ARG - Manu is back

SAN ANTONIO (NBA/Olympics) - The waiting game finally ended for Argentina's Manu Ginobili on Saturday.

The Argentina basketball icon returned from the broken hand that had kept him sidelined since January 2 and played for San Antonio against New Jersey.

Having sat and watched his teammates compete for 22 games while he was out, the 34-year-old played 17 minutes in the Spurs' 103-89 triumph over the Nets.

“Just seeing him in uniform was great,” said Spurs teammate Tony Parker, who was excellent while Ginobili out.

The France international was last week named as a reserve for the West in the NBA All-Star Game.

Thanks in large part to Parker, the Spurs have the second best record (19-9) in the Conference behind Oklahoma City (21-6).

San Antonio, with Ginobili back, will now try to strengthen their grip on first place in the Southwest Division.

“The legs for the threes aren’t going to be there yet, but he got a good start,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Ginobili.

The South American missed a couple of three-pointers but scored eight points on four of seven shooting from the floor.

“Scored a little bit, got a few assists, got a good rhythm,” Popovich said.

"I thought he drove it pretty well, passed it pretty well. It was good to see.”

As for Ginobili, he looked happy but was cognizant that it will take some time to be in the terrific shape he was in before the injury.

“I felt good,” Ginobili said.

“I wasn’t going to do too many things, first because I can’t.

"I’m not ready.

"I need to slowly start getting back into basketball shape.”

Ginobili’s return is also good news for Argentina.

He will make his third straight Olympic appearance this summer when Argentina play at the London Games.

Ginobili was the MVP of the 2004 Athens Games after leading his country to the gold medal and four years ago, Ginobili and Argentina captured a bronze medal in Beijing.

FIBA