San Antonio Spurs

[boski]

---

UP nato ni be. hehehe! Nalubong na man gud ni, wa nay nagtagad.

kanus-a pa kaha makablik c Takie sa?

[owNinZ]

The Smartest Franchises

When you look at a team's complete set of transactions over a period of time and how those moves impacted the bottom line results, you can get a feel for what teams generally do it well and what teams should hire a consultant. HOOPSWORLD decided to take a stab at this, to find the six best teams at making decisions over the past few years.

San Antonio Spurs

For about three or four years now we have kept waiting for the point in time when the Spurs inevitably crash. The cycle of a team is generally an S-curve with highs and lows, but the Spurs have been high since David Robinson joined the team 20 years ago – and he's already in the Hall of Fame. Since the 1988-89 the Spurs have missed the playoffs just once, the season Robinson missed almost all of with an injury.

Luck plays a role too, because the year they dropped to the lottery they came out of it with the top pick and future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan.

They have continually found excellent deals in free agency, players like Bruce Bowen, Roger Mason, Robert Horry, and Stephen Jackson. They have made excellent choices in the draft with fantastic scouting, bringing in the likes of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Fabricio Oberto, Beno Udrih, and others.

Why have they done so well? A lot of it has to do with the fact General Manager R.C. Buford and Coach Gregg Popovich are on the same page when it comes to what the team needs at any given time and what are the proper players to invest in. Their structure has also given the NBA the likes of Portland GM Kevin Pritchard, Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti, and Cleveland GM Danny Ferry.

The Spurs set the standard of how to run a franchise – everyone else is looking up.

New York Knicks

It might seem odd to see the Knicks on this list, considering they haven't been good for a few years. How have they made good decisions? Well, in the past couple years, since replacing Isiah Thomas with Donnie Walsh, they have decided that the best way to clean house is to plan for it all to happen at once. They decided on a plan targeting free agency 2010 as their big moment and haven't deviated from that plan for anything.

Obviously the results of next summer will determine whether or not that was a good plan, but you have to give the Knicks brass credit for making a plan and sticking to it. Every single move of the past two years has been with the intention of having as much cap room as possible next summer, even if the move ended up as a net talent loss for the Knicks.

They have been challenged, to be sure. Teams would love to get their hands on some of the Knicks ending contracts and may still offer something the Knicks can't refuse, but it's doubtful. The team has stuck to its plan so stringently – and made no apologies to anyone for doing so – that it has surprised restricted free agent David Lee and his representation. They expected the Knicks to pay him big this summer for services rendered, but the team made it clear from the beginning they wanted a one-year deal. They thought it was a bluff – but it's not. It's a plan.

Too many teams start a new plan every six months and the result of that is a predictable mess of contracts acquired at various stages of various plans with alternating goals. Oh yeah, and they don't win either.

The Knicks have done well in the draft too. Nate Robinson and David Lee panned out very well, Wilson Chandler looks like a star in the making, Danilo Gallinari could explode this season, and rookies Toney Douglas and Jordan Hill could be big contributors.

Whether or not you hate or love the Knicks plan, it at least shows vision as a franchise.

Portland Trail Blazers

A few years back Kevin Pritchard was named the Blazers' general manager with a clear mandate: clean up the team, clean up the cap figure, bring in good talent, and make this a team the community can reconnect with.

Well, as the dawn of training camp beckons for the 2009-10 season, check, check, check, and check.

Pritchard made trades that clearly hurt Portland talent-wise, giving away leading scorer and rebounder Zach Randolph for Steve Francis whom they paid to never show up. They led the league a few years in a row in draft day trades, bringing in the likes of Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Fernandez, and others. They got lucky in the draft lottery and took Greg Oden with the number one pick, whom they hope will continue to improve (and yes, his success will always be compared to Kevin Durant's). The signed players like Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw, and Martell Webster to reasonable contracts/extensions.

This past summer they got back under the salary cap and signed Andre Miller, a player who would seem to fit the system and didn't break the bank. A maximum extension for Brandon Roy this summer was fully justifiable, and now they are negotiating one for Aldridge.

