Tuesday, November 10th, 2009...8:27 am
Toronto Raptors 124, San Antonio Spurs 131
Manu Ginobili is magic. That’s how we’ll remember Spurs’ victory over the Raptors.
The Spurs’ guard re-discovered his rhythm last night, and the team thrived because of it.
Neither the Spurs nor the Raptors played great defensive basketball, and as a result several players had impressive offensive showings. Chris Bosh is playing at an MVP level, and deserves more attention than he currently enjoys. The Spurs, more or less, couldn’t guard him. He scored 32 and rebounded 10 on 50% shooting, but the real tell tale of dominance was Bosh’s 17 free throws.
Looking at the numbers, it’s hard to understand how Toronto lost this game. They shot 59% from the field, 64% on three points, and 79% on free throws. Yikes.
The Raptors also gave up a dribble drive dunk to Matt Bonner. Believe me, it happened. It’s on YouTube. And it should give you a sense of what a tough fought defensive struggle this one was.
But Manu Ginobili is special. And he’s the primary reason the Spurs were able to overcome Toronto’s shooting.
Manu Ginobili scored 36, but that doesn’t really tell the story. He had 7 assists in the first half, mostly on expertly passed dimes off the high pick and roll. His trick for the evening was getting his teammates rolling. The Spurs’ only strong defensive play came late in the game, and Ginobili led the way there too. His four blocked shots were representative of his desire to win. The game’s player impact chart gives Ginobili his due:
In the second half, Ginobili took over on offense. He made 4 three pointers in the final quarter. Those shots sealed the game. Ginobili played beautifully, and all the good that came from the game seemed to have him at its center. The minor injuries to Tim Duncan and Tony Parker might be for the best if it means other members of the team find their place. The extra playing time certainly helped Ginobili.
The Spurs are still trying to find their identity. Manu Ginobili just took a big step in re-discovering his. But we learned something else last night, something that will be interesting to watch going forward.
When the Spurs signed Richard Jefferson, some talk centered around the security in having a player who could get to the rim. But through the early games of the season, the only Spur who consistently attacked the hoop was Tony Parker; Parker was the only Spur who played like he was determined to get to the rim. With Parker out of the line up, George Hill, Richard Jefferson and Manu Ginobili took turns steam-engining their way toward the basket. The threesome drove their way to 18 shots within 5 feet of the hoop. They attempted 33 free throws, the majority of which came off of aggressive plays to the hoop.
Ginobili’s shot chart is basically drives and three pointers (pictured above). Add in the post play of Tim Duncan, and that’s the prescription for a powerful offensive team. Let’s hope the Spurs stay agressive on offense. To put this differently, the Spurs are not the same team if Manu functions as a jump shooter. He needs to play like himself, and everyone else should keep their fingers crossed.
Dallas on Wednesday.
30 Comments
November 10th, 2009 at 8:38 am
I know Graydon loves all the basket attacking by the Spurs in this game. Albeit we weren’t exactly going against Dwight Howard or really any shotblocking at all, but the commitment to attack the rim is promising for our long-term offensive prospects.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Great game and recap. This game highlighted why Manu is such a special player and probably the most underrated and under appreciated player in the league. It showed his complete game and, most importantly, his desire and his ability to literally say, “We’re not losing this game,” then make it happen. It also showed what should be most obvious: with disrespect to no one, Manu is the one player without whom we simply cannot win a championship.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:44 am
Oh, VI_Massive. You know me too well.
November 10th, 2009 at 9:45 am
It was also nice to see Blair feed off Manu during the pick-and-roll.
It is almost like when we have Duncan / Parker on the floor with Jefferson, Dice, and Manu, the offense doesn’t know who to run through.
Not having them tonight made that second unit learn how to play off each other. Nice to see Hill have a good game too.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:17 am
I was most impressed with George Hill. I think he could start at a lot of places in the league. He may not be an all star, but he is exactly the type of role player we need. He can play point and he can play excellent off the ball. He is already an above average defender and it improves everyday. He could very well end up being the steal of his draft class. I dont know how much longer he has on his contract, but if he continues to improve i might start worrying about whether or not he leaves for more money and playing time. I seem to remember something about his contract coming up recently but i cant recall exactly what it was that happened.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Loved the passing game. The reverse dunk by RJ off a feed from Blair was awesome. Hope we can keep this up against Dallas as well.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Great win! Ginobili’s play was encouraging, but I’m still concerned about the defense. 124 points that’s a lot! The Spurs need to get back to where they were defensively, or they won’t be able to dethrone LA.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Although it’s good we won the game, there is no way I can be pleased with the Spurs’ defense. I don’t care if we didn’t have Duncan. This was truly unacceptable. The offense will come - we have way too many weapons for it not to. But it’s the defense I worry about; the Spurs just haven’t seemed to click on that side of the ball yet.
November 10th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Am I the only one who thought Toronto would never miss a 3? Yikes they were having a night.
