boutons_deux
01-11-2016, 10:37 PM
Trending on the Internet recently was a video of Manu Ginobili assisting on a fast-break basket (https://twitter.com/BenGolliver/status/682400540144332801/video/1), while lying down on the job.
Really. Literally. Like a 6-foot-6 cornerback stalking his prey, Ginobili sniffed out a pass to Phoenix’s Mirza Teletovic, wrestled the ball away and fell onto his back, but he still had the court vision and body control to rifle a perfect southpaw pass upcourt to Kawhi Leonard for a layup ahead of three trailing Suns.
Ginobili’s teammates on the San Antonio bench erupted. Ettore Messina, one of the Spurs (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/sanantoniospurs/index.html?inline=nyt-org)’ assistant coaches, merely cracked a smile at the sight of Ginobili the contortionist still making something out of nothing after all these years.
As coach of Kinder Bologna in the top Italian league, Messina signed Ginobili at 21 after Ginobili had spent one season with a lower-division team. Messina’s intention was to use Ginobili as a backup shooting guard and eventual replacement for the team’s Serbian star Sasha Danilovic.
Worn out by injuries and indifference, Danilovic retired abruptly. For Messina, such was the serendipity of a coaching life.
Ginobili, an Argentine of Italian descent, proceeded to help make a champion out of Messina and kick-start a coaching career that included four Euroleague titles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/sports/basketball/san-antonio-spurs-manu-ginobili-ettore-messina.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Really. Literally. Like a 6-foot-6 cornerback stalking his prey, Ginobili sniffed out a pass to Phoenix’s Mirza Teletovic, wrestled the ball away and fell onto his back, but he still had the court vision and body control to rifle a perfect southpaw pass upcourt to Kawhi Leonard for a layup ahead of three trailing Suns.
Ginobili’s teammates on the San Antonio bench erupted. Ettore Messina, one of the Spurs (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/sanantoniospurs/index.html?inline=nyt-org)’ assistant coaches, merely cracked a smile at the sight of Ginobili the contortionist still making something out of nothing after all these years.
As coach of Kinder Bologna in the top Italian league, Messina signed Ginobili at 21 after Ginobili had spent one season with a lower-division team. Messina’s intention was to use Ginobili as a backup shooting guard and eventual replacement for the team’s Serbian star Sasha Danilovic.
Worn out by injuries and indifference, Danilovic retired abruptly. For Messina, such was the serendipity of a coaching life.
Ginobili, an Argentine of Italian descent, proceeded to help make a champion out of Messina and kick-start a coaching career that included four Euroleague titles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/sports/basketball/san-antonio-spurs-manu-ginobili-ettore-messina.html?partner=rss&emc=rss