Zgoda: Ginobili's body of work sets example for Wolves

[Blackjack]

Ginobili's body of work sets example for Wolves

The Spurs' unheralded but versatile guard kept cranking out plays, barely missing a triple-double.

By JERRY ZGODA, Star Tribune

SAN ANTONIO - Now all the Timberwolves must do with that second-round pick they acquired before Tuesday's 117-99 loss at San Antonio is find a guy like Manu Ginobili.

The Spurs drafted Ginobili 57th overall in the 1999 draft, well after such now-forgotten names as William Avery, Quincy Lewis and Trajan Langdon were selected.

A decade later -- after persevering through a list of maladies that include ankle, hamstring, groin injuries and a bat bite on Halloween night this season -- he continues to twist and spin and gyrate the Spurs to victory.

On Tuesday, he did it with a 14-point, 10-assist, nine-rebound performance off the bench on a night his team once again proved playing hard is as important as talent and experience.

The Spurs ended the Wolves' two-game winning "streak" by building leads of 16 points by halftime, 19 by late in the third quarter and 24 by the time fewer than seven minutes remained in the game. The Spurs tied a season high by scoring 66 first-half points.

"Did he really?" Wolves forward Kevin Love asked when told Ginobili was one rebound shy of a triple-double. "Quiet. But I guess he's just a great player. He's one of those guys who can be quiet and still do that."

He did so with an energy Wolves coach Kurt Rambis would like his team, someday, to play with every night.

"He just creates so much havoc with his energy," Rambis said. "His ability to crash the glass, get steals, play defense, shoot the long shots, penetrate, find guys open. He just plays an unorthodox style of basketball that makes it very difficult to cover him. He plays his butt off.

"He just plays so hard all the time. That's one of the reasons he has to be physically healthy because when he's healthy, he can play that way. In some instances, he's an offense onto himself. They let him out there and he creates things."

Four NBA championship banners hang in the AT&T Center rafters because of a team that is eminently talented and a core group of Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker that has played together for the past seven-plus seasons.

"Hopefully, the lesson our guys took away today is, even though they're more talented and more experienced, they just play extremely hard," Rambis said. "They just keep playing. They play together. They cover for each other defensively. They share the ball offensively. I love the way they compete. They get after you."

The Wolves withstood a third-quarter scare when Love fell hard after colliding with beefy Spurs rookie DeJuan Blair. Love got up limping and clutching his side as he went to the bench. He did return, though, to play in the fourth quarter and declared himself "fine" despite the initial pain of a hip stinger.

"You get kind of panicked when one of your great players go down," Wolves center Al Jefferson. "You just tell him to get up. Thankfully, he did."

The Wolves couldn't overcome a Spurs team that ran away to a 29-19 advantage in fast-break points and made 12 three-pointers, a combination Jefferson called unacceptable.

Ginobili was at the center of most of it. Now all the Wolves need to do with that second-round pick acquired Tuesday with Alando Tucker from Phoenix for never-used Jason Hart is draft a guy just like him.

"All right," Rambis said slowly. "We'll work on it."

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"Hopefully, the lesson our guys took away today is, even though they're more talented and more experienced, they just play extremely hard," Rambis said. "They just keep playing. They play together. They cover for each other defensively. They share the ball offensively. I love the way they compete. They get after you."

first time I've seen somebody really compliment this year's team as a whole. I didn't get to see the game, so I hope they earned it and really did play like Rambis implied.

Team is everything.