championships aren't won with role players, championships are won with stars playing like stars, the Suns can win with Dudley and Frye not hitting shots, and in the Mavs series, the Spurs were able to win with Bonner not hitting shots.
the biggest problems for the Spurs are defense, hustle/intensity, and Emanuel Ginobili reverting to pre-March form
The Spurs don't get past the Mavs without Hill playing insanely well. That's a fact. And we've won championships because of guys like Horry, Barry, Bowen stepped up their games. Another fact.
Ginobili wasn't posting 27 point games pre-March. When he scores that much, we should win. The big 3 are very, very far from our biggest problem.
This is some truth to this. The team has a better chance of winning with Manu's scoring ability than depending on Bonner to hit a open three.what's our biggest problem then? Bonner?the success of this team hangs on the 7th best player?
if Manu plays like he's getting paid to play, we're at least 1-1, maybe 2-0
role players of other teams stepped up as well, but we won because of TD, Parker, and Manu
he wasn't playing almost 40 minutes a game either
If Manu keeps playing like this, we can't win, and if you think he's playing fine, then who's the real Manu hater here?
So you think if Hill plays like , we beat Dallas in the previous series?
You think we win the '05 championship without Horry's heroics in Game 5 of the finals?
You think the Suns win the last game without Frye threes and Dudley's hustle?
It's fine to give credit to the best players. But basketball is a team game. Everybody needs to chip in, and if they don't you lose. Pretty simple, really.
So he gets more minutes and he produces more... what's next? Water is wet?he wasn't playing almost 40 minutes a game either
I said there's room for improvement, but he's hardly our biggest problem in these series. He's sticking to the gameplan, which is to find the open man when he gets doubled or trapped. Those guys just haven't made the Suns pay. Pop might simply go for something else next game, like it has been mentioned in other threads. Things like more ISOs, etc.
I think it's bothering him but mainly they're playing good defense on him. Just pause whenever he has the ball and see how the D reacts when he's got the ball.
Completely agree with the first half of your post, and wish we were getting more help from the bench. That said, we can't expect to compete with the Suns if Manu isn't producing at Manu levels. If he'd rendered up half of his usual tally against the Suns (in the 20's, say) we would be 2 games up. The bench has it's place, but the stars do, too.
I appreciate how Manu was able to make his presence felt as a play-maker, but we simply need more than that out of him to win these games. I'm also disappointed with Blair, and Pop's decision to play Bonner longer than Dice.
And as I told somebody else, I agree. But Pop needs to stop trying to exploit the double teams and traps, and instead put Manu in a position to be a scorer if that's what we want. Maybe more ISOs, double screens, curls, handoffs, etc.
Ultimately, what we're seeing now we've saw many times before against teams like the Lakers. Clog the paint and dare our shooter to beat them.
Completely agree with this observation, too. It's just frustrating when Manu is not hitting those threes because it keeps the paint clogged and makes slashes all-the-harder to execute. I've made my peace with Bonner sucking it up, but Manu is the only consistent gun we have from outside (besides Dice's 18-footer), and if he can't create space, we're sunk.
ISO's, screens, etc won't help anybody if the Suns don't leave the paint. The shooting has to be there to spread the D before any more offense can happen, y'know?
Blaming one player for a whole series is completely ignorant. "We need him to be SuperManu or we'll lose." If one guy has that much influence to single-handedly win a whole series for their team, then that doesn't say much for the rest of the team. Last time I checked it is a TEAM sport. Yes, one guy can "provide a spark," make 12 assists, and/or score 50 points to HELP his team win, but it is not all on one guy.
Damn you people are completely spoiled that one guy has to do it all every game and threads are created to analyze why one guy isn't superhuman at will. Give credit where it's due. The Suns are damn good and guess what? Spurs may need more than SuperManu--they may also need SuperParker, SuperDuncan, SuperHill, etc. Blaming everything on one guy is SuperLame.
You act as though players are interchangeable. The Big Three are Big because they are our biggest producers, and when one of them is off, we will struggle. I don't know if anybody's saying Manu had to save us single-handedly as much as they might be saying that, as one of our primary offensive weapons, he is not producing enough.
Tim and Tony got theirs. Manu -- for whatever reason -- did not. Considering we lost both games by a pittance, it doesn't seem "spoiled" to me to think we are fully capable of winning these games with more production from Manu. Our limited bench did what it could, but was not able to replace what Manu can bring.
ISOs will help in that I'm much more confident in Manu being able to go around Hill and to the bucket than having to go around 2 or 3 guys. Right now, they're sagging on the pick and roll, plus they're sending help from whoever is guarding RJ/Hill/Bonner. I fully expect them to 'cheat' anyways and park their butts right next to the paint on ISOs, but it's harder to stop Manu when he's already coming in at full force. Same thing with handoffs.
I think at least one player besides the big 3 has to step up and knock down the open 3's. I also believe that our success relies heavily on all of the big 3 showing up as well as at least one role player. These things have not happened in the first 2 games at all. It also doesnt help getting outrebounded on both ends.
rj did manu did not
I was watching the replay of game 1 on nba tv earlier today. Manu took it to the hole several times. I also noticed on one play he was rubbing his ankle after a foul. Wouldn't be surprised if it was bothering him a bit. He seemed tentative last night and he did not want to drive the ball. Manu will never make excuses and I am sure he will be ready for the games in SA.
dude has to use the freaking mask..... I think he doesn't want to because of the bat ......
Manu is not playing bad at all, he adjust every game in what he can do that game, he has 11 assists, almost a record for Manu, and that means a lot, he try to be helpful with the team and with winning games in every area of the game, one game shooting, another one defending great, or posting 11 assists, he is losing a little of confidence in his shooting, true, nothing new, he never was a guarantee in long shooting
In game 1 he puts 27 points, in game 2 11 assists, not bad for a player with a broken nose.
Everybody knows he can play better, and he will in next games, i can assure that, he is a winner
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