It hasn't all been smooth sailing. The summer offer to Hedo Turkoglu was questionable before he chose to go to Toronto instead. Many felt they should have used Raef LaFrentz' expiring contract in trade (I'm not one of those). Many will continue to think for a long time they should have chosen Durant over Oden.

However, in the grand scheme the Blazers are now poised to take the next level and become a contender for the foreseeable future, with fiscal responsibility to go along with talent.

Los Angeles Lakers

When you run the Lakers excellence and good choices are not only demanded they are expected. A few years ago the Lakers had a choice to make when it became clear Shaquille O'Neal wasn't going to quietly wait for a contract extension – so they traded him in the best deal they felt they could get at the time, to Miami. This is what kicked the Kobe/Shaq talk into high level about how they couldn't co-exist, and while there may be a small amount of truth to it the fact was Shaq wanted to get paid and the Lakers no longer felt it was a good investment to keep the franchise on top.

Losing Shaq hurt a bit, but in recent years it's proven to have been the right choice. The main player they acquired for Shaq, Lamar Odom, became a key member of this past season's championship team. A seemingly innocuous midseason trade netted them backup point guard Shannon Brown. They fleeced the Memphis Grizzlies for Pau Gasol, giving Kobe Bryant the All-Star he needed next to him in order to help bring the franchise back to prominence. The brought in Trevor Ariza two years ago in a move that also proved key in the past playoffs.
The draft has been a mixed bag. They did take Andrew Bynum, who should be a star once he's healthy for 75+ games. Jordan Farmar has been a bit of a disappointment.

They also worked through a rocky time with Kobe, working with him and bringing him into the planning mix when it became clear he couldn't see the vision of management.

The Lakers haven't been as good at some of the smaller moves. The extension for Luke Walton and Sasha Vujacic may not have been the best choices, but the big signing of Ron Artest and the extension to Lamar Odom (plus the likely extension coming for Kobe) are home runs.
Of course, when you have a core like Kobe and Gasol, you have the luxury of only occasionally hitting just a single, which is what the deals with Walton and Vujacic can be called since those players to make some decent contributions.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Let's put the Thunder on this list with an asterisk. I personally love the way they have gone about rebuilding the franchise through the draft and inexpensive young talent, but the asterisk comes because they haven't proven anything with it yet.

In the draft the Thunder have hit home runs. Taking Kevin Durant was a no-brainer after Portland chose Oden, but acquiring Green for the aging Ray Allen on draft day was almost as good. They also become a master of stocking up on draft picks in trade, using these multiple draft picks to compile a roster that a shocking eight former first-rounders currently on their rookie scale contracts. They surprised just about everyone last year when they used their fourth overall pick on Russell Westbrook, but that worked out well. This year they expectedly chose James Harden, a shooting guard that just about fills their last major need (just about meaning they still don't have a clear center).

Free agency has been kind as well. The Thunder had the foresight to sign former lottery pick who suffered a traumatic knee injury Shaun Livingston through 2010 when they gave him his second chance and so far, so good. They also signed Nenad Krstic last year at midseason after his foray back to Europe didn't turn out so well.

Considering all of that, the Thunder will still clear $12 million (Etan Thomas will be unrestricted and the dead money of Earl Watson will drop) off their cap next summer – leaving them with $35 million committed – without having to address any of their rookie scale players except Thabo Sefolosha. 2010 will be the summer for Presti and the Thunder. With Durant and Green eligible for early extensions – and Durant's most likely being justifiably max money – the Thunder will be in the same position Portland found themselves in this summer. It will likely be the last time in awhile they will be under the cap, and they'll have the biggest free agent crop in history to choose from.

So far so good, but the team still needs to show wins and how they come out of the 2010 free agency extravaganza will be a major factor in this team's future.

Orlando Magic

You can like or not like all the moves the Magic have made recently, especially this past summer, but you can't disagree with the thinking behind any of them.

Did they pay too much for Rashard Lewis? Perhaps, but his play and his role on the team are a major reason why this team reached the Finals in 2009. Did they spend too much on Jameer Nelson's extension? Maybe, but when you find a point guard you like who fits your team perfectly, you lock him up.

