Art Garcia
All-Hustle Team: Diving on the floor, making things happen
Posted Oct 6 2010 11:13AM
Nothing endears a player to a coach more than hustle. The willingness to give every last drop of sweat, often compromising well-being and risking livelihood to make a play is the ultimate act of basketball selflessness.
Whether the play in question ultimately leads to a win is immaterial. It's the drive to win that sends Manu Ginobili crashing into a baseline camera and enables Shane Battier to be able to guard someone with double the speed and twice the skills.
"I look at guys that make an impact on the game when they're on the floor," Wizards coach Flip Saunders said. "Chris Andersen in Denver is a hustle guy. I look at Reggie Evans, just the way he plays. [Eduardo] Najera when he was in his prime. Those are some of the guys that have a tendency to change the game without really scoring, just through plain hustle.
"These are guys that opponents usually hate."
As for coaches ...
"Coaches love them and they're extremely loyal to them," Saunders added. "They become extremely valuable. They become your guys. Playing 82 games, the more guys that you can check off your list because they're going to give you that same effort, the easier it is to coach."
Unfortunately, Andersen, Evans or Najera didn't make our All-Hustle starting five. With respect to Saunders, here's our list:
Shooting Guard: Manu Ginobili
There is a reason he's affectionately known as El Contusion. Ginobili added Ginosebleed to his nickname tally during the most recent playoffs when he forged ahead with a broken schnoz and didn't miss a game. The butterfly bandage became a must-have facial accessory for Spurs fans.
Ginobili smashes into Shaquille O'Neal without a second thought.
He not only dives to save a ball from going out of bounds, but the flick over his shoulder leads to a basket.
He forces turnovers, triggers breaks and somehow beats everyone down the court. He's the soul of the Spurs.
"He has a willingness to do what it takes to win," Gregg Popovich once said, "and to do it at the highest possible level of intensity, every single minute he steps on the court."
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/feature...s=iref:nbahpt1
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