His field goal percentage was nearly sixty percent. He was hitting over half of his three point attempts, and ninety-three percent of his free throws. He scored right at 20 points per game in less than 26 minutes of playing time. When you throw in his rebounds, assists, steals and defense you begin to see that this wasn't just the beginning of any season. Through the first five games, Manu Ginobili was on fire.
We've seen The Chemist go through hot streaks before, and even start seasons off with a bang. But has there ever been a time when the team seemed to need him as much as now? With the compressed schedule making every game more important, and Duncan's slow start, the Spurs relied on heavy doses of grit from the man with no swagger, and he delivered with games like the one against the Jazz on New Year's Eve, when he went 9-10 from the floor and scored 23 points while playing only half the game.
And then he broke his hand last night, trying to steal the ball from Anthony Tolliver. Tim Duncan reached out to him as he walked to the trainer's room, to ask him how he was, but Manu wouldn't even look at him. A shake of the head was his only reply. Just like that, it's a completely different season, a different team.
We can talk in the coming days about where this puts our hopes for a run at the championship with what might be Duncan's last as a Spur, but right now I'm just trying to put this into the context of the last few years. The Spurs won the championship in 2007, and every season since then has seen my favorite player go down from one injury or another. Let's review:
'07-08: left ankle - played through at roughly 50% effectiveness, Spurs lose in Western Conference Finals with Manu being outplayed by ... Sasha Vujacic. Yes, you read that right.
'08-09: right ankle stress fracture - shelved him after 44 games, Spurs were eliminated in the first round by the hated Dallas Mavericks.
'09-10: broken nose - played through after a Dirk Nowitzki elbow caught The Schnoz in the first round of the playoffs. San Antonio gets into the 2nd round but is peremptorily swept by Phoenix.
'10-11: fractured elbow in the last game of the regular season - Pop held him out of the 1st playoff game, and the arm hampered him in the 5 he played against the Memphis Grizzlies.
'11-12: fracture of the fifth metacarpal in his left (shooting) hand - no timetable yet for his return.
When Ginobili was healthy, the saying went, the Spurs won a ring every odd-numbered year. Since he's been hurt, that's not been the case. Before I lay my head down and cry, I'll make a point that may just be the one scrap of silver on this particular cloud: at least it's not the end of the season. There's time to recover and get that shooting stroke back. This was not the 82nd game with a playoff series looming like last April in Phoenix.
Please, Manu, finish this year healthy.
1 recs | 114 comments
I believe the Spurs can get through this. Pop won’t let this stop the team from doing its best. Hopefully our warrior can be back soon.
jemokn - January 3, 2012
Manu will be back with a vengeance. For the mean time, it’s &erson time!
TDzilla! - January 3, 2012
T.T
Joe deLarios - January 3, 2012 via mobile
Not so fast. Please allow your healing to take place completely before returning.
indiancharlie - January 3, 2012
Silver lining, Manu cant injure himself in a suit. (…right??)
Hes gonna be fresher for the closing kick, meanwhile Anderson, Neal and Green can get some burn.
alamobro - January 3, 2012
If those 3 get the benefit of more playing time, and as a result, they’re more ready to contribute come playoffs, then that could be silver lining #2.
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
This truly does suck, but the timing is as good as such a thing can be, even if it was does end a streak of super fantasticity. He should be back in time to get ramped up for the run, and in the meantime we get to develop some of these youngsters at a faster pace. As long as he heals completely and NEVER INJURES HIMSELF AGAIN, we’ll be OK.
SleepCrack - January 3, 2012 via mobile
*does, not was does
SleepCrack - January 3, 2012 via mobile
I love it.
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
There is no silver lining. This means the team is going to struggle and have a very small margin for error. It means more minutes for Tony and Tim if the Spurs are going to win games. Also, this does nothing to prevent an injury when he come back. Injuries are injuries and they suck. :(
Hope the team can stay afloat while he is out. I guess Tony can finally borrow the Cape!
