Saturday, April 24th, 2010...3:27 pm
Gi-Nose-Bleed! The many masks of Manu Ginobili
Bruised and bloodied, but far from broken-well, except for his nose which is, in fact, broken-San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili returned from the locker room part Rocky Balboa, part Michael Jordan.
The combination of both was all “El Contusion”.
Late in the third quarter of the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 win over the Dallas Mavericks Manu Ginobili caught an elbow from Dirk Nowitzki, fouling him with his face, and left to the Spurs locker room a bloody mess.
That Ginobili reentered the game and promptly imposed his will -often by relentlessly barreling towards the rim, driving headfirst through the defense-was hardly a surprise to teammates.
“This is a guy who beats up bats,” Richard Jefferson said. “No matter what he does, nobody is surprised.”
Inspiring as Manu Ginobili’s warrior tendencies are to his teammates, often overlooked is a sense of humor that is just as endearing.
Whereas Ginobili might have been able to make a Rocky Balboa-esque boast about never having a broken nose, Ginobili now writes on his Facebook account:
I don’t have a perfect nose anymore!
.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has always aimed to construct locker rooms of guys who have “gotten over themselves.” As such, a sense of humor is almost a requirement and there is a lot of good natured jokes (and gifts of novelty nose hair trimmers), of which Manu Ginobili’s nose is naturally a target-as Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News points out:
Eventually there will be jokes in the Spurs locker room, maybe as early as today when Ginobili gets back from the doctors and his teammates know he’s all right. The Spurs might wonder, for example, why Ginobili’s famously oversized beak wasn’t called for a flagrant.
Some subtle jokes have already found their way into the newspapers, with Tim Duncan pointing out that Manu Ginobili “has a strong nose on him.” So long as the San Antonio Spurs are winning, and Ginobili is relatively healthy, should Manu Ginobili be required to wear a protective mask there is a plethora of comedic material available.
With that in mind, here are a few potential protective mask designs that San Antonio Spurs trainer Will Sevening is toying with:
The Bubonic Plague Model
Early designs provide sturdy protection and should comfortably fit to the contours of Manu Ginobili’s face.
As an added bonus, the mask was believed to ward off evil defenders.
The Hannibal Lecter Model
Cold, calculated, merciless. Manu Ginobili is a basketball genius with the mind and the temperament to single out an opponent’s greatest weakness and reduce them quivering shells of themselves.
If Manu Ginobili haunts opponents and their fan bases already, imagine Manu being wheeled out to the court and unleashing hell upon Dallas.
Serving up opponents with a nice chianti.
The Spy v. Spy Model
A modern and comical update on the bubonic plague model, the mask again comfortably fits the contours of Manu Ginobili’s face with the comical stylings of MAD’s Spy vs. Spy.
And the color scheme already fits in with the San Antonio Spurs.
The BatMan-u Model
To quote Richard Jefferson again, “this is a guy that beats up bats.”
Like Batman, Manu Ginobili doesn’t possess the powers (other worldly athletic ability) of other players, but he manages to get by.
Plus, you know, he beats up bats.
49 Comments
April 24th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Batmanu, the Dark Knight, preying and pouncing on the hapless Mavs - sounds just right.LOL!
April 24th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
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April 24th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Thanks! This gave me a hearty laugh.
PS, I vote for #1 Bat Man-u, #2 Spy vs. spy (both in Spurs colors)
April 24th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
MANU FACTS:
“Manu once challenged Lance Armstrong in a ‘who has more testicles contest’…. Manu won… by FIVE!”
“When the boogeyman goes to sleep at night, he checks his closet for Manu!”
(these are Chuck Norris facts.. but they apply so much more to Manu!)
April 24th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
I think it is Mark Cuban who can’t go to sleep without having Dirk check under the bed for the ‘Boogey Manu’!
Go Spurs
April 24th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
hehehe, ‘Boogey Manu’ I liked that. This guy has earned the spurs legend degree. The layup he did, with his nose already broken… that´s just insane!
April 24th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
You use Gi-Nose-Bleed without attribution to Ric Renner aka the mouth with hair?
April 24th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
dirk has to dye his hair green and wear make-up so he can be Der Joker!
so jesse. you in agreement with tim that spurs should bring mahinmi back nxt year?
and does anyone else think manu looks like balky from the late 80’s tv show ” perfect strangers”?
