Manu Ginobili whips perfect behind-the-back bounce pass for Patty Mills layup
Those of us who’ve been lucky enough to watch Manu Ginobili’s entire NBA career are intimately familiar with his bona fides as a passing and playmaking wizard. With each nationally televised San Antonio Spurs game, though, comes a new opportunity for the Argentine legend to introduce himself to a brand new crop of young and impressionable fans.
Thankfully, Manu took advantage of that opportunity late in the first quarter of San Antonio’s Thursday matchup with the Chicago Bulls:
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A seemingly innocuous right-wing feed from fellow reserve guard Patty Mills that becomes, in one fluid whipping motion,it into a picture-perfect behind-the-back bounce pass that — naturally — hit Mills perfectly in stride on a cut through the Chicago defense to set up a give-and-go layup finish … that’s just classic Manu. The vision to see a pass others wouldn’t consider to be a viable option, the stones to throw it, the skill to drop it perfectly in place and the panache to look smooth while doing it.
This, really, is perhaps the ultimate argument for why Gregg Popovich shouldn’t rest his aging vets for national TV appearances when the schedule gets crunched up; every time he does, we miss a chance at seeing a little bit of Manu magic happen. (Fortunately, there’s always the playoffs.)
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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