ElNono
06-05-2013, 02:12 AM
We're not favorites, but it's not impossible to beat them
By Emanuel Ginóbili
MIAMI.- We've just arrived at the hotel and I still haven't looked around the city much to tell if there's a NBA Finals buzz. But we're starting to get involved in the movement that surrounds all this. We're mandated to talk to the press before and after the game, and the next day, during practice. You get to the point where you don't know what else to say. If there were 12 journalists before, now there's 50 and from different countries. You start hearing different languages, people that are waiting for the games, analyzing, talking about it all the time. It's the first thing that made me remember some of the previous finals. Things like that give true dimension what we're playing for, the millions of fans that are following this series.
If somebody is wondering how do you stop LeBron, I can tell you there's no such thing. When your're talking about him, about Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant, that kind of players, what we can try doing is limit them, try to make them miss more shots than any other night. We need to find a way to make him play uncomfortable. On the one on one game there's not a lot you can do. He's unstoppable, he just goes right over you due to his physical makeup. In the pick and roll plays we're going to need to help a lot, but be careful, because we need to close out too. If the ball is kicked, we have to close out because they also have very good shooters, like Ray Allen, Mike Miller and even Shane Battier when he comes in.
Miami found itself against an Indiana team that, because of their style of play, gave it trouble. Because that happened too during the regular season. And of course we need to learn what they did right to get them in trouble, and also watch what errors Indiana made so we don't repeat them.
Winning will be difficult, and we're going to need to play almost perfect games. We're going to have to be impeccable on the defensive end, move the ball well, and find open guys for the shot. This isn't a team where Tony can just get under the rim with a pick and roll. We're going to need to move the ball quick and well. I'm not going to go into details because it doesn't make sense to talk much before the games.
Something major will be to cut down on the turnovers. Indiana turned it over a lot in game 7 and paid for it handsomely. If you turn it over, you can't get yourself down, you have to focus again. If you turn it over again, it can happen, but you can't have more than that. Three turnovers in four minutes and they can take a 10 point lead. If you turn it over 20 times, like it happened to Indiana, you have no shot.
I can't say Miami is the most difficult foe we've faced in the finals, but I can certainly say it's the first time we're not favorites. It's not impossible to beat them, but it's clear they arrive to this point with a lot of energy. In the regular season they won 27 games in a row, they have the best player in the world, and on top of that they have home court advantage, which isn't insurmountable, but it's certainly important. In my previous three finals, we already knew that with just winning at home it was enough to be a champion. Not this time. You always want to win a road game in any series. Here it's the same thing, but the finals is a very different series with the 2-3-2 format. It becomes imperative to win one of the first two games. Otherwise, the margin gets really slim and we've to win all three games at home.
When I say I still don't know if they'll be the most difficult foe, it's because, for example, against Detroit in 2005 we were down eight points in the 3rd quarter of game 7. I recall that situation to be very difficult.
After these unusual nine days without a game, we can't wait to play. We do scrimmage during practice, but you don't get the same intensity that you do in a game, and you don't force things to avoid injuries. Practice for a couple of days, one day of rest… Now we've to put forth the biggest effort for what's coming, it's great to be playing in June. We're here, and after this long road, thinking about coming back empty handed wouldn't be gratifying. You always want a little more, win four games and finish another season with a smile.
---
Original article in Spanish (http://canchallena.lanacion.com.ar/1588726-no-somos-favoritos-pero-no-es-imposible-ganarles)
By Emanuel Ginóbili
MIAMI.- We've just arrived at the hotel and I still haven't looked around the city much to tell if there's a NBA Finals buzz. But we're starting to get involved in the movement that surrounds all this. We're mandated to talk to the press before and after the game, and the next day, during practice. You get to the point where you don't know what else to say. If there were 12 journalists before, now there's 50 and from different countries. You start hearing different languages, people that are waiting for the games, analyzing, talking about it all the time. It's the first thing that made me remember some of the previous finals. Things like that give true dimension what we're playing for, the millions of fans that are following this series.
If somebody is wondering how do you stop LeBron, I can tell you there's no such thing. When your're talking about him, about Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant, that kind of players, what we can try doing is limit them, try to make them miss more shots than any other night. We need to find a way to make him play uncomfortable. On the one on one game there's not a lot you can do. He's unstoppable, he just goes right over you due to his physical makeup. In the pick and roll plays we're going to need to help a lot, but be careful, because we need to close out too. If the ball is kicked, we have to close out because they also have very good shooters, like Ray Allen, Mike Miller and even Shane Battier when he comes in.
Miami found itself against an Indiana team that, because of their style of play, gave it trouble. Because that happened too during the regular season. And of course we need to learn what they did right to get them in trouble, and also watch what errors Indiana made so we don't repeat them.
Winning will be difficult, and we're going to need to play almost perfect games. We're going to have to be impeccable on the defensive end, move the ball well, and find open guys for the shot. This isn't a team where Tony can just get under the rim with a pick and roll. We're going to need to move the ball quick and well. I'm not going to go into details because it doesn't make sense to talk much before the games.
Something major will be to cut down on the turnovers. Indiana turned it over a lot in game 7 and paid for it handsomely. If you turn it over, you can't get yourself down, you have to focus again. If you turn it over again, it can happen, but you can't have more than that. Three turnovers in four minutes and they can take a 10 point lead. If you turn it over 20 times, like it happened to Indiana, you have no shot.
I can't say Miami is the most difficult foe we've faced in the finals, but I can certainly say it's the first time we're not favorites. It's not impossible to beat them, but it's clear they arrive to this point with a lot of energy. In the regular season they won 27 games in a row, they have the best player in the world, and on top of that they have home court advantage, which isn't insurmountable, but it's certainly important. In my previous three finals, we already knew that with just winning at home it was enough to be a champion. Not this time. You always want to win a road game in any series. Here it's the same thing, but the finals is a very different series with the 2-3-2 format. It becomes imperative to win one of the first two games. Otherwise, the margin gets really slim and we've to win all three games at home.
When I say I still don't know if they'll be the most difficult foe, it's because, for example, against Detroit in 2005 we were down eight points in the 3rd quarter of game 7. I recall that situation to be very difficult.
After these unusual nine days without a game, we can't wait to play. We do scrimmage during practice, but you don't get the same intensity that you do in a game, and you don't force things to avoid injuries. Practice for a couple of days, one day of rest… Now we've to put forth the biggest effort for what's coming, it's great to be playing in June. We're here, and after this long road, thinking about coming back empty handed wouldn't be gratifying. You always want a little more, win four games and finish another season with a smile.
---
Original article in Spanish (http://canchallena.lanacion.com.ar/1588726-no-somos-favoritos-pero-no-es-imposible-ganarles)