Spurs Carried By Ginobili

On the night that Tim Duncan cemented his place as one of basketball's true greats by winning both his third NBA Championship and third NBA Finals MVP he wasn't even the best player on his own team. That distinction belongs to Spurs guard Manu Ginobili. Without Duncan, San Antonio would not have been in the Finals but without Ginobili they would have lost to the Detroit Pistons last night in Game 7. Ginobili is known as an offensive genius -- able to create plays out of seemingly nothing. He can shoot the outside shot, slash to the hoop, finish with both hands near the rim and dish to open teammates for open looks. He did all of those things last night. One thing we did not know he was capable of was playing hard nosed, in-your-face defense. He also did that last night. And because of his defense on Pistons sharp shooter Richard Hamilton in the 4th Quarter the Spurs won the NBA Title. His effort on Hamilton -- which allowed the best defender on the Spurs, Bruce Bowen, to shut down Detroit point guard Chauncey Billups -- was the difference between winning and losing last night. Years from now people will remember the greatness of Duncan as the reason why San Antonio won the 2005 NBA Title. They will be partially right in doing so. Just don't forget that without Manu Ginobili, the Spurs would have been on the losing end of the stick versus Detroit.