Harvey: MG as KG — winding path back

[duncan228]

MG as KG — winding path back
Buck Harvey

A year ago Manu Ginobili didn't sit. He stood.

He stood near Ray Allen in the closing seconds in Boston. Then Ginobili reached, nearly grabbing an inbounds pass out of Allen's hands.

Paul Pierce would have to foul Ginobili, and Ginobili would have to do what Ginobili does. Make free throws for the win.

So Thursday night showed the changes. The Spurs needed someone to make a play — such as someone who had helped win three les. Yet Ginobili sat for all but three seconds of the fourth quarter.

What happened?

Doc Rivers has a few ideas.

Rivers can be surprised, and he was at times when he played for the Spurs. Dennis Rodman was a teammate, after all.

Rivers might have been surprised Thursday, too, by his point guard. The Spurs had been backing off Rajon Rondo all night, which is how most teams play him.

He's athletic, and he plays defense. A few steals for layups underscored that, as did a strip of Tony Parker with 26 seconds left. Rondo swatted the ball off of Parker's legs, effectively ending the game.

But Rondo has little faith in his jumper. That's why, with about two minutes left, with the Spurs finally crawling to within four points of the Celtics, it was news when Rondo stepped into a 19-footer.

“There was no thinking about passing in that shot,” Rivers said, when Rondo usually thinks too much.

It shouldn't have come down to that for the Celtics. The Spurs missed 14 3-pointers and 10 free throws, and they aren't often good enough to overcome that.

Still, as Ginobili sat in the fourth quarter, the 37th pick of the 2009 draft didn't.

“DeJuan Blair almost single-handedly turned this game round for them,” Rivers said afterward. “He beat us on the post. He kept balls alive.”

None of this surprised Rivers. One of his sons played at Georgetown when Blair was a freshman at Pittsburgh, and Rivers saw a lot of the long arms, wide body and quick feet.

So when Blair spun on Rasheed Wallace to start the fourth quarter?

“Not many post players do that to Rasheed (Wallace), and that was impressive,” Rivers said. “Because we told Rasheed to look for it.”

Blair would tip in two points for the Celtics, but Gregg Popovich will live with the accidental mistake. Blair's double-double more than made up for bad luck; his offensive rebound and score also pulled the Spurs within four points late in the fourth quarter.

Then, when close, the Spurs have traditionally leaned on Ginobili. He ended a win last season in Boston as he ended so many for a half-dozen years.

This time he watched. Popovich opted for Roger Mason Jr., hoping for a 3-point spree that never followed.

Rivers understands. He lost Kevin Garnett to a knee injury last season at about the same time the Spurs lost Ginobili. Rivers says the path back isn't easy.

Garnett ended Thursday night with 20 points as the Celtics' leading scorer. “But five games ago,” Rivers said, “people were asking if he's done.”

Garnett isn't ancient. But, as it is with Ginobili, the miles suggest something else. Garnett recently became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 40,000 minutes.

For Ginobili, the years in South America and Europe add up, as does his style of play. For both KG and MG, says Rivers, it's the legs.

“One day they are there, next day nothing,” Rivers said. “All you can do is put them out there and wait.”

Popovich didn't put Ginobili out there. But for a 9-7 team, the waiting is going on.

[pjjrfan]

this is so eerily familiar to what happened with Bruce last year. I thought Bruce did a commendable job on Kobe in the 2008 playoffs, yet when the season started last year in games like last nights, Bowen mysteriously sat in situations where his prescence was a given. And comments like Pop is trying out new guys letting other guys prove what they can do appeared in forums like this one , and in the end Pop sat Bruce and his heir apparent Hill. Moves I still can't understand.

[Spur|n|Austin]

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