It's also hard to knock any of the minor free agent signings the Magic have made. The used this year's MLE on Brandon Bass, addressing a whole in rebounding for their second unit. They also brought in Matt Barnes, a shooter and defender who does many of the things Hedo Turkoglu did for less. Add that to minimum deals for Adonal Foyle and Jason Williams and the Magic made their bench absolutely stronger.

Last summer they used their salary exceptions on Mickael Pietrus and Anthony Johnson, both players who were invaluable during this year's run to the Finals.

Matching the Dallas Mavericks MLE offer to reserve center Marcin Gortat may have cost the Magic a lot of money, but he absolutely is the perfect fit behind All-Star Dwight Howard. Ownership gave general manager Otis Smith the green light to spend some money to keep this team as a championship contender, and while you may not like some of the prices you can't argue with the talent and how it should fit together on the floor.

What about the draft? Well, Nelson and Howard are both Magic draftees. So was Gortat. They found a gem in Courtney Lee last year.

Lee is gone, but people would be hard-pressed to argue the addition of Vince Carter isn't a better fit for Orlando's win-now mentality. Obviously the 2010 NBA Playoffs will show if the moves were right, but on paper they seem sound.



So what do all of these teams have in common – Commitment.

Absolutely. The first is commitment. Teams need to commit to a plan and then stick with it until it becomes clear the plan wasn't right to begin with. However, given the examples of these teams and other successful franchises in various sports, having a bad plan is inexcusable.

Commitment also applies to getting buy-in on all levels. The coaches aren't in charge of the contracts, but the franchises that work together to get what a coach needs while still fulfilling the other directives always seem to do better.


Source: HOOPSWORLD

[owNinZ]

Spurs obtain journeyman guard Keith Bogans

When the Spurs included Bruce Bowen in the June trade that pried scoring star Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee, they were well aware that doing so would create quite a void on the other end of the floor.

Bowen, after all, was an eight-time member of the NBA’s All-Defensive team and widely regarded as one of the most suffocating perimeter defenders in league history. Those kinds of players don’t necessarily grow on trees.
“Bruce has been a great defender at the wing,” general manager R.C. Buford said at the time. “We’re not going to be negligent in that pursuit. That’s a piece of our plan going forward.”

With a week to go before the start of training camp, the Spurs appear poised to add the perimeter defender they’ve been chasing all summer.
Keith Bogans, the 29-year-old journeyman guard who spent the final 29 games of last season playing with Jefferson in Milwaukee, has agreed to a one-year deal worth the veteran’s minimum of $1.03 million to join the Spurs.

Bogans, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, has averaged 7.5 points over a five-year career that includes stints with seven teams. He averaged 5.6 points in 65 games last season, split between the Magic and the Bucks.

Like Bowen before him, however, Bogans has built his professional reputation on the defensive end.

As news of Bogans’ impending arrival to San Antonio circulated Monday night, at least one of Bogans’ soon-to-be Spurs teammates rolled out the figurative welcome wagon. On his Facebook page, Manu Ginobili posted this message to Bogans: “Welcome to the family, man!”
It is not immediately clear whether Bogans’ contract is fully guaranteed or if it is a make-good deal for camp. Bogans is expected to formally sign the contract later this week.


Source: Spurs obtain journeyman guard Bogans

[owNinZ]

SPURS CHANGE GAME IN ORDER TO MAKE TITLE PUSH

Every basketball writer should be exhilarated about this Spurs' summer – they finally changed up their game plan going into next season!

No longer is it the tried-and-true story about how the Spurs are always a force to be reckoned with regardless of age or injury (or that they Spurs are washed up because the are too old and injured). Instead, the usually frugal San Antonio club wanted to make another bid for West Coast relevance, and they did so in a big way, seeing an unexpected opportunity to extend their window in a competitive Conference.
In '07-'08 the Western Conference looked positively loaded. Eight teams won fifty or more games that year, and a 48-win Golden State team was left out of the Playoff picture. Last season was supposed to be even more competitive with up-and-coming teams like the Clippers and Thunder making a name for themselves. However, what actually happened was that the bulk of the strongest teams (San Antonio included) floundered below expectations and the Conference as a whole took a step backward.

