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ducks is gonna love this one
Ginobili sparks Spurs on offense
It was entirely appropriate that Manu Ginobili hit the winning shot at the buzzer as San Antonio beat the Bucks 92-90, since he’s unquestionably the MVP of the Spurs’ offense.
Not Tim Duncan, whose skills are diminishing but who still retains a significant presence. Not Tony Parker, whose messy divorce proceedings have clearly sapped his on-court intensity. Not Richard Jefferson, who has finally learned how to play a precision half-court after being weaned on the run by Jason Kidd during his early seasons with the Nets.
When Manu is at the top of his game, so are the Spurs. And when the Spurs’ game gets too dull it’s time for Manu to demonstrate just how sharply honed his talents are in the clutch. Which is exactly what happened against the Bucks after the Spurs went into cruise control after building a double-digit lead in the third quarter. Coupled with San Antonio’s subsequent desultory ball movement and some inspired play off the bench by Milwaukee’s Drew Gooden, the Bucks rallied to put the outcome in doubt -- leaving Ginobili to almost single-handedly pull the game out of the fire.
OFFENSE
Ginobili’s line was impressive: 9-for-13 (including 2-3 from beyond the arc), four assists, one steal, and a game-high 26 points — all ac ulated in 30 minutes of daylight. He did have four turnovers, mostly on too-long or too-short passes executed on the move. But five other passes created open shots (including a layup) that were missed by various teammates. And Manu even set four sturdy and useful cross-screens in the paint.
Let us count the ways in which Ginobili scored:
Two buckets on breaks. Two layups as he maneuvered through the entire Milwakuee defense out of 1-4 alignments with the clock about to expire at the end of both the first and the third quarters. A running lefty hook. A trey on the receving end of a kickout pass. A layup resulting from his moving without the ball in a half-court set.
And then came his heroics in the closing minutes of the game: A huge 3-ball followed (after a pair of complicated layups were blocked by Andrew Bogut) by his game-winning deuce. This dramatic bucket resulted from still another iso situation in which Ginobili pulled left and turned a hard defensive bump by Luc Mbah A Moute into a step-back jumper that was in the air as the buzzer sounded.
DEFENSE
Ginobili was even a significant factor on defense. True, he was never seriously challenged by Mbah A Moute or Chris Douglas-Roberts. The only points tallied against him were registered by Douglas-Roberts when Manu made too sincere a commitment to denying an entry pass in to Bogut in the low-post and couldn’t recover in time to prevent D-R from nailing an uncontested trey. Plus another 3-ball was yielded when he was forced to switch onto the speedy Brandon Jennings.
Otherwise, Ginobili played a quick-handed, ball-hawking brand of defense. Deflecting passes, denying passes, brush-bumping cutters, and even coming from the weak side to swipe the ball out of Bogut’s hands. Indeed, Ginobili may not be a forceful one-on-one defender but he does have terrific help-range.
In so many ways, this game showed why the Spurs have the league's best record at 21-3. These days more than ever, whenever a game is on the line and the Spurs need a savior, it’s Manu Ginobili to the rescue.
ducks is gonna love this one
Ducks can log off already.
At the bottom of the article, Rosen also takes a crack at one of Spurstalk's greatest debates: Duncan vs. Olajuwon.
Somewhere, a mallard weeps.
Read that part again ducks.
More like
Manu MVP, eat it haters..
Too late to jump on the train Rosen, go back to sucking off L.A.....
A toast to my favorite player in the game... Thank god he resides with the Silver and Black.
He just had to go Hollywood and mention Tony's marital strife. asshole.
Tony's agressive, including last night, and with a taped shooting hand, after 3 or 4 zombie games.
So wait, we're giving props to Charley bleepin Rosen now? Do you guys not know who he is?
He's a Jackson/Bryant/Lakers ass kisser of epic proportions.
He jumped off the Spurs bandwagon a few years back and now criticizes or downplays them any time he writes about them (like Simmons now does . . . instead of just admitting they were wrong about their demise). He acts like Duncan can't play anymore, Parker never could and the rest of the team outside of Ginobili is crap.
I'd like to see one national article about the Spurs that doesn't mention Duncan's decline. I don't see this with the Celtics and Garnett because he's been in decline for a few years now (even though he's having his best season in a few), so it goes without saying. It should be the same with Duncan. But instead, it's as if all these clowns are thrilled at the fact that he's not what he once was, take pride in reminding people every chance they get and act like he's the only player who's ever declined due to age.
Even if the Spurs went 73-9, there wouldn't be close to the coverage that the Heat have gotten already. Why? No one but Spurs fans give a about the Spurs. People don't care about good basketball, they want excitement. They prefer sensationalism fueled by off court antics, thugs, than fundamental, solid play. Solid play is boring. Sure it wins championships, but then the highlights of the night, every night, are dunks and fastbreaks or crazy plays. The highlights are never solid defense or great pick and rolls. Why? No one watching would have a ing clue what was being shown. If it's not Lebron, Kobe or Wade... no one cares.
he is so full of crap
tp is more clutch then manu
stats have backed it up
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