April 24th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
HE WILL NOT GO QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT. MANU BLEEDS FOR US. LIKE A WOUNDED ANIMAL, HE ATTACKED AND ATTACKED. DALLAS STARTED TO PLAY ZONE FOR PRESERVATION. WE WILL WIN EIGHTHER WAY. IF THEY PLAY ZONE, MANU WILL BLEED THEM SLOWLY. IF THE PLAY MAN HE WILL BLEED THEM LIKE A VAMPIRE. THIS WILL BE YOUR NEW NICKNAME. DRAC-MUBLI. THE JUST BATMAN. GO SPURS GO
April 24th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
BTW way to go on having the coolest true-hop blog name
April 24th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
I actually believe wheeling out Manu in the Hannibal Lecter mask would scare the living daylights out of the Mavs.
April 25th, 2010 at 7:26 am
48…Had to call you out on this….
Where is todays game piece? Come on guys, its a 6PM tipoff….We, the posters of the 48, must be able to get our game plan to Pop on time for tipoff. This is where Pop gets his consultation mannnnnnnnn.
and please, no more pieces about Ginnobli’s nose. Lets get down to business! It is, after all, playoff time.,
Lets do the Ginnobi nose piece during the offseason.
April 25th, 2010 at 7:49 am
You forgot the Halloween mask and the mask from Scream. And Ballhog: What’s life without a little humor? It keeps us sane. Or does it? Anyway: I STILL BELIEVE!!!!! 2010 THE YEAR OF THE SPURS!!!!! GO SPURS GO!!!!!
April 25th, 2010 at 8:58 am
@Ballhog: why do you always have to be such a mood killer in EVERY post. We add some humor, you want seriousness. We win by 30, you still bash Pop. Matt nails six threes and you say he shouldn’t have been there to begin with…
I think I speak for everyone when I say you are the worst “Spurs fan” who posts in this blog.
PS: the Bat-Manu mask rocks!!!
April 25th, 2010 at 9:49 am
Eric, I was told, a long time ago, to just ignore ballhog; it worked for me. Go Spurs Go!!
April 25th, 2010 at 10:26 am
From a previous comment I made, prior to game three:
“This is a very dangerous game tonight. We just came off a HUGE game-two victory in Dallas. Now we’re back in the comfortable surroundings of our home arena, where the “complacency bug” often has a sneaky way of rearing its ugly head.”
Well, apparently OUR complacency vibe prior to game three on this board did not rub off on the team. That’s a relief! But what about game four? Again, from a previous post:
“Do we have the proper mental focus, the rabid desire, as a team, to keep a dangerous enemy at bay? Can we repeat what we were successful at in game three, what needs improvement, and what are in fact the KEYS to victory in game four?
Is it coming out in the first minutes of the game with high, but sustainable defensive intensity? Is it driving the ball hard to the cup from the outset? Is it crashing the offensive & defensive glass with reckless abandon? Is it envisioning our three point shots hitting “nothing but net”? Is it hitting our free-throws at 75% or better? If you were the coach, what would YOU emphasize to your team as you approach this crucial encounter?
What adjustments & strategy modifications do we expect from the Mavs? What should be our counter, if any? What role players on either side do you see as an x-factor in tonight’s game?
Just some questions to ponder as we head into another huge contest. Thoughts, anyone?”
April 25th, 2010 at 11:33 am
He’s the hero basketball deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we’ll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he’s not a hero. He’s a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A dark knight.
April 25th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Right now the Mavs are scraping around to figure out what moves to make for tonight against us. Here’s what the Spurs have: Duncan is awesome, Parker is awesome, Manu is awesome (and hopefully will not be affected by a mask issue). RJ or Hill has been the final scoring factor to win games, so we will require either, hopefully both, of these two to show up. Duncan needs to still shut down Haywood and Dampier. Dice and Bonner have to make it hard for Dirk, he may not be stopped and may get 30, but a difficult 30 will work. Marion must also not find a way to score. We kept him in the cage so far, let’s make sure he does not get out. Let’s also not have to rely on 3PT shooters. We won last game without them, but let’s not put the game in Mason’s hands. The less time he and Bogans see the court, the better.
I expect more from Barea and Terry tonight.
Dallas line-up:
Kidd
Barea-Terry
Butler-Marion
Dirk
Haywood-Dampier
That would be my prediction.
April 25th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Jim
I’d expect the Mavs to play more zone and I’d expect the Spurs to expect that. I wouldn’t expect too much else to change. These teams have played each other soooo much that there isn’t a whole lot that would change match-up wise. I would only expect Barea to play more if he plays similar to what he did in game 3, other than that, there is no reason for him to be on the floor. The Mavs may have found something with him, but I think it is a mere flash in a bottle and he won’t be hitting a lot of those shots two games in a row (knocking on wood). Let’s hope Butler, Marion, Haywood continue their inconsistency, and get a hand in Kidd’s face with every 3. Taking away from these players can allow Terry and Nowitzki to get their points without ultimately killing the Spurs. Also, make Nowitzki work to get the ball and make him uncomfortable before he gets his touches. He WILL make shots, that’s a given. Just continue to make him work and nothing easy given.
