The Manu Effect

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It’s difficult to take too much from tonight’s 111-98 victory over the Clippers.  The Spurs pretty much led from the start with dominant, if short, performances from Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili. But I want to draw your attention to one aspect of the contest: 31 of the Spurs 46 FGM were assisted. Manu Ginobili chipped in 7 assists in 17 minutes.

It goes without saying that Manu Ginobili’s reinsertion into the rotation improves the Spurs offense. But it’s hard to overstate how much his presence helps. The Spurs ability to break down defenses, to create open shots for their slew of shooters, largely rises and falls on the ankles of Manu Ginobili. Or, perhaps more accurately, it rises and falls on the triumvirate of Duncan-Parker-Ginobili. When opposing defenses are forced to stop that scary three-headed monster, the little monsters that are Roger Mason Jr., Michael Finley, and Drew Gooden really show their teeth. When healthy, Duncan-Parker-Ginobili are the most devastating “Big 3″ in the league.

For a view from the other bench, check out Clipper Blog.

  • Setsuna

    I think Manu’s existence open opportunities for Hill because Manu can handle the ball with Tony taking a rest. Then Mace can even play 3 sometimes, maximizing his ability to spread the floor.

  • Alamobro

    How exciting. With the amount of rest Manu has had, he may have one of his best postseasons ever…

    Overlooked in all this is how rested Tony is. He took ten games off early in the season to nurse his sprained ankle. And hes only played a very judicious 35 minutes per game thus far. ( I wonder what kind of monster season he would have had if not for the sprain early on.)

    Tony and Manu are very capable of picking up the slack for Timmys hindered mobility. ( I know we dont want to admit this, but its reality.)

  • Alamobro

    **Tony parker has played 34 MPG this season. Not 35.

  • Will

    The main difference in Manu’s come back is that before the Spurs were relying on Tony and Tim to build leads that would be squandered by the bench, whereas now the bench consists of a nice Manu-Gooden unit and they can hold their own pretty well. The role players are going to get even more open. Manu’s return doesn’t overshadow Tim and Tony’s efforts, it complements them – he was truly the missing piece in the Spurs offense.

    Another good news is that Mason seemed to have more confidence as a hybrid scoring/point guard with Manu on the floor, and Pop seemed more relaxed with Hill.

    But of course, it’s only the Clippers (the Spurs could have scored 150+ yesterday if everybody got his regular minutes) and TP even scored a 3… (sick FG% btw for Tony yesterday).

  • Navin

    Good tests: This Sun @ NO (No Chandler though) and next Sunday @Cle

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

    I left this same comment in the Pre-game reading thread…

    Pop tinkered with microball 5-mans earlier in the season, and, surprisingly, with decent results. If you go here, you’ll see that various microball combinations have a decent Win%. Short stints of, say, Hill, Ginobili, Mason, Gooden, Thomas will probably happen in the coming weeks.

  • Navin

    Even if it was against the Clips 31/3 ast/TO is pretty nice (isnt the record or TOs 3? shared by the pistons and others?). I think we had only one TO until 5 min left in the game! Like has been mentioned in this thread and on this website, hope all the extra rest for our big three translates into another championship! Go spurs!

  • Juan H.

    Since Gooden came to the spurs, to me, it seems that Fab and Thomas have been playing better. is that only me?

    It sucks to hear about Fab’s condition, he seems like a cool guy.

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

    Thomas has been on the top of his game for a couple months. He looks solid. Oberto is hit or miss. He plays better with Ginobili, so his return might help. But Fab is on the outside of the rotation looking in.

  • Sean C

    I have a man-crush on Ginobili

  • GMT

    I think I do too, Sean, but there’s nothing wrong with that.

  • Rodrigo

    The chemistry of the Spurs on Manu’s return was off the charts…

    3 plays that turned that specific measure up another notch were:

    1) Behind the back pass to TP for an open 3 ball
    2) Though inbounds assist for a Hill dunk
    3) Pass for a Gooden dunk