San Antonio Spurs 88, Miami Heat 76

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Don’t look now, but the San Antonio Spurs have suddenly won eight of their last nine games. The Spurs’ margin of victory over that span is 10.5.  Is it possible that San Antonio’s embarrassing March 8 loss to a wounded Cavaliers squad will rise from our memories–dragging one leg behind itself, and half-falling forward–as the San Antonio Spurs’ don’t-poke-the-zombie moment of 2010?

That, or a steady diet of games against the Clippers, Wolves, Knicks and a lazy looking Heat team have made the Spurs look better than they actually are. The Spurs have the most difficult schedule in the league over the final stretch. We’ll know soon know whether the Spurs are really coming on, or if they’re simply putting us on.

Last night’s victory over the Heat featured two emerging story lines. The game itself was a yawner–Miami never led.

The first story to follow is that, not counting a couple minutes of garbage time, Gregg Popovich ran a tight eight-man rotation, despite having leads of over twenty points at several points during the contest.  Popovich has settled the Spurs into something resembling a playoff-ready rotation, giving the team a boost and setting the stage for Manu Ginobili. But Ginobili aside, the entire Spurs team has responded well to better defined roles.

Manu Ginobili is climbing the player efficiency rating chart, and few players in the NBA have performed at a higher level in recent weeks.  Prior to yesterday’s game, LJ Ellis summed up Ginobili’s play:

Since the beginning of February, Manu Ginobili has once again become a force. In February, he averaged 18.5 points, 4.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 45.1% from the field and 35.8% on three-pointers. March has seen him play even better: 18.9 points, 6.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds on 54% shooting and 47.2% on threes.

And as insightful as those Ginobili numbers are, they barely tell the story. Manu Ginobili is making everyone better, most noticeably the previously pronounced dead on arrival Richard Jefferson. Jefferson is openly campaigning for heavy minutes alongside Manu Ginobili. It’s almost as if Gregg Popovich turned to Manu and said, “I can’t figure this guy out. Can you fix him for me?” And then Ginobili grabbed Jefferson by the hand, walked into a nearby phone booth, and emerged in Superman garb. Jefferson can be seen just behind Ginobili, with a fistful of cape.

Problem solved.

It’s a cliche observation, but Manu Ginobili provides the Spurs with a set of skills–intangibles–that are impossible to quantify. Or, so I think. When a definitive clutch stat is released we’ll learn that Manu Ginobili is all-world, I’m sure.

Take last night’s clutch performance during the Spurs-Heat game. Wait, I know what you’re thinking, “How can a game that was never close provide evidence of clutch?”

Late in the game Miami went on 22-2 run which had the Spurs threatening collapse. Ginobili’s response?

  • 7:58, Manu Ginobili makes 25 foot three pointer
  • 6:41, Manu Ginobili makes 25 foot three pointer
  • 5:20, Manu Ginobili defensive rebound (a big deal when slowing a run)
  • 4:56, Tim Duncan makes 1o foot basket (Manu Ginobili assists)

At this point, the Spurs have ended Miami’s comeback attempt, and mostly on the back of Ginobili. Is that clutch?And the play-by-play doesn’t show it, but I would have sworn Manu Ginobili drew a charge on Wade during the same stretch of play.

Miami had set the San Antonio Spurs’ house on fire transforming Ginobili into a one man fire crew–he casually rescued all the women and children as his teammates shrieked in horror from the upper story windows. He’s cool like that. Ginobili’s current tear, the one that began in early February, is punctuated by one performance after another of such “clutch” efforts.

George Hill and Richard Jefferson each had strong outings against the Heat–Hill is playing the best ball of his career since about the same time Ginobili began his late season tear; Jefferson is playing his best ball as a member of the Spurs since he and Ginobili became partners in the starting lineup.

Hill and Jefferson played a game high 41 and 39 minutes, respectively. The trio of Hill (+23), Jefferson (+15), and Ginobili (+13), led the Spurs in plus/minus.

But it’s all on Ginobili. He’s special.

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  • Renato

    One simple statement….irrelevant until the spurs beat a good team.

  • VP of Common Sense

    Tim,

    Fantastic read.

    This is why I love Manu Ginobili. Nobody on the planet knows what the guy will do next. He is a true super hero to the fullest.

    There will never be another Manu Ginobili.