The Spurs KNOW what to expect and they will have to hit some 3’s to knock the zone out and penetrate the gaps to get the “D” to collapse.
April 25th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
I’ll make one prediction:
Marion & Butler will play significant minutes in the second half, regardless of Terry & Barea’s level of performance earlier on.
By the way, I hope I’m wrong, because there’s no way the Mavs beat us without an impact from Butler & Marion in the second half. Their size & defensive prowess is crucial for Dallas to have any chance of sticking a fly in the ointment of Manu, TP, Hill, & RJ. And without that, they’re done in this series.
April 25th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
If Duncan doesn’t show up in the 2nd half offensively, forget it.
Again like I said before the series started, Bonner, Bogans, and Mason will give the Spurs nothing offensively.
April 25th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Eric- You, Henderson, and a majority of the people playing the Pop tunes and riding the +/- wagon are ignorant. Ballhog makes good points that you guys cant understand because Im sure you’ve never played the game before.
Ive said it on here a million times Hill is as good, if not better than Parker.
Blair is better than Bonner/McDyess.
We’re seeing it in person during the playoffs. It was frustrating to watch poor coaching intensify fears of underacheiving when it counts.
April 25th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
You can say all you want but Blair 12min 7 rebound made the cut my friend
April 25th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
just throwing the idea like that : anyone want a chatroom ?
April 25th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
@Gary
While I would love a chat room cause it would be fun to hang out with fellow spurs fans, I think that I, personally, would get discouraged by trolls who would spam us with random ‘facts’ that Pop sucks at coaching.
April 25th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Haha damn, so we win game 3 without making a single 3 pointer, and just won game 4 with Duncan only making 1 field goal and 2 free throws, that’s crazy awesome!
April 25th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
At least we’re not stuck with Rick “stick with 5 for the 2nd half, NO REST” Carlisle…
April 25th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Wow! Great win for spurs. this time Geogy the hero. keep it up my boys.one to go. GO Spurs GO!
April 25th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
1outof9 is my new spurs punch line
April 25th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
I don’t understand why people keep bashing the coaching strategy, I mean seriously can you really keep stating the same things over and over again. Yea, Blair might be better than bonner and dice but it map obvious to see that the kid was rattled in the big stage of the playoffs and even then Pop is still trying to get him going and he showed up big tonight . Regarding bonners playing time he’s really just getting minutes because dice needs some dam rest every now and then. If you understand basketball like some of you claim to you would know that at some point your role players need to give you some good minutes off the bench in order to keep your starters fresh for the final run, that’s why they get playing time especially when your starting centers are in there mid 30’s.
One last thing, I do agree that George Hill just might be just as good as Tony Parker but at this stage of hills career, he does not posses that ability to break down a defense by driving into the paint and dishing out to open 3 point shooters so please stop with all the rambling that we have to see over and over and over and over again… we’re up in this series 3-1 so sit back and enjoy spurs basketball as we make a run at another championship!!!
April 25th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Manu is really playing manu-a-manu even with bandage on the bridge of his nose. Hope to see Cuban again to punch something. Mavs days are almost over!
Don’t pat them. Tap them hard!
Go spurs go!
April 25th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
You cant tell if your rattled only getting 4 minutes in a game. How do you learn? You go in and play.
Blair has played 35 min and has 18 rebs 13pts 3 assists 2 blocks and a steal shooting 6/13
Bonner 62 min 9 rebs 13pts 1 Assist 5/17
Basically going to keep screaming the same shit I have all year long until the correct players play basketball. Im not going to pay money to watch games and simply agree with a coach like most everyone else on here because they dont understand what is going on.
I realize the starters need rest. I also realize that we have had perfectly capable bigs to give fouls and quality minutes for our bigs. Gooden, Pops, Ian, Blair….
Hopefully tonight will allow some on here, and maybe some coaches to understand that HUNGRY and AGGRESSIVE players will give you solid minutes because they hustle and play both ends of the floor.
April 25th, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Blair looked awful early in the series. Pop left him in tonight and he did well. That’s a good job by Pop. What was your point again?
April 25th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
I’m enjoying the win guys (and girls)!!!
We can all put our coaching hats on tomorrow. Let’s enjoy this one. They are our rivals and we got it done at home. I’m happy about this win. Hopefully we keep it going Tuesday. I suggest you all do the same and enjoy today’s win and bitch all you want tomorrow about Pop or whoever you’d like. Meanwhile…
Go Spurs Go!!!
