Thursday, January 14th, 2010...10:44 am
Manu Being Manu
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Skip ahead to the 1:55 mark for an “el contusion” sighting. I can’t remember the last time I saw a play that so perfectly embodies what is so dangerous and beautiful about Manu’s game. He almost single-handedly blows the game by throwing away the ball, seemingly capping off what has been a forgettable 0-10 (0-4 from 3-point range) performance. Then, without hesitation, the wily Argentine gets parallel with the hardwood and saves the day. Ladies and gentlemen, Manu Ginobili: Risk taker, heart breaker, love maker.
12 Comments
January 14th, 2010 at 11:08 am
That is championship grit. I’m getting more optimistic because I haven’t seen that in awhile.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:30 am
Haha Gordian. Love that last line. Ah Manu. So much joy in the game!
January 14th, 2010 at 11:32 am
As much as I appreciate back to back wins agains playoff bound teams, I am concerned about 3rd quarter collapse. It was 4th quarter collapse that cost the Mavs game and this time it almost cost another game. Spurs can’t keep doing this.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:38 am
I am just glad that the ball grazed Antono McD. I would have have to have won on a blown call, but everything that happened was legit: the ball did hit another player, Manu did stay in bounds (laid out horizantally!), and so did the ball.
And let’s give a bit of love to Jefferson: he didn’t panic and just jack up a three, but dribbled and pulled up. At the time, though, I was yelling at him because I thought it was going to be a 24 second violation.
(Also, nice going Georgie H for taking the ball Manu and swinging it to Jefferson.)
One last thing, that whole last offensive possession, isn’t Pop a genius for coming up with that play? Pop: “Okay, guys, here’s what we are going to do. Manu will dribble left, jump in the air with nowhere to go, McD will cut to the basket taking his eyes off of the ball, Manu will pass it to him, but, and this is important, slightly graze the ball off of Antonio, then he will jump out of bounds, perfectly parallel to the floor, toss the ball Hill who will then swing it to Jefferson who should have three seconds left on teh clock, and then he will dribble to his left and bury the jumper. Yeah, that’s the play we’ll run. They’ll never expect that. Ready, team? Break!”
January 14th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
How about that play where the ball is thrown out to him super high with 2 seconds left on the clock and he flies up and one-handed gets the ball on top of the rim??? The ball didn’t drop but that play was almost as amazing to me.
January 14th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
It’s getting a little dusty in here.. sniff sniff
January 14th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
You live and die with Manu’s play but if your going to play with him you better be ready for anything. I have never seen anyone get so many bogus calls against him and sometimes for him. Just when you think you’ve seen it all Manu delights again.
January 14th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
It helps re-emphasize a point in a post (by Graydon, I believe) last week. The point of the post was that we do not need to judge Manu’s game by the box score. On an 0-10 shooting night, Manu makes a huge play that leads to the game winning shot. That’s why every Spur fan loves the guy.
January 14th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
@BlaseE - that was one heck of an effort by Manu. He avoided a shot clock violation and nearly made a one handed fling.
On the winning play, I was waiting for the whistle to signify out-of-bounds turnover. Then I see the ball get swung out to RJ and was confused as to what happened. Then yelled at RJ to shoot. Meanwhile Manu was likely the calmest guy in the building. That’s Manu. A man with whom you win championships.
Can someone explain the randomness of his having not made one FG in two games vs OKC?
January 14th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
@Ken, the last part of your post is exactly like a VISA ad they showed in Argentina for the Olympics last year. They used Manu’s last second diving shot against Serbia in the 2004 Olympics and then they went something like “Now you Montecchia go run, give the ball to Manu who will fly like a dove and make a last second shot, then we all go and jump onto manu and celebrate like crazy”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXOAZJvEEXA
January 14th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Spurred on: not only that, but if you keep looking at him in the video, he gets up and gets back in position for the rebound if Jefferson’s shot had missed. And the Spurs aren’t sure whether to re-sign him? RC and Pop better take up positions at the Alamo if they don’t, because you’ll have a shitload of Mexicans descending on them if they don’t (plus a shitload of non-Mexicans).
January 14th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Manu Ginobili; makes love to pressure.
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