Guth

I know it was only one game, but the way that Manu played, and more importantly that the team played in Wednesday's game, raised an important question in my mind: Does Manu coming off the bench now become a viable option for the rest of the time that he is with the Spurs?


This is probably a little presumptuous seeing as how it only worked in one game and Manu is obviously the better player than Brent Barry, but in conjunction with what happened last year, I think this question can be raised. For those of you who don't remember (and I know all of you do, but just for clarity's sake), for a lot of the season, Manu played as the 6th man, more for Hedo Turkoglu's confidence than anything else, but he excelled in that role along with Hedo flourishing in his (except for the playoffs). Now, Brent Barry gets the start on Wed. and goes 4-4 from 3, with Manu providing the much needed explosiveness off the bench, and more importantly, our team played great.

We all know that Manu is an incredible player, with the skill set to start for any and every team in this league, but do you guys think that this is something that could be used in the future? I am not saying that Manu will never start again, because he will probably be in the starting lineup at the beginning of every season, but whenever the team gets into one of the ruts that it is so prone to doing, I can see Pop changing the lineup around to give some shooter the confidence to hit shots, with Manu off the bench. And as we have seen, the difference in PT when this happens is really only, as Brent Barry said, that "you get your name called when the lights are dark". Manu would still be playing in crunch time and would be playing starters minutes, just not those first 4-5. Other great players have done this in the past. The example that is always brought up is John Havlicek, who was a vital part of those great Celtic teams. Great players can, and have, come off the bench in the past.


I am not advocating the permanent benching of Manu Ginobili, but I would love to get your opinions on 1) whether this is an option, 2) whether you would feel cheated as a fan if a guy getting $66 million is coming off the bench, 3) whether Manu would have the right attitude to accept something like this (I say yes), and 4) whether or not I am delusional for even bringing this up.

KokoTheMonkey

Well, it is an option, because obviously Pop isn't afraid of doing something like this, and Manu's personality allows for it to work out. We don't have a say whether or not it's an option, and the man who does have a say obviously is going to keep this as an option.






If anybody is getting cheated it's Manu. It goes without saying, but Manu is a huge fan favorite so of course there will be some grumblings, but if the team is performing well AND Manu is playing well, it's all gravy for everyone. I'll just say this about my feelings for Manu: If Pop benched Manu or continues benching him as a way to punish him, it's a flat out ridiculous situation. That doesn't appear to be the case, since Manu was one of the bright spots in Game 1, and has been pretty damn good all season long. The bottom line for me is that if Manu starting off on the bench betters the team, I'm all for it, as long as it doesn't cause Manu to want to leave or anything like that.




No doubt that this answer is a yes, at least for the short term. They guy has amazing character and personality, and because of that Pop probably felt comfortable with the decision. As for the long term, who knows. Manu isn't a guy for the individual stats and rewards, but I think if we continue going with him off the bench and we really don't have sucess with it, he's going to eventually get bothered by it.




Nah. If Manu would have started all season long last year and this would have happened I would call you delusional, but Manu is a proven threat off the bench, and Pop has used him off the bench quite frequently.







My initial reaction to his benching when I was in the arena was, well, to sum it up: "WTF?" I'm assuming we all know what those 3 initials stand for. I knew Manu wasn't injured after watching him throw down dunks in warmups and hop around during introductions, so I was left thinking why? I really didn't like the move at first because if you guys know me well enough, probably not, but I'm a conservative personality, and personally I thought that changing the starting lineup all of the sudden was risky. For me, it was like "Why take Manu out? What did he do wrong?" But obviously, Pop didn't take Manu out of the starting lineup for anything he did wrong.

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Guth

I thought you had said something very deep here, and then I realized that I had just read it wrong. Nevertheless, it gives us a pretty good picture of this situation. I thought you had said that if Manu is "starting off the bench" then you are OK with it, and I thought that was the best way to describe how he is being used. He is a starter, playing starter's minutes, but he just happens to be coming off the bench. He is "starting off the bench".