LasEspuelas - January 3, 2012
You think the cape is removable and transferable?
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
Keep your eyes peeled for a mysterious Frenchman chasing bats beneath the local underpasses.
SleepCrack - January 3, 2012 via mobile
Thumbs up :)
And recced.
LionZion - January 3, 2012
I rec’d this (sure, why wouldn’t I) but I’m still not certain that the cape would fit anyone else alive!
And if it did, that wouldn’t destroy them the moment someone else donned it.
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
One other thing. A technicality if you will. The fifth metatarsal? That is a bone in his foot according to wikipedia (and most other websites I have found). Perhaps he injured his fifth metacarpal?
LasEspuelas - January 3, 2012
Nice catch.
alamobro - January 3, 2012
Thanks for that. I fixed it.
A broken metatarsal in his hand would be cause for an entirely different kind of concern; not the least being, whose metatarsal is it?
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
It is bizarre. ESPN has the correct word but not Yahoo and many news outlet have the mistake. I wonder how those come to be.
LasEspuelas - January 3, 2012
Maybe someone saw the same Twitter update I did and didn’t check to see that “tarsal” is the Latin for “foot”?
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
That would be similar to Blair tearing his ACL.
LasEspuelas - January 4, 2012
Good point!
J.R. Wilco - January 6, 2012
Thoughts:
Tim C. - January 3, 2012
All good concerns and things that I am very, very worried about too.
Joseph Parkes - January 3, 2012
It seems like he will be missing 20 games if the 4-5 week time frame is accurate. He would be scheduled back on a grueling road trip (is that the rodeo?) From February 6th to the 23rd they have 9 away games including two back to backs (Detroit/Toronto and Utah/Portland)
LasEspuelas - January 3, 2012
I’m counting 6 weeks from last night (with one day off for good behavior) which puts him out through the 11th of Feb, and makes it 23 games (or roughly 35% of the season.)
I will now wash my mouth out with soap.
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
I’ll just go with the optimistic view of it. At least it’s the earlier part of the season and Manu can finish strong. A healthy Manu in the post season is something we haven’t seen enough of, recently.
grego21 - January 3, 2012
My point exactly.
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Joe deLarios - January 3, 2012 via mobile
Looks like they are rushing Gary back. Green really should get more of the bulk minutes ahead of Neal. Otherwise, yeah, that’ll be ugly.
The condensed schedule will wreck havoc on a lot of teams due to the 4 games in 5 nights and back2back2backs. That might work in Spurs favors as they might see teams that are not as energerized.
I think matchups matter most, less so than the actual seeding.
grego21 - January 3, 2012
Ed (dfjmed) - January 3, 2012
Nothing good about losing Manu. Can not replace a superstar just ask the Cavaliers. Maybe this forces the FO to make a move sooner for a big man than they wanted. Without Manu we need to step it up defensively and without the depth up front it is a lot to ask of our team to do.
spurlover - January 3, 2012 via mobile
sleep research facility - January 3, 2012
Love that game! But yes this is how I feel about right now because of this new lol
Cello the great - January 3, 2012
*news
Cello the great - January 3, 2012
I heard the game wasn’t that good
doubleteapot - January 3, 2012
it’s glitchy but overall its fun. Especially when you play online with other people. Personally Left 4 Dead is way better but Dead island is still very funl
Cello the great - January 3, 2012
It’s entertaining. Reminded me of Far Cry or Borderlands. Good, not great.
Fred Silva - January 3, 2012
it’s not perfect, but i really enjoyed it – it’s simply FUN to play. the combat is particularly satisfying in my opinion.
sleep research facility - January 3, 2012
That’s beautifully rendered. What game is it from?
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
dead island – first person zombie game.
sleep research facility - January 3, 2012
Yes, I’ve heard of it.
J.R. Wilco - January 4, 2012
He had a robot elbow in the playoffs. Now he needs a robot hand.
doubleteapot - January 3, 2012
It begins.
