Spurs: Who's Less Team Oriented This Season, Kobe or Manu?

[N0 LyF3 ScRuB]

On cue, homer take

Notice how this idiot ignores my question. Don't take this guy serious. He knows we need Manu to be relevant, just like we need the other two of the big three. Without Manu in the regular season, we were picked to lose to a Kobe-less Lakers team.

[dallasmaverickslose]

On cue, homer take

lol this thread

[m>s]

DMC, just wondering.

How far exactly do you think the Spurs would have went without Manu this post season?

That answer alone ends this thread.

maybe just as far or winning it all

[DMC]

Notice how this idiot ignores my question. Don't take this guy serious. He knows we need Manu to be relevant, just like we need the other two of the big three. Without Manu in the regular season, we were picked to lose to a Kobe-less Lakers team.

I don't question Manu's contributions. I question his motive. That's the point of the OP. Same with Kobe. Don't try to morph that into me saying Manu should retire. So maybe try reading the ing OP you dank .

[ElNono]

What you're describing is the Manu everyone already knew. That's a given, no need to lay it out again. What we have though isn't that Manu. The question is whether or not Manu truly feels he can help the team, or if he's decided to rest on his laurels and get paid for being a face on the poster. That's the point of the OP. You cannot wait around for years to see if Manu comes back around. To be quite honest, he's been lacking for a few years for one reason or another. Sure he has his brilliant moments and they seem to make it all worth it, but he's also a big reason the Spurs get into trouble, so he plants the device then he diffuses it (sometimes). Does that make him a hero?

I don't think he's changed or will change (EDIT: this is addressing the 'Manu feels he can help the team'), and I think the Spurs are perfectly fine with that. He had a down year last season, but I didn't think he was bad at all the year prior, especially adjusting to reduced minutes. He was one of the top performers in that WCF against the Thunder, and the Spurs really didn't need much from him during the other series. The season before that he was an All Star.

There's obviously some decline, which translate into not having such a consistent high impact on most games, and there's also some minute crunch which means he won't put up as many numbers as previous seasons, but he's also an integral part of allowing other players to play at all, like Splitter or even Neal in the past. I think the Spurs value that and find it's not that easy to replace.

It's not a confidence issue. JR Smith has confidence. I'm talking about the ability and willingness to alter your game to remain viable. Perhaps he cannot do that, because his game is a recipe that cannot be altered and still remain viable. Perhaps he just cannot make that recipe work any more. Whatever it is, I sympathize with his mental state following the loss, he blames himself, but he should. That blame has to manifest itself in change of some sort.

I think his role and game has changed progressively over the last couple of seasons. He's much more of a setup guy now, when he used to be much more of a finisher back in the day. These days he's much more concerned in drawing attention to open up the game for other guys than getting his. Sometimes that doesn't work great for him individually, since now he's more reliant on others making him look good, but I think that role is what the Spurs want from him now, and I think it's viable. There's obviously some people that will disagree with that, and that's fine.

[ElNono]

FWIW, DMC, I think both guys are compe ive as , even though ultimately their game might hurt the team, so I don't think either is going to be mailing it in. IMO, then the question is, how much damage each situation does to the team if they end up sucking, and that's why I was addressing the contract situation, on-court unselfishness, etc.