leonarth
05-18-2005, 02:33 AM
May 18, 2005
« A nice gift from Manu »
Tony, this victory is welcome. Before playing Game 6 in Seattle, it was important not to miss Game 5.
Before all, I would like to take my hat off to Manu Ginobili. He played extremely well (39 points). Nothing we can say other than he carried the team throughout the game. Despite our two losses in Seattle, we were never in doubt. We know what we remains to be done. We have won this very important game tonight and now we must focus to do the same in Game 6.
You were a bit upset after Sunday’s lost…
It is true, I am not going to say the opposite! (Laughs) We have started the game with a lot of intensity and were aggressive. We defended well and did put some control on the rebounds and Seattle’s pick and roll. One thing is certain, we did play better.
You had to perform to get this win !
Wait a minute; Seattle is a very good team. They play god basketball and we know that they will not let us qualify like that. We did struggle a bit, we fought but in the end it was victory lane for us and it is all that matter.
Without Radmanovic and Lewis, we did not expect the Sonics to play at this level…
They played to the max. What gave us some trouble on the defense, is that they often line-up for smaller player on the field. This creates a match-up and as they are relatively accurate, we have to fight with them to make a difference.
You had a 9 points lead with 3 minutes to play before the half, but you went into the locker room tied at 50 a piece. What did Popovich say ?
I cannot tell you the opposite, but he was not too happy. Even if things went well at the end of the second quarter, we all stayed together and remained tight in the locker room. We did not panic and we showed that by going on a 17-3 run within the frst five minutes following the half.
As you said, Manu Ginobili was stellar all throughout the evening.
Yes he was very impressive. As he was on fire and sinking all is shots, we kept on feeding him the ball. Nothing could stop him, it was Gino 'The Great'.
You had a more difficult evening…
Yes, I struggle with my accuracy. I had some good looks to the basket; found myself alone a few time but the ball was not going in. Five lay ups stayed at rim level… This is not important, it just gives me a lot of motivation to play better Thursday.
Is it annoy you?
No way. It is the basketball which wants that. There are bad days and good days . And then the most important thing is the victory. We don't care individual performances. The team is more important than my services
At least, for your 23 years old, you will have had a beautiful birthday present on from yours teammates …
It is clear, Manu made me a very beautiful present. (Laughter) When I returned on the floor the public began singing "Happy Birthday" during five minutes. They had all panels with "Happy Birthday" above. It was really cool.
« A nice gift from Manu »
Tony, this victory is welcome. Before playing Game 6 in Seattle, it was important not to miss Game 5.
Before all, I would like to take my hat off to Manu Ginobili. He played extremely well (39 points). Nothing we can say other than he carried the team throughout the game. Despite our two losses in Seattle, we were never in doubt. We know what we remains to be done. We have won this very important game tonight and now we must focus to do the same in Game 6.
You were a bit upset after Sunday’s lost…
It is true, I am not going to say the opposite! (Laughs) We have started the game with a lot of intensity and were aggressive. We defended well and did put some control on the rebounds and Seattle’s pick and roll. One thing is certain, we did play better.
You had to perform to get this win !
Wait a minute; Seattle is a very good team. They play god basketball and we know that they will not let us qualify like that. We did struggle a bit, we fought but in the end it was victory lane for us and it is all that matter.
Without Radmanovic and Lewis, we did not expect the Sonics to play at this level…
They played to the max. What gave us some trouble on the defense, is that they often line-up for smaller player on the field. This creates a match-up and as they are relatively accurate, we have to fight with them to make a difference.
You had a 9 points lead with 3 minutes to play before the half, but you went into the locker room tied at 50 a piece. What did Popovich say ?
I cannot tell you the opposite, but he was not too happy. Even if things went well at the end of the second quarter, we all stayed together and remained tight in the locker room. We did not panic and we showed that by going on a 17-3 run within the frst five minutes following the half.
As you said, Manu Ginobili was stellar all throughout the evening.
Yes he was very impressive. As he was on fire and sinking all is shots, we kept on feeding him the ball. Nothing could stop him, it was Gino 'The Great'.
You had a more difficult evening…
Yes, I struggle with my accuracy. I had some good looks to the basket; found myself alone a few time but the ball was not going in. Five lay ups stayed at rim level… This is not important, it just gives me a lot of motivation to play better Thursday.
Is it annoy you?
No way. It is the basketball which wants that. There are bad days and good days . And then the most important thing is the victory. We don't care individual performances. The team is more important than my services
At least, for your 23 years old, you will have had a beautiful birthday present on from yours teammates …
It is clear, Manu made me a very beautiful present. (Laughter) When I returned on the floor the public began singing "Happy Birthday" during five minutes. They had all panels with "Happy Birthday" above. It was really cool.