ElNono
06-16-2013, 01:02 PM
Ginobili: Mentally I'm a bit more fragile.
SAN ANTONIO.- It's good that Manu Ginobili doesn't read, listens or watch the press during these NBA Finals. The moment is too important, historically speaking, to consume the barrage of critique and doubt that befall on him. Not without justification, in some cases. Even the player from bahia is disappointed. But in the crucial moment it wouldn't be positive to hear the great Charles Barkley -nowadays an analyst for ESPN- say "I've never seen Ginobili so passive", or Jalen Rose underline that Miami "has kep Ginobili quiet", or the HOF Magic Johnson questioning his play or that some other journalist classify his play as "horrible"…
In other times, perhaps the critique would've made him stronger. But, perhaps like never before in his professional career, which started in 1995, Manu is lacking confidence. He's at the biggest stage of the tournament and production is an at all time low. And it swings between anger and hope. Even in that pendulum, he's able to talk with an open heart about his mood swings and the possibility of retirement.
Like he did yesterday, in the extensive media session (about 25 minutes) at the AT&T Center, where he displayed certain anger when he was asked about a phrase from Tim Duncan about him: "We need him to be more aggressive, a bit more selfish".
- It's just you're asked 700 questions, and you just don't know what else to say… Honestly, I have nothing to say about what my teammates say in the locker room. In there we talk a lot, and we all know what the other guy thinks. But give you an opinion on what somebody else said to the media… Besides, I don't know exactly how he said it…
Q: It came out in the reports…
- It came out, but it's not important. It's fine. I understand that perhaps the team needs me to score more, but, it's difficult. Because of the way they defend… well, because of what we talked about a million times now.
Q: How do you feel physically and mentally?
- Physically, I feel great. In this last month I felt better than on the regular season. So that's not a problem. Mentally I'm a bit more fragile. I don't have that all-out confidence I had other times. It happens when you don't play well, when the ball doesn't go in. And their defense help. They're not lax on the ball handler to pressure the shooters, instead, since they're so athletic, they rotate a lot. They have almost two people guarding the ball handler and they make the guy that plays the pick and roll not to have lines to the basket or open shots. We have to move the ball. The talk about being more selfish, it's not about attacking and shooting, it's about being more aggressive and finding the open teammate. But… that's that. Thursday I had a semi-anonymous game, a lot of things didn't work for me, but now you erase and start off anew in game 5, which is almost a life or death game.
Q: Are you surprised to feel like this? You've always been very strong mentally.
- This season the injuries really hurt me, but I didn't think that the problem at this stage would be the mental. No, it's no mental. It's a basketball issue. It never happened to me in this stage, but you have to face it. [a fly goes around] And this fly is pissing me off… [laughs] What's going on? This fly is everywhere!
Q: How do you need to attack?
- I'm going to try to play better overall. It's not about scoring. It's about making better decisions, being more aggressive, more active in defense… If you look at all of us, we all can do a better job.
Q: In difficult times, you always doubled down. Why not this time?
- I've been trying to double down for a while now. It's not like the series against Golden State was easy, or Thursday's game was not important. I always try to play the best. Next game is an even more important game and I hope to be able to elevate my game. I don't even imagine a game where I'm going to score a lot, but obviously I can play a lot better.
Q: It's the last year of your deal. How much longer are you going to play?
- I really don't know. The whole season I thought I could play one or two more years, but when you're about to be 36, everything is day to day. When the season ends, I'll see how I feel. I can see myself playing at least one more season, here, but time will tell. Sometimes I do think about retirement, but then I say "no, no. I really love what I do, and I'm very fortunate to be in a franchise like this one".
Q: Do you think about it from a physical angle or more like a motivational angle?
- During 3/4 of the season it was because of the physical aspect. I would think "I can't deal with this anymore. I'm tired of rehab.". At this stage I'm a bit more optimist. But, it's been 18 years doing this, you know? Sometimes I would like to enjoy more in my house, go back to see my people in Argentina, and then I think about that [retirement]. But I'll have enough time for all that.
Q: Did that thought last you long?
- This year I thought about it a couple times when I was hurt: "I'm frustrated. What for? This is it". But I concluded that I'm going to have plenty of time for the other stuff. Eventually you heal, you feel better, you win a conference finals 4-0, and you think "let's keep this going". Everybody has moments of analysis and weakness, but when the ball stops and you sit down in your couch and talk… I suppose I'll decide to keep playing. That's what I think.
Original article in Spanish (http://canchallena.lanacion.com.ar/1592609-ginobili-mentalmente-estoy-un-poco-mas-fragil)
Don't shoot the messenger, and excuse any typos, per par.
