TMTTRIO
05-21-2005, 03:21 PM
Spurs' Ginobili no flop when `acting'
SuperSonics' Allen: He's fooling the refs . . . still gets the call
By Bob Sherwin
New York Times
May 21, 2005
SEATTLE -- How Manu Ginobili suffers. With all he has to endure--elbows that snap back his head and hard body checks that grind him into the court--it is a wonder the San Antonio Spurs guard can take all the punishment.
It is no wonder to SuperSonics guard Ray Allen, though. From one actor to another, Allen can only admire Ginobili's theatrical style of play.
"He's fooling the refs, so I got to say it's a 10 out of 10," said Allen, rating Ginobili's acting ability when he encounters contact. "But you know when I think about it, I'd have to say it's about a 7. His head's always flopping back. That doesn't convince me. But he still gets the call."
It is all in that hair, long black strands that spread across his face when he is bumped. He looks like a wounded sheepdog.
"What he does, when someone bodies him or puts an arm on his head, his head always flops," Allen said. "So then his hair goes wild, and it looks like someone just murdered him. Those fouls aren't that hard."
This is not to say that Allen is belittling Ginobili's ability. He would not do that, not after Ginobili's effort in their second-round Western Conference playoff series helped the Spurs defeat the Sonics, four games to two.
Ginobili averaged 20.5 points in the series, including a 39-point effort in the Spurs' 103-90 victory in Game 5. Then Thursday, in the final seconds of Game 6, Ginobili broke down the Sonics' defense with a drive into the lane. He fed the ball to center Tim Duncan, who put it in off the glass with a half-second left for the clinching 98-96 victory.
Allen acknowledges Ginobili's contributions and grudgingly appreciates how he has fallen in line with some of the game's most accomplished floppers.
Ginobili, who has gone to the free-throw line 109 times in the playoffs, second only to Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire (125), is aware of the flopping accusations.
"I know they say that," he said. "But I am 200 pounds. When I go full speed against a 300-pound guy, like Danny Fortson or Jerome James, they are pretty big dudes. So there is not much room to flop in there, especially when you are up in the air.
"I don't penetrate thinking about how I am going to exaggerate. I am trying to finish."
Then in a slight bow to his detractors, he admitted, "Anyways, I don't think that exaggerating, if I am fouled, is bad."
The 6-foot-6 Ginobili played in the Italian League for three years before joining the Spurs for the 2002-3 season. The Europeans like the fainting game, as grandmaster flopper Vlade Divac has demonstrated since his NBA arrival in 1989. Or it could be that Ginobili learned the ways of referee swaying by watching the soccer floppers in his native Argentina.
"I'm not saying I never flopped when I played," said the former player Craig Ehlo, now a Sonics broadcaster, "but there are places and times you can do it. It seems like he's doing it all the time."
But when it really mattered Thursday there was no flopping. Ginobili knew that, with the score tied at 96-96 and 14.4 seconds left, he was not going to get any help from the referees. During a timeout, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich placed his trust in Ginobili to make the winning decision.
Ginobili, guarded by Antonio Daniels, held the ball near midcourt as he watched the clock wind down. With just under six seconds remaining, Ginobili drove on Daniels and into the lane.
"We wanted Manu to just create off it," Popovich said. The Spurs stationed Robert Horry at the top of the key and Duncan on the baseline and let Ginobili go.
"Manu did just a great job in decision-making," Popovich said. "We left it up to him. He made a super decision."
SuperSonics' Allen: He's fooling the refs . . . still gets the call
By Bob Sherwin
New York Times
May 21, 2005
SEATTLE -- How Manu Ginobili suffers. With all he has to endure--elbows that snap back his head and hard body checks that grind him into the court--it is a wonder the San Antonio Spurs guard can take all the punishment.
It is no wonder to SuperSonics guard Ray Allen, though. From one actor to another, Allen can only admire Ginobili's theatrical style of play.
"He's fooling the refs, so I got to say it's a 10 out of 10," said Allen, rating Ginobili's acting ability when he encounters contact. "But you know when I think about it, I'd have to say it's about a 7. His head's always flopping back. That doesn't convince me. But he still gets the call."
It is all in that hair, long black strands that spread across his face when he is bumped. He looks like a wounded sheepdog.
"What he does, when someone bodies him or puts an arm on his head, his head always flops," Allen said. "So then his hair goes wild, and it looks like someone just murdered him. Those fouls aren't that hard."
This is not to say that Allen is belittling Ginobili's ability. He would not do that, not after Ginobili's effort in their second-round Western Conference playoff series helped the Spurs defeat the Sonics, four games to two.
Ginobili averaged 20.5 points in the series, including a 39-point effort in the Spurs' 103-90 victory in Game 5. Then Thursday, in the final seconds of Game 6, Ginobili broke down the Sonics' defense with a drive into the lane. He fed the ball to center Tim Duncan, who put it in off the glass with a half-second left for the clinching 98-96 victory.
Allen acknowledges Ginobili's contributions and grudgingly appreciates how he has fallen in line with some of the game's most accomplished floppers.
Ginobili, who has gone to the free-throw line 109 times in the playoffs, second only to Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire (125), is aware of the flopping accusations.
"I know they say that," he said. "But I am 200 pounds. When I go full speed against a 300-pound guy, like Danny Fortson or Jerome James, they are pretty big dudes. So there is not much room to flop in there, especially when you are up in the air.
"I don't penetrate thinking about how I am going to exaggerate. I am trying to finish."
Then in a slight bow to his detractors, he admitted, "Anyways, I don't think that exaggerating, if I am fouled, is bad."
The 6-foot-6 Ginobili played in the Italian League for three years before joining the Spurs for the 2002-3 season. The Europeans like the fainting game, as grandmaster flopper Vlade Divac has demonstrated since his NBA arrival in 1989. Or it could be that Ginobili learned the ways of referee swaying by watching the soccer floppers in his native Argentina.
"I'm not saying I never flopped when I played," said the former player Craig Ehlo, now a Sonics broadcaster, "but there are places and times you can do it. It seems like he's doing it all the time."
But when it really mattered Thursday there was no flopping. Ginobili knew that, with the score tied at 96-96 and 14.4 seconds left, he was not going to get any help from the referees. During a timeout, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich placed his trust in Ginobili to make the winning decision.
Ginobili, guarded by Antonio Daniels, held the ball near midcourt as he watched the clock wind down. With just under six seconds remaining, Ginobili drove on Daniels and into the lane.
"We wanted Manu to just create off it," Popovich said. The Spurs stationed Robert Horry at the top of the key and Duncan on the baseline and let Ginobili go.
"Manu did just a great job in decision-making," Popovich said. "We left it up to him. He made a super decision."