A Manu Possessed
Tim Duncan (photo. adidas)Manu Ginobili is the NBA’s version of Hines Ward: loved by his team’s fans, mostly hated but always respected by everyone else, probably underrated as an athlete, and a warrior who makes his money as a possession receiver, going into traffic and taking hits to come up with clutch plays. Just look at what Manu did against the OKC Thunder last night: The first quarter buzzer-beater beyond the arc, the impossible layup over two guys to beat the third-quarter horn, the two backbreaking and-ones in the last few minutes of a close game — all Manu’s equivalent of timely third-down conversions and late-game touchdowns. With three minutes left and the Spurs hanging onto a five-point lead, Manu split a double-team and got yanked back by Nick Collison, but managed to hit a jumper while almost parallel to the ground, getting to the line in the process. With 30 seconds left and San Antone up four, Manu somehow slipped behind the defense and caught a long TD pass from TD (20 pts, 12 rebs, 5 asts), his layup plus-one basically the dagger in the Spurs’ win. Although he only scored 14 points for the game, Manu was clearly San Antonio’s MVP on Sunday … Kevin Durant had 28 points and 13 boards for OKC, Jeff Green dropped 33 points, but they got NO help from their teammates. It was seriously like 2-on-5 for long stretches, and you have to give the kids credit for hanging in there … Speaking of surprisingly competitive games, Lakers/Wolves was a lot closer than the 12-point final margin indicated. Thanks to Al Jefferson (20 pts, 13 rebs) and Craig Smith (18 pts, 8 rebs) doing work in the paint and the Wolves winning the rebounding battle (‘08 Finals flashback?), Minnesota was right there well into the second half, before Kobe (26 pts) helped the Lakers pull away in the fourth quarter … We almost forgot Mark Madsen was on the Wolves. Maybe he was just on top of his cheerleader game being back in Staples Center, but he stood out as the first guy to pop off Minnesota’s bench whenever one of the Wolves on the court did anything … Did you see when Jefferson swatted Andrew Bynum at the rim, took it himself coast-to-coast and dropped in a baby hook over Pau Gasol? Who knew he had that in his game? Bynum was kind of coasting back on D after he got blocked, and you saw the moment when he realized Big Al wasn’t giving it up to a guard and had to kick his jog into a spring to catch up …
Chris Paul (photo. Chad Griffith)Chris Paul almost saw his consecutive-games-with-a-steal streak snapped at 103 last night, until he collected one late in the fourth quarter against the Raptors. Now sitting at 104 and counting, CP is one game from tying Alvin Robertson’s NBA record. In the meantime, Paul (12 pts, 12 asts) was handing out open looks for N.O.’s shooters all day, as they rained on the Raps in a road win. James Posey put up 20 points and 10 boards and hit six threes, while Rasual Butler made four triples … That wasn’t right for Chris Bosh (25 pts) to knock Devin Brown flat on his back, dunk on him, and then check on him like a concerned parent. Besides, Devin looked like he was flopping anyway … Are we sure the Raptors didn’t sign Jake Voskuhl yesterday strictly to antagonize Kevin Garnett as they make a second-half Atlantic Division push? … Since his 33-point effort in Phoenix ended up in a loss, you might want to stick O.J. Mayo’s Sunday night show against D-Wade at the top of his Rookie of the Year resume. In a rare blowout win for the Grizzlies, O.J. dropped 28 on Flash, including a couple moments where he showed tell-tale symptoms of testicular elephantitis, lining Wade up on the perimeter for a long couple seconds before rising and sticking a three in his face … It wasn’t all easy for O.J., though; one time D-Wade (17 pts) got him cold with a step-back move — plus the Michael Jordan-on-Bryon Russell push-off — where O.J. went stumbling to the ground while Wade hit a 15-footer … Mario Chalmers got booed by the Memphis fans during intros, residual hater-ism from “The Shot” that forced OT in last year’s national title game. We’re guessing the Memphis folks don’t boo Darrell Arthur on a regular basis, even though he did damage to Coach Cal’s squad in that game, too. And what about when the Nets and Chris Douglas-Roberts come to town? CDR was a beast in college, but odds are the Tiger faithful haven’t forgotten those missed free throws … We’re out like the rest of the Thunder …
December 15th, 2008 at 6:25 am
Deeiz2nice says:
uno!
December 15th, 2008 at 6:30 am
Toan says:
mayo has sick range, the 3’s in Wades face were really nice
December 15th, 2008 at 6:32 am
josh tha roc says:
testicular elepantitis…hahahahaha classic.
December 15th, 2008 at 6:33 am
caeubona says:
i feel sorry for durant and green, really.
and that crossover by wade would’ve been sick, but then again mayo was tripped by his own teammate.
December 15th, 2008 at 6:34 am
knoc says:
go manu allstar 09
December 15th, 2008 at 6:52 am
len-e says:
manu – what about letting jeff green blow by?
December 15th, 2008 at 7:00 am
ISRAEL says:
Al was 8-24 so AB did a good job.
