Manu turns it up in NBA playoffs...

[stuart]

It always seems to me that Manu Ginobili turns up his play dramatically during the playoffs. Tonight he had 32pts, 9 assts, and 0 turnovers... including the assist to Brent Barry for the three that timed the game with 4 seconds left.

The Spurs are going to need him as it seems that Duncan has lost a ste or three this season (which many are blaming on his Plantar Faciatis sp?)

Stuart

[Phantim3dx]

ginobili is clutch this is all ig otta say. he doesnt need to turn it on all seasons, he knows his capabilities and that when business really needs to be put down he'll be ther to put a stamp on anything beign progressed in the playoffs. i hope if he continues this way he gets mvp honors if they win the finals.

[Jokinen]

I was kind of worried about him this season, he was strugglind with injuries and couldn't play very well, but I'm more relaxed now, I think he has been preparing him self for playoff time. He knows what he is doing and I guess we will see a lot of Manu in this playoffs.

GO MANU!!!

BTW, he needs to shave

[Nikoo]

Manu with great assist to Kevin Martin who scored a winning bucket in SAS vs SACTO

[Nikoo]

Another great game by MANU JESUSNOBILI-3pt in 24 min of play...man i will take Manu over Kobe and BronBron at once

[stuart]

Manu with great assist to Kevin Martin who scored a winning bucket in SAS vs SACTO

Ouch. Two straight crappy games for Manu and now...

San Antonio 109, Sacramento 98
Preview - Box Score - Recap

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Manu Ginobili was still blaming himself for a terrible mistake in Game 3 when Ron Artest shut him down in Game 4.

Ginobili didn't let anything stop him with Game 5 -- and perhaps an entire first-round series -- on the line.

Buffered by the support of his teammates and a home crowd, Ginobili scored 13 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, helping the San Antonio Spurs hold off the Sacramento Kings 109-98 Tuesday night to take a pivotal 3-2 series lead.

"I felt better, no doubt," Ginobili said. "It wasn't that hard to feel better than Game 3 and Game 4."

Bonzi Wells led Sacramento with 38 points and Artest had 24, but their two-man show wasn't enough against a deep Spurs attack led by Ginobili.

Ginobili shot 9-of-14 and added nine rebounds and four assists. He helped seal the victory with six straight free throws in the final period, the perfect tonic for his turnover that led to Sacramento's winning shot in the closing seconds of Game 3.

"I just calmed down a bit," said Ginobili, who had only 11 points over the last two games. "I was too frustrated in Game 4 because of what happened in Game 3. I tried to forget everything and play more calm, letting things come to me. I didn't force the issue."

Tim Duncan had 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Tony Parker scored 21 and defensive specialist Bruce Bowen had 16. "Manu is a competitor," Duncan said. "Mentally, he was prepared and he was ready to go tonight. He wanted to really come out here and attack these guys and not settle for anything less." click for more...

[stuart]

Manu has had an up and down series against the Sacramento Kings, but seems to be playing more consistently against the Dallas Mavericks where he has averaged 21pts in the series (and 24.5pts in the last four games), shooting just a smidge under 50% from the field (38-78) and 43-51 at the free-throw line (77%?). Here's hoping Ginobili has found his playoff legs because for me; he is one of the more entertaining basketball players to watch...

Stuart

[stuart]

Game 7 in Texas Tug of War: Ginóbili Could Be the Driving Force

From the New York Times: Link to Article

Game 7 in Texas Tug of War: Ginóbili Could Be the Driving Force
By LIZ ROBBINS

SAN ANTONIO, May 21 — Look for an advantage in Game 7 of the Texas tug of war between two teams that have split not only the Western Conference semifinals but also their regular-season series. It is like deciding whether to call a block or a charge in the waning seconds of a decisive game.

Consider the factors:

- Home-court advantage? San Antonio has it Monday because the Spurs won three more regular-season games than the Dallas Mavericks.
- Rallying rhetoric? The Mavericks' owner, Mark Cuban, has no rival, thanks to his spicy "muddy-watered thing they call the River Walk" comment disparaging San Antonio's tourist attraction.
- A 7-foot superstar? The two-time most valuable player Tim Duncan has averaged 30.8 points and 11.2 rebounds for San Antonio in the series. Dirk Nowitzki, named to the all-N.B.A. first team over Duncan this season, has averaged 25.5 points and 13 rebounds for Dallas.
- Public Enemy No. 1? Nowitzki told Mavericks fans to boo his former teammate and friend Michael Finley, and they obliged, growing louder after Finley protested Jason Terry's sucker-punching him in the groin in Game 5. Terry was suspended. Now it is Terry's turn to be booed at the visiting arena.

"At this point there's no advantage," Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said Sunday. "We've played each other 10 times this year, and it's 5-5. Whoever loses would probably win the next game, it's that close."

But there is no "next" this year. When the Mavericks try for the third straight time to overcome the obstacle of the defending champion Spurs — the burr in their boot these last five years — they have to contend with more than San Antonio's intimidating tradition.

The Spurs have another intangible the Mavericks do not have: Manu Ginóbili.

Ginóbili has played on Spurs teams that have won two N.B.A. titles and on an Olympic gold-medal team for his native Argentina. He has a knack of throwing himself into the right place at the right time.

"Every player competes at a certain level, but there are special players who really are able to intuitively understand situations that help win games, whether it's a steal, an offensive board at the appropriate time, having the fortitude to shoot the 3 when maybe it's not exactly called for," Popovich said.

"Those types of things, great basketball players understand. Manu's one of those guys who's been in a lot of situations. He knows what wins."
Popovich also included Nowitzki in that group. But while Ginóbili can take advantage of the opportunities a heavily guarded Duncan provides, Nowitzki, a forward, does not have that consistent secondary threat to stretch the defense.

Terry seemed to lose the mantle of second star, along with his head, in the heated scramble for the loose ball that led to his punching Finley in Game 5. The scramble was with Ginóbili.

In Game 6, Ginóbili scored 8 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter. "You don't think about the fact you're with your back against the wall; you just compete and win," Ginóbili said. "Do whatever it takes to get that extra rebound, to draw that foul. It's very emotional, a lot of adrenaline."

Playing as if every minute were his last, Ginóbili soon felt that style catch up to him in his fourth season. He missed the most games of his career (16) this season because of injuries: a bone bruise in his right ankle, a right midfoot sprain, a right ankle sprain and a calf/quad contusion in his right and left legs.

The effects seemed to linger in the first round against Sacramento, when Ginóbili averaged 15 points. He is averaging 21 in this series.

"I am feeling better, but it's the mental stuff, too," he said. "I'm playing better."

Ginóbili pointed out that his mind-set had not always contributed to winning — as the middle three games of the series showed.

Ahead by 3-1, the Mavericks were salivating at their chance to unseat the incumbent champion.

Now the Spurs own the bigger Game 7 experience. The Mavericks beat Houston in a seven-game first-round playoff series last year, but the Spurs beat Detroit to win the N.B.A. finals in Game 7 when Duncan was named the M.V.P. and Ginóbili scored 11 points in that fourth quarter.
These two teams last met in the 2003 Western Conference finals, which the Spurs won in six games. In their first playoff meeting, the 2001 conference semifinals, the Spurs won in five. Is there a pattern here?
"I don't think the past has a lot to do with the present," said Finley, who spent eight years with the Mavericks before Dallas released him last summer. "The only person on that team who has been beaten by the Spurs over the years has been Dirk."

Recent history is enough for a rivalry (and enough for Cuban to stir the muddy waters), but Ginóbili does not care about his opponent. "Regardless of who we are playing against, I just want to win and make it to the finals," he said.