Posts tagged Manuginobili at FanHouse

Yesterday I mentioned how I thought Lamar Odom's comments regarding the proposition of him becoming a sixth man this season -- although he might have been kidding around -- were a little stiff. Apparently Phil Jackson thought so too, and the two talked a bit to hash things out. Odom backed off his comments a bit, but made it clear he wants his minutes this season.

"We talked a little bit. At the end of the day, that's out of my control. He's going to do whatever he wants to do. But I wouldn't suggest that, especially in a year when I want to be on the court, for obvious reasons. - I would take it like he bumped his ... head. Nah, that's a joke. I don't mean that. I would take it as this: He's trying to motivate me a little bit. I'll take it as a challenge."

Nice spin, Lamar. And the "obvious reasons" that Odom makes mention of are in the millions: as in, the millions of dollars he hopes to secure in his next contract, which he will be signing before the start of next season.

Contract years are not the time that players want to hear that they'll be receiving less minutes in a role off the bench, but Jackson says the minutes might not even change, that it would be more of a role like the one super-sub Manu Ginobili has on the Spurs.

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This is not a division. It is a gauntlet. A spiked, imperial gauntlet inhabited by minotaurs, pterodactyls, stone giants, warrior pygmy tribes, and other things that go bump in the night. There is no sense of "If we can just make it to .500" in this division. .500 means nothing. .500 is for the Central division.

The Southwest Division hosts two former MVPs, the MVP runner-up from last season, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, the reigning Coach of the Year, a bazillion All-Stars, elite shooters, elite defenders, elite scorers, and Ron freaking Artest. Yeesh.

There are not headlines here. There are omens, prophecies, and obituaries.

FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.

For a few easily ascertained reasons, Manu Ginobili almost never get mentioned in the same breath as the league's top two-guards. He gets ignored in favor of fellows like Michael Redd and, prior to last season, Ray Allen. Manu gets respect -- don't get that twisted. But it's always as a sixth man, as a firestarter and not as one of the best in the NBA, no qualifiers necessary. His role and style are so different from Kobe and Wade and Redd and Iverson that it knocks him out of the conversation, which is unfair to all of us.

Manu Ginobili got his wheel fixed this morning -- "successful operation!" says Dr. Richard Ferkel -- but the real news is removed from the here and now. Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News reports Manu had been in extension talks with the Spurs prior to the Olympics. Because of the injury, San Antonio has suspended negotiations until the team sees how Manu recovers from surgery.

Here's the quote from Ginobili's agent Herb Rudoy:

"Contract negotiations for an extension have been put off until after the surgery," Rudoy said. "The Spurs want to see how he recovers from the surgery."

Two questions, the first semantic: when exactly is after the surgery? Because, um, technically right now can be considered "after the surgery." Tomorrow, also. But if the Spurs are waiting to see how Manu recovers, that will have to wait until he's playing again. And that will be November, maybe December. And in the NBA, you don't negotiate contract extensions during the season. If it's not done by the end of October, it waits until next summer. An extension could still be plausible then ... if the Spurs -- and Manu -- have a great season.

The other point of concern: Manu's 30, with a surgically-repaired ankle and a growing bald spot. Is there a chance San Antonio lets Ginobili "get away" in two summers? Tim Duncan pulls cash through 2012, but the Spurs have to start actively rebuilding at some point as the league's oldest team for three years reigning. Extending Manu until 2013 or '14? Seems a bit crazy right now.

The initial diagnosis on Manu Ginobili's wheel had him missing just a touch of the opening of the season. The San Antonio Express-News updates the damage: it will be more like two or three months before we see Manu in Spurs black.

That puts about 15-20 games in jeopardy. Most of the November schedule for S.A. is light beyond the opening week: two Memphis games, Minnesota, Sacramento, New York, Miami, Milwaukee. The season does open with a Phoenix-Portland-Dallas gauntlet, and the Spurs meet Houston twice in November. All in all, it could be worse.

Could this be the season San Antonio slips to the bottom half of the Western playoff picture? New Orleans and Houston should be able to battle S.A. at the top of the division, and Dallas is still talented as all get out. Spotting any or all of those teams a few games could leave the Spurs battling for fifth or sixth in the conference. Handing the Lakers, Jazz or aforementioned Southwest foes home court advantage in the first round could definitely contribute to a swift end of the Spurs run of domination.

Manu Ginobili hobbled through the Spurs' embarrassing five-game loss to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, dashing San Antonio's dreams of repeat O'Briens. And despite the wishes of an S.A. front office which would have liked to see Manu spend the summer recuperating, Ginobili got himself in shape to help Argentina defend its gold medal in Beijing. That didn't end well: Manu re-aggravated his injured ankle in the first half of Argentina's semifinal match against the United States. Argentina went on to earn bronze without Ginobili.

And now, it's gotten worse: Ginobili tells La Nacion he will need to have surgery to repair a damaged ligament, and he may miss the start of the NBA season.

I don't need to tell you how important Manu is to the Spurs. Really, he's more vital than ever. Houston stole away Brent Barry, leaving Tim Duncan and Tony Parker as the only Spurs who can score reliably. Duncan is getting up there in age, and his scoring output and efficiency sunk a bit last season. Parker's still lovely, but he's nowhere near the scorer Manu has been. Is it really up to Michael Finley to pump in threes and Fabricio Oberto to scoop up easy baskets? Are we going to be subjected to many Kurt Thomas baseline "jumpers" (more like flat-footed tosses)?

The Spurs' attempt at re-levitating to the NBA throne suffered a major blow with this one, unless Manu bounces back quickly and see no ill effects beyond his rehab time period.