Injuries and inconsistencies plagued New Orleans, Utah, Dallas, Houston, Golden State, Phoenix and the Spurs and the West had only one real threat to the mighty Lakers in Denver. The weakened West inspired San Antonio to go all-in this summer, committing to a $10-million luxury tax bill, all in the name of trying for at least one more title before Tim Duncan hangs 'em up.

Despite all the bugaboo, though, the Spurs only grabbed three meaningful new pieces for their new season, and one of them (Antonio McDyess) is even older than Duncan is. However, in typical Spurs fashion, it isn't about the numbers or names that they brought in so much as the positions on the team that they filled.

Richard Jefferson, acquired from the Bucks on the eve of the Draft, gives the team a much-needed scorer and creator on the wing that will play in the starting lineup. With Manu Ginobili needing his minutes so heavily monitored to avoid injury, especially during the regular season, a player like Jefferson became a necessity to lessen the scoring burden on Duncan and Tony Parker. There were stretches last season when Ginobili was out that it was laughably easy to stop the Spurs from scoring, with the club averaging .457 shooting on the year – the first time in the Tim Duncan era that teams actually shot better against the Spurs (.463) than the Spurs shot themselves.

As nicely as Roger Mason and Michael Finley can play at times, this club needed an impact scorer in the worst way and they got one in Jefferson, who was a 20ppg scorer last season.

Once that spot was taken care of, the Spurs focused their attention on their frontcourt. The team had traded away centre Fabricio Oberto as part of the Jefferson package, leaving just Duncan and Matt Bonner to man the middle for the club. To fortify the position, the Spurs got a steal in the second round of the draft in rebounding machine DuJuan Blair and went on to sign McDyess later in the summer. This combination of players not only allows the Spurs to return Bonner to the bench after starting 67 games for them last year, but it gives the team an option to rest Duncan more after he burnt himself out in the first half of the season trying to keep his team competitive through injuries. With McDyess likely starting alongside Duncan and Blair and Bonner logging quality minutes in their stead the Spurs have a reasonable frontcourt rotation that should allow them to stay competitive without overusing Duncan in the process. They may not be the Lakers or the Celtics up front, but no team gets more from their assets than the Spurs do.

While one has to see how a guy like Jefferson responds to being put into such a disciplined club like the Spurs, and how much McDyess has left in the tank, the Spurs are a clearly improved team this season after tying for second in wins in the West last season (54 with Denver and Portland). Perhaps though the personnel has changed a bit, the same old chorus does still apply: the Spurs are always a force to be reckoned with regardless of age or injury and a newly beefed roster should only help with their consistent competitiveness.

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP

PG – TONY PARKER
Parker had a career-year last season, going for over 20ppg for the first time as an NBAer while also getting his assists up to 6.9 per game – remarkable on a team where the offense tends to come from the system rather than one playmaker. He is still about as efficient at scoring from the guard position as anyone in the league at over 50% and his role on the Spurs becomes more important every year as Duncan and Ginobili go deeper into their 30's. Parker, though, will probably see his scoring dip a bit in the regular season in order to accommodate getting Jefferson enough looks in the offense, but come the Playoffs expect no one to supplant Parker as the driving force behind this team.

SG – ROGER MASON JR.
He was just another in a long list of under-the-radar moves by the Spurs that pay huge dividends on the court. A reliable outside shooter in Washington, Mason became an integral cog for the Spurs last year, nailing multiple game-winning shots and playing better-than-expected defense on several of the league's premier two-guards. Unfortunately for Mason and the Spurs, his production fell-off in the post-season and got fewer and fewer minutes as their lone series against Dallas wore on. As nice a piece as he was, his play did not prevent the club from realizing how badly they needed an upgrade on the wing, but that could count as a positive if Jefferson can be the shot in the arm that the Spurs needed to return to glory.

SF – RICHARD JEFFERSON
After being a mainstay in New Jersey for most of his career, Jefferson is now playing for his third team in as many years and is once again in a situation wholly different than the one he left. He'll need to be a quick study, though, because they Spurs anticipate his arrival thrusting them back to the upper-reaches of the Conference both in record and in status. He'll need to maintain an efficient scoring clip playing off of a Hall-of-Fame big man for the first time in his career while also offering Spurs-caliber defense at the other end to try and mitigate the loss of Bruce Bowen and his protégé Ime Udoka this summer. A Parker-Ginobili-Jefferson-McDyess-Duncan lineup to finish games looks imposing on paper, but that's two large pieces to squeeze into a very tightly-knit threesome and their running the risk of having too many pieces to account for with such a configuration.

