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And, by the way, ugly is a kindness, not an insult. Calling Ginobili's game ugly is the same as calling a warthog plain. This guy plays basketball like he's changing tires in a demolition derby, all very quirky and fearless, but irrelevant.
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/sp...744914,00.html
No, no, not Manu.
If the Nuggets must lose to the Spurs, and not that they should, not that they will, but if it happens, let Tim Duncan do it. Or Robert Horry, the playoff perennial, who always shows up big in these things. Or even guard Tony Parker, better than any of the Nuggets guards, a budding marvel at the point.
But not Manu Ginobili.
With my own ears Saturday I heard Ginobili compared to Allen Iverson and to Michael Jordan. Honest. The first by both Marcus Camby and by Ginobili's coach, Gregg Popovich, and the second by Spurs forward Bruce Bowen.
"Not that I'm saying Manu is M.J.," said Bowen. "I'm saying like M.J. he is always in attack mode. That is his mind-set."
Sure. Fine. Lose to Iverson, then. Lose to Jordan. Lose to Duncan. Lose to Kevin Garnett as the Nuggets did last year. Do not lose to Ginobili. You don't make bisque out of lobster flakes. You don't try to pawn cubic zirconium. You buy the Jeep, not the Kia.
When Iverson gets compared to Ginobili, or when someone, sober and serious, blurts out in the middle of one of Ginobili's face-first hurtles, "That Michael was OK, but he wasn't any Manu," when that happens, be proud, Nuggets, to lose to this guy.
In the meantime, do something about him. Don't just whine about his getting the calls or playing ugly basketball or generally replacing grace with disorder, stop him from mattering.
"He makes the game difficult to play, to defend, to referee," said Denver coach George Karl, with a bit more diplomacy than necessary.
And, by the way, ugly is a kindness, not an insult. Calling Ginobili's game ugly is the same as calling a warthog plain. This guy plays basketball like he's changing tires in a demolition derby, all very quirky and fearless, but irrelevant.
"I'm a slasher," Ginobili confessed. "I'm not doing anything wrong. I like the styles of some players and not others. Everyone doesn't have to like my style."
Duncan said, "Manu can be frustrating, I can imagine. I know I didn't enjoy him so much last summer (when Ginobili was on the Olympic gold medal-winning Argentina team)."
Being persistently reminded of an earlier conclusion of mine, that Ginobili is an NBA All-Star like a cactus is a pillow, I accept my share of the responsibility for the fix the Nuggets are in.
And that fix is to be exactly where they were when this all started, three games and several springs ago. It has taken the Nuggets and Spurs longer to get to Game 4 than it took to finish the Falklands War.
"This is the first must-win for us," said Karl. "The Spurs have faced two must-wins."
This is coaching logic, a strange and complicated thing, but what it means is Karl is not unhappy with the way things are. When a team loses on its own court as the other team's star is having his worst game, coaching logic is as good a hiding place as any.
The star, by the way, is still Duncan, not Ginobili, no matter what the box scores and the buzz support. Duncan is playing on one sound ankle and has had little to do with anything that has happened so far.
"Duncan's ankle is still hurt?" asked Camby, feigning shock at the news. "Funny how that goes. When he goes seven of 22 and five of 19, it's his ankle. When he is 11 of 15, it's nothing."
On the other hand, or foot, Ginobili may have several more ankles than normal the way he ducks and dips and dashes. Something is not connected to the usual connections.
The Nuggets simply have no idea what to do with the creature, though a late disqualifying foul in Game 3 by Carmelo Anthony provides a clue. Anthony suggested that he might have done it sooner.
Ginobili shrugs. "No hard feelings," he said. "It was a tough foul. That's it."
A fair and lasting response from the good citizens of San Antonio continues to inform me of how wrong I am about Ginobili, as if I have anything to do with Ginobili slicing, dicing and, according to Karl, knocking the Nuggets about with impunity.
To think that after several months, a printed apology and an honest appreciation of Ginobili as sort of a freak of South American nature the matter would be moot.
But no hard feelings. I can live with tough fouls, too.
