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Yeah Tony blew again tonight bro!
I think we should give Manu the benefit of the doubt for now. He's playing the best basketball of his career which can only suggest he's in great shape. He is our Kobe bryant: Clutch, crafty, and all-around deadly. He doesn't seem to be playing at the crazy pace he's been playing in the past 3 years. His 33 mpg is just a stat. Plus were 15-2, best record in the NBA. This is was the plan all along.
Yeah Tony blew again tonight bro!
I worry as well, but I'm sure Pop does as well and will closely monitor Manu, making sure hes not wearing down.
'Till the wheels fall off.
The problem I have is how unnecessary some of the minutes are. At the slightest bit of adversity, Pop rushes to put Ginobili back into the game. In the Hornets game, there was no need for him to return late and definitely no need to stay in an extra minute after the game was clearly over and Duncan and Parker were pulled. Again tonight, there was no need to put him back in late, yet he did it anyway.
If Pop doesn't feel all that confident without someone to carry the offense in the game, then at least play Parker those extra few unnecessary minutes.
They could easily have Ginobili playing about a minute less per game right now, but for the first time ever, they don't seem to care all that much. Hill (who's starting to play more), Jefferson and when he's hot (like he is now), Neal can all handle a few more minutes, particularly against mediocre or worse teams.
i agree with this. tonight for example. he could've played probably 5 less minutes. this can be said for a lot of games.
that said, i think his minutes situation is being a bit overblown.
first, i'm sure that Pop knows that Manu's status and how he feels. i just find it absurd that Pop would play Manu w/o knowing from Manu that he feels good to go.
second, Manu has changed his game considerably. he does half the amount of driving that he used to do and shoots about twice as much. he's also much more of a play maker , creating open shots for others. and his rebounding numbers are down on a minute-per-minute basis. he's only driving when he absolutely needs to drive, where as before that was mostly his game. he's playing more, but his body isn't taking near the pounding that it used to. the nickname that i belive Brent Barry coined for him, "the contusion" isn't as befitting as it once was. he's plays a different style that is a lot less conducive to getting injured. i think this is the way Manu knows he has to play in order to give the team 33 minutes a night if he expects to not get worn down.
We tried limiting players minutes, and religiously sticking to that plan last year...how'd that turn out ?
TILL THE PAWS FALL OFF!
Exactly. I've been saying it since the start of the season. With Ginobili it's never been about how many minutes he plays. It's the way he's played. He's playing a much more controlled game this year. He's not putting his body in those kind of situations where he can get hurt. He's not putting that kind of frenetic energy into every play that he has in the past. He's not taking those hard drives seeking contact like he used to. This year his game is more about step-back midrange jumpers and threes. The Spurs have been limiting his minutes for the last 3 seasons with no positive effects whatsoever. And I'm still convinced babying him with those limited minutes have been detrimental to his conditioning in the postseason when he's asked to play those extra minutes and gets gassed. The way he's playing now and the minutes he's getting are absolutely perfect.
This. Plus he only played 30 min tonight and is averaging 33min. Those aren't exactly jaw dropping minutes. It's not like he is playing 40mpg. In the words of Major Payne, "Stop babying him!" Manuel Chernobly will be fine.
Well put. I agree completely, and I'm impressed that a Bulls fan is more sensible/knowledgeable about the subject than many Spurs fans who, in my opinion, sometimes unnecessarily cringe when Ginobili plays 32+ minutes per game.
Damn rightThis. Plus he only played 30 min tonight and is averaging 33min. Those aren't exactly jaw dropping minutes. It's not like he is playing 40mpg. In the words of Major Payne, "Stop babying him!" Manuel Chernobly will be fine.
Yeah, that's actually the most thing I'm worried about. Manu's minutes. I don't like him playing 32+ minutes against crappy teams and I don't like him always playing in the 4th quarter when we pretty much have the game put away, like tonight. I feel like he might go back to old Manu and have some time of freak injury. Anything could happen.
But I do know that part of it is due to James Anderson being out. When he comes back, our depth should go back to being perfect, and expect less minutes from Manu.
Nah. Manu is better than Kobe this season.
He does not miss a 3 pointer against Pacer and after getting it back, proceed to airball the potential game-tyign shot.
People need to calm down. Half of his FGA are threes and he's shooting a lot of 2-pt jumpers and floaters too. Even when he does get fouled he's not getting clotheslined by four guys at the rim or anything like that, it's more like a guy hitting his elbow or shoulder on a drive.
Plus, you expand most of your energy on defense anyway. Now that the Spurs are a run-n-gun team, they try hard on defense maybe a quarter or a half most games. Pop protects Manu a lot by putting him on standstill shooters and not guys who are gonna beat him up in the post.
Manu is not playing 40MPG.
we got that much used to the "limit Manu's minutes" mantra, that we get confused and worried about some 33 MPG.
when healthy, this amount isn't a problem for any NBA veteran. it becomes an issue, if the player has some chronic health problems. (like Tim's knees)
Manu has had his share of injuries, mostly caused by his style, but overall I would call him pretty robust. even his often mentioned ankles might not be more prone than the average players ankles.
I'm also sure he works as hard on his conditioning like any player.
bottom line: playing a totally healthy Manu for 33 MPG is likely less of a problem than playing a hurt or worn out Manu for 22 MPG.
Listen people,
I don't know if you've ever played basketball, before, but if you have:
you KNOW what you can handle
AND what makes you happy.
Happy Spurs = Best ing Basketball team in the world.
We've been intentionally playing under the radar for too long. You know we would have beat the Lakers last year.
You know it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why? Manu thinks he can play at least 35 mins per game, and by the look of things the coaching staff seems to think so too. Why do you think you know better than them how many minutes are too many?
Seriously people, we must be the only fan base in the NBA ing about our leading scorer playing 33 mins per game. If anything, most fans would about that beign too little.
Nothing to see here. Manu being Manu. Let the MVP do what he does.
Go Spurs.
Do not confuse ing with a good natured discussion.
Would rather see him play 26-28 min. The wins are nice but it's a long season. The 2nd highest mpg Manu's played was 07-08 and we know how that ended.
I blame this on Jacques Vaughn. He comes back and Manu starts playing 33mpg.
Right now he seems to be more tired than Manu.Maybe he needs to decrease his minutes more than Manu.
Manu never played a lot of minutes per game.To be exhausted wasn't his bigger problem in the past.Last year he ended the regular season better than ever. I'm more concerned about his ankles
Manu is playing more minutes but the team is winning and TD is playing less and with the lower intensity of his career.I will be happy if Manu is some tired in May but TD is at 95/100%.
That's sure.
I waiting 'til the middle of January or so. Anderson will be back and Hill should have his head fully dislodged from his ass by then. If Manu's minutes aren't cut back a little by All-Star break, I might start to think about maybe being concerned.
Also, a healthy Manu playing under 35 per seems pretty normal. I don't really get what's all the hubbub.
Ok, we must be the only fan base having a good natured discussion about our leading scorer playing 33 mins per game.
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