Just thought I would share that revelation with all of you.

KokoTheMonkey

Pretty funny. You thought I had a brilliant comment but when you double checked what I said it was just a simple comment. I'm not going to lie, starting off on the bench was probably a poor way to say that, but I do understand what you took out of it. He's still going to get his 30 minutes, so it really doesn't matter whether he's starting or "starting off on the bench"



My bad. If you think there is something intelligent that I wrote, it has to be by mistake.

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Southwest is best (Combined records):

Southwest: 125-84
Central: 118-85
Pacific: 108-96
Northwest: 96-112
Atlantic: 87-119
Southeast: 83-121

FreeMason Jr.

hmmm...my first couple posts when I joined this site were in an arguement about whether Manu should start are still be our 6th man or not. I Guess I wasn't so wrong after all, huh texan?

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TheRoc5

ya i agree enless i see other wise i say we have him off the bench b/c it brings energy and scoring off the bench and has give brent more confidence for his 3s, i agrre with it and if manu is the manu i think he is then i dont think he will mind to much

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texan

At the time of that thread, we had no other starting SG. We all assumed that Barry would back-up at both the PG and SG and would do more of the ball handling that he does now, and possibly conflict with Tony Parkers game. I never said Manu off the bench was a bad thing, just that he deserves to start and we need to maximize his potential by starting him. I'm fine with him coming off the bench every once in a while, but permanently moving him to the bench seems somewhat ridiculous to me. I want his energy on the floor when the game starts, not 4 or 5 minutes into the game. He is our 3rd or possibly 2nd best player, and he should not be coming off the bench. So to answer your question ez, I still disagree with you.

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FreeMason Jr.

I didn't say I wasn'y wrong. I admited being wrong a couple times. All I said was that I wasn't so wrong.

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texan

You weren't wrong. Manu would be great off the bench, because he is a great player, but he is more valuable to us as a starter. We can still play Barry with Duncan, but moving Manu to the bench is not the ideal way to accomplish that. I think that with two penetrating threats of Parker and Manu, it opens up alot of lanes and gives us infinite more scoring opportunities than if only one is.

The ideal solution IMO to getting BB those outside scoring opportunities is to start Barry over Bowen. Bowen is pretty much a negative on offense, and could be used off the bench as a defensive specialist. Manu is a good enough perimeter defender to guard elite wing players effectively while maintaining his offensive prowress, and Brent would benefit greatly from the penetration of Manu AND Parker, and the constant being open off of Duncan double teams.

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Camaro_870

manu is definately our 2nd best player right now... and i love the way texan put it. As for the "fan getting cheated part", Manu is my favorite player right now and he's been my favorite player since the '03 season, i wouldnt feel cheated that he isnt starting but if this becomes a permanent thing i'd definately feel dissapointed cause manu deserves to be starting

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TheRoc5

the lanes will be open from people to having to guard brent barry on his 3s. some players are just ment to come off the bench and manu for us is one of those players. when ever were in a drought we have manu to come and give us lots of pts. i think its a better idea and im happy that manu doesnt mind. if you say that the fans get cheated well hes probaly going to get the same playing time just not a starter, we need bruce to start b/c dpoy can close down kobe or ray allen and thats a good thing its self but i see his min. getting less min. and giving it to manu so he can have around the same pts.

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texan

Manu is not meant to come off the bench. He is a legit All-Star Starting shooting guard, and not starting him is a waste. He benefits from playing with Duncan and Parker as much, if not more, than Brent Barry does. He benefits by getting the open 3's(which he can hit), and more open lanes to penetrate in. Also, defensively, he is allowed to gamble b/c he has Duncan and Mohammed/Nesterovic behind him.

Sure, he would provide a great energy boost off the bench, but so do Devin Brown and Robert Horry. We don't need Manu on the bench. I don't mind it every once in a while, but this should not be an everyday thing.

Like I have said, Bowen needs to be given less minutes. Sure, he is a great defender, but he can be a defensive specialist off the