Manu Note (need help translating)

[TMTTRIO]

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/deportiva/nota.asp?nota_id=917823&origen=acumulado&acumulado_id=131-2

"Los méritos estuvieron en el carácter y la personalidad; ahora, el desafío es repetir"
Emanuel Ginóbili
Para LA NACION
CLEVELAND.- Sentirme importante definiendo un partido decisivo es algo fantástico, creo que ya lo conté alguna vez. Es lo más hermoso del básquetbol. Ser el goleador, en cambio, es un hecho circunstancial, se dio así. Sabía que no iba a tener un partido malo como el anterior, que iba a atacar más el aro y que iba a ser más dueño de la pelota. Por suerte al final salió todo bien y pudimos festejar un título que tiene cierto sabor diferente a los demás. Y como dicen ustedes, fue un final con moño argentino porque por suerte en los últimos minutos Fabri y yo anotamos puntos y tomamos rebotes importantes. La verdad es que se disfrutó mucho más por el hecho de ser un final cerrado.

Cuando fui a tirar el último libre y vi que la pelota entraba ya empecé a festejar porque ellos no tenían más tiempos muertos para pedir y la diferencia de 4 puntos ya no la podían descontar, por eso empecé a abrazarme con el que tenía más cerca.

El primer campeonato que conseguí fue una experiencia nueva para mí, ