He plays hard, passionate, competitive, unselfish, with flair, with spark, with injury, gives his body up, is relentless... BUT HAS NO HONOR. That negates all in my book.
I was fun watching Scola out-flopping Manu today. Heck, we all love Scola. It's the thing with these Argentinian players - they are just so damn smart. Hell, we would all love Manu if he were on this team.
Ginobili has been the best player on the Spurs, hands down, this year. Arguably the best in the league. Get this: through 9 games he's currently leading the league with a ridiculous 34.4 PER! He's only playing 29 minutes of games, so the numbers may not seem dazzling, but these are his per-(40)minute rates while on the court: 28.0 pts, 7.4 reb, 6.8 ast, 3.4 stls, 0.8 blks, with a 65.7 TS%. When Popovich has unleashed this guy onto the court, he's been playing at a superstar level.
You have to hate the flopping. But he's a good player. If he didn't flop, well San Antonio wouldn't have 3 more rings but, if he didn't flop he'd have a lot more respect. You have to admit, he's had some SICK throwdowns after contorting his way into the lane and making something out of nothing. Yeah he might get three steps. But if you hate Manu for getting three steps, then you better hate Wade because Wade STEPS UP his game if you GET what I'm saying. Just gimme three steps, gimme three steps mr. and youll never guard me no more.
I know he's good, but I won't appreciate him. He has a wide open lane to the basket on a fast break, yet he slows down, flops backwards away from the basket to draw a foul, and the ref gives it to him. Ridiculous.
Please don't make me appreciate this guy. I enjoy hating him far too much. It's like you're asking me to appreciate Karla Malone.
I admit it. If Manu was a Rocket, I would love him despite his flopping. But he's not a Rocket, so I hope he dies in a freak masturbation accident.
Manu is the best player at driving through traffic in the league right now, and I don't think that's arguable. Flopper, Spur, and all, the guy can flat out play.
Man some reason it looks like Manu stops for a split second and then continues to keep going up. It's weird looking. Poor Yao though.
The question is, would refs not blow their whistles on Yao if he uses his knee the same way Manu did to knock off the defender when charging to the basket at full speed? Compare the dunk by Ginobili in the above gif and the dunk by Drexler (image below), it doesn't take a Rocket scientist to note the dirty trick employed by the star player from the Spurs.
I dislike any flopper period...especially Ginobili. And its not because he's a Spur player. I respect Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Michael Finley. But Ginobili and also Bowen are a different story. If Scola becomes a flopper, I would lose some respect for him.
I think he's the second best player in the world next to Kobe. Flopping is part of the game and it could work both ways. Once the ref knows your style, sometimes he'll let go a valid foul just to compensate even from previous games. But one thing I don't understand, why this appreciation thread when he just killed us????
Yao should have extended his right elbow to ginobili's chin naturally. it is just a regular foul. Poor soft Yao.