Ed (dfjmed) - January 3, 2012
I wonder if he will have another emotional breakdown once someone mentions Manu
doubleteapot - January 3, 2012
another?
Jordan Leithart - January 3, 2012
ANOTHER?
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
Only one from last night?
grego21 - January 3, 2012
thought on last night’s game: the T-Wolves were just on fire. now will they shoot over 80% from beyond the arc again? more than likely not, but the Spurs D needs to be better the next meeting. too many open shots.
i wish Ginobili a healthy recovery. yes, it sucks that he’s out, and it’ll be tough not having him, but i think our crew will pull through and win some games for the time being. there will be games lost, but i won’t push the panic button yet. it’ll be good to see our young guys get more experience, and it’ll be nice to have Neal back soon. keeping the faith up!
RG8907 - January 3, 2012
Manu being gone this early in the season can still benefit the team. Good fortune is still smiling for the Spurs..
The Watchers - January 3, 2012
I choose to believe this. No time for rationality :)
LionZion - January 3, 2012
Rationality? Meh.
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
I think there’s a chance the Spurs can survive without Manu. Manu is, by a pretty wide margin, the best player on the team right now, for sure, but he has good backups. If Tim or Tony were out for 4 weeks, the season would be in more jeopardy IMO simply because the Spurs don’t have anyone good to take over their minutes.
With Manu injured, Anderson and Leonard (with RJ at the 2) will see more minutes and Green will be part of the rotation at least until a certain dead-eye clutch shooter comes back. That not as bad as having TJ Ford play 30+ minutes if it was Tony that was injured
Tony will see more minutes as well and I’m confident that the Wee Frenchman can score enough and create enough for others that the loss of Manu won’t hurt as much during the regular season. It was time to stop relying on Manu to put on his cape and bail us out anyway.
Call it optimism or denial but I think the Spurs will be in a good position when Manu returns.
Edg5 - January 3, 2012
Agreed.
SleepCrack - January 3, 2012 via mobile
This! Im not at defcon 1 like everyone else right now. Do i feel good? No! But we have never been deeper at a position like this before, and you didnt even mention Gary Neal.
Remember, the Spurs player that came close to being the leading scorer of the rookie sophmore game???
Manu breaking the smallest bone in his hand might have saved him from aggrivating his old stree fracture injury for all we know. Now Neal and JA, and Green get to sharpen their skills AND Manu comes back fresh by the end of Feb.
There is no way we miss the playoffs or a fresh Manu.
Spurs Yoda - January 3, 2012
This.
RG8907 - January 3, 2012
I think Green should stay in the lineup even when Neal is back. I think he’ll impress. He’s the most like George Hill on defense. I’d argue he along with Neal have the best stroke.
grego21 - January 3, 2012
Good points, Edg. Manu has been our best player, but at least we have depth on the wings. It’s still not good, but could be worse (maybe).
CapHill - January 3, 2012
It could be worse. It can always be worse. Don’t jinx!
grego21 - January 3, 2012
THE Stephania Bell (ding) sent me a DM. I asked her about Manu's hand.
Without knowing specifics, hard to say from distance. Can be surgical depending on break. No doubt further eval today.
Direct message sent by Stephania Bell (Stephania_ESPN) to you (DartFred) on Jan 03, 12:20 PM.
Nothing groundbreaking, but how cool is twitter?
Fred Silva - January 3, 2012
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2012/01/03/manus-broken-hand-how-it-affects-the-southwest-division/
Manu out 6 to 8 weeks now?
Heman - January 3, 2012
Tank?
Heman - January 3, 2012
Banned?
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
Can I ban myself?
Heman - January 3, 2012
Hey, everybody can vote with their feet! =]
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
Spurs got wings.
grego21 - January 3, 2012
TWSS
Heman - January 3, 2012
This will provide some comfort today.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D15pn6iZXCQs&v=15pn6iZXCQs&gl=US
Spurs Yoda - January 3, 2012
Ed (dfjmed) - January 3, 2012
It’s good to see not everyone’s been hit by the recession. Way to save that rookie contract DeJuan.
