ElNono
06-17-2014, 12:01 PM
We played like a Superteam
SAN ANTONIO.- What I experienced was an unique moment, for a number of reasons: it's been a while since we experienced it, because we were spoiled when we started playing together and we won three rings in the first five years. Even though this one brought as many joy, pride and passion, when you experienced so many frustrations in-between and specially after what happened last season, it makes this championship special. Because what happened last season wasn't just difficult for me, playing that Game 6 horribly, but it was also difficult for Tim, Tony, Pop...
I had dinner with them after that happened, and the faces, the feelings, the emotions, the frustration, the fact we couldn't get a couple of plays off our heads, it was with us throughout the summer. We had the ideal redemption. You couldn't plan it better, it happened right in the immediate season, against the same team, playing the way we did, winning by such a large margin, it was like a magical script. It's a huge satisfaction, and the next morning I started reading what people wrote, the videos they made, and that gets you a bit emotional. I fired off some texts with teammates and we discussed how amazing the season was... It's something you do when you're emotional.
I could see with my people what this achievement generated. In a few days I'll be able to give some dimension to winning this new ring. The closes people that could not come over, told me they watched it on TV with their kids... That makes me happy, makes me feel proud. I don't know a whole lot more, since after the celebration in the arena I came back home and I was up with the family until 4 in the morning, and I only slept like an hour at most. I watched everything that happened, spent time with my kids and that makes everything just so much more special.
I do have a better idea of what's talked about with the Spurs because of the team history. During interviews everything is put in context, because of the big 3, with Tim and Tony, and Pop at the helm. We played at an incredible level. I'm not a student of the Finals, because if we're eliminated I erase the whole season and I don't watch anything else. But a team that played with such clarity, dominance, that won by such large margins and against the team we did it... It's not like we beat anybody! With all due respect, Cleveland, who we beat in 2007 isn't this team. When that Finals started back then we had a different level of confidence, but now we knew we were playing against the back to back champions, that was playing their 4th consecutive Finals. When I finally watched the games from the outside, it was impressive. The ball movement, the intensity, and honestly I had a great time watching the team play like that. So it was a huge honor to be part of this team.
I received a few emails that said it was a pleasure to watch us play, that we played a type of basketball that has not been seen in a while. It wasn't something we did on purpose to look fancy. I'm convinced we played extremely well in 2005 and 2007, but with a different style. The fact that we could go back and look at the mistakes we made last season, that didn't allow us to win and help us understand what was the best way to beat Miami, all that made us play the best expression of the extra pass, something we love to do. The easy pass, to the open guy, was what we tried to do in a team where everybody contributed. Because Patty Mills was a towel-waver last season, Kawhi was only 21, and he was hinting what he could be this year. Danny Green, Tiago Splitter... Boris Diaw was a gladiator! Maybe somebody that watches a game and doesn't know much about basketball sees Boris scoring six or eight points, but what he provided for us on the court was invaluable. Everybody talks about the big 3, because we're the oldest guys, and we've been here from the start, but there's so many guys that contributed so we could play like a Superteam. If Kawhi didn't score 20 pts or was a little less brilliant in one of the last 3 games, they didn't know who to give the Finals MVP to. I think in such a scenario, Pop probably deserved it. Playing for this team makes me feel great.
Now I need to enjoy this, relax, enjoy my family, do everything I didn't do in the past 8 months, because the mental wear is big. But I have no doubt that when we get together again for the next season, start training again and the new season starts, we're going to go for everything again. That's how this works. We all play basketball not only because it's our job, but also because it's our passion, we know how to do it and we enjoy doing it. And there's no doubt it feels better when you're playing well. I haven't spoken a single word with Tim about his future, I don't think he needs to be talked into anything, unless there's some radical change on the team, I have little doubt he'll be back. I imagine I'll talk to him to see what he's going to do, but I hope we can continue playing together.
I was asked a lot about the Argentine flag. My wife kept it, it has some champagne spots. It was there for the previous 3 championships and it's some sort of tradition to have it around, it has the spots from previous battles, it even looks unclean, but they're marks on a flag that was with me on every achievement. And last night, again, we celebrated something incredible.
----
Excuse the typos, original article in Spanish here:
http://canchallena.lanacion.com.ar/1701954-jugamos-como-un-superequipo
SAN ANTONIO.- What I experienced was an unique moment, for a number of reasons: it's been a while since we experienced it, because we were spoiled when we started playing together and we won three rings in the first five years. Even though this one brought as many joy, pride and passion, when you experienced so many frustrations in-between and specially after what happened last season, it makes this championship special. Because what happened last season wasn't just difficult for me, playing that Game 6 horribly, but it was also difficult for Tim, Tony, Pop...
I had dinner with them after that happened, and the faces, the feelings, the emotions, the frustration, the fact we couldn't get a couple of plays off our heads, it was with us throughout the summer. We had the ideal redemption. You couldn't plan it better, it happened right in the immediate season, against the same team, playing the way we did, winning by such a large margin, it was like a magical script. It's a huge satisfaction, and the next morning I started reading what people wrote, the videos they made, and that gets you a bit emotional. I fired off some texts with teammates and we discussed how amazing the season was... It's something you do when you're emotional.
I could see with my people what this achievement generated. In a few days I'll be able to give some dimension to winning this new ring. The closes people that could not come over, told me they watched it on TV with their kids... That makes me happy, makes me feel proud. I don't know a whole lot more, since after the celebration in the arena I came back home and I was up with the family until 4 in the morning, and I only slept like an hour at most. I watched everything that happened, spent time with my kids and that makes everything just so much more special.
I do have a better idea of what's talked about with the Spurs because of the team history. During interviews everything is put in context, because of the big 3, with Tim and Tony, and Pop at the helm. We played at an incredible level. I'm not a student of the Finals, because if we're eliminated I erase the whole season and I don't watch anything else. But a team that played with such clarity, dominance, that won by such large margins and against the team we did it... It's not like we beat anybody! With all due respect, Cleveland, who we beat in 2007 isn't this team. When that Finals started back then we had a different level of confidence, but now we knew we were playing against the back to back champions, that was playing their 4th consecutive Finals. When I finally watched the games from the outside, it was impressive. The ball movement, the intensity, and honestly I had a great time watching the team play like that. So it was a huge honor to be part of this team.
I received a few emails that said it was a pleasure to watch us play, that we played a type of basketball that has not been seen in a while. It wasn't something we did on purpose to look fancy. I'm convinced we played extremely well in 2005 and 2007, but with a different style. The fact that we could go back and look at the mistakes we made last season, that didn't allow us to win and help us understand what was the best way to beat Miami, all that made us play the best expression of the extra pass, something we love to do. The easy pass, to the open guy, was what we tried to do in a team where everybody contributed. Because Patty Mills was a towel-waver last season, Kawhi was only 21, and he was hinting what he could be this year. Danny Green, Tiago Splitter... Boris Diaw was a gladiator! Maybe somebody that watches a game and doesn't know much about basketball sees Boris scoring six or eight points, but what he provided for us on the court was invaluable. Everybody talks about the big 3, because we're the oldest guys, and we've been here from the start, but there's so many guys that contributed so we could play like a Superteam. If Kawhi didn't score 20 pts or was a little less brilliant in one of the last 3 games, they didn't know who to give the Finals MVP to. I think in such a scenario, Pop probably deserved it. Playing for this team makes me feel great.
Now I need to enjoy this, relax, enjoy my family, do everything I didn't do in the past 8 months, because the mental wear is big. But I have no doubt that when we get together again for the next season, start training again and the new season starts, we're going to go for everything again. That's how this works. We all play basketball not only because it's our job, but also because it's our passion, we know how to do it and we enjoy doing it. And there's no doubt it feels better when you're playing well. I haven't spoken a single word with Tim about his future, I don't think he needs to be talked into anything, unless there's some radical change on the team, I have little doubt he'll be back. I imagine I'll talk to him to see what he's going to do, but I hope we can continue playing together.
I was asked a lot about the Argentine flag. My wife kept it, it has some champagne spots. It was there for the previous 3 championships and it's some sort of tradition to have it around, it has the spots from previous battles, it even looks unclean, but they're marks on a flag that was with me on every achievement. And last night, again, we celebrated something incredible.
----
Excuse the typos, original article in Spanish here:
http://canchallena.lanacion.com.ar/1701954-jugamos-como-un-superequipo