December 15th, 2008 at 7:19 am
YOUNGFED..."Call me Clint Eastwood Cause I Got a Fistfull of Dolla's" says:
YOUNGFEDS BANGER OF THE DAY: Theophilus “Cold Pillow”
http://www.soulbounce.com/soul/2008/11/theophilus_london_jesse_boykins_iii_are_not_feeling_this_cold_pillow.php
Stand Up for Londons Finest….Ooooowwww!!!!
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Sheed
“You don’t come toward our bench to give us a warning for complaining and just because someone says something in our huddle you give them a tech,” Curry said. “I don’t talk about his techs, but I thought that wasn’t right.”
December 15th, 2008 at 7:21 am
YOUNGFED..."Call me Clint Eastwood Cause I Got a Fistfull of Dolla's" says:
Sorry that quote was from Curry about Sheed just in case anyone was confused.
December 15th, 2008 at 7:28 am
YOUNGFED..."Call me Clint Eastwood Cause I Got a Fistfull of Dolla's" says:
More Quotes from the League:
LARRY BROWN ON ALLEN IVERSON:
“He’s the same guy, he’s just trying to find himself,” Brown said. “He’s trying to do everything they want, and it’s a little different than he’s ever played before. The other night (against Indiana) he got 12 assists and took 12 shots. He would’ve been killing me if he only got 12 shots up (with the 76ers).”
Brown laughed, but he was serious about Iverson’s maturity.
“All that kid has ever wanted was to win,” Brown said.
“I really admire what he’s trying to do,” Brown said of Iverson. “But I think this is a bigger adjustment for (Rodney) Stuckey. All of a sudden he’s handed the point guard job and he’s replacing an unbelievable guy (Chauncey Billups) — that’s not an easy thing to do.
“But listen, that kid will figure it out, and Allen will figure it out. It doesn’t do anything for you to win a bunch of games right now. They have enough time to get things going in the right direction. I look for them to be really, really good.”
December 15th, 2008 at 8:06 am
smity far away says:
i agree with josh the roc (and many others),
yes yes that term “testicular elepantitis” is very much so a classic.
now i feel like i gotta go watch those highlights after reading smack. wanna see jefferson’s block and mayo/wade.
December 15th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Jay says:
Ginobili was very instrumental to their win but I thought Duncan was the MVP of that game. He had a great block on Durant near the end, coming up with a big moment for his only block of the game and he made a great play afterward to keep the ball in-bounds and gain possession. And then whenever San Antonio needed buckets in the fourth, he was hitting bankers off pick and rolls, jump hooks over Collison, creating contact to get to the line (and hitting his freethrows.
I thought Ginobili shouldn’t have had that and-1 when he split the double team. Sure he didn’t put the ball down again but he took three steps. That third step was key to his establishing balance and controlling the shot. Calls like that happen a lot and I don’t understand why. Don’t the traveling rules still apply for continuation plays?
December 15th, 2008 at 8:07 am
smity far away says:
and nice title.
December 15th, 2008 at 8:13 am
smity far away says:
ok, now i understand things better. I was gonna say that i had never seen jefferson block somebody’s shot at the rim (especially a 7 footer) but after seeing the replay he kind of got him before bynum got to the rim. i was expecting a full rejection at the rim like some of maxiell’s work…
December 15th, 2008 at 8:13 am
fallinup says:
Rangerjohn! Rangerjohn! Dime posted something about the Spurs. And it was….(gulp)…positive!
*Ducking now, to avoid flying pigs. haha
December 15th, 2008 at 8:17 am
sans says:
I didn’t see the play, but if Manu caught a body bump on his first step that caused him to stumble a little bit, and the ref doesn’t want to call that ticky-tack foul, then I see the ref allowing the extra step. They cancel each other out, without either player gaining an advantage. Then again, they could have called it on the floor if they wanted to penalize Manu for the walk. Oh well.
December 15th, 2008 at 8:23 am
rangerjohn says:
lmao THANKS DIME, been waiting a long time to even get some coverage on my boys.
it had the makings of a terrible game but props to OKC on making it a game.
now one thing to all those manu haters, MANU IS CLUUTTTCCCHHHHH! (dirk take notes lmao). he doesnt score 50, but when the team needs him, he delivers. 95% of the time he is money in the bank.
December 15th, 2008 at 8:37 am
smity far away says:
“That wasn’t right for Chris Bosh (25 pts) to knock Devin Brown flat on his back, dunk on him, and then check on him like a concerned parent.”
i just looked at that highlight and laughed out loud. that joint is hilarious. “concerned parent” was extra right.
December 15th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Jay says:
Al Jefferson does get justly maligned for his defense because he doesn’t sprint back (I’ve seen him trotting back and not picking it up even when a few extra hard strides might have allowed him to block a shot at the rim) and his rotations are slow. But it’s not surprising to see him block shots–he’s averaging over 2 a game this year; over the past 5 he’s averaged 2.6 per. Nevertheless it was unexpected to see the beastly side of him come out on defense at the end of the game. I had never seen that side of him before, I never knew he had that within him. He was hungry going after Gasol on defense and looked intimidating blocking one of Gasol’s very difficult to block high release shots and nearly getting another one. Too bad it took a frustating night on the offensive end to unleash that side of him but damn, he does have the ability to be a nightmare on both ends, if only.