  • Gary

    okay… Manu for President…

    but more seriously, let’s hope we finish 8th seed and we crush the Lakers in first round…

    let’s be honest with ourselves… I don’t see The Spurs winning the championship, but I see em surprise the Lakers on first round :D

  • Hicksy

    Love the passion we seem to have found!!!

    I’m on the Parker off the bench wagon – not because I don’t like him etc but exactly the opposite – imagine the absolute HAVOC he would reek on teams 2 unit? He will finish the game anyway and I believe his minutes would be roughly the same. As has been previously stated Parker is fanastic at getting into the lane and making defences collapse on him then dishing to the spot up shooters (Bonner/RMJ/Bogans) who would be licking their chops for that opportunity
    Then we could play any style we wanted with the starting unit mainly going the Half court sets (through Timmey PNR etc)then all of a sudden in comes the French Blur so the defences have to adjust time and time again.

    As I’ve stated all along I truely believe in this group (although I did want to keep Theo) and think they can win BIG.

    A side note on BLAIR and his height, as a rebounder it didn’t seem to worry a certain Charles Barkley??

    GO SPURS GO!!!

  • Mexico fan

    I’m a Manu fan, but can’t believe people not wanting TP on the team. He’s an instant one man offensive who give the team the easyest 15, 20 or 25 points per game. Even the team probably play better whitout him (as a team), this doesn’t mean that wins are only requiring the best team-oriented playing crew, all the time. Less Tony means less points always. Is Pop’s job to manage the guns he have, team oriented or individual oriented.

  • BALLHOG

    Game on…

    Orlando is a match up nightmare for the Spurs. When I saw Duncan matched up with Howard, I knew he would soon be sitting. He is.

    Then comes Bonner and Bogans into the action. LMAO….Pop is a funny dude. Bogans on Vince Carter is funny. This is not the Clippers.

    Then there is Ol Matty Matt. He still cant hit a shot with a hand in his face. But, I wont dump on The Red Imrovement. His defense is better.

    Cant wait to see how this one turns out…

    Great measuring stick….

  • BALLHOG

    WOW! Didnt take long at all to confirm…We are hurting in the front court.

    Wish our coach agreed. However, based on the recent aquisition of yet 2 more guards that we certainly didnt need…

    Guess he didnt see the need for size right now. I repeat, he didnt see the need.

    Dewayne Jones wasnt even considered. Ratliff and Haislip gone….

    Mahinmi and Hairston can play. They are certainly capable of contributing. The fact that they have ridden the wood and gained practically no experience for the entire season is insane.

    Frustrating…

    I couldnt think of anything that I could do to help me to at least understand this coach’s thinking,

    So,

    I have hired Sherlock Holmes to find out how Bogans got into the NBA, How he got onto the Spurs roster, and, for heavens sake, how he was assigned to guard Vince Carter in Orlando tonight.

    At least I will have clarity…

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Timothy Varner

    Thanks, VP.

  • doggydogworld

    Anyone still think having Tony start will destroy the Spurs’ momentum?

  • Colin

    Watching the Spurs against Orlando tonight really made it evident that they need guys who can score the ball. George Hill=no show, Duncan=now show (off night…really off night), and no real bench support=really bad loss. Hard to watch.

    Tony Parker would have helped, still probably wouldn’t have won though. We still don’t have a signature win against the NBA elite at full strength. That is the true measuring stick…..not Hollinger’s rankings or a +/- stat…….no one had those jobs (at least on ESPN) when Bird’s Celtics, Jordan’s Bulls or Magic’s Lakers were at their peak…..how do those guys get paid for that BS in a recession?…..its a farce!……I digress though

    These games, although 2nd of back to back, are how we should judge our team and not how play T-Wolves, Clippers, and the Knicks.!

    Some bigs other than Mahinmi or Mcdyess are very desirable at this point.

  • Hobson13

    doggydogworld
    March 17th, 2010 at 7:54 pm Anyone still think having Tony start will destroy the Spurs’ momentum?

    …yeah, if we only had Tony back we would have only lost by 12. Damn we need Tony back. Maybe he could have fixed Duncan, McDyess, Mason, and Hill from going 4 for 23. Tony please come back and lead this team to a championship. Be the Finals MVP like you were in 2007!!

    In all seriousness, this is proof that we have to make moves in the offseason. This loss isn’t really THAT bad if you consider the fact that we played an elite team on a back to back night. However, it is obvious that the old front court of Duncan and McDyess can’t hold up against the youngsters. We need youth and athleticism.

    I don’t mean to bust anybody out too hard (its st pattys day and I’ve tilted a couple) but this is a one game sample and a bad one at that. Come on guys.