The Spurs, despite having several international stars, aren't really cool with the international basketball thing. Last summer, San Antonio's bosses convinced Manu Ginobili to take a summer off from the Argentine national team, and tried to persuade Tony Parker to do the same (Parker played, France still sucked). It's an odd situation. Gregg Popovich felt snubbed (allegedly) when Jerry Colangelo passed him over for Mike Krzyzewski. Still, Pop has been mentioned as the 2009-2012 USA basketball coach.

With that being said, it's hard to imagine Pop keeping his calm when seeing Manu leave the semifinal game against the United States Friday, limping on the same ankle which limited his effectiveness in the playoffs. The Spurs pushed Manu hard to stay at home again this summer and rehab. But Manu pressed on, and eventually convinced an S.A. assistant he'd be fine. It's not surprising to find out he immediately feared the reaction of Pop after his injury.

Ginobili says he has been devastated by the recurring injury. "This is one of the worst situations in my career," he said.

Ginobili added he is "prepared" in case he needs to undergo surgery. He has also revealed that he called San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich when the game against the USA had ended because his boss was watching the game and knew that he would be worried.

Worried, breathing fire, kicking mules. Something like that.

During the remainder of the Olympic men's basketball tournament, FanHouse will give you 5 Things to watch for in each game.

Where's the heart of Argentina? There has been little news regarding the health of Andres Nocioni. One Argentine report (via HoopsHype) said he will not play, but based on Nocioni's record to date it is clear we should not count him out until we see him in blue jeans or John Paxson's invisible dungeon. (Paradox!) Noces was actually a bit terrible Wednesday against Greece, as he limped around on a bum wheel which relegated him to spot-up shooter status. But he's a stud player, maybe Argentina's third most valuable. Any team which loses a top threat will suffer; against an opponent as virile as Team USA, it's almost a pre-emptive death blow. Nocioni needs to be at his best for Argentina to compete diligently.

Another defensive test. Team USA's slashing defense got a test against quick Patrick Mills and the solid backcourt of Australia. Through the first half, Australia kept ahold of the ball and didn't allow Dwyane Wade and the American point guards to get their klepto on. But it fell apart in the third quarter. Can Argentina's Pablo Prigioni, Manu Ginobili and Carlos Delfino keep it up the entire game? Prigioni has been a marvelous protector of the ball, with only four Olympic turnovers in almost 200 minutes (and through 27 assists). Manu will also bring the ball up some, and Delfino took over those duties briefly in the fourth against Greece. The Americans might be able to pressure Manu and Delfino, and certainly bat about at Luis Scola and Fabricio Oberto. But Prigioni should be a tough pastry to smash.

During the remainder of the Olympic men's basketball tournament, FanHouse will give you 5 Things to watch for in each game.

Where's the heart of Argentina? There has been little news regarding the health of Andres Nocioni. One Argentine report (via HoopsHype) said he will not play, but based on Nocioni's record to date it is clear we should not count him out until we see him in blue jeans or John Paxson's invisible dungeon. (Paradox!) Noces was actually a bit terrible Wednesday against Greece, as he limped around on a bum wheel which relegated him to spot-up shooter status. But he's a stud player, maybe Argentina's third most valuable. Any team which loses a top threat will suffer; against an opponent as virile as Team USA, it's almost a pre-emptive death blow. Nocioni needs to be at his best for Argentina to compete diligently.

Another defensive test. Team USA's slashing defense got a test against quick Patrick Mills and the solid backcourt of Australia. Through the first half, Australia kept ahold of the ball and didn't allow Dwyane Wade and the American point guards to get their klepto on. But it fell apart in the third quarter. Can Argentina's Pablo Prigioni, Manu Ginobili and Carlos Delfino keep it up the entire game? Prigioni has been a marvelous protector of the ball, with only four Olympic turnovers in almost 200 minutes (and through 27 assists). Manu will also bring the ball up some, and Delfino took over those duties briefly in the fourth against Greece. The Americans might be able to pressure Manu and Delfino, and certainly bat about at Luis Scola and Fabricio Oberto. But Prigioni should be a tough pastry to smash.

There have been three real tight games in the Olympic men's basketball tournament, but the Argentina-Greece has been without doubt the most entertaining. There were something like 179 lead changes. Greece and Argentina traded spurts through the first three quarters. On the backs of Carlos Delfino and Manu Ginobili, Argentina took slight control in the fourth. But Greece stuck close, nailing improbable three after improbable three.

The most improbable came with 30 seconds left, the shot clock winding down and Argentina up by five. Panagiotis Vasilopoulos (!) banks in an off-balance trey. Argentina by two. A difference of six seconds between the shot clock and game clock. After a timeout, Manu handles the ball up high. He begins his move with about 12 seconds left, steps back and shoots a three. Clank. Greece captures the rebound and -- down two -- races up the court. With three ticks left, Vassilo Spanoulis takes a contested three from the top of the key. Clank. Luis Scola bats the ball around and ... game.

Manu almost saw his team get eliminated by a point after that miss. Given Greece's earlier luck from behind the arc, Spanoulis's shot looked good when it left his hands. The utter ecstacy after the buzzer shown by Argentina looked more like excitement than relief. It tells me this team won't be afraid of the Americans on Friday (in fairness, the Australians weren't afraid either). Argentina might have gotten away by the skin of their scalps, but it was because Greece played phenomenal more than Argentina being a step behind its 2004 version.

If either of Friday's games are anything like Argentina-Greece, we're in for some treats.