Of all of the NBA season previews that come out prior to the season, a majority deemed the San Antonio Spurs at a disadvantage due to having an older, injury-plagued core playing in a compressed 66-game season.
With Spurs guard Manu Ginobili being injured early in the season, the Spurs had time to plug in other players in order to survive the loss.
Now that Ginobili is back, he is primed to hit his stride after the all-star break, something he talked to LaNueva.com about (via Google Translate).
“Maybe some of the other players in the league will be a little tired of being in 66 games in 120 days, but I will not go through that. I’m returning to play after 39 days. Hopefully that will help me ” Ginobili told LaNueva.
Ginobili will be appearing in his second game from injury tonight when the Spurs play the Pistons in Detroit in just a few minutes. He finished with eight points and four assists in just 17 minutes against the Nets, and he should see a gradual increase in minutes starting tonight.
While he’s still not completely comfortable, which was apparent by the way he protected his left hand on Saturday, Ginobili’s injury could somehow gave the Spurs an added advantage.
With the emergence of Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard taking on a bigger role and Gary Neal capable of taking over scoring on any given night, once Ginobili gets even more comfortable and T.J. Ford comes back, the Spurs will have a team with several options on both ends of the floor, and the second unit is likely to improve even more.
While no team likes to see a key player injured, it could be the glass half full for the Spurs.
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