April 25th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
@TradeTP
Blair backs up Duncan not McDyess. Bonner gets more minutes because McDyess hasn’t played as much as Duncan. Do you wanna play Blair over Duncan?
April 25th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Ballhog… please stfu already. you and ‘trade TP’ exchange numbers so you can bitch each other out and complain about how much Pop and the Spurs suck. Nobody else wants to hear it, nobody here can do anything to change it, including you.
Great win Spurs!! I loved Cubans miserable face after the last .10 second Terry flop-shot…priceless!
BTW, does anyone else think it’s humerous that the My Little Ponies truehoop blog might as well be ‘the T-woman game’ … bunch o’ shemales
April 25th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
In regards to Bonner, I think pop is playing him perfect this series and especially tonight. Put him in there and if he is missing the open 3’s take him out. He is a plus if he is hitting those 3’s but if not, you can’t have him in the game. I think that he might have a big 3 game soon, since he has been so off this series.
April 25th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Pops is a “capable” big? You must be joking Trade TP… He’s not even in the NBA.
April 25th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
[...] about Gi-Nose-Bleed! The many masks of Manu Ginobili [...]
April 25th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
I’m enjoying the win guys (and girls)!!!
We can all put our coaching hats on tomorrow. Let’s enjoy this one. They are our rivals and we got it done at home. I’m happy about this win. Hopefully we keep it going Tuesday. I suggest you all do the same and enjoy today’s win and bitch all you want tomorrow about Pop or whoever you’d like. Meanwhile…
Go Spurs Go!!!
April 25th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
@Trade Tp
“Eric- You, Henderson, and a majority of the people playing the Pop tunes and riding the +/- wagon are ignorant. Ballhog makes good points that you guys cant understand because Im sure you’ve never played the game before.”
Number one, I’ve NEVER been big on +/-. Number two, keep your inane personal insults to yourself. And number three, neither you nor ballhog have any idea about my game, so let me keep it short & sweet for you: I’d kick both of your asses one on one, one after the other, and then laugh all the way to the local pub, where I’d then sit back and savor a tall, cool one. So don’t give me this, “never played the game crap”.
……..”Ive said it on here a million times Hill is as good, if not better than Parker.
Blair is better than Bonner & McDyess.”
These comments are a perfect example of your obnoxious ignorance. I won’t bother explaining why. You obviously wouldn’t get it.
eeg30
April 25th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Nice post!
April 26th, 2010 at 1:44 am
Manu is one of the greatest clutch players of all time. He is the indomitable spirit of the Spurs— even when everything looks despairingly hopeless.
There is only one like him. Even if you are not an avid basketball fan he brings certain heroic human qualities to the game that transpose to the extraordinary. Argentina you should be proud.
April 26th, 2010 at 2:04 am
“Ive said it on here a million times Hill is as good, if not better than Parker.
Blair is better than Bonner/McDyess. ”
These comments are a perfect example of your obnoxious ignorance. I won’t bother explaining why. You obviously wouldn’t get it.
-That says all, otherwise we would not be in the verge of sending Seed 2 fishing.
This a team game with one the best team ame coach who surely knows his team much better than some of the obnoxious ignorants down here.God Bless You All
April 26th, 2010 at 5:16 am
Kevin- My point is for a great coach it only took him 86 games to leave Blair in.
Jordan- Blair can play with/for whoever the coach deems. And yes, Blair outplayed Duncan last night. Whoever is playing the best should play. PERIOD.
Jacob- Great analysis. Obviously you cant read, or understand the game.
Ian- we will never know. He didnt get a shot.
Henderson- Wager? Time/Date? It doesnt matter if you think Im arrogant. Im right, And you are wrong.
April 26th, 2010 at 11:57 am
Sure, name the time, place, and wager. I’m all for that.
I don’t think you’re arrogant. Just obnoxious, silly, ignorant, and illogical.
April 26th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
ginobili might have the ugliest nose but he still the 2nd best SG too me…
April 26th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
ginobili might have the ugliest nose rite rite in the history of ugliest noses haha but he is still the 2nd best SG in the NBA
April 26th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Just wanted to say VAMOS MANU !!! I live in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and although here games end very late at night I don’t miss a second.
Go Spurs ! Go Manu ! Even if you don’t want to, you are setting the example for a lot of kids here in Argentina… Thanks !!!
Posters: Stop fighting about the team and coaching strategies and work together… believe, the team (players and coachs) will deliver. GO SPURS.
Hernan
April 27th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
ginobili might have the ugliest nose but he still the 2nd best SG too me…
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