ElNono
04-14-2018, 01:26 AM
"We didn't have a chance against Golden State two months ago, now it's a bit different"
by Manu Ginobili
It was an atypical season, I think everybody knows, and I mentioned it in previous articles. We had a final run that allowed us to get to the playoffs, although it looks like we had two teams, one at home and one for the road. The team that played at home was intense, strong, focused, and felt the obligation to win. And the other one, after reaching the objective, kinda relaxed and lowered the intensity on the road. It's a strange situation because we've always been a responsible team and respectful of the system, trying to take care of turnovers and playing good defense, but this time around we were awful outside of San Antonio.
After winning those six games in a row at home it's like we felt everything was lined up and made a rookie mistake: we relaxed up to a certain extent. We're not sure why we did that, because we don't have enough to coast, but we couldn't emotionally sustain what we've been doing.
We know we won very important games, against direct competition in the West, but we also have shown we would sink sometimes. So it hurt to see such an uneven team. The two games in Los Angeles (against Clipper and Lakers) killed us, because we felt we should've won at least one of them. And we understand that's what precluded us from being where we wanted to be: above the 6th seed.
The last game of the season against the Pelicans was far from what we wanted because after the great work we did against Portland and Sacramento, we couldn't sustain that level we shown in San Antonio. We couldn't compete at the level we've done before. Plus, we played against a very good team that was also playing for better playoff positioning. There was both an emotional and physical disparity between the two teams.
With all that said, I feel that when the team had to fight and show energy to get to the objective, it didn't back down. Personally, I was fortunate to have two good games on offense (Portland and Sacramento), but it was the whole team that put everything we had to win those games. I always try to play well, I always want to help the team win, and I didn't do anything special in those games, things just turned out that way. The good thing is that everyone on the team felt that we needed to win or we would have to go home, because we were well aware that not making the playoffs was a true possibility.
Yesterday afternoon we started to talk about what's coming and what happened. First we're going to put in perspective, especially me, what we achieved this season, because even though the 7th seed isn't what we wanted, making the playoffs is not a minor accomplishment and for me it's the 16th time reaching that goal. Which doesn't mean we don't know we were a team almost without an identity, with few certainties, and a lot of trouble. Just as we know that towards the end we could pull together and handle complex situations that allowed us to get to the playoffs. It's difficult to draw conclusions and analyze everything that happened. In the Western Conference, also, only the top two teams (Houston and Golden State) were the markedly better teams, after that that the parity was so great that maybe even the final seeding might be a bit misleading. Despite all the problems we had throughout the season we ended up only one position away from our goal. But, things just played out that way, it was a different kind of season for us and now we have to focus on what comes next.
We know now that we're facing the Golden State Warriors, a team that's not particularly playing their best basketball. We didn't have a chance against Golden State two months ago, now it's a bit different. Nevertheless, we know we're not playing our best basketball either. And considering our biggest flaw has been playing on the road, we understand everything will be even tougher. We have to be realistic and aware of the kind of season we had and the amount of physical problems we carried with us. In that context, we have to compete at the highest level and we need to get better to win on the road. If we don't do that, we're not going to have any chances. We're going to have to improve a lot, but we think we can do that.
It is, without a doubt, the most atypical playoffs I remember, because we were the 7th seed in another season too (2010, 50-32 record), but we had a different perspective. This was easily the worst season, my best memories of the playoffs were 2005 and 2014. The first one because of Game 7 against the Pistons was among the most intense games I've played and the other one because it was easily the highest peak we've ever reached as a team. And looking at everything, it's the playoffs, and on paper, this is probably the season we have the least chances to advance since I've been in the NBA. But that doesn't mean we don't have a chance, because as long as there's a possibility, we're going to go get it. Because the fact that we're playing a slightly hurt Golden State Warriors, due to what happened to Curry and other injuries they had, gives some extra chances.
https://www.lanacion.com.ar/2125065-hace-dos-meses-contra-golden-state-no-teniamos-chance-hoy-es-un-poco-diferente
by Manu Ginobili
It was an atypical season, I think everybody knows, and I mentioned it in previous articles. We had a final run that allowed us to get to the playoffs, although it looks like we had two teams, one at home and one for the road. The team that played at home was intense, strong, focused, and felt the obligation to win. And the other one, after reaching the objective, kinda relaxed and lowered the intensity on the road. It's a strange situation because we've always been a responsible team and respectful of the system, trying to take care of turnovers and playing good defense, but this time around we were awful outside of San Antonio.
