Manu Ginobili has announced on Twitter he will play for Argentina this offseason

[baseline bum]

Julio Lamas, the NT coach was interviewed on univision sports tv recently and he said he would try to talk Manu into playing for them once more in a limited capacity because he knows he isn't the same Manu and knows how beat up he can get. People need to chill.

OK, thanks. Good to hear, as they used to run him into the ground. Still, 5 games in 6 days to open things is insane.

[littlecoyotecoin]

Ginobili´s replaccement is Belinelli and he IS on the team. And this BUM is the second best SG of his era arguably. Just because you are a society that calls itself proud of your nation but disregard international representation that doesn´t mean that Ginobili should be criticziced for what he is rightfully choosing.
Take for example Parker. Who played 3 straight years for his NT, i didn´t see people ing around over here.
Manu has never played back to back tournaments for Argentina, he was always caution on not playing back to back summers (with the only exception being a 11 games qualification tournament argentina hosted) , so there is no reason to be ting about everything he does.

You don't pay very good attention. Everyone wishes Parker wouldn't play summer ball and celebrated when he announced he wouldn't this year.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Where was this floor spacing in the playoffs? Marco looked like '04 Hedo out there.



Empty box-score stats. Marco's impact stats were terrible(like always). Completely awful on defense to the point that it negated whatever contribution he gave you on offense.



He's overpaid at 2.8 mil. Even worse, Spurs had to dig into their MLE to sign him.



He really didn't look good in any series. Maybe a game or two against Portland. But it's not like he was needed in that series anyway with the way Parker was playing.



It's a myth that every player in the Spur system will improve after one year. Jefferson never got better. Blair never got better. Mason never got better. Gary Neal was worse by his 3rd year in SA. Beno never did anything better in his 2nd year. DeColo looked just as bad in year two. ty players will always be ty players no matter how much time they spend in the Spurs system.

Neal was not worse, he shot lights out in the Finals last year. Neal just never improved defensively. Beno never recovered from Hunter's traumatizing him in the Finals. RMJ funny you bring him up. I remember on this board everyone praising him his first season, yet he had the same exact stats as Marco. I doubt Marco s the bed like RMJ did his 2nd year with the Spurs.

Say what you want, but many feel as I do, Marco played well for the Spurs last year and helped keep Manu freshed for most of the season. Empty stats or not, he has a huge part off the Spurs bench in helping them get HCA in the playoffs.

[SpurPadre]

OK, thanks. Good to hear, as they used to run him into the ground. Still, 5 games in 6 days to open things is insane.

Yeah, that schedule is immoral, tbh. About Lamas, that was his pitch and hopefully Manu won't lobby for more minutes once he's there but I'm not worried.

[vma16]

Truth is most NORTH Americans will NEVER understand what it means for international players to represent their countries period. So the discussion is pointless. It's like discussing about faith and religion tbh.

This...

you guys just wont get it, stop trying

[Spur|n|Austin]

I´m from Argentina and I can´t believe it...He really likes to play for our country, but being realistic, there is no chance we can win the Worlds even if he somehow manages to play like 2005 again...I´m still in shock, the Spurs deserved a try for a repeat and magical storybook ending a la David Robinson. I guess that he will skip all b2b and play like 50 or 60 games this year and a maximum of 20 minutes to keep him fresh.

[DPG21920]

He is free to choose and he deserves to do what he loves. However, just like the Spurs can't force him to not play contractually, they are his employeer and every action has consequences. Hopefully, even though Manu isn't doing anything contractually wrong (or morally), the consequences aren't bad.

[Johnny RIngo]

Say what you want, but many feel as I do, Marco played well for the Spurs last year and helped keep Manu freshed for most of the season. Empty stats or not, he has a huge part off the Spurs bench in helping them get HCA in the playoffs.

Marco pulled an '04 Hedo this year. Only reason nobody hates him right now is because everybody's on a high after seeing the Spurs win the le. If SA came up short this year, Marco would be getting slaughtered on these boards. It's no coincidence that Heat got raped in games 3 through 5 when Belli only played 6 mpg. Only game Heat won was when Marco got 20+ minutes. He's just not a playoff performer. Never will be with that ty defense.

He's also a crutch in the regular season - Puts up empty stats(like Bonner). Never delivers in the playoffs though. Gives you 11 ppg in the reg season only to drop to 5 ppg in the post-season.

[peacemaker885]

This...

you guys just wont get it, stop trying

Negative comments are normal for homer fans. Do not for once ever think that American's don't love their country. American's die everyday in faraway lands for our country. Americans die everyday just to give someone else a chance for freedom. We not only get it, we live it.

[it's me]

Negative comments are normal for homer fans. Do not for once ever think that American's don't love their country. American's die everyday in faraway lands for our country. Americans die everyday just to give someone else a chance for freedom. We not only get it, we live it.

....completely different subject.....we're talking sports and representing their countries..... nothing to do with securing your oil sources for the next generations TBH.

[KL2]

Chances are he gets injured, and gains the rest he needs that way. The Spurs shouldn't have to deal with this BS, this is extremely selfish on his part, it just makes SA struggle even more.


Don't forget what comes with being the champ, teams will go their hardest next year to beat SA, it's going to be a grind.