Offensively he’s very gifted, with his footwork and touch and pump fakes. But it’s amazing that a guy who looks so natural in the post still hasn’t developed a left hand. With the way he pivots and creates space for himself, a left hand could add two to three points to his average easily.
December 15th, 2008 at 8:52 am
turambur says:
I’ve got to call Dime out of this one. Do star players get props for big games against OKC or not? Dirk goes off for 46 against them, and you shit on him in yesterday’s Smack; but Manu has some “clutch” plays in a game that (when you look at the talent levels of those two teams) and it’s nothing but praise with no mention of how awful OKC is.
At least now we know that you’re just using the “OKC sucks” line as a way to belittle big performances by players or teams that aren’t your favorites, and will choose to ignore it when it serves your purpose.
December 15th, 2008 at 8:56 am
YOUNGFED says:
Hey Ranger Remember This Guy
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LMAO – You know I had to do it
December 15th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Phileus says:
The Kevin Love for O.J. Mayo trade looks like it has the potential to be one of the worst trades of all time. Love’s not bad, but Mayo will be a superstar.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Richard Wellner says:
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December 15th, 2008 at 9:13 am
fallinup says:
Mario Chalmers to the Memphis crowd:
“Thanks Memphis! That shot gave me an NBA contract!”
December 15th, 2008 at 9:47 am
control says:
Dime
The Manu “heroics” don’t count. It was against the Thunder. If someone dropped 101 points on them this year, it probably won’t go in the record books. Maybe as a footnote. You should make a rule at Dime to not mention anything if it happens against the Thunder.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:11 am
mules says:
Wow! I can’t believe you compared Manu to Hines Ward. Arguably the toughest receiver in the NFL > arguable the biggest flopper in the NBA.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Chaos says:
As well as Green and Durant play it still doesnt count because its the Thunder. they are playing a d league team all of a sudden. manu gets no respect for that…OJ mayo will be one of the top SG’s in the game in 5 years. he has more confidence now in his game than a lot of folks. this rookie class might go down as one of the best.
that was f*cked up bosh
December 15th, 2008 at 10:27 am
QQ says:
Allen Iverson is a douche.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:45 am
ALF says:
THIS IS WHY THE RAPTORS ARE FOREVER SOFT:
Dime is right on Bosh: Its not right for him to dunk on Brown and see if Brown was alright. Instead, he should have given Brown an Iverson-like stepover or a cold stare.
The Raps’ fundamental problem is not the skillsets of the team, but the nice-guy personality. Its reflective in everything surronding the Raps, look at this year’s ACC player intros: Not only are they garbage but they are absolutley embarassing and recks of nice-guy mentality. I mean, driving around T.O. in a drop-down and listing to Flo-Rida’s Ayer? How does that have anything to do with basketball? Much less inspire Bosh & Co. to play aggressive ball? No wonder he is shaking hands with Brown afterwards! Worst yet, its contagious to others: When Jermaine came over, he was to bring that edge the Raps needed. Instead it seems he’s fallen victim to Dinosaur ways….
This team needs a total revamp or better yet, go old and bring back Charles Oakley…you never heard ‘nice’ or ’soft’ and ‘Raptors’ utter in the same sentence when he was around…
December 15th, 2008 at 10:47 am
srb says:
my friend sent me this haiku:
seven foot tall Jews
dunking in the NBA
my alarm clock rings
December 15th, 2008 at 10:55 am
fallinup says:
haha @ srb.
That was good.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:56 am
QQ says:
@ post 29:
Let’s just bring Vince Carter back to TDot, just for fun.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:03 am
fallinup says:
@ ALF
They don’t create players like Oakley anymore. They’re not allowed in the league, sadly.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:42 am
weezy f says:
like you said dime it doesnt count against the thunder
December 15th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
K Dizzle says:
it really doesn’t count against the Thunder…
Was watchin the game thinkin Blake Griffin and OU might stick around on them. Just the fact that the thunder kept it close till crunchtime with only 2 players competin shows that the Spurs ain’t fully back yet. Back even last year, they stomp em by 30. It’s like the overtime win against the Wolves. Spurs lettin shitty teams hang around…just like my Lakers lol
December 15th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Ian says:
k dizzle
u know manu is clutch all his best plays come vs the lakers lol
ranger john who ever says manu isnt clutch is talkin shit the numbers are there to prove it
third best scorer in crunch time behing kobe and bron
December 15th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
baron von faulk says:
Well the Spurs were up by 20 after the first quarter, and up by 29 a few minutes later. It’s hard to stay focused when you’re whoopin’ it that early!
Manu is still the best closer in the game (Kobe is right there, too). But he did miss two free throws with less than a minute left before he got the sick and-1 to seal it, so that was rare.
December 17th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
illy says:
man t mac used to be the shiiiii but now the guy is a walking injury waitin to happen…he shows no passion…i guess this thing is in the family…him n vc r the same..
so as much as i used to like tmac…n as much as i hate manu…..i still have to go wit manu on this one cuz the guy can at least contribute to his team unlike tmac whose always at home while the rocs r playin