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Hopefully he gets 2 months of vacation before the playoffs... OH WAIT!
His jump shot is back. People complained last season about his TO and deservedly so but the biggest regression I saw was in his outside shot. It completely escaped him. He is getting a fair amount of layups but he is hitting enough of his jumpshots to be shooting over 50%.
He also seems better able to get to the rim. We did not see it so much vs the Lakers but against the Grizzlies who employ good perimeter defense he got several layups. He is able to get a step on guys if the try to play in his face or fight over screens. He wasn't doing that at all last year.
As for the turnovers, they are down. We are just going to have to live with the occasional bounce pass into the interior being picked off but at the same time his game is well rounded enough again that he is not forcing those types of passes tinky winky style. That has led to a robust 4:1 assist ratio.
We are never going to see the quick physical defender that Manu was before 2008 again but I think coming off the bench he can excel. So far he has done just that.
Hopefully he gets 2 months of vacation before the playoffs... OH WAIT!
Through 2 games it looks like he's slowed down his game a lot. He isn't attacking recklessly as much so far, which is really good because he can't really play that way anymore. All his drives usually have a pretty empty lane, he isn't trying to beat 2 defenders with his athleticism so far. But it's only 2 games and neither of the teams are as quick as the Heat.
Beli has provided enough help so that Manu doesn't have to force issues thankfully.
And then when Mills is in there it forces the defense to defend Manu one on one or lay off Mills to double team Manu and opening up Mills for a 3.
Pick their poison.
I think the rest that he took during the offseason by choosing to decline joining Argentina for FIBA Americas helped him a lot. Not only to refresh and heal him, but to make him reflect on his play.
He couldn't string together a really healthy stretch last season barring a period leading to Restgate, and couldn't really get healthy after that.
Manu is looking good to start the seasonThat was a clutch play last night to seal the win too. He is looking way more confident this year...
I agree. This season his decisions seem much more calculated. He isn't trying to force anything but rather, he's letting the game come to him. It seems like he has noticed that he can no longer play as reckless as he once was, and it's paying off. His turnovers are down and his field goal percentage is up. He looks great out there.
RIP 100mph bumper car manu
If by 2013-2014 season you mean 2 games...then yes, "Manu is playing well..".
What would have happened if Manu played bad this 2 games? All you manu haters would say "he's playing bad this season". So yes, he's playing well.
Are you guys serious? You realize that by putting the ball in Manu's hand (regardless if he has 8 turnovers) you are actually reducing the total amount of turnovers right? Manu is the only guy with the handles and size that can actually break a trap and dribble away. Sure, he turned it over a ton, but if you had it in Neal's or
Green's hands or whatever, we'd had 12 turnovers instead of 8.
Which is why SA fans wanted the front office to address the backup PG problem. Instead, they signed Neal 2.0(at 3x what Neal cost last year) and a D-League quality big man in Ayres.
Premature ejaculators should have learned their lesson after the Finals...
Yeah, Manu's been pretty good so far. But he also looked good at last year's Olympics and then the injuries started piling up and robbed him of his usefulness. Still in wait-and-see mode where Ginobili's concerned.
I actually have no problem going down swinging last year with Manu. He's our guy, and you live and die by him. He's the only one with the experience, confidence, handles, and size to break traps. Parker's too small, Green can't dribble, Neal is too small, and all of the other guys on the bench would go MIA.
Manu is driving too the bucket a lot more than he did last year. That alone I consider to be the biggest positive.
It's too bad he's going to get injured.
First, I'm not a Manu hater. Second, you are correct. The prevailing opinion in this forum would be that he's toast and hasn't improved from the nightmare of the Finals if he had played poorly.
I actually found myself hoping Manu would be put back in the game when he was on the bench. That was a great sign. Not sure he missed a FT either. All good signs thus far.
But lets be realistic here. Let's see what he looks like at the All Star game.
It's been a joy to watch, last year was his wake up call :
Essentially - I'm no longer invincible, I need to work harder .
Lets see, he had July, August, and September off so shut him down on January 31st and we're golden by late April.
How about let's see how he looks in the final game of the playoffs...? I agree with you. Let's not get insane over two games. It is way too early to call this a trend IMHO.
Yup.
I love the guy, but you have to wait to see what kind of performance he's going to be able to put up at the very end.
The season is Looooooooooong and many things can happen between the now and then.
Two games in. It's a long season. Hopefully his health holds up and fatigue isn't a factor come playoffs.
That's the inherent problem with following a perennial contender-
The regular season- the Journey is more of a chore,
More of a wait-and-see than it is for an up and coming team whose regular season is all about the excitement of the wins they wouldn't used to get.
Fans of the Spurs have to wait. We know they'll win their share of games.
It's about who's healthy at the end, who is playing well and who are their matchups.
It's dual-edged blade.
Your shtick never gets old. Same tired old , different day. Lies all over the place because your agenda never stops.
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