I'm glad to see Manu had a big night. 36 points, 6 threes, 8 assists, and 4 blocks. Any doubts about his status as an elite player should be put to rest.
Well, one game of 36 after not being able to break 17 for 5 games doesn't mean a lot to me. I'ld wait a few more games before proclaiming Manu's greatness once again Roy. I mean were you ready to proclaim Jermaine O'Neal back after his two first games? If so know that since then he's been a 11PPG, 5 RPG 2.3 TOPG somewhat disinterested stiff that he's looked like for most of the last three years.
Manu has the track record to back it up. His numbers are kept down because of the depth of the team he's on, but he's still fully capable of taking over a game. With Duncan and Parker out, Manu got more touches, and lit it up.
That's sort of the problem with a stats-based evaluation system, I think. If you put Manu on a bad team, he'd put up 22+ points per night. However, since he's on a good team, his average suffers. However, he's still the exact same player.