What the Nuggets will have to live with, should they let Ginobili be the reason they lose in the first round, is being done in by a hiccup.
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And, by the way, ugly is a kindness, not an insult. Calling Ginobili's game ugly is the same as calling a warthog plain. This guy plays basketball like he's changing tires in a demolition derby, all very quirky and fearless, but irrelevant.
There has been no stopping Ginobili
By Aaron J. Lopez, Rocky Mountain News
May 2, 2005
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nu...745070,00.html
Manu Ginobili is a five-car pileup waiting to happen.
Controlled chaos, emphasis on chaos. Tough, aggressive, fearless, wild and out of control.
There are no shortage of adjectives to describe Ginobili's style on the basketball court, but one stands out above all others in the Western Conference first-round playoff series between the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs.
Unstoppable.
In three games, the Spurs guard has been the most dominating player, averaging 24 points with astonishing efficiency.
Slashing to the basket with no regard for the inevitable collisions, Ginobili is averaging 40.1 points per 48 minutes and his rate of aggravation might be higher.
Tired of seeing Ginobili drive the lane one more time in Game 3 on Saturday night at the Pepsi Center, Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony sent Ginobili crashing to the floor with 22.5 seconds remaining.
Anthony was ejected for a flagrant foul but later said it was nothing personal. His only regret was not sending a message sooner.
Given Ginobili's stuntman mentality, the timing of Anthony's hit probably was irrelevant.
"That's not going to deter that kid, man, no matter what," Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin said Sunday. "You can hit him in the first quarter or the fourth quarter. It don't matter. Not him. That kid ain't stopping."
Martin, considered one of the NBA's leading tough guys, spoke with a respectful admiration for Ginobili, who is showing the Nuggets what might have been had things turned out differently in the summer.
Before helping Argentina win the gold medal in the Olympics, Ginobili visited Denver as a restricted free agent.
The Nuggets were an intriguing option, but Ginobili never seriously considered leaving San Antonio, and his loyalty was rewarded with a six-year, $52 million contract.
"I wish he was on our team," said Denver center Marcus Camby, who talked with Ginobili on the phone during the recruiting period.
"I tried to persuade him to come out here. He was like, 'Yeah, yeah, Marcus, whatever.' He's a terrific player. I can't take anything away from him."
Ginobili had a vague recollection of the phone call but shrugged when asked if the Nuggets would like to have him now.
"I think they got Kenyon Martin, so it's not like they got nobody," he said. "They still have a great team."
Not great enough to come up with an answer for Ginobili the Conqueror.
So frustrated after watching Ginobili repeatedly bull his way into the paint, Nuggets coach George Karl resorted to calling his style "ugly" and "hard to watch."
Like the hard fouls Ginobili absorbs, the harsh words had little impact.
"I like the style of some players and I don't like some others," Ginobili said. "I just try to do what I do best, contribute to my team.
"Of course, there's some people that's not going to like my game, so as long as (coach Gregg Popovich) and (general manager) R.C. (Buford) likes it, I'll be all right."
Neither Popovich nor Buford was about to let Ginobili get away in free agency, and no one is about to second-guess their commitment.
"He's a taller version of Allen Iverson," Popovich said. "He's fearless. He's a good penetrator and he's not afraid of getting hit. That's a good combination in a player and he does it well."
Though Ginobili remains mentally undeterred by the punishment he takes inside, his body is feeling the effects of a physical series.
He received treatment Sunday for a right groin injury that has bothered him for several weeks and a sore back that was aching from the workload Saturday.
Knowing Ginobili, the nagging injuries or Denver's determination to make him pay a price for going inside will not change his approach in Game 4.
"If I'm on the court, I have to do what I do best and that's try to go hard at the basket," he said. "As long as I can still do it, I will."
His hard-nosed, back-at-you style makes Ginobili a love-him-or-hate-him type of player.
After a 12-hour cooling-off period, Karl said, "I love Manu. He makes the game difficult to play. He makes the game difficult to defend. He makes it difficult to referee. . . . You want him on your side."
Anthony also spoke highly of Ginobili, saying he has respect for his game and his talent.