PF – TIM DUNCAN
Sure, he's really more of a centre, but he bristles at the notion and it really doesn't matter how he's listed – he's Tim Duncan, he's the greatest power forward of all time, who cares if his game resembles a center? He, like Robinson before him, has transitioned himself to a secondary role on this club with such ease and grace it's amazing to look back and see that it's happened. While he is still a dominating force in the paint, the hand-checking rules in the league, along with Duncan's age, have thrust Tony Parker to the forefront of this team. Parker scores more, with higher efficiency, and the ball is always in his hands in crunch time. Duncan, though, is the figurative anchor of this team and his willingness to step aside for Parker amply demonstrates why that is.

C – ANTONIO MCDYESS
When McDyess first signed with the Pistons in 2004 his ambition was clear; hook his trailer up to the truck that just one the NBA Championship in an attempt to get a ring for himself. Five years of disappointment, though, and he's moved his quest west to the next best thing to the Lakers. He brings such consistency and intelligence to the game that it's amazing that he never found himself here before. He'll fit perfectly into what the Spurs like to do, especially with his ability to play the pick-and-pop with Parker by hitting a mid-range jumper, and his defense at 35-years-old is still nothing to laugh at. However, unless this club has some heretofore unseen means for unseating the Lakers next spring, McDyess's quest for a trophy may go unfulfilled for another year.

Source: Chisholm: Spurs change game in order to make title push

[owNinZ]

NBA's top 10 small forwards


# 7 of 10


Richard Jefferson, San Antonio Spurs

2008-09 stats: 19.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.4 apg

With Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut out, Jefferson had to do too much in his single season with the Bucks. He'll be better off as a second or third option with the Spurs, much like he was with the Nets complementing Vince Carter. He's exactly what San Antonio needs — an athletic wing player who can run with Tony Parker and create his own shots. The knock on Jefferson is that he's not tough enough, but he'll need to help Tim Duncan on the boards if the Spurs are going to be contenders.





Source: NBA - Photo Gallery - FOX Sports on MSN

[menderouv]

UP nato ni be. hehehe! Nalubong na man gud ni, wa nay nagtagad.

oo UP nato ni kay wa na nagtagad...

[johnnyblues]

The Smartest Franchises

When you look at a team's complete set of transactions over a period of time and how those moves impacted the bottom line results, you can get a feel for what teams generally do it well and what teams should hire a consultant. HOOPSWORLD decided to take a stab at this, to find the six best teams at making decisions over the past few years.

San Antonio Spurs

For about three or four years now we have kept waiting for the point in time when the Spurs inevitably crash. The cycle of a team is generally an S-curve with highs and lows, but the Spurs have been high since David Robinson joined the team 20 years ago – and he's already in the Hall of Fame. Since the 1988-89 the Spurs have missed the playoffs just once, the season Robinson missed almost all of with an injury.

Luck plays a role too, because the year they dropped to the lottery they came out of it with the top pick and future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan.

They have continually found excellent deals in free agency, players like Bruce Bowen, Roger Mason, Robert Horry, and Stephen Jackson. They have made excellent choices in the draft with fantastic scouting, bringing in the likes of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Fabricio Oberto, Beno Udrih, and others.

Why have they done so well? A lot of it has to do with the fact General Manager R.C. Buford and Coach Gregg Popovich are on the same page when it comes to what the team needs at any given time and what are the proper players to invest in. Their structure has also given the NBA the likes of Portland GM Kevin Pritchard, Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti, and Cleveland GM Danny Ferry.

The Spurs set the standard of how to run a franchise – everyone else is looking up.

New York Knicks

It might seem odd to see the Knicks on this list, considering they haven't been good for a few years. How have they made good decisions? Well, in the past couple years, since replacing Isiah Thomas with Donnie Walsh, they have decided that the best way to clean house is to plan for it all to happen at once. They decided on a plan targeting free agency 2010 as their big moment and haven't deviated from that plan for anything.

