Fernandez not surprised Spurs are winning without Manu

When San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili fractured his hand and will be out of commission for 6-8 weeks, many fans felt this was the death-blow to San Antonio’s chances at maintaining their winning ways or worst yet, a blow to another march to their fifth NBA title.

However, the Spurs are 2-0 with Manu and are looking to keep that momentum going heading into tonight’s contest versus the Denver Nuggets.

To some, the Spurs being undefeated with Ginobili is a bit of a surprise but not to Nuggets’ Rudy Fernandez.

“Manu Ginobili is a very important player to this team,” said Fernandez. “I don’t think it’s a surprise. They have a good team, they have a lot of talent, and have Gary Neal. He’s a very good player.”

As for tonight’s matchup, Denver comes into San Antonio with a 6-2 record which might be a bit of surprise seeing how some of their players (Kenyon Martin, JR Smith, and Wilson Chandler) are not on the squad due to contractual obligations with the Chinese Basketball Association.

But with no Ginobili on the court, Fernandez says it is key for Denver to focus on Spurs’ Tony Parker.

“Play defense and stay more focused on Tony (Parker) because when Tony runs, the team plays better. We have to improve out defense, one-on-one, and in our fast-breaks too.”