[DAF86]

Damn, reading these comment you would think Manu is Lebron. Last summer Boris and Tony (you know, our go to guy. The guy that usually plays more minutes) played in the Euros and look where we got.

[ducks]

if manu earned the right then so did tp
can not have it both ways

[DAF86]

Aguero is not more popular than Manu.

Agree on Maradona and Messi, though..

Pope, tbh.

[littlecoyotecoin]

Neal was not worse, he shot lights out in the Finals last year. Neal just never improved defensively. Beno never recovered from Hunter's traumatizing him in the Finals. RMJ funny you bring him up. I remember on this board everyone praising him his first season, yet he had the same exact stats as Marco. I doubt Marco s the bed like RMJ did his 2nd year with the Spurs.

Say what you want, but many feel as I do, Marco played well for the Spurs last year and helped keep Manu freshed for most of the season. Empty stats or not, he has a huge part off the Spurs bench in helping them get HCA in the playoffs.

Ginobili is one my favorite players, ever, probably. Only bested by Tim. Marco can't hold a candle to him. But, the empty stats argument is empty. Belli played HUGE minutes in the regular season and we won 62 games securing home court overall. Those are not empty stats. We did that with Belli leading the team or second in minutes played. That is a big accomplishment for The Spurs. Even IF he doesn't improve, and can only give use what he gave, it's a of a lot. If he can improve, even better. People love this poetic "team" we always hear, but it is clear that a lot of people don't understand how a lot of the cogs come together to work for the team.


I wish Manu weren't going to play this summer, but it might not be the end of the world.

This thread.

Tim might as well retire now?
Boris and Patty won't re-sign?

We weren't favored to repeat anyway, before this. Step back from the ledges, our chance didn't go to zero after this announcement. And, we probably could not attract talent to San Antonio while asking them to simultaneously take pay cuts if we were hardline s about them playing for their national teams. This is just part of the business, unfortunately.

I will show the love for Manu, while simultaneously rooting for Argentina to lose as quickly as possible.

Sorry, Manu, you understand. Just business. I am as passionate about my Spurs as you are for Argentina. Hurry up and lose and get back to work.

[dbreiden83080]

LOL guys enjoy the chip okay.. Relax..

[DAF86]

He is free to choose and he deserves to do what he loves. However, just like the Spurs can't force him to not play contractually, they are his employeer and every action has consequences. Hopefully, even though Manu isn't doing anything contractually wrong (or morally), the consequences aren't bad.

The are they gonna do? They won't do .

[Skull-1]

Negative comments are normal for homer fans. Do not for once ever think that American's don't love their country. American's die everyday in faraway lands for our country. Americans die everyday just to give someone else a chance for freedom. We not only get it, we live it.

Well said.

[DesignatedT]

Spurs should shut Manu down for training camp and the entire month of October and maybe even November. I understand they would be paying millions for a guy to just sit on his ass but at least the Spurs would force him to rest and recuperate. They are the boss and he would have to respect their decision.

[Skull-1]

Truth is most NORTH Americans will NEVER understand what it means for international players to represent their countries period. So the discussion is pointless. It's like discussing about faith and religion tbh.

Actually, it the SOUTH and CENTRAL Americans who don't get it. That's why their countries suck.

[dbreiden83080]

Pop will adjust.. Look for him to give Manu a few weeks off like he did Tony and play even less minutes..

[littlecoyotecoin]

Chances are he gets injured, and gains the rest he needs that way. The Spurs shouldn't have to deal with this BS, this is extremely selfish on his part, it just makes SA struggle even more.


Don't forget what comes with being the champ, teams will go their hardest next year to beat SA, it's going to be a grind.

Many teams deal with this issue. Mark Cuban was making a big flap over it recently. This is not a Spurs-only problem. All teams have to deal with it, and they know it when they make their contracts. Caveat emptor. Buyer beware. They price this in, or should have. What all teams do when signing an international player is agree that the player is superior at that price even with these cons, than the other available talent on the market, otherwise they sign the other player. Sucks for us, as we are more international than most, but that is our strategy to pursue these guys. We can't then be pissed at them for being who they are. We also have pros that tax their bodies for the USA teams, on occasion.

[Skull-1]

....completely different subject.....we're talking sports and representing their countries..... nothing to do with securing your oil sources for the next generations TBH.

Which we we use to protect the sea lanes of the world for free. Idiot.

[Two10Whitey]

Julio Lamas, the NT coach was interviewed on univision sports tv recently and he said he would try to talk Manu into playing for them once more in a limited capacity because he knows he isn't the same Manu and knows how beat up he can get. People need to chill.

Julio Lamas is lying to us all.

[littlecoyotecoin]

Damn, reading these comment you would think Manu is Lebron. Last summer Boris and Tony (you know, our go to guy. The guy that usually plays more minutes) played in the Euros and look where we got.

Bad examples. Boris and Tony are younger. Boris doesn't play as many minutes and might benefit from the excercise. And, Parker never got healthy this season, even after we rested him on "company time", and his output and performance suffered. Last year he was in the conversation for MVP with Lebron and Durant. This year, crickets. This stuff has been said ad nauseum. Totally different cases, and horrible examples.