Manu’s ability to will this team to X number of wins per season, when other players are injured or just having off nights in that stretch of 82, is invaluable. In a conference where one or two wins can drop you three or four spots in the seeding, having Manu back makes the team better in so many ways.
Hill’s arm length is really noticeable when he drives to the hoop and reaches around the arms of defenders. His athleticism is so nice to have.
November 10th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Drew,
I think you might have it backwards at this point. The offense was bound to be there, like you said we have so many weapons all over the court. But in my opinion, it is the defense which will take some time to gel. All of the new bodies makes it so that Pop’s team defensive schemes will take some time to pick up. I thought we showed some flashes of good team D in the 4th quarter last night. I will be the first to agree that last night was an unacceptable defensive performance, but I think these nights are to be expected until the end of the Rodeo road trip or the All-Star break at least.
November 10th, 2009 at 11:55 am
On your player impact chart the colors on the chart do not always match well with the legend colors.
Bill
“A little nit picking is good for the soul.”
November 10th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
From ESPN Daily Dime:
“Manu Ginobili came off the bench and had 36 points and eight assists in San Antonio’s victory against Toronto. He’s the first nonstarter with at least 36 points and eight or more assists in one game in 18 years — since Phoenix’s Dan Majerle had 37 points and nine assists as a reserve against Charlotte on Nov. 29, 1991.”
November 10th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
He’s also the first reserve to combine that many points, blocks and assists into a single game since Charles Barkley was last coming off the bench.
November 10th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Jblock,
I agree with you - it will take some time to get to where the defense needs to be.
But… 124 points? Yes, it’s one game. But still… it hurts to see that scoreboard. I can’t be happy with a Spurs team that allows the raptors to score 30 points a quarter.
November 10th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Good point drew.
I think it might be a question of degrees, though.
Even a defensivly minded team like the Spurs tends to give up higher scores to high-paced teams like the Suns or this year’s Raptors. 124 is way too many to allow as a rule, but how often do you see us scoring 131?
November 10th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
sexy win last night. great to see our guys step up big in the abscence of tim and tony.
i was disapointed to see that hairston only tallied 58 seconds on the floor and no appearnce was made by the activated haislip. im starting to abandon my hopes of seeing ian, slip, or malik this season to help disspell the lack of athleticism at all positions. this is who we will have all year unless we make a midseason trade, which i almost certain we will.
george hill was brilliant. the spurs may have to be faced with a tough desicion. do we go with hill instead of tony (most likely not)? do we explore his trade value? let him sign elsewhere? george hill may be a season away from being starter caliber. this could be a tough desicion going forward, but not a bad position to be in. his trade value could help us land another less skilled, servicable back up pg and some young bigs, especially if we tossed in a bonner or mason.
as for chris bosh, he definately had a great game, but i have never been impressed with his late game performances. he may be putting up mvp numbers, but i’m just not seeing the mental toughness and commitment to defense that such a title demands.
sexy win. it really warmed my heart to see some ginobili-on-fire, but we better brace for a dallas onslaught wednesday.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
“Looking at the numbers, it’s hard to understand how Toronto lost this game.”
As a Raps fan, this is SUCH a frustrating sentence to read.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
@Drew,
Defense is based more on chemistry than offense (unless guys can’t create on their own with the ball). I don’t expect to see solid D until early 2010, because Pop’s systems are not the easiest to pick up. It also doesn’t help that both Duncan and Manu are basically getting into game shape during the beginning of the season.
Defense always suffers more than offense when chemistry is still not there.
November 10th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Just a note on Manu. Several posts during the offseason (even on this very site) downplayed the importance of Manu on this team. Were the SPURS going to trade him? He’s lost a step… why not use him as trade bait to land a younger, more athletic prospect… It makes me feel all fuzzy inside to see Manu just remind us what a true competetors heart can do to inspire a team. Will he get hurt this season??/… maybe. I just hope that some of the new guys see what it takes to be a winner in this league. That’s what leaders do. That’s what Manu DOES for our SPURS.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I was pleased with this win. A win is a win. I know its still early but the Spurs needed this win. It was important for RJ especially. He finally looked comfortable. I must admit I was a little worried that the Spurs would struggle with the Raptor’s size. Luckily we outscored them.
As far as the defense is concerned, I know it needs to be better. But the Spurs did get key stops when they had to and did have a 13 point lead.
Besides its hard to play good D when the Raptors shoot and MAKE! quick 3′s.
The defense will come.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
While Timmy is the soul, Manu is the true heart of this team. Not TP. He should be able to play 2-3 more years than TD if he comes off the bench.
I would like to see him leading this team then turning it over to Blair when he hangs up his jersey.