Ed (dfjmed) - January 3, 2012
Maturing by the minute.
grego21 - January 3, 2012
SALTS
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
Corey Joesph just assigned to Austin. Hmmmmmmm? I thought with Manu out he would stay put. Whats going on?
Spurs Yoda - January 3, 2012
Danny Green + Neal + Anderson I suppose.
LionZion - January 3, 2012
Correct.
grego21 - January 3, 2012
He’s just not that god
Manuwar - January 3, 2012
good
Manuwar - January 3, 2012
Only Manu is god around these parts.
silverandblack_davis - January 3, 2012
No typo in there the first time, my friend.
alamobro - January 4, 2012
I came across this article on spurs.com about other atheltes that sustained the same injury.
“2002 — Hall of Fame power forward Karl Malone broke the fifth metacarpal on his right hand while playing with the Utah Jazz. He didn’t realize the severity of the injury and kept playing.”
What? Dude just played through a broken hand? I believe he was right handed. That’s nuts.
Fred Silva - January 3, 2012
I broke my fifth metacarpal on my right hand …. and i didnt feel pain or something … i realize the fracture because my hand was swollen
cuentaluis1 - January 3, 2012
First, there’s breaking, and then there’s BREAKING. Still not sure which one Manu did to himself.
Second, Malone (for as much as I’ve always despised him) was a mighty tough hombre, and durable as anything.
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
I dislocated my elbow to a grosser extent than Rondo did last year and while it hurt like hell I wasn’t screaming or anything. The doctors were shocked at how normal I was acting because they said usually that kind of injury has patients just writhing in pain. At first I thought I was just really tough but then another time I tore my ACL, meniscus and PCL, and I was acting like the biggest baby in the world thinking that my leg was going to fall off and then I see some guys tear the same ligaments and walk off the field, or court like it is just a little sprain.
It’s just that no two injuries are ever the same even when they are diagnosed the same. It has less to do with pain tolerance and more to do with the unique intricacies of our physiology.
Manuwar - January 3, 2012
While I agree with you Manuwar, (I tore a lower back muscle playing hoops as a Junior in high school that healed much better than expected and have fractured my wrists twice and ankle once), I tend to think that Karl Malone was just a tough SOB.
Fred Silva - January 3, 2012
I tore my ACL and meniscus falling off a motorbike on the road (luckily woman behind me stopped, so I didn’t end up roadkill) and I picked myself up and walked to the side of the road. Hospital discharged me in a couple of hrs saying nothing is wrong and go home and the swelling in my knee is just from impact.
I didn’t know anything was wrong until a week later my knee just slipped while trying to climb into the car, I went in nose first. Darnest thing really, and I was gonna play ball that week after having given my knee a week to reabsorb fluids. I went back and then they tell me “oops, we think you tore ACL etc”. Bummer.
LionZion - January 3, 2012
Did your body absorb the scar tissue, leaving you without any ACL in that knee?
Because — you know, I’ve heard that can happen to people if they’re awesome enough.
J.R. Wilco - January 4, 2012
Hehe. Not awesome enough here. Had to get it the old fashioned way with one being grafted on. :)
LionZion - January 4, 2012
I didnt realize it was just last year that Tony had a nearly identical fracture.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4972508
alamobro - January 4, 2012
Nice catch. But, um, that’s almost two years ago.
J.R. Wilco - January 4, 2012
Whatever, still not mentioned by anyone else on this site, so …
alamobro - January 4, 2012
Which is why I said “Nice catch” … Mr. Sensitive. =]
J.R. Wilco - January 6, 2012
that took exactly a month to heal.
LasEspuelas - January 4, 2012
This team needs to add someone!