After winning those six games in a row at home it's like we felt everything was lined up and made a rookie mistake: we relaxed up to a certain extent. We're not sure why we did that, because we don't have enough to coast, but we couldn't emotionally sustain what we've been doing.
We know we won very important games, against direct competition in the West, but we also have shown we would sink sometimes. So it hurt to see such an uneven team. The two games in Los Angeles (against Clipper and Lakers) killed us, because we felt we should've won at least one of them. And we understand that's what precluded us from being where we wanted to be: above the 6th seed.
The last game of the season against the Pelicans was far from what we wanted because after the great work we did against Portland and Sacramento, we couldn't sustain that level we shown in San Antonio. We couldn't compete at the level we've done before. Plus, we played against a very good team that was also playing for better playoff positioning. There was both an emotional and physical disparity between the two teams.
With all that said, I feel that when the team had to fight and show energy to get to the objective, it didn't back down. Personally, I was fortunate to have two good games on offense (Portland and Sacramento), but it was the whole team that put everything we had to win those games. I always try to play well, I always want to help the team win, and I didn't do anything special in those games, things just turned out that way. The good thing is that everyone on the team felt that we needed to win or we would have to go home, because we were well aware that not making the playoffs was a true possibility.
Yesterday afternoon we started to talk about what's coming and what happened. First we're going to put in perspective, especially me, what we achieved this season, because even though the 7th seed isn't what we wanted, making the playoffs is not a minor accomplishment and for me it's the 16th time reaching that goal. Which doesn't mean we don't know we were a team almost without an identity, with few certainties, and a lot of trouble. Just as we know that towards the end we could pull together and handle complex situations that allowed us to get to the playoffs. It's difficult to draw conclusions and analyze everything that happened. In the Western Conference, also, only the top two teams (Houston and Golden State) were the markedly better teams, after that that the parity was so great that maybe even the final seeding might be a bit misleading. Despite all the problems we had throughout the season we ended up only one position away from our goal. But, things just played out that way, it was a different kind of season for us and now we have to focus on what comes next.
We know now that we're facing the Golden State Warriors, a team that's not particularly playing their best basketball. We didn't have a chance against Golden State two months ago, now it's a bit different. Nevertheless, we know we're not playing our best basketball either. And considering our biggest flaw has been playing on the road, we understand everything will be even tougher. We have to be realistic and aware of the kind of season we had and the amount of physical problems we carried with us. In that context, we have to compete at the highest level and we need to get better to win on the road. If we don't do that, we're not going to have any chances. We're going to have to improve a lot, but we think we can do that.
It is, without a doubt, the most atypical playoffs I remember, because we were the 7th seed in another season too (2010, 50-32 record), but we had a different perspective. This was easily the worst season, my best memories of the playoffs were 2005 and 2014. The first one because of Game 7 against the Pistons was among the most intense games I've played and the other one because it was easily the highest peak we've ever reached as a team. And looking at everything, it's the playoffs, and on paper, this is probably the season we have the least chances to advance since I've been in the NBA. But that doesn't mean we don't have a chance, because as long as there's a possibility, we're going to go get it. Because the fact that we're playing a slightly hurt Golden State Warriors, due to what happened to Curry and other injuries they had, gives some extra chances.
https://www.lanacion.com.ar/2125065-hace-dos-meses-contra-golden-state-no-teniamos-chance-hoy-es-un-poco-diferente