Manu Ginobli Bat Heroics on Halloween

Halloween is all about tricks, treats, ghouls, goblins, ghosts, and yes bats flying into NBA games! On Saturday night, the Kings and Spurs' game in San Antonio at the AT&T Center was invaded by a winged creature which swooped down from the rafters high above the crowd. After it interrupted the proceedings twice, gameplay was stopped as officials and players moved aside for the bat to take center court. However, Manu Ginobli decided enough was enough as he smacked the mammal down from mid-air. It flopped to the court, much like Ginobli on a self-generated foul and then Ginobli scooped it up to hand off for an unrecorded assist. The crowd, players and even his coach seemed to applaud the heroics of Manu Ginobli bat boy. Check out the video below to see Manu in action...

Forbes Ranks NBA Franchise Values

What's your favorite NBA organization worth? According to a recent Forbes ranking of NBA Franchise Values the average NBA franchise is worth about $379 million. Topping the list, the New York Knicks are the Most Valuable at $613 million. Their overall value rose 1 percent from last year. Their value will most likely rise even more if they can land Lebron James and/or other big names in the coming free agent war of 2010. One of the report's authors feels we could see NBA franchise values drop should the current recession be a lengthy one for the US economy.

Here's the top 10 NBA Franchises by Value:

1)New York Knicks
2)LA Lakers
3)Chicago Bulls
4)Detroit Pistons
5)Cleveland Cavaliers
6)Houston Rockets
7)Dallas Mavericks
8)Phoenix Suns
9)Boston Celtics
10)San Antonio Spurs

From Bloomberg.com:

The value of the Knicks rose 1 percent over the last year, with $29.6 million in operating income last season and revenue of $208 million. The Knicks are owned by Cablevision Systems Corp.

The Los Angeles Lakers ranked second for the fourth straight year, gaining 4 percent to $584 million. The Chicago Bulls were third at $504 million, the Detroit Pistons fourth at $480 million and the Cleveland Cavaliers fifth at $477 million.

The three teams with the biggest gains were the Portland Trail Blazers, NBA champion Boston Celtics and the Oklahoma City Thunder, who moved from Seattle during the offseason.

The Thunder surprisingly moved up on the list due to the fact they moved out of Seattle. The team now plays in a soldout arena (for now) and the owners keep all the revenue. The franchise moved up to 24th on the list at $300 million.

Even NBA real estate is hurt by the credit crisis. According to the article, the New Jersey Nets are the franchise most effected by the economy right now. They've been trying to borrow money to build a new $950 million arena which would allow the team to move to Brooklyn.

Read the full Bloomberg article here.

See the full list of NBA Franchise Values here.

In a related Forbes.com piece, they discuss the best clutch players for the buck. The survey only considers player who average 5 or more points in the 4th quarter. Coming in at the top spot, the San Antonio Spurs guard, Manu Ginobli who made $9 million in 2007-08 and has a 57.4 % clutch shooting percentage. Coming in at #2 and #3 were Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns and of Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe's clutch-time shooting % is 44.8 when the games on the line and his 2007-08 pay was close to $20 million. While these numbers might not give you an edge in fantasy hoops leagues, they definitely might help you place bets or choose your team in NBA Live.

See the Best Clutch Players slideshow at Forbes.com.

Spurs Dynasty Falling?

n the Love & Basketball season preview, it was mentioned that one team on the decline in 2008-09 could be the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs are winless after 3 games, lending to the notion that an aging roster could spell trouble for their chances at NBA gold. The last time San Antonio was 0-3 was about 35 years ago in their pre-NBA days with the ABA. While there's many many more games left, it's definitely an early warning sign.

Currently, the Spurs have about 3/4 of their roster in the 30 years or older category. Duncan's 32, Bowen's a startling 37, Michael Finlay's 35, Ginobli's 31 and so forth..In the case of last year's champions, the Boston Celtics, they added two players in the similar age range, but two guys hungry for a title and ready to give everything that had. Before KG was added to that mix there was initial anger at adding an aging Ray Allen who had ankle problems. That anger quickly dissipated when the Big Ticket was put into the mixture. The Spurs have been there done that, and everyone knows that the hunters become the hunted once they've added plenty of trophies. The Spurs made very little in terms of big trades or roster moves to bolster their aging roster.

To their credit or defense, the Spurs were without Manu Ginobli in all 3 games this season. He's been recovering from ankle surgery and will be back in about a month. In this young season, Duncan and Parker have consistently given their types of numbers to the team, while the rest of the team is adding just 40 points. Manu may be the lifeline... Center Fransisco Oberto also missed 2 games due to the discovery of an irregular heartbeat. The only real offseason free agent the Spurs added to their roster was Roger Mason Jr, far from a talented explosion of youth.

So the Spurs used to intimidate most teams but now are in search of a magic elixir of youth. Perhaps a mid-season trade will occur to bring in fresh legs, but that will most likely disrupt team unity and the Spurs will be set back further. Don't count them out of the playoffs just yet, but if they continue to play like they have, the Finals will be out of the question. Then again, the Spurs seem to thrive when they're forgotten about, so this might be another trick up their Ol' Pop's sleeve.

Manu Ginobili is 2007-08 NBA 6th Man

Congratulations go out to the San Antonio Spurs, Manu Ginobili. According to NBA.com, the valuable reserve has won this year's Sixth Man of the Year Award.

From NBA.com:

As part of its support of the Sixth Man Award, Kia Motors will donate a brand-new 2009 Kia Borrego seven-passenger SUV on behalf of Ginobili to Roy Maas’ Youth Alternatives of San Antonio which is committed to caring for children in crisis. Each winner of the four year-end awards presented by Kia Motors will receive a Borrego on behalf of the player’s charity of choice.

A sixth man in 51-of-74 games played this season, Ginobili led the Spurs in scoring with a career-high average of 19.5 points to go along with 4.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.47 steals. He increased his scoring nearly 6.0 points over his career average entering this season (13.7 ppg). He is also the only player in the NBA to average at least 17 points in under 32.0 minutes per game.

Ginobili is the only player in the NBA ranked in the top 31 for points per game (31st), steals (16th), assists (28th), three-point field goals made (156, 16th), three-point field goal percentage (.401, 28th), free throws made (380, 16th) and free throw percentage (.860, 16th).

Top 10 Players in 2007-08 6th Man Voting:

Manu Ginobili, San Antonio
Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix
Jason Terry, Dallas
Kyle Korver, Utah
Ben Gordon, Chicago
Josh Childress, Atlanta
J.R. Smith, Denver
James Posey, Boston
Jason Maxiell, Detroit
Travis Outlaw, Portland

Not only did Ginobili win, but he did it unanimously, receiving 123 1st place votes. No other player received any first place votes, except Leandro Barbosa of Phoenix who received just 1.

Read more about Ginobli and the Sixth Man Award at NBA.com.