Agent Zero would be a good fit in San Antonio if you ask me… Duncan would keep him in shape and Arenas was a star last time he was getting 30+ minutes a night…. Before he brought guns to the arena. Still though, I can’t believe some team hasn’t taken a flyer on the 29 year-old talent. He still definitely has it, looks what he did before Washington traded him last season! Then they don’t have to rush Manu back, and when he does come back, they use a 3-man rotation with Parker-Manu-Arenas….. That’s what this team has to do to survive this shortened season without their leading scorer!
Also, new Golden State Warriors site for those interested!
trecole696 - January 3, 2012
With Arenas, it’s all about attitude.
J.R. Wilco - January 3, 2012
Exactly. No thanks.
Manuwar - January 3, 2012
The real problem with arenas was his big contract
In my opinion he could be aa Jamal Crawford
cuentaluis1 - January 3, 2012
First off, after his surgery he hasnt been the same. He was TERRIBLE for the magic last year in a role similar to the one we would give him. Simply put, he has never adjusted to being a role player. And that’s the only thing the spurs are looking for…role players.
Besides Arenas is one of the worst defenders in the NBA…and we already have Bonner for that.
Simply no. Its never gonna happen. Arenas is everything the spurs hate and have always avoided.
Its a shame because I like the guy and I think people demonize him for 1 mistake he made. But basketball wise he doesnt fit in the spurs organization.
Chilai - January 3, 2012
Ball movement stopper. Win stopper. Or black hole, if we want to use the tried and true one.
Also, he hasn’t been good for years.
grego21 - January 3, 2012
This
J.R. Wilco - January 4, 2012
This doesn’t surprise me. I kind of count on a fluke Manu injury every year. Sad day.
Manuwar - January 3, 2012
So, YOU’RE the one!
J.R. Wilco - January 4, 2012
Can I play Devils advocate?
And hope that they do not make the playoffs. Tim has not definitely stated that he’s retiring, should this Manu injury lead to looking on the outside in the spring, the giant silver lining is the incredibly deep 2012 NBA draft.
I wonder what the blogosphere’s response wouldve been, had it existed, when Robinson went down, leading to the Duncan draft
bren - January 3, 2012
Bring on the Unibrow!
silverandblack_davis - January 3, 2012
I was hoping the Spurs would be able to trade up for Henson, but the unibrow would be even more welcome in SA.
Tim C. - January 4, 2012
Unibrow? What did I miss?
Sh!fty - January 4, 2012
With great unibrow, comes great responsibility. Like being the consensus #1 pick.
Tim C. - January 4, 2012
Thanks! It’s been years since I have followed NCAA basketball. Is there a broadband version of fullcourt?
Sh!fty - January 4, 2012
we are not missing the playoffs with Duncan, Parker and Popovich on board. BEsides, Manu will be back by the middle of the season.
Chilai - January 3, 2012
Seriously, that would be like giving Manu and Duncan the finger if the Spurs were to purposely tank.
grego21 - January 3, 2012
I wasnt suggesting a tank job
Just the possibility that his loss might be too much to over come, given the compressed schedule, and Tim and Tony’s own injury problems, and we’d maybe end up on the outside looking in, which obviously worked out when The Admiral went out, granted the supporting cast is a bit stronger this time around.
bren - January 3, 2012
I hear you now. I just think it’d be pretty difficult for the Spurs to miss the playoffs, but if they did I can see the silver lining — assuming Timmeh returns.
J.R. Wilco - January 4, 2012
Remember
08-09 season manu injury and parker with 22.0 ppg
I dont think we need that again … the spurs need to move the ball better
Tiago, Blair offense depend on pick & roll created by manu
cuentaluis1 - January 3, 2012
Do we forget so easily, Parker has run some of the same pick and rolls with both of those guys. He’s not the court genius that Manu is, but in the last few years, his passing/court vision have improved greatly.
grego21 - January 3, 2012
Old ’chops are new again…
transgojobot - January 3, 2012
I love recycling.
I hear it helps the environment.
J.R. Wilco - January 4, 2012
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