"Yeah, I love watching him play," Anthony said. "But I don't love watching him play right now because we're playing against him."
There will be no love for at least a few more days.
"At one point they just want to hit him hard and make sure he doesn't come back," San Antonio guard Tony Parker said. "But Manu, he's going to come back. He doesn't care."
Krieger: Speed might thrill, but no place to run
May 2, 2005
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drm...744917,00.html
For those of us who love fast-break basketball, it is a sobering admission. Still, we have to face facts: The Nuggets are looking like Exhibit A in the traditional case that fast-break teams can't win in the playoffs.
Not without Magic Johnson, anyway.
As recently as a few days ago in San Antonio, George Karl was predicting his team would score 100 points against the Spurs once it got home to Denver. In Game 3, at home in Denver, it failed to score 80.
In three games so far, the Nuggets are averaging 82, dead last among the 16 playoff teams and 22 fewer than their average under Karl in the regular season.
"What they've done is they've actually stopped the running game," said Earl Boykins. "They've stopped the running game by executing their offense and by sending back three guys.
"That's how we were scoring during the regular season and they've taken that part of the game away. I think we can beat them playing the slowdown game. We don't want to play that way, but if we have to play that way, I think we can win."
Game 1 aside, not a lot of people agree with him.
"If we can slow the game down," said the Spurs' Tony Parker, "I think it's to our advantage."
So let there be no doubt, all spin aside, the Spurs' plan is to suck the speed out of the Nuggets' game and they're doing it very well.
Unfortunately, it makes for some ugly basketball. I hear Vince McMahon wants Saturday's scrum for a wrestling pay-per-view show.
The high-flying acrobatics that made the Nuggets so much fun to watch in the second half of the season are all but gone. Now you get their laborious half-court offense, which has produced a team shooting percentage of .395, also last among the playoff teams. This by a team that shot .477 for Karl in the regular season.
Hence the dilemma: The NBA is in the entertainment business. There is no question - not here, anyway - that fast, full-court basketball is more entertaining than slow, half-court basketball.
What the Spurs and Pistons do to fast opponents is what the neutral zone trap did to the Avs, if you don't mind a hockey analogy. You can't really object because it works, and every coach's job is to win.
Nevertheless, it raises the question traditionalists always raised about the Nuggets under Doug Moe: Why play a style that won't get you anywhere in the playoffs?
Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, whose team represents fast-break basketball's best hope this season, says the entertainment value is part of his calculation.
"I know you have to win, and we definitely want to do that, but it's also entertaining and it's crowd-pleasing, and I just think basketball needs that," he told me in March. "I just think people like the ball flowing and running and showing these athletic moves."
But even if it's ugly, what if the neutral zone trap wins? Is your ultimate obligation to win or to entertain? What would Nuggets fans prefer - a slow, boring team with a chance to go all the way or a fast, exciting team likely to be derailed by the first opponent that can let the air out of the ball?
"I'm not a historian," Karl said. "But I'm also not stupid enough to change a style that got us success (for) a playoff series. I think you've got to be able to play every way. We have won defensive-minded basketball quarters.
"Now, have we come out and played 48 minutes of defense? Probably not. Is that what we have to do? Maybe. Can we do it? I think we can."
That, of course, is conceding the point. If the Nuggets can beat the Spurs only by outplaying them at their own game, you have to wonder if they should have been trying to play that way from the beginning.
Naturally, the people who play the slowdown game don't admit it's ugly. At least, not in public.
"It depends what you think is aesthetic in basketball," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "If sharing the basketball and playing good 'D' and moving on offense are not aesthetic, then we're guilty."
Call it a matter of taste. Denver likes fast-break basketball. Always has, since the days of Larry Brown and the ABA. Unfortunately, Brown and much of basketball have long since gone over to the dark side.
If the Spurs roll over the Nuggets and, eventually, the Suns, we may have to hand it to the traditionalists: In today's NBA, high entertainment and championships just might be mutually exclusive.
Does this guy have something wrong with him?
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/sp...744914,00.html
I don't know wether this guy likes Ginobili or not!
