ElNono
01-07-2014, 01:32 AM
“I’m enjoying this moment fully”
San Antonio, USA - I’m about to hop on a flight to Memphis, where we’ll be playing tonight. It’s a small trip of only 24 hours. Luckily, the big storm that is affecting a large part of the country is not a problem for us and we’ll be traveling without a problem. It has happened in the past, especially in Chicago and Denver, where the visiting team could not fly out for a while; this season so far that has not been the case. Only during the Rodeo road trip that starts in February 1st we’ll be traveling east, which at this time is the area mostly affected by the tough climate.
I’m in a better mood after we sucked against New York. They were stronger and quicker to all the loose balls. We’re not a physical team, but that night it was much more evident than usual. Up to that point we were playing well against teams under .500 and had some problems against the top teams. After that we beat the Clippers, but with an asterisk, since they played the day before and did not have Chris Paul, out with an injury. Frankly speaking, since my last column at the end of November, the team has underperformed a bit. Especially towards the end of December and noticeably on defense. While that generates a bit of uncertainty, it’s early in the season and there’s a big margin left to get better and more consistent. We’re holding on to a good record, but that’s not enough; what’s important at this point is to play well and improve. The win and losses numbers come and go as the season goes on and become much more important some time before the playoffs. At this time, you don’t worry about the record.
It is notable what’s happening in the Eastern conference, where there’s a very noticeable difference between the top two teams and the rest. Indiana and Miami are clearly the best in the NBA, a lot of steps above Toronto, a team that improved in the last few games, and Atlanta, that’s not a contender and also lost Al Horford for the rest of the season. The top two in the East are going to finish with 20 games or more above the rest. Instead, the Western conference is much more even, as usual. Portland, Oklahoma and us have some separation, but there’s nine teams that are right there. Memphis, tonight’s opponent, misses Marc Gasol, but when he comes back they’ll also be battling up there.
As far as me, in December I played much better. I started off with difficulties on my shot and driving to the basket, but right now I’m doing great, happy. I’m still healthy, I feel strong, I’m attacking the rim and improved my shooting -although the last two games were not that great on that aspect- and made good progress on my percentages. I’m much more satisfied because personally I’m having a much better season. Better mood, more positive, which helps go through the day to day. And it’s really helpful to be healthy. I don’t think it’s exclusively a matter of luck or that it has to do with resting before the season. A lot of it has to do with my change in eating habits and training, and a slight change in the way I play.
On one hand, I’m much more aware of what I eat. When you’re 25, 26, 28 years old, you have a physical error margin; if you ate too much or bad food, you don’t feel it as much. But at 36, and competing against these monsters, if I don’t watch what I eat, and I don’t have the necessary fuel, I feel it on the joints and the muscles. Quality of ingredients is key. I’m avoiding white flour and sugars, that is, bread, sweets, regular pasta. And eating much more proteins. I added much more fish to my diet; before I would do 80% meat, 20% fish, and now it’s more like 50%-50%.
On the other hand, I was saying I changed the way I play a bit, and it can be seen in that I’m having more assists than rebounds, two stats that were fairly even in my career. Since I don’t have the same legs as a few years back, it’s better that somebody else grab the rebound, collide with other players and all, unless it’s an important part of the game. Right now I’m much more focused on creating plays than in rebounding. At this stage in my career it’s much more important. But lately, feeling good physically, I went back a bit to the usual style and I’m more aggressive, attacking the basket more. You’ve probably seen I had a dunk against the Clippers. In that mini-challenge I have going with Boris Diaw to see who dunks more by the end of the season, I’m doing better, much better. Last season we finished 5-5. Now I’m leading comfortably, 7-3 or 8-3. The prize is simply to bug the other guy, or pay for one or two dinners, but since we eat together in all our trips, the real goal is to challenge ourselves and try to finish strong at the rim.
The AllStar game will be in February, but I have no expectations to be there, at all. I’m waiting for that weekend to rest with my family and travel somewhere, instead of attending that exhibition. If it happens, I’ll be happy, but I don’t think there’s any real possibilities.
The main thing is that I’m feeling good and last season I was feeling bad. It was a complicated season, because of physical problems that prevented me from playing, except for the playoffs. I went through difficult moments, stress, that put my head somewhere else. I was seriously thinking about retiring, it wasn’t just talk. But when you’re feeling bad, you see everything bad. Putting things in perspective, you think with more clarity and realize some things. I’m very glad that I made the decision to keep playing.
You always remember the latest, the near past is always more fresh in the mind, but the season before last one I also started pretty bad too. Now I’m enjoying this season like I didn’t do the past two. When your head is right, you value much more what’s going on. At 36 years old I’m at a good level, in one of the best teams and in a unbeatable situation socially and as a group. I’m having a great time. Enjoying this moment fully.
-----
Original article in Spanish:
http://canchallena.lanacion.com.ar/1653507-manu-ginobili-estoy-viviendo-a-pleno-este-momento
excuse any typos per par...
