bigbendbruisebrother
06-09-2005, 11:33 PM
Emerging Spurs star could put his team over the top
Ginobili the X-Factor
By Brad Friedman
http://www.nba.com/finals2005/ginobili_050608.html
SAN ANTONIO, Texas, June 8 -- No player on the Spurs roster has stepped up his game more in the postseason than Manu Ginobili. Should Ginobili's strong play continue against Detroit in The Finals, it could tip the series the Spurs' way.
The third-year shooting guard from Argentina is averaging 21.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game in the playoffs compared to 16.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in the regular season. He's also shooting a red hot .512 from the field and .462 from three-point range.
Manu helped destroy the Suns in the West Finals. Are the Pistons next?
"He's a special type of player," said Pistons center Ben Wallace. "The things he does on the floor are just incredible. Sometimes he looks like he's out of control but then when he gets to the basket he seems like he's well in control of the situation."
Ginobili admitted he even catches himself off guard at times with his herky jerky penetrations, saying when he goes into the lane "I don't know what is going to happen either."
"Once I am in the paint, we'll see, I don't know," he said. "Sometimes it's going to be an open teammate, sometimes I'm going to be trying to draw a foul or finish."
Ginobili averaged 10 free throw attempts per game in the First Round and West Semifinals and got to the line seven times a contest in the Conference Finals.
Detroit plans to defend Ginobili in the same fashion they tried to contain Miami guard Dwyane Wade: throw a lot of looks at him, including switching between Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton as the primary defenders.
"Hopefully it'll work this time," said Prince of Wade, who burned Detroit for 25.8 points per game. "Dwyane hit some tough shots in that last game. Hopefully that won't happen this time."
:nope
Part of what makes Ginobili a difficult matchup is not only his ability to improvise, but his left-handedness. Only 35 of the 400-plus players in the NBA are left-handed, a trait Ginobili exploits to surprise defenders used to guarding opponents who mainly shoot and drive to their right.
"For some reason, it really helps," he said. "It's always been something special that I had."
"All left-handers have crafty type of games," Prince added. "He displays it best. The most important thing about try to defend him is that if you get too close to him, he's so great at drawing contact, throwing floaters and all types of shots in the paint that go in.
"You really have to be aware of him at all times and make him take tough shots and hope they don't go in."
A season ago, Ginobili was just a 12.8 point per game scorer who filled the Spurs' sixth-man role. The only time he came off the bench during the regular season this year was as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team. The improvement in Ginobili's productivity has less to do with an improved skill level than it does an evolution of the mental aspect of his game that occurred after leading Argentina to an Olympic Gold Medal in the 2004 Summer Games.
"It really helped my confidence because once you feel like you are the Olympic champion and chosen MVP, you start believing even more in yourself, knowing that you've got to be doing something well," Ginobili said. "So, it (this season) was like a carry over from Athens."
Detroit Pistons guard Carlos Delfino competed with Ginobili on Argentina's Olympic team and agreed with that statement.
"I think he has a lot more confidence now," he said. "The last finals he played, he played like a rookie. Now he's a protagonist. He's playing great. Right now in Argentina, all the people are talking about him. With these finals, 99 percent of the people are rooting for San Antonio.
"Manu has the whole country behind him."
Perhaps the player who offered the most insightful remark into the relationship between Ginobili's mental state and his game was Spurs teammate Brent Barry.
"He's off-balance, both on and off the court," Barry quipped.
Defensive Competition
Spurs swingman Bruce Bowen is regularly regarded as one of the NBA's top defenders. However, he's never won an NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, an honor that went to Wallace for the third time in his career this season.
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Bowen's sticky defense has allowed him to stick in the NBA.
D. Clarke Evans/NBAE/Getty Images
"He took all of them. He could have gave me one," Bowen joked with reporters.
Competition aside, both players share a unique kinship because of their humble NBA upbringings; Bowen had to break into the league through the CBA, Wallace spent part of his rookie season in Italy before landing in Washington as an undrafted free agent.
"I respect Ben," Bowen said. "Ben's come up the hard way. Not a lot of people remember when he was in Washington or Orlando, but I knew Ben back then. Unfortunately guys like us don't really reap the benefits of some of the superstars in this league."
In Detroit and San Antonio's two regular season meetings this year, Bowen helped limit Pistons leading scorer Hamilton to 4-of-14 shooting from the field for eight points Dec. 3 and 4-of-12 shooting for 11 points March 20.
"One thing about Bruce, he's a guy that really takes pride in his defense," Hamilton said. "He's not worried about offense at all. He's a guy that really comes out and tries to use every part of his body. He's not a guy that just wants to reach and try to get steals and things like that.
"He'll try to bump you with his hips, his legs, his knees and everything else. You know, it's definitely a challenge."
It Wins Championships
All this talk about defense has some speculating that The Finals may not be an exciting series to watch. Not necessarily, according to Barry.
"Will it be high scoring? Going in I wouldn't think so," he said. "Will it be the most exciting basketball to be seen? We'll see -- the games could be really close.
Barry believes that without their defensive identities, neither team would be playing for an NBA title in the first place.
"It's always been said defense wins championships," he said. "It's not surprising to see San Antonio and Detroit in The Finals in that regard. Both these teams scream of team work and everybody contributing in some way, Detroit obviously being the prime example last year in winning the championship over a much more heralded Lakers team.
