The Manu Conundrum
All season long Spurs fans have been dealing with the anxiety-inducing idea that Manu Ginobili may no longer be, well, Manu Ginobili. That some nefarious combination of injury and age has left him in a place where we will never see the same intense and productive play night-in-night-out. These concerns have continually floated to the surface in comment threads here at 48 Minutes of but we have yet to directly address the issue.
So first and foremost, has Manu lost a step? Well, yes and no. In some ways he may never be as recklessly physical as he once was. His deceptive explosiveness will never be at 2005 levels. Even last year, his craftiness increasingly supplanted what his underappreciated athleticism had previously provided.
But, I don’t believe Manu is yet at 100%. My primary reason for this is the limited minutes he is still seeing, even at this stage in the season. While Duncan, Mason, Bonner, and Parker are consistently seeing 30+ minute nights, Manu remains squarely in the 20-25 minute range (upper 20s when the game is really tight). His being a sixth man has never stopped him from having starter minutes; we all know he isn’t just any old bench player. So if someone looks at how Manu has played so far this season and earnestly says “he’s lost a step,” in some sense they are wrong. Manu will be playing at a higher level come April and May.
Still, if Manu is truly past his prime, is it time to consider involving him a blockbuster trade (although not an illegitimate question, the mere mention of the idea seems almost heretical)? He is the most moveable member of the big three and could be the key to adding a currently unidentified building block for a new generation of le-contending teams.
But, at the same time, He is Manu Ginobili. He gives a warrior’s effort ever single night. he can still explode for 10 points in the 4th quarter to help us take down the Jazz in Utah. He is one of the most successfull basketball players in the world, having led teams at every level (European, NBA, Olympic) to a championship. And, in the grand tradition of David Robinson, we treat our athletes just a little bit more like friends than assets. That respect inspires selfless play from our veterans and instills in our younger players the values that will hopefully one day help us bring even more championships to the banks of the San Antonio River.
Until a concrete situation arises (verified trade negotiations, contract extention talks), I am going to hold off on having a firm editorial standpoint regarding the future of Manu’s relationship with the San Antonio Spurs. That being said, as we slowly crawl towards the day when the front office is faced with this difficult decision, the level of my discomfort regarding the whole matter grows.
manu isn't done, that's for sure. he was great last year in RS and also in the olympics. too bad we always have to worry about him going back in shape. it's becoming annoying.
and the "10 pts explosion" to make us win against Utah is a joke. 6 of this 10 pts were on FT where the Jazz had to foul and he had three TO in the last 3 minutes.
The idea of manu saving us in the fourth after having a bad game is just as ridiculous as the "trade manu" threads.
Great thread. Nice to read your ideas!!! I agree with you.
I didn't write this... it's a basketball blog called 48 Minutes of that writes about the spurs... I am liking their stuff more and i thought this one is a great balanced take on the Manu situation, and i also thought it would engage on a more intelligent discussion of Manu's present
I have bashed a lot of trade Manu threads...but here is one I would actually take a long look at.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/feature...4~23&te=&cash=
Not only do you get a legit scorer and defender in Salmons, but we gain depth to our bigs and we get a young SF/PF prospect.
Last edited by benefactor; 01-29-2009 at 11:26 AM.
Good read
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