fair is fair: After DeJuan Blair suffered the embarrassment of making a basket for Boston in Thursday's loss to the Celtics the ball bounced off Blair's elbow as he was trying for an uncontested, one-handed rebound of a Boston miss the Spurs rookie made another bizarre basket Saturday, this time benefiting the Spurs.
Denver's Chris Andersen knocked the ball from Blair's grasp as the Spurs forward went up for a shot in the first quarter, but it bounced off his leg and into the basket.
Popovich had called Blair's basket for the Celtics something he never had seen at any level.
We had to show DeJuan which end you score at, Popovich said. Timmy (Duncan) thought it was OK because the shot was uncontested. Timmy told me to get off his case.
Do they need passports? Tonight's game at EnergySolutions Arena will be the Spurs' first outside the state of Texas since Nov. 6, when they lost to the Trail Blazers 96-84 in Portland.
Since then, the Spurs' only road games were in Dallas, where they lost to the Mavericks in overtime, and in Houston, where they got their only road victory so far this season the day after Thanksgiving.
They will return from Utah for two more home games: Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings and Friday against the Charlotte Bobcats, before heading to Los Angeles for a game against the Clippers on Dec. 13.
Hairston in Utah: With Michael Finley expected to miss a few games with a Grade 2 left ankle sprain, and with four games this week, the Spurs had swingman Malik Hairston meet them in Salt Lake City on Sunday.
Hairston was assigned to the Spurs' Austin Toros NBA Development League team Friday, and he has yet to be officially re-called to the Spurs' roster.
If Popovich decides the team's four games this week dictates the need for another guard-forward, Hairston likely will be re-called.
Assigned so he could get playing time he had appeared in only four of 16 games Hairston can be assigned to the Toros three times during the season.
also lacking youth, durability, hops, and quickness
And he's one of our best players... Imagine what the rest looks like...
Also lacking being in the game at crunch time. That might help.
i don't care what happens, just limit manu's minutes until march. at that point, let him run wild.
He'll get there, Ginobili's confidence is the least of our worries
trade his ass
That's weird that Manu has a confidence issue. He's a gold medal and nba champion and one of the best guards in the league and the spurs spent a load of money to retool to win another le and he's back healthy he should have a load of confidence you don't see Kobe Bryant having a issue with his confidence and he's been injured a of a lot more than Manu.
Last edited by Duncan2177; 12-07-2009 at 12:48 AM.
I never thought I would be saying this, but maybe we do need to do what's best for our team and think about pulling the trigger on a Ginobili trade before it's too late.
At the rate we're playing we won't even make the playoffs.
duncan is so funny,so humorous“We had to show DeJuan which end you score at,” Popovich said. “Timmy (Duncan) thought it was OK because the shot was uncontested. Timmy told me to get off his case.”
. Has it really come to this? To break up the Big Three means that the glorious run has ended. It means that the team has reached its summit.
I'm expecting a HUGE game from Manu either tonight or the next game...
Ginobili needs to start.
I wrote this 10 times.
I will write this the 11th for the stupid posters that keep considering Ginobili as yet another -expendable- player.
He will NOT, HE WILL NOT play for a looser.
No matter how much money.
He made that very, extremely, inexorably clear.
So only the Lakers, Celtics and, perhaps, Orlando, could pick him up.
Why should they?
If the Spurs want to trade him, say, to the Bulls or Knicks or Bobcats of this world,
he would say no, thanks, I go elsewhere.
So, basically, he has no market value.
How much simpler can this matter get?
You don't understand how trades work, do you?
At any rate, I just hope Manu stays healthy. The rest will come with time.
Actually, I think Dejuan loves playing with him, because he's one of the few guys that consistently looks for him.
So Finley is only out a few games. Not too bad. Probably 2 weeks tops just to be on the safe side.
I never thought Ginobli would have self doubt. He looks healthy enough so he's probably overthinking things too much.
Or contracts.
remember when urunobili and elnono used to be in the majority when it came to their opinion of manu?
are they gonna go down with the ship?
No folks, you don't understand Ginobili.
But that's understandable.
Down with what ship, mookie? What majority? I think the majority still thinks Manu can be productive and get back into a good level to help us win a championship.
No, you don't understand contracts. If he's shipped to the Knicks, then he HAS TO PLAY for the Knicks, at least until his contract is over or unless he reaches some kind of agreement with the Knicks to buy out his contract. At that point he becomes a free agent and he can sign with whoever he wants.
Lacking confidence? I was not aware the Olympic Gold Medal Winning National Basketball Association 3 time champion was a 5 yr old.
What happened to the Rocky of the NBA...
If he is shipped to the Knicks, which is NOT going to happen during this season, by the way, and I know that perfectly well, he just won't play, say bye to the folks in the US and come to Europe.
He can find 2-3 teams that hire him for 4 millions for the rest of the season.
Euros, not dollars.
The only way he could end up in NYC, actually, is as a free agent, if
1) Cleveland looses the le, hence James goes to NYC.
2) Cleveland wins and NYC gets Wade AND Bosh. In that case, he is interested and the Knicks are interested.
We don't need huge games from Ginobili once out of every 5 or 10. We need consistent, high level play. I really hope he is still capable of such a thing. It would go a long way for the Spurs.
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