  • Hoopster

    Well it was not really too surprising how things ended up in Orlando tonight. At least not to me. Before I start hearing about the back to back game and we were tired lets be clear. It’s the NBA and part of the season consist’s of back to back games. I for one do not think we lost due to that fact though. Keep in mind we were out of this game mid way through the 2nd qtr. As I have stated before we will really see where we are as a team during this final push to the playoffs. It is very easy to have our defense look good/great against bad teams. Tonight we played an upper tier team and got exposed. front court(Mcdyess/Bonner/Blair) were late on rotations and because good teams rotate the ball quickly and effectively our close outs to the ball were late and Orlando made us pay like a good team does.
    Ballhog you are right about our lack of front court players but what to do about it is more the question? Only thing I will say about Bonner is be glad he hit those two 3′s to close the half or I would rip him like he deserves to be ripped. Alot of people always stick up for him, but as I said wait until we play the better teams and lets see how he plays. Enough said! Would like to say not all was bad, Manu and Jefferson played very well unfortunately got no help from anyone. Also want to make one thing clear I am a Spurs fan just not as optimistic as some of you on here, and they have given me no reason to waiver from my thought process. As far as trading anyone or one of the big 3, sometimes you have to think with your mind not your heart. You have to make tough, sometimes unpopular decisions for the benefit of your franchise. I would say that over 85% of you do not think we should trade TP and that is ok, but you same people will be furious and blogging alot if he walks for nothing. Remember when the Lakers traded Vlade Divac their starting center and one of their leaders for Kobe Bryant. It was not popular at all in LA but they did it and we know how that worked out. And no I am not saying we will get a player of Bryant’s caliber, but they did not know what they were getting either. Point is you have to make a tough decision and it won’t make everybody happy, but still needs to happen. We can fill the void of no TP. I would have traded Manu to Seattle a couple of years ago for their first round pick, something my friends and I discussed. Keep in mind we would have Durant now and I am sure that Sam Presti would have taken that deal. But we did not do that and now we are getting older w/ injuries mounting and no true pipeline of players to fill the void. Interested to see what your comments are on this post.

  • Hobson13

    Hoopster,

    We gotta do something this offseason. I really can’t see us getting out of the 1st round unless something strange happens in the last 16 games. Gotta blow this thing up and start over while we have the chance. Who says Parker even wants to come back to this 7 seed team after next year? Unless we get more talent, this team won’t be much better next year especially with everyone a year older. He could want to sign with a better team and the same or more $ than with the Spurs. What a hell of a year….never thought it would go like this. We can get back on top, it will just take a bit of time, talent, and luck.

  • Hoopster

    Hobson,
    It is perfectly clear to me and a few others that the Spurs need to make serious changes this off season. The only way for us to really make things better for ourselves is to trade an asset. IMO the best asset and most replaceble is TP. Not an easy thing but nonetheless we really do not have much of a choice. Manu is a FA and TD needs to retire a Spur. Bottom line we do not have much else to work with. Only Mcdyess, Jefferson, or Parker can be traded for us to obtain other pieces. We absolutely can not under any circumstances let TP leave without getting something in return. If we do that we will be relegated to inferior status in the league. I will pick it up on another thread.

  • Francesco

    The way the game is played in the NBA today, to complement your main pieces, you need a tall, athletic big who’s both a 3 point shooter and a versatile defender that can cover both post and perimeter players.
    You don’t need to pay him stupid money and jeopardize your cap flexibility (Rashard Lewis, Jamison…): he can be a midlevel money guy, or an integral member of the rotation (Odom). We were lucky enough to put our hands on Horry, and noone who understands basketball will dispute his value for the team results during the ’04 to ’07 seasons.
    Today we have Bonner, and it’s not his fault, but he’s a poor defender.

    I agree that Parker would net us the most if he were to be traded, but traded for what?
    Because we all know that Duncan has no more than a couple of decent years left, so it doesn’t make sense to trade TP for a pick or an unproven player, because you would just break up the core and waste Duncan remaining time.
    If you trade Parker for youth/potential, than you also have to re-sign and trade Ginobili too while he still has value, and really start over.

    Trading Parker in order to improve the team now only makes sense if you trade him for the kind of player I mentioned at the beginning.
    Parker role as initiator, distributor and drive-and-kick guy could be replaced by a mix of Manu, Hill and a middle of the road point guard (someone like pending free agent Steve Blake).

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