Manu Ginobili has rejoined his squadron. The ship is beginning to be righted, and in a major way.
This s#!? is bananas, yo!
George Hill and Roger Mason, two guys whose names make them seem more like CPAs or lawyers than NBA ballas, have been meshing nicely with the team in his abscence, and kept them at .500 while Manu and Tony Parker have been out. Hill, a rookie out of IUPUI of all places, has had three straight 20+ point games and Roger Mason has hit a game winner, is shooting from 3 at something like a 52% (for real??!?) clip, and is fitting into the Spurs' game plan like few first year Spurs have. The guy is a quick study. All this spells good news as the Spurs develop this season - when Tony Parker returns, the Spurs will have the best set of guards they ever have, and I'd dare you to name a team that has a better 1-2 punch at BOTH the 1 and 2 slots. I'm excited. I'm optimistic, and I'm glad I never jumped the gun and thought the season was over. Things are looking good in the backcourt.
Up front, there is, of course, room for concern. Outside of "Spock/Groundhog Day/The Tinman/Greatest Power Foward ever" Tim Duncan, the ranks are looking thin. Ian Mahinmi would be a welcome addition if he could rebound at about 7-8 a game in 25 minutes, with a block or two average a game. he looks like he has the potential to be a servicable weakside defender, and hopefully could get a few off the ball buckets and hopefully average 4-7 points a game. But it looks like that will be a tall order. He's been hurt to start the season and has only really played in the D league. the one NBA game I have seen him play in was pretty OK, but I wonder if he'll be able to provide the help tim needs on the boards. Kurt Thoma and Fabricio Oberto are steady, but that's easy to say becasue they are both like 64 years old. Hopefully Pop is able to utilize what he's got and develop Ian sufficently to give that kid some confidence going into the postseason. Time will tell.
For now, I'm excited for the prospects of small ball with the 6'6" and under crew of Manu, Mason, Hill, and TP around Timmy at some point.
Manu dropped 12 points in 11 rusty minutes on 3-4 shooting, with a nice dunk down the lane. If he can be 4/5 as efficient playing real minutes, I really like the Spurs chances this year, Even though the Lakers look great and Portland, Houston and Utah look to figure into the mix - not to mention NOLA! (wow, they have their work cut out for them) It's going to take a lot of work, and definitely some luck for my team, but still like our chances.
Roger Mason, esq.
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