On the same thought, why not Timmy coming off the bench depending on the night’s match-up? Give more time to other bigs, more than anyyhing else it’s on Timmy knees that our ‘ship aspirations hangs on.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
As the individual players find their identity on the team, an overall team identity will at some point take place. But I’m not expecting it to be one that excels at defense. I think with Pop’s excellent and schemes and familiarity and hustle provided by the players the defense will obviously improve, but I’m not sure if we have the personnel to be a great defensive team. I think we can be a great team, but it will be balanced.
On a side note, not to pee in the kool-aid, but Ratliff looked really out of it last night. I know he’s a great shot blocker but he seemed bad in just about every other way. His first shot, an 8 foot jump shot, missed the rim by about a foot. Yikes. I have a hard time believing that Ian couldn’t do better than that. Ian, since 2007, has had a jump hook in his limited arsenal. Not great, but at least it’s a move he can go to. The fact that Haislip was activated last night and not Ian makes me think they won’t play him ever, which if this becomes the case, would be sad. It’s bad enough that Hairston only got mop up minutes last night - but hey, maybe that’s a start.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
I’ve got the same concerns as you do, SpursfanSteve.
I hope the Spurs have a decent amount of change set aside in the future to lock-up George Hill. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to envision him becoming a starter alongside Tony in the future. If not that, he can take over Ginobili’s “Super Sixth Man” role, once he hangs it up.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
I’ll give up 124 points every night if we score 125. Look back at those playoff series against the run & gun Suns - we outscored them point for point as often as we held them in check. A defensive stop ONLY makes a difference if you capitalize at the other end. Spurs need to be strong around the hoop, especially on rebounds, and it’s probably best that they keep opposing FG% <50. That said, if the defense isn't working on a given night, isn't it good that a win is still possible? When you aspire to the ranks of the Celtics and Lakers, you can't expect to get there with a one-dimensional game plan.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:38 am
I think you got the right idea Area Man. Hill will fill Ginobili’s role of super sub in a few years. For the time being, he’ll share bench minutes next to Manu, with Manu being the primary offensive generator. As time goes by, Hill will be more of the offensive creator and their roles will reverse on the bench. Then, when Ginobili is really old, we can finally put him in the starting line-up (a la Finley), since he’ll still have that nice jumper, some motion, and a whole bag of tricks up his sleeve. Finally, in his last years, Ginobili will get specialist minutes, only used when a critical flop is needed in crunch time.
Hill can play the 2 and 1 much like Manu, Hill is also long, athletic, and talented enough to guard most 2′s in the league. I hope Hill accepts the role of being the super sub in a few years. From the way he acts, I don’t see him having much problems with it, but one never know.
November 11th, 2009 at 3:41 am
Whoa, I think some of us are getting a little ahead of ourselves. I loved Hill last season and was dead against adding him in any trade (at least the trades that’d get us Camby/Kaman). He has grown as a player, I wish Pop would give him more minutes, but lets be honest, the guy is no all star yet.
I can see other teams wanting Hill if he improves even more this year and next, but I can’t imagine any team is going to through a ton of money at him, especially not after the spending spree coming up this summer.
Also, lets not forget about the organization’s atmosphere. The Spurs are conditioned as a team, Timmy took a pay cut, I’m sure Manu will this summer too.
My point being, Hill’s not going anywhere. Some players just care about money, others have inflated egos that need to be satisfied, but playing on a perennial contender is something few players would give up.
Also, why would we want to trade him? Because he’s becoming too good? Is that the reason? I mean, I don’t know what goes on in the Bulls locker room, but it seems like Hinrich and Rose get along just fine. There is no reason Tony, Manu, Mason, and Hill can’t get along just fine.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:04 am
i’m not worried he’ll leave for more money, i’m more worried he will leave for more playing time or a larger role. At this point, i would argue that he is probably our 5th best player behind Tony, Timmy, RJ, and Manu. He is in my opinion our best perimeter defender on a night in night out basis (although Manu probably did better against the Raptors). Replacing Tony in the lineup, he came in and put up pretty comparable numbers. I doubt he is at the point he could do it against an excellent defense, but hes getting there. He is also already a much better defender than TP. I’m not saying hes better than TP, but i am saying if another team (like maybe the rockets, who are still somehow good) said “hey come start for us at the 2 and take a 3 mil raise while you’re at it” There are several of contending teams that need a PG (Cavs dont have a good one, Lakers have Fisher for maybe another year) I’m just saying hes got options and we should make sure we are his best option. He isnt flashy enough to ever really get all star votes, but hes damn good.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:45 am
and there is no realistic way i would want to trade him.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:06 am
Spurs have a team option for about 1.5M in 2011-2012 and then they can exercise their qualifying offer in 2012-2013. By then, they’ll have enough time to see be able to give him the best offer (however good he is by then). Also a lot of the existing contracts are done, so the financials could be a little bit easier then (depending upon the actual cap/economy).
November 16th, 2009 at 1:20 am
[...] This is one of those times where I wish I was wrong. Manu Ginobili was brilliant, the Raptors’ defense was awful, and Toronto lost despite shooting 59% from the floor. _ [...]
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