Tonight's Suns/Spurs game is a big deal, no doubt. But don't let the massive playoff implications distract you from the real prize: this year's race for Six Man of the Year. With most of the season over, it looks to be between the Suns' Leandro Barbosa and the Spurs' Manu Ginobili. Stackhouse is a distant third, in part because his 11.9 per game can't mess with Barbosa's 17.9 or Manu's 16.6. The real question, though, is whether either of these two is actually a sixth man. Both play tons of minutes, and both have made their share of starts. Good thing for Manu that Pop's got his back. From the East Valley Tribune:
Ginobili will be ineligible for the Sixth Man Award if he starts one more game (36 so far) than he comes off the bench (33). So with starter Brent Barry out with a back problem Tuesday, Popovich gave Michael Finley the start, and would likely do so again if Barry is still out.Umm, okay. That doesn't exactly strike me as the epitome of basketball honor and dignity, but like I can question anything Greg Popovich does. My haircut has nothing on his.
For his part, Mike D'Antoni doesn't think either one should be in the running. From the San Antonio Express-News:
"John Havlicek," D'Antoni said, harking back to the Hall of Fame forward who spent the bulk of his career as the Boston Celtics' sixth man. "Is he a bench player?"D'Antoni goes on to concede that it is what it is, and "sixth man" is largely a technicality. But seriously, isn't Popovich going a little far if he's manipulating his rotation to keep Manu eligible? While I know Manu supposedly plays better as a spark off the bench, that he's made so many starts already implies that it's not unheard of for him to be on the floor from the beginning.
"Bench guys play 16, 17 minutes. Those guys who play 30 minutes, whether they start or not is beside the point.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-05-2007 @ 11:50AM
Akinyele said...
Would you look at that...someone threw out a perfectly good Rigger comment.
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4-05-2007 @ 12:00PM
Lonnie Carter said...
What strikes me as weird in this discussion is the unlikely implication that winning the 6th man award could be more important that winning basketball games. Coach Pop has been very successful in using Manu as a sub in the past(like in their last chanpionship season), and when the other four players let him do his thing Manu is almost unstopable. Lonnie Carter, Fair Oaks Ranch, Tx
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4-05-2007 @ 12:38PM
Steve said...
The main reason Pop has Manu coming off the bench is to provide scoring and enhance the strength of the second unit. Why change that just because Barry is hurt?
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4-05-2007 @ 12:42PM
Mike said...
Pop is not rigging the race. Finley started last year when Manu came off the bench and Finley has been playing pretty well lately. The Spurs have been playing their best since Manu started coming off the bench, so there is no reason to mess with that chemistry at this point in the year especially with a former starter in Finley able to take Barry's place. Also, Manu is only playing 27.6 minutes per game, which cannot be called big time starters' minutes. Barbosa is playing 32.8 minutes per game and David Lee was playing 30.5.
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4-05-2007 @ 12:44PM
zepn said...
Uhh... Brent and Fin are both 3-point shooters. Pop has often subbed them for each other throughout the year. Manu can shoot the 3, but is more of a slasher.
Pop puts Manu on the floor while Tim and Tony take a break so he can get more touches, and so he can play his particular style of Manu-a-mano offense without having to worry about getting two of the other top players in the league involved. The writer of this column apparently has little basketball knowledge and is simply trying to fabricate controversy.
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4-07-2007 @ 1:15PM
Kat said...
Not only is Pop not rigging the race, I don't think Manu wants the award. He's a starter. Not a bench player. And he knows it. But he never gets going offensively because of a certain selfish point guard. I really doubt Manu wants to be known as the best player OFF THE BENCH.
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