The Sound of the Suburbs

My God, did you SEE Manu Ginobili on Sunday?! Controlling the tempo, taking it to the rack, draining timely jumpers, doing his own job and that of Tony Parker in the midst of a must-win road game v. The Champs.

As the best NBA beat writer in newspaper history -- Peter Vecsey -- pointed out in his weekend column, Manu is the most unsung unrestricted free agent to be, and a warrior who has wrested the mantle of best Euro-small man from Sarunis Marchiulonis during his multi-title run in San Antonio.

Vecsey is right, as usual, in theorizing that the best move the Knicks can make is for The Man-u, a modern-day combo of Bill Bradley and Walt Frazier.

Put him in the mix with David Lee, Al Harrington, T-Mac, et al and you have a playoff team, and in the least East a No. 5 spot is within reach.

Again, footnoting Vecsey, go check out on YouTube Manu's rejections of Durantula on a breakaway and KG off a roll and pick: truly stunning big time D. As Gregg Popovich noted recently, Manu IS MJ and Kobe, just without the raw athletic talent.

Outside of Bryant and LBJ the best guy in the league at crunch time with the game on the line and the ball in his hands is Manu. Beyond fearless, he gives the Spurs one more chance at a title run. And if they can beat out Portland to avoid the dreaded eighth spot in the West, they may very well wind up in the WCF v. LA.

The Spurs are playing their best ball of the season. Piston castoffs Dice and Blair (yeah, I won't let it go: Dumars should have picked HIM over Austin Freakin' Daye) are contributing bigtime; George Roy Hill and Roger Mason are growing by leaps and bounds, and Tim Duncan manhandled Gasol at crunchtime Sunday, which the boxscore won't tell.

As we all know the real key to the Spurs' post prospects is Richard Jefferson, a talent I've always liked and he can make NBA followers forget his subpar regular season with a major effort in May.

And I think he will.

Denver is tough but in seven the Spurs can prevail then roll over the middle draw to a WCF match with Kobe and Co.

If you saw the game Sunday, you saw Kobe shaking his head en route to the sidelines as the result of consecutive offensive rebounds by San Antonio, despite the fact he'd just drained a three. And he's right. He's Jordan II and he won't tolerate failure but the difference between these two greats is Kobe seems to me a tad too punitive with his mates, unlike Jordan, who compassionately yet firmly exhorted his club to multiple titles and, even more impressively, a regular-season record that will stand the test of time.

Because to quote the late great Bon Scott, It's A Long Way To The Top.

And while it was just days ago I mocked Lakerland for their panic over a 2-3 road trip, perhaps some concern is in order. Of course the real issue is Bynum, whose presence makes the champs a whole different enchilada.

If he's hurt even during the first round, all bets are off. Portland OR San Antonio would be just what the doctor didn't order for LA. Not that they won't prevail, but they need the big kid to win another ring.

I think even scolding Kobe or Zen Jackson would admit same.

Either way, as we all say at this time of year ... Bring On The Playoffs!!!