Obviously the results of next summer will determine whether or not that was a good plan, but you have to give the Knicks brass credit for making a plan and sticking to it. Every single move of the past two years has been with the intention of having as much cap room as possible next summer, even if the move ended up as a net talent loss for the Knicks.

They have been challenged, to be sure. Teams would love to get their hands on some of the Knicks ending contracts and may still offer something the Knicks can't refuse, but it's doubtful. The team has stuck to its plan so stringently – and made no apologies to anyone for doing so – that it has surprised restricted free agent David Lee and his representation. They expected the Knicks to pay him big this summer for services rendered, but the team made it clear from the beginning they wanted a one-year deal. They thought it was a bluff – but it's not. It's a plan.

Too many teams start a new plan every six months and the result of that is a predictable mess of contracts acquired at various stages of various plans with alternating goals. Oh yeah, and they don't win either.

The Knicks have done well in the draft too. Nate Robinson and David Lee panned out very well, Wilson Chandler looks like a star in the making, Danilo Gallinari could explode this season, and rookies Toney Douglas and Jordan Hill could be big contributors.

Whether or not you hate or love the Knicks plan, it at least shows vision as a franchise.

knicks number 2?

[manuginobili]

Top 50: Manu Ginobili, no. 29

The definitive ranking of the NBA’s best players.

by Adam Sweeney

Underrated. It might be the most overused word in sports. As hoop-aholics we always beat our chests and stand on the curb shouting about how our favorite player gets no love. Therein lies the roundball rub. Our arguments are often dismissed because of our allegiances. This case foManu Ginobilir Manu Ginobili’s greatness can’t be. Why? Because as a Houston native, I loathe the San Antonio Spurs. I can assure you that no bias exists here. I went to college twenty-five minutes away from San Antonio and had to listen every day about the San Antonio Spurs dynasty. I made it my mission to debunk the fantasies Spurs had about their team. The thing is that the more you examine Manu’s career, the better he becomes. In fact, Manu may be the most underrated, there’s that word again, player of our generation.

Fact: Kanye West can cry about how a VMA was robbed from Beyonce but one of the truly great steals in history came when the Spurs grabbed Manu Ginobili with the 57th pick in the 1999 NBA Draft. Let me throw out a stat, seeing as we spent the last few weeks drinking the champagne of greatness that was Michael Jordan’s career. Manu is only the second player ever to win a NBA Championship, Euroleague title and Olympic gold medal. But you still don’t get it.

Seeing is believing and anyone who saw the San Antonio Spurs fall apart in the playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks last year got a huge dose of how important Manu is to the team’s success. Say what you want about the addition of Richard Jefferson. Give deserved praise to Tim Duncan as the greatest power forward ever. Gasp at Tony Parker’s speed and emergence as a team leader. A run at an NBA title begins and ends with Manu Ginobili.

* Related Stories
* Manu Ginobili Will See You Next Season
* The Post Up: Suns Shining
* Manu Ginobili Out 2-3 Weeks
* Manu: Mad
* When Will Popovich Let Ginobili Play?

And what’s funny is that as NBA fans we only got a partial glimpse of the picture. Before he came to the Association, The Argentine was tearing it up in Argentina and the Italian League. MVPs? He’s got them, winning the 2001 Euroleague Final Four MVP. He was only voted one of the thirty-five greatest players ever but we don’t want to talk about that. The NBA is king, oh wait, except when Manu led Argentina to Gold in the 2004 Olympics. Yeah, he was the MVP of that also. Perhaps it’s Manu’s foreign origins that make us shy away from him. You make the call.

If that wasn’t enough, the most exciting player in S.A. is the first sixth man to win All-NBA honors. If Ben Gordon is worth over $50 million, what is Manu’s value? You can’t put a price on it. Unlike Gordon, who is at his best when he is coming off the bench, Manu has proven he could dominate as a starter. The stats don’t lie. In a five-game stretch as a starter last season, he averaged 34.4 points per game and 6.6 assists per game in 37.4 minutes per game. Efficiency, Manu is thy name.

