Manu's the Man and the series has some juice

All that Manu’s Hurt stuff sure sounds a tad hollow today, doesn’t it?

JOE MITCHELL/REUTERS

High-fives all around for Manu Ginobili.

Sitting in the local establishment here in Troy (and you can put Jimmy Buffet’s Land Shark on the list of tasty beverages to try) it was amazing to watch him play like Manu again.

And, thankfully, give that Western Conference final some excitement, if for only a couple of days before Game 4.

We were all afraid – and the fears still linger – that both conference finals would be over in five, a happenstance that would make the expected good series more than boring.

But San Antonio’s Big Three finally showed up at the same time; no idea if they can do it again – I suspect they will in Game 4 – but if they do, that series does have some legs.

The most interesting part was listening to Lamar Odom in a post-game interview. He took full responsibility for the loss because he thought both Kobe and Pau played well. He was up front about it, and it was refreshing to see. Sometimes players have a tendency to shirk responsibility, Odom stood up and took it, despite getting six assists and 11 rebounds. Oh, his 2-for-11 shooting night from the field probably had something to do with it.

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Joakim Noah busted on the street of a college town with some booze and a wee bit of dope.

Never saw that coming.

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Speaking of that Spurs-Lakers game, Pau Gasol looked like you guarding Tim Duncan for most of the night. I know Duncan may go down as the greatest power forward in NBA history (that’s a pretty good debate, no?) so it’s tough to ask Gasol to handle him but Duncan did exactly what he wanted, when he wanted and how he wanted.

He keeps playing like that and this series is certainly going seven.

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Down at the other end of the NBA spectrum, Bryan Colangelo and his merry band of talent evaluators are headed to Orlando today for the pre-draft camp that starts there tomorrow.

About 15 of the top players are invited, mainly to meet, get measured, take physicals and do drills rather than play games, and depending on how the draft actually breaks down, there’s a good chance Toronto’s No. 17 pick will be at the camp.

Talking to Sam last week, he gave no hints of what exactly the Raptors would be looking for and Bryan was equally elusive in a conversation.

As has been mentioned many a time before, there will be players of every ilk available at No.17 – big, little and in between – and I know the braintrust is going into this with very open minds.

You should, too.

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Here’s one from the mail

Q: Regardless of whether or not the Spurs are able to get to the Finals this year, (which seems unlikely at this point) do you think they will need to make some significant changes to their aging roster? I think they would be foolish to get rid of any of their starters, so do you think acquiring some younger bench players will be enough to help them stay at the top of the West for the next 3-4 years?

Amanda F, Barrie

A: I do think they’ll have to make very significant changes in the back end of their roster. They are old, very old, compared to teams like the Lakers and even the Jazz. And trotting out Robert Horry, Mike Finley and Jacque Vaughn is not going to get it done.

I also think that if there’s a GM in the league who can do it, R.C. Buford can pull some of the right strings.

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Oh, next time you’re complaining about your pay, remember this:

The comely young lass serving us those Land Shark’s last night tells us she makes a grand total of $2.65 an hour. And that’s in stinky U.S. dollars.

Nothing to do with basketball but what the heck.

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Talking to Chauncey Billups yesterday and the group conversation gets around to the age of the Celtics, their six straight appearances in the Eastern Conference final (although being 2-3 might be considered under-achieving by some) and the “closing of the window.”

He had an interesting take:

"The window’s always closing, it’s just how much is it closing. I think with our young guys and our bench now, I think that window opened up a lot more for us this year because those guys are able to carry it on and take over games, we played fewer minutes and things like that. It’s always closing on every team, it’s just a matter of how much.”

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More mail for our western friends:

Q: Doug, I know that MLSE likes to avoid the West but how could they not take advantage of the economical, geological and promotional prospects in doing training camp and/or pre-seasons in Calgary or Edmonton?  World class Olympic athletes from all over the world have been using Banff, Jasper, etc for training for decades and if you just want to get a group of guys in shape you don’t hold training camps at sea level. Oh and did I mention there is money out here untapped by the NBA?  Like Toronto Bills pre-season money....

Ryan L, Calgary

A: Yes, but none of those world class athletes are basketball players and a first-class facility – NBA-calibre gym, weight room attached, treatment rooms – is what they’re looking for.

But, the last time I heard about the pre-season schedule for the coming fall, there was a huge possibility of a game in either your city or Edmonton (maybe Vancouver, but I think Alberta’s more likely).

Will try to find out soonest where that game will be played but it was almost a certainty they were coming last time I heard.

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Who do you like tonight?

History would suggest the Pistons can come back with a strong effort because they have so many times in the past but I’m not sure they’ve ever had to do it against a team as good as Boston.

And Chauncey’s hamstring and Rasheed’s extended periods of indifference – and his inability to deal with Garnett’s defence – leads me to think the Celtics get this one and it’s the last game of the year at the Palace.

And if it is, the talk around these parts is Flip Saunders is done as Detroit’s coach after a pretty good run. His replacement: All the buzz is that Mike Curry moves over from assistant to head coach.

Comments

[Ken]

It's interesting that, before the season, the Spurs traded Luis Scola to the Rockets and cut Beno Udrich, who signed with the Kings and became a solid starter. How much would those two have helped the Spurs, in light of seeing Robert Horry and Jacque Vaughn struggle?

[TMF]

Come on, Doug. Your waitress was probably making over $20 an hour in tips.

Blogger's note: Yeah, and splitting them with bar-backs and hostesses and servers and the kitchen staff. Come on, $2.65 an hour sucks.

[Rob Emerson]

More than just a great series between two very talented teams, this year's Eastern Conference final seems to me to be a contest of two distinct schools of thought on team development. You've got the Pistons who have managed to hold the majority of their core together for almost 5 years now (with some minor tweaking), and on the other hand you've got the Celtics whose roster includes 10 players who were new to the team this season. Am I the only one hoping the Pistons win the series, just to show to teams like the Celtics that you can't buy a champioinship in one season? Or are the Celtics about to show us that money can indeed buy trophies? What does it say about the Raptor's current pace of development - can they make it to the next level through patience, or is it going to require a big (expesnive) move at some point?

[Ryan]

Doug i think you underestimate the facilities available but i should have specified - A few days of conditioning in the rockies and a few days in nearby facilities in a major city (short drive away). And i would expect that the facilities available in either one of those cities would meet or surpass Ottawa or any of the other southern Ontario cities they have held camp in before....

[Aga]

A bit off topic but I am curious to find out as to why the waitress was only making $2.65 an hour, is there not a minimum wage in the USA?

Blogger's note: There is a minimum wage, think it's up to $7.50 an hour now, but the hospitality industry is exempt from having to pay it to wait staff. Which sucks.