Lincicome? Yes, he's the same guy who went nuts that Manu made the All-Star game and 'Melo didn't.
ing Denver sports "writers", what a bunch of faux-macho s bags.
And since they're writing what they know their fans want to hear, and taking their cue from the tone set by Karl and his team's comments, the whole ing team and town needs get taken out of the playoffs ASAP, Wed night at the vary latest.
Lickthecome might be the worst writer in the history of recorded word.
That has to be the first intelligent thing he's said since the series began!"That's not going to deter that kid, man, no matter what," Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin said Sunday. "You can hit him in the first quarter or the fourth quarter. It don't matter. Not him. That kid ain't stopping."
i don't get lincicome.
not only is he wrong with ginobili but the his writing style SUCKS
Why does he struggle to be coherent? It's like he'll almost manage to make a coherent statement and then.....he........just.....................kind.. .............of......................trails....... .......................off.........
into some incromprehensible analogy.
It's really annoying...he is the worst sports writer I have ever seen.
How did Lincicome manage to make an article about Ginobili to be all about himself, instead?
The hiccup of bile as you choke on your own words Asshat?What the Nuggets will have to live with, should they let Ginobili be the reason they lose in the first round, is being done in by a hiccup.
the good news is... Denver HATES Ginobili. That's a sure sign that he is totally whooping their ass physically and mentally.
yeah, but its also a sign that they'll really whoop his ass physically because they can't mentally!
It seems to me that Lincicome, through the haze of appositives, and in the midst of an endless blizzard of nealry-meaningless backtracking mumbojumbo, is writing to Spurs fans -- the Spurs fans who haven't gotten off his back since his anti-Ginobili, all-star column came to light.
Congrats to all who have been hounding the guy. It looks like you may have won!
Gino is about as close to a complete player as there is in the NBA. He's probably a top 5 passer. He defends. He rebounds. He can score from anywhere on the floor. He competes. He sees the floor in concepts few do. He has extremely quick reflexes. He has elasticity. He is fearless. He leads.
The article by Lincicome is a production example of someone who is miscast in life's work.
It's called "penis envy," I believe.
I was wondering the exact same thing! The guy is so full of himself it's hillarious. And his envy of Gino and the way he's punking his beloved Denver Nuggets is too funny for words.
LOL Agreed
I am back for my once a week or so post = I simply could not stay away when this Denver idiot keeps bashing one of the finest players and men in the game. (Mr. Lincicombe blasted Manu's selection for the all star game and is back at again):
Sent:
Dear Mr. Lincicombe
:
You continue to degrade all the time a world class player in Manu Ginobli, who is rightfully toying with a greatly over-hyped Denver team that in reality is no match for a healthy Spurs team that is beginning to hit its stride again. (Karl’s pathetic whining and several players who deserve to be suspend for thuggish behavior to the contrary). Spurs haven’t even needed one of their best "6th men" this year Brown, or Robinson or many other options. This series is flatly over, it just depends whether or not the Spurs let them steal one more game.
Back to the point = Mr. Ginobli is an OIympic Gold Champion, a former Euro MVP and simply put has been a winner at every level. If he was on team that required scoring he could easily as the first option get 22-25 points per game, but instead he defrays for the good of the team. Plus he is an artist with his passes; he has been clutch time after time when it counts; he is a great defender and; yes he is showing signs of being a budding superstar.
Stop the hate, Ginobli is what Anthony was promised to be, but based on early returns will never reach.
Denver had a chance to get him last year and instead came up with Martin – who in his traditional way is coming up small in the playoffs and making promises he cannot keep. That might have made the difference in Denver between an athletic over-hyped team and a team that has a winner on it, but glad he stayed at least from the perspective of a Spurs fan.
Regards,
PDR
Gotta share a little secret with you people. Denver's columnists suck.
Plain and simple. Either they go the homer way, the way Lincicome has done, the Krieger way, always cynical or the Kiszla way, which is whatever the tide is flowing...
A few days ago I said I wouldn't apologize for melo15 that proto-troll out of elementary school, but I must apologize for this so called "experts"... They should've known better...
Big fish, little bowl.
too ing funny! nice!
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