How well-rounded is Ginobili’s offensive game? A New York Times article regarding Shane Battier, the defensive student of the game that he is, studied the very subject. Battier is given data to study every opponent. The results speak for themselves. “Manu Ginobili is a statistical freak: he has no imbalance whatsoever in his game,” the article offers. “There is no one way to play him that is better than another. He is equally efficient off the dribble as he is off the pass, going left and right and any spot from on the floor.” It’s true. You’re just as likely to get beaten by a quick slash to the lane as you are a bucket from behind the line when it comes to Ginobili. He can score from anywhere. On any other team he would be a perennial All-Star.

But it’s not about that. See, unlike other players who are too caught up in the “importance” of getting starter’s minutes (see Allen Iverson), Manu Ginobili kills ‘em softly any way the team needs him. He doesn’t mind letting Timmy and Tony have their names on the marquee, even though he could lead the team in points and assists. He just keeps on keeping on and counts the championship rings at the end of the day.

The word clutch has become synonymous with Kobe Bryant but it’s an undeserved association. Yeah, you guessed it, Manu’s the real heir to the last minute throne. Forbes did a study chronicling the top players in the last five minutes of a game including overtime. It wasn’t even close. Manu topped the list and shoots lights out at a 57.4% clip. Your boy Kobe? 44.8%. Do I have your attention yet?

The only thing that can stop Manu Ginobili is his health and he has suffered a few setbacks in the past few years. The 2008-2009 season ended unceremoniously for him as he had to shut it down with a stress fracture in his right distal fibula. That only means you’ll be sleeping on him this upcoming season, just like the majority of us have slept on the Spurs all these years. So when you are watching the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals next season, perhaps against the defending champion Lakers, don’t be shocked if Manu slaps the taste out of your mouth with a game-winning three. The quiet ones always sneak up on you. The funny thing is you’ll be the one left speechless. Manu Ginobili has been doing it his entire career and yet we still can’t find words to describe him. For now, underrated will have to do.

SLAM ONLINE | Top 50: Manu Ginobili, no. 29

oh yeah!!...

[menderouv]

knicks number 2?

they are preparing for the next season getting on lebron

[dandavix08]

Spurs Add Curtis Jerrells And Dwayne Jones To Roster


SAN ANTONIO - The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have signed guard Curtis Jerrells and forward/center Dwayne Jones. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Jerrells
Jerrells, 6-1, 200 pounds, spent the past four seasons playing at Baylor University. As a senior he averaged a team-high 16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.9 assists while starting in all in 39 games for the Bears. He was selected to the All-Big 12 Third Team and was named to the 2009 NIT All-Tournament Team after leading the Bears to the NIT championship game. As a junior Jerrells was named to the All-Big 12 First Team, averaging 15.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists. He scored a career-high 36 points, including a school and Big 12 record 20-of-24 free throws, in a five-OT 116-110 win at Texas A&M on Jan. 23, 2008. For his career, Jerrells averaged 15.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.34 steals. He started in all 119 games he played in and holds the Bears record for most games played, started and minutes played (3,934). His 1,820 career points rank him third on Baylor’s all-time scoring list and his 487 assists and 159 steals are second all-time. Jerrells is the only player in school history to finish his career with more than 1,000 points, 400 assists and 100 steals.


Jones
Jones, 6-11, 250 pounds, spent the 2008-09 season between the Charlotte Bobcats, Efes Pilsen Istanbul of the Turkish League and three different NBA D-League teams. After being waived by the Orlando Magic in training camp Jones signed with Efes Pilsen and played in two games before signing with the Bobcats. The former St. Joseph’s University standout appeared in six games with Bobcats, averaging 2.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in 8.7 minutes before being waived on Dec. 12. Jones signed with the Iowa Energy of the D-League on Jan. 5 and played in one game before being dealt to the Idaho Stampede on Jan. 14. In 13 games with the Stampede, he averaged 13.6 points and 10.2 rebounds in 29.6 minutes. On Feb. 20 Jones was traded to the Austin Toros where he finished the season. He played in 20 games for the Toros, averaging 17.0 points, 13.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.2 blocks in 36.3 minutes. Over his four-year NBA career, Jones has appeared in 80 games with averages of 1.3 points and 2.4 rebounds in 7.9 minutes with Cleveland, Boston and Charlotte.