From the enemy's nest
Spurs' Ginobili can't locate basket
[SIZE=-1]Web Posted: 05/09/2007 10:17 PM CDT
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[SIZE=-1]Johnny Ludden
Express-News[/SIZE]
These are not fun days for Manu Ginobili. The Spurs are coming off one of their most humbling losses of the season, and his own scoring production from the past three games resembles a Pennsylvania area code (4-8-6).
Foul trouble has limited his minutes on a couple of nights. His jump shot now has an intimate relationship with the rims at US Airways Center, and the few free throws he's attempted have had a good taste of iron as well.
Phoenix guard Raja Bell, one of the NBA's most physical defenders, has gone Bruce Bowen on him. And even when Bell hasn't been on the floor, Ginobili has found little relief: On Tuesday, the Suns blitzed him out of a timeout with two defenders, jarring the ball from his hands and taking it in for a layup.
So as Ginobili walked out of the locker room late Tuesday, frustrated after Phoenix had evened the teams' Western Conference semifinal at a game apiece, he left behind a trail of questions, none more obvious than this:
What does he need to do to jump-start his game?
"Who knows?" Ginobili said. "If it was that easy I could have done it. But I don't think it is even just this series. The series before was bad, too."
Ginobili is averaging 11.6 points during the playoffs, down from the 16.5 he averaged during the regular season and a substantial drop from the 19.9 per game he scored during the previous two postseasons combined.
The Suns, like the Denver Nuggets before them, have done a good job of keeping Ginobili from the rim and, so far, he's been unable to loosen their defense with his perimeter shooting. In the seven playoff games, Ginobili has made only 25 percent of his 3-point attempts while shooting 32.5 percent overall.
Ginobili didn't make a single shot in the second half of either game in Phoenix. On Tuesday, he went scoreless during the final two quarters.
"I'm not making shots, so usually shots is confidence," Ginobili said. "It's not that I don't know how to shoot. Either it's a bad stretch, or it's confidence. I really don't know. I feel good when I take it."
Ginobili has continued to find other ways to contribute. He's created scoring opportunities for his teammates and his 5.6 rebounds per game in the playoffs rank second on the team only to Tim Duncan.
"He takes great pride in playing the whole game and trying to complete a game plan and not just what we want to do offensively," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "People think that if somebody who usually scores doesn't score he had a bad game."
But it's also evident from Tuesday's 101-81 loss that the Spurs won't be able to survive if they're forced to rely on Duncan's scoring alone. And if Suns forward Shawn Marion continues to frustrate Tony Parker, who scored only 13 points on 14 shots in Game 2, the Spurs will have to look elsewhere for help.
In past seasons, Ginobili had little trouble assuming that role. During the Spurs' run to the 2005 championship, he averaged 20.8 points in the playoffs. Even last postseason when he made a couple of costly mistakes — a turnover that led to a loss in Sacramento and his critical Game 7 foul on Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki — he still proved to be one of the team's top crunch-time performers.
Ginobili's success, however, helped prompt the Suns to sign Bell before last season. A strong, rugged defender who was a training-camp castoff by the Spurs in 2000, Bell has given Ginobili trouble on more than a few occasions.
Ginobili scored 32 points in the Spurs' Feb. 1 loss to Phoenix, but Bell didn't play in the second half because of a knee injury. In their four other meetings this season, including the two playoff games, Ginobili is averaging 8.3 points while shooting 26.2 percent.
"Raja's doing a real good job on him," Popovich said. "You have to give him a lot of credit."
Bell has been able to lock in on Ginobili even more because Phoenix hasn't felt need to routinely double-team Duncan. While Duncan followed his 33-point performance in Game 1 with 29 on Tuesday, the Suns were satisfied that center Kurt Thomas had made him work.
Ginobili admitted Bell has caused him problems — he even appeared to floor Bell out of frustration at one point Tuesday — but also said he's missed his share of open shots. In Game 1, he made his first two attempts, but picked up two quick fouls and never regained his rhythm. He had similar trouble in the close-out game against Denver.
"I think he has a tendency at some point to almost feel guilty that he's not doing more if things aren't going great," Popovich said. "That's not always a good thing."
The Spurs could put Ginobili back into the starting lineup, but even Ginobili is unsure whether that move would benefit him or the team. The Spurs have gone 32-12 since he went to the bench on Jan. 28 and Michael Finley has performed well of late as a starter.
"I don't think it's about that," Ginobili said. "Some of the best games I had last year in the playoffs were coming from the bench, so it's not a matter of starting or playing from the bench.
"I'm just not making shots, so that's not helping my confidence."
Finley said he's willing to go back to the bench if needed. Opening with a small lineup — something the Spurs did last season against Dallas — also would allow Ginobili and Finley to begin the game on the floor together.
In the meantime, Finley is just glad Ginobili hasn't started passing up shots, even if he has pressed of late.
"Manu," Finley said, "just has to be Manu."
For now, though, that seems easier said that done.