San Antonio, USA - I’m about to hop on a flight to Memphis, where we’ll be playing tonight. It’s a small trip of only 24 hours. Luckily, the big storm that is affecting a large part of the country is not a problem for us and we’ll be traveling without a problem. It has happened in the past, especially in Chicago and Denver, where the visiting team could not fly out for a while; this season so far that has not been the case. Only during the Rodeo road trip that starts in February 1st we’ll be traveling east, which at this time is the area mostly affected by the tough climate.
I’m in a better mood after we sucked against New York. They were stronger and quicker to all the loose balls. We’re not a physical team, but that night it was much more evident than usual. Up to that point we were playing well against teams under .500 and had some problems against the top teams. After that we beat the Clippers, but with an asterisk, since they played the day before and did not have Chris Paul, out with an injury. Frankly speaking, since my last column at the end of November, the team has underperformed a bit. Especially towards the end of December and noticeably on defense. While that generates a bit of uncertainty, it’s early in the season and there’s a big margin left to get better and more consistent. We’re holding on to a good record, but that’s not enough; what’s important at this point is to play well and improve. The win and losses numbers come and go as the season goes on and become much more important some time before the playoffs. At this time, you don’t worry about the record.
It is notable what’s happening in the Eastern conference, where there’s a very noticeable difference between the top two teams and the rest. Indiana and Miami are clearly the best in the NBA, a lot of steps above Toronto, a team that improved in the last few games, and Atlanta, that’s not a contender and also lost Al Horford for the rest of the season. The top two in the East are going to finish with 20 games or more above the rest. Instead, the Western conference is much more even, as usual. Portland, Oklahoma and us have some separation, but there’s nine teams that are right there. Memphis, tonight’s opponent, misses Marc Gasol, but when he comes back they’ll also be battling up there.
As far as me, in December I played much better. I started off with difficulties on my shot and driving to the basket, but right now I’m doing great, happy. I’m still healthy, I feel strong, I’m attacking the rim and improved my shooting -although the last two games were not that great on that aspect- and made good progress on my percentages. I’m much more satisfied because personally I’m having a much better season. Better mood, more positive, which helps go through the day to day. And it’s really helpful to be healthy. I don’t think it’s exclusively a matter of luck or that it has to do with resting before the season. A lot of it has to do with my change in eating habits and training, and a slight change in the way I play.
On one hand, I’m much more aware of what I eat. When you’re 25, 26, 28 years old, you have a physical error margin; if you ate too much or bad food, you don’t feel it as much. But at 36, and competing against these monsters, if I don’t watch what I eat, and I don’t have the necessary fuel, I feel it on the joints and the muscles. Quality of ingredients is key. I’m avoiding white flour and sugars, that is, bread, sweets, regular pasta. And eating much more proteins. I added much more fish to my diet; before I would do 80% meat, 20% fish, and now it’s more like 50%-50%.
On the other hand, I was saying I changed the way I play a bit, and it can be seen in that I’m having more assists than rebounds, two stats that were fairly even in my career. Since I don’t have the same legs as a few years back, it’s better that somebody else grab the rebound, collide with other players and all, unless it’s an important part of the game. Right now I’m much more focused on creating plays than in rebounding. At this stage in my career it’s much more important. But lately, feeling good physically, I went back a bit to the usual style and I’m more aggressive, attacking the basket more. You’ve probably seen I had a dunk against the Clippers. In that mini-challenge I have going with Boris Diaw to see who dunks more by the end of the season, I’m doing better, much better. Last season we finished 5-5. Now I’m leading comfortably, 7-3 or 8-3. The prize is simply to bug the other guy, or pay for one or two dinners, but since we eat together in all our trips, the real goal is to challenge ourselves and try to finish strong at the rim.
The AllStar game will be in February, but I have no expectations to be there, at all. I’m waiting for that weekend to rest with my family and travel somewhere, instead of attending that exhibition. If it happens, I’ll be happy, but I don’t think there’s any real possibilities.
The main thing is that I’m feeling good and last season I was feeling bad. It was a complicated season, because of physical problems that prevented me from playing, except for the playoffs. I went through difficult moments, stress, that put my head somewhere else. I was seriously thinking about retiring, it wasn’t just talk. But when you’re feeling bad, you see everything bad. Putting things in perspective, you think with more clarity and realize some things. I’m very glad that I made the decision to keep playing.
You always remember the latest, the near past is always more fresh in the mind, but the season before last one I also started pretty bad too. Now I’m enjoying this season like I didn’t do the past two. When your head is right, you value much more what’s going on. At 36 years old I’m at a good level, in one of the best teams and in a unbeatable situation socially and as a group. I’m having a great time. Enjoying this moment fully.
-----
Original article in Spanish:
http://canchallena.lanacion.com.ar/1653507-manu-ginobili-estoy-viviendo-a-pleno-este-momento
excuse any typos per par...