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Be sure to check out the first four parts of the series.
The Best Boris Diaw passes of the playoffs.
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Must Reads
We've come to the beloved Manu Ginobili. He's many Spurs fans favorite player, including our editor J.R. Wilco. There is a large contingent of Argentine Pounders who came to be fans of the Spurs because of him. My favorite part of his game is his passing, so here are his top-12 passes from the championship run.
Number Twelve:
Manu is very good at placing the ball on entry passes to bigs who have been fronted. This is just great passing from Gino who hits Boris for a score.
Number Eleven:
It's not just entry passes that Manu has mastered. Check out the perfect outlet pass he makes to Tiago in the closeout game of the Western Conference Semifinals.
Number Ten:
Leave it to Manu and Tim to make this look easy. Gino tosses a 30+ foot entry pass that leads Tim just a little bit to where Dalambert can do nothing to stop the big man from scoring.
Number Nine:
The best part of this is the Tim Duncan head chop of Gino after the play. The pass that led to that head chop is a beauty, with Manu placing the ball so that only Duncan could get to it. Manu makes it look easy sometimes. This is one of those times.
Number Eight:
Gino drives the lane, stops short of Vince Carter set to take a charge, and dishes to the legend. Tim, wide open, throws down a simple dunk as the Spurs grow their lead before the half in the first round.
Number Seven:
Number Six:
This is the Spurs' first offensive possession with Gino on the floor and Manu sets up at the left wing as Tim Duncan seals off Rashard Lewis in the left block. Manu moves toward the baseline, LeBron James sees the seal and the move from Manu so he leaves Kawhi Leonard alone in the corner to bring help on big Tim. It's no use as the bounce pass from Manu is pure and the GOAT PUFF gets two.
Number Five:
Here we see Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan run a pick-and-roll from the right wing. Manu darts through the lane with Timmy diving to his right while Dirk has to account for Matt Bonner in the corner. Devin Harris is beat as he goes over the screen and Samuel Dalembert leaves Timmy as he picks up Gino in the lane. The always wily Manu sees this and feeds Tim with an incredible wraparound pass that Duncan handles and puts up an easy deuce.
Number Four:
The Spurs are in transition with Manu at the wing with Jeremy Lamb on him. Steven Adams sees a threat and brings a double-team, which leaves Tim Duncan with no one between him and the hoop. Gino hits Big Fun with a bounce-pass between the two defenders and that's an easy score. If only they could all have been so easy.
Number Three:
It's a sign that a player is doing something right when they draw three defenders. Getting two of them to fully bite on a fake is outstanding, and the pass he makes to Kawhi shows his excellent court vision.
Number Two:
Number One:
This is probably the longest pass the Spurs have executed on a hammer as it goes almost the full width of the court! The Spurs ran a variation of it against Portland with Boris making the baseline pass out of the post to Patty Mills. This is a great pass from Manu Ginobili, a big hammer from Timmy to free Danny, and a pure stroke from Danny. Beautiful stuff.
Bonus Pass:
