"He's Manu. He's Back."

Over at 48MoH, Timothy Varner has a very interesting post regarding the ownership of the team on the floor. He makes some excellent points and hits the nail on the head when he talks about Duncan seamlessly passing the torch to Parker, much the same way that Robinson did for Duncan many years ago. That really encapsulates the greatness of the Spurs: the sublimation of the ego to the higher goal of team achievement.

But the most interesting thing i read today comes from Popovich, courtesy of Jeff McDonald at the Express-News: “He was arguably the best player on the court today. He’s Manu. He’s back.”

And with that, every Spurs fan does a little dance of joy. Parker may be our new alpha dog, our leading scorer and playmaker, but everybody knows that Ginobili is the tell-tale heart. He is our closer, and often the difference between winning and losing close and competitive games. All the offseason moves in the world don’t mean a thing without a healthy Ginobili. Parker can make us a great team, and Duncan can make us a dominant team, but Ginobili can make us a special team–a championship team.

Our heart is back.