How the San Antonio Spurs Can Get by Without Manu Ginobili in the Short Term

The San Antonio Spurs suffered an even bigger loss when they found out that guard Manu Ginobili will miss approximately two months after breaking a bone in his shooting hand during a loss earlier this week against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Ginobili is one of the most multi-talented players in the entire league and losing him for any amount of time is going to make this season even more challenging for the veteran Spurs squad.

Since the 2011-12 NBA season is a short and hectic one, it remains to be seen how the team will do without the guard as the season progresses. History has shown that, without a healthy Ginobili, the Spurs face an uphill battle as they are not the same team when the Argentine's not on the floor.

Nevertheless, the Spurs will turn to Gary Neal, who has also been dealing with an injury.

Neal is a solid player who can help out in the shooting category. He is also a great role-player and an above-average defender who will play hard at all times, which is something that head coach Gregg Popovich wants from all of his players.

Meanwhile, veterans Tony Parker and Tim Duncan will also be expected to possibly play more minutes (although likely still monitored) to make up for Manu’s short-term absence.

The Spurs also signed veteran free agent forward Ike Diogu to add some more depth to their frontcourt after losing Antonio McDyess to retirement prior to the start of the season. Diogu is a decent short-term pickup who can help Duncan in the frontcourt on a limited basis.

With all that being said, the Spurs can only hope that Ginobili is able to recover from surgery and find his rhythm once again on the court as the Spurs fight to stay on the top of the Western Conference in 2012.