Enjoy.
SAN ANTONIO.- It's good that Manu Ginobili doesn't read, listens or watch the press during these NBA Finals. The moment is too important, historically speaking, to consume the barrage of critique and doubt that befall on him. Not without justification, in some cases. Even the player from bahia is disappointed. But in the crucial moment it wouldn't be positive to hear the great Charles Barkley -nowadays an analyst for ESPN- say "I've never seen Ginobili so passive", or Jalen Rose underline that Miami "has kep Ginobili quiet", or the HOF Magic Johnson questioning his play or that some other journalist classify his play as "horrible"…
In other times, perhaps the critique would've made him stronger. But, perhaps like never before in his professional career, which started in 1995, Manu is lacking confidence. He's at the biggest stage of the tournament and production is an at all time low. And it swings between anger and hope. Even in that pendulum, he's able to talk with an open heart about his mood swings and the possibility of retirement.
Like he did yesterday, in the extensive media session (about 25 minutes) at the AT&T Center, where he displayed certain anger when he was asked about a phrase from Tim Duncan about him: "We need him to be more aggressive, a bit more selfish".
- It's just you're asked 700 questions, and you just don't know what else to say… Honestly, I have nothing to say about what my teammates say in the locker room. In there we talk a lot, and we all know what the other guy thinks. But give you an opinion on what somebody else said to the media… Besides, I don't know exactly how he said it…
Q: It came out in the reports…
- It came out, but it's not important. It's fine. I understand that perhaps the team needs me to score more, but, it's difficult. Because of the way they defend… well, because of what we talked about a million times now.
Q: How do you feel physically and mentally?
- Physically, I feel great. In this last month I felt better than on the regular season. So that's not a problem. Mentally I'm a bit more fragile. I don't have that all-out confidence I had other times. It happens when you don't play well, when the ball doesn't go in. And their defense help. They're not lax on the ball handler to pressure the shooters, instead, since they're so athletic, they rotate a lot. They have almost two people guarding the ball handler and they make the guy that plays the pick and roll not to have lines to the basket or open shots. We have to move the ball. The talk about being more selfish, it's not about attacking and shooting, it's about being more aggressive and finding the open teammate. But… that's that. Thursday I had a semi-anonymous game, a lot of things didn't work for me, but now you erase and start off anew in game 5, which is almost a life or death game.
Q: Are you surprised to feel like this? You've always been very strong mentally.
- This season the injuries really hurt me, but I didn't think that the problem at this stage would be the mental. No, it's no mental. It's a basketball issue. It never happened to me in this stage, but you have to face it. [a fly goes around] And this fly is pissing me off… [laughs] What's going on? This fly is everywhere!
Q: How do you need to attack?
- I'm going to try to play better overall. It's not about scoring. It's about making better decisions, being more aggressive, more active in defense… If you look at all of us, we all can do a better job.
Q: In difficult times, you always doubled down. Why not this time?
- I've been trying to double down for a while now. It's not like the series against Golden State was easy, or Thursday's game was not important. I always try to play the best. Next game is an even more important game and I hope to be able to elevate my game. I don't even imagine a game where I'm going to score a lot, but obviously I can play a lot better.
Q: It's the last year of your deal. How much longer are you going to play?
- I really don't know. The whole season I thought I could play one or two more years, but when you're about to be 36, everything is day to day. When the season ends, I'll see how I feel. I can see myself playing at least one more season, here, but time will tell. Sometimes I do think about retirement, but then I say "no, no. I really love what I do, and I'm very fortunate to be in a franchise like this one".
Q: Do you think about it from a physical angle or more like a motivational angle?
- During 3/4 of the season it was because of the physical aspect. I would think "I can't deal with this anymore. I'm tired of rehab.". At this stage I'm a bit more optimist. But, it's been 18 years doing this, you know? Sometimes I would like to enjoy more in my house, go back to see my people in Argentina, and then I think about that [retirement]. But I'll have enough time for all that.
Q: Did that thought last you long?
- This year I thought about it a couple times when I was hurt: "I'm frustrated. What for? This is it". But I concluded that I'm going to have plenty of time for the other stuff. Eventually you heal, you feel better, you win a conference finals 4-0, and you think "let's keep this going". Everybody has moments of analysis and weakness, but when the ball stops and you sit down in your couch and talk… I suppose I'll decide to keep playing. That's what I think.
Original article in Spanish (http://canchallena.lanacion.com.ar/1592609-ginobili-mentalmente-estoy-un-poco-mas-fragil)
Don't shoot the messenger, and excuse any typos, per par.
Enjoy.