Tired?

Well, he certainly looks it. And, don’t be fooled by that seemingly over-time forcing dunk he had last night.

There’s really no way around it…Manu Ginobili has hit a wall.

And, I can’t really get mad at it. The numbers don’t particularly bear it out.

For the season, he’s averaging just under 30 minutes per game. Since Duncan went down, he’s only played more than 35 minutes twice. Shots per game? Not much different. But, this is not so much an issue of the amount of minutes, the amount of shots. Rather, an issue of the type of minutes and shots. Though TD has been back for the past 3 contests, its been solely Ginobili for the past four games. Any time the ball isn’t going directly into Duncan, it’s been Ginobili who has had to handle the responsiblity of running the offense, of scoring.

Apparently, it’s been a bit taxing. Since he dropped 37 for the second straight game against Utah, Manu’s shot just under 32%, and has only scored 20 or more once in 5 games. Oh, and there’s the petty matter of having one turnover for each of his 21 assists over that stretch.

What’s the solution? You can’t just rest him, not now, not during the middle of the season. Really, this is just one of those things, like a rash, or nervous tick, that won’t go away right away. When Parker comes back, which should be soon, hopefully Manu will get to rest at little bit. Then, hopefully, this whole “losing” 4 of 5 thing, can be put to bed for a while.

(http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/photo?slug=ad5e6a76b5474b67bcec8363edd08bdd.spurs_grizzlies_basketball_tnjw105&prov=ap )
yahoo sports again