"This series is going to be about which team plays the best team basketball."
Ginobili the X-Factor
By Brad Friedman
http://www.nba.com/finals2005/ginobili_050608.html
SAN ANTONIO, Texas, June 8 -- No player on the Spurs roster has stepped up his game more in the postseason than Manu Ginobili. Should Ginobili's strong play continue against Detroit in The Finals, it could tip the series the Spurs' way.
The third-year shooting guard from Argentina is averaging 21.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game in the playoffs compared to 16.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in the regular season. He's also shooting a red hot .512 from the field and .462 from three-point range.
Manu helped destroy the Suns in the West Finals. Are the Pistons next?
"He's a special type of player," said Pistons center Ben Wallace. "The things he does on the floor are just incredible. Sometimes he looks like he's out of control but then when he gets to the basket he seems like he's well in control of the situation."
Ginobili admitted he even catches himself off guard at times with his herky jerky penetrations, saying when he goes into the lane "I don't know what is going to happen either."
"Once I am in the paint, we'll see, I don't know," he said. "Sometimes it's going to be an open teammate, sometimes I'm going to be trying to draw a foul or finish."
Ginobili averaged 10 free throw attempts per game in the First Round and West Semifinals and got to the line seven times a contest in the Conference Finals.
Detroit plans to defend Ginobili in the same fashion they tried to contain Miami guard Dwyane Wade: throw a lot of looks at him, including switching between Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton as the primary defenders.
"Hopefully it'll work this time," said Prince of Wade, who burned Detroit for 25.8 points per game. "Dwyane hit some tough shots in that last game. Hopefully that won't happen this time."
:nope
Part of what makes Ginobili a difficult matchup is not only his ability to improvise, but his left-handedness. Only 35 of the 400-plus players in the NBA are left-handed, a trait Ginobili exploits to surprise defenders used to guarding opponents who mainly shoot and drive to their right.
"For some reason, it really helps," he said. "It's always been something special that I had."
"All left-handers have crafty type of games," Prince added. "He displays it best. The most important thing about try to defend him is that if you get too close to him, he's so great at drawing contact, throwing floaters and all types of shots in the paint that go in.
"You really have to be aware of him at all times and make him take tough shots and hope they don't go in."
A season ago, Ginobili was just a 12.8 point per game scorer who filled the Spurs' sixth-man role. The only time he came off the bench during the regular season this year was as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team. The improvement in Ginobili's productivity has less to do with an improved skill level than it does an evolution of the mental aspect of his game that occurred after leading Argentina to an Olympic Gold Medal in the 2004 Summer Games.
"It really helped my confidence because once you feel like you are the Olympic champion and chosen MVP, you start believing even more in yourself, knowing that you've got to be doing something well," Ginobili said. "So, it (this season) was like a carry over from Athens."
Detroit Pistons guard Carlos Delfino competed with Ginobili on Argentina's Olympic team and agreed with that statement.
"I think he has a lot more confidence now," he said. "The last finals he played, he played like a rookie. Now he's a protagonist. He's playing great. Right now in Argentina, all the people are talking about him. With these finals, 99 percent of the people are rooting for San Antonio.
"Manu has the whole country behind him."
Perhaps the player who offered the most insightful remark into the relationship between Ginobili's mental state and his game was Spurs teammate Brent Barry.
"He's off-balance, both on and off the court," Barry quipped.
Defensive Competition
Spurs swingman Bruce Bowen is regularly regarded as one of the NBA's top defenders. However, he's never won an NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, an honor that went to Wallace for the third time in his career this season.
E-mail photo | Buy photos
Bowen's sticky defense has allowed him to stick in the NBA.
D. Clarke Evans/NBAE/Getty Images
"He took all of them. He could have gave me one," Bowen joked with reporters.
Competition aside, both players share a unique kinship because of their humble NBA upbringings; Bowen had to break into the league through the CBA, Wallace spent part of his rookie season in Italy before landing in Washington as an undrafted free agent.
"I respect Ben," Bowen said. "Ben's come up the hard way. Not a lot of people remember when he was in Washington or Orlando, but I knew Ben back then. Unfortunately guys like us don't really reap the benefits of some of the superstars in this league."
In Detroit and San Antonio's two regular season meetings this year, Bowen helped limit Pistons leading scorer Hamilton to 4-of-14 shooting from the field for eight points Dec. 3 and 4-of-12 shooting for 11 points March 20.
"One thing about Bruce, he's a guy that really takes pride in his defense," Hamilton said. "He's not worried about offense at all. He's a guy that really comes out and tries to use every part of his body. He's not a guy that just wants to reach and try to get steals and things like that.
"He'll try to bump you with his hips, his legs, his knees and everything else. You know, it's definitely a challenge."
It Wins Championships
All this talk about defense has some speculating that The Finals may not be an exciting series to watch. Not necessarily, according to Barry.
"Will it be high scoring? Going in I wouldn't think so," he said. "Will it be the most exciting basketball to be seen? We'll see -- the games could be really close.
Barry believes that without their defensive identities, neither team would be playing for an NBA title in the first place.
"It's always been said defense wins championships," he said. "It's not surprising to see San Antonio and Detroit in The Finals in that regard. Both these teams scream of team work and everybody contributing in some way, Detroit obviously being the prime example last year in winning the championship over a much more heralded Lakers team.
"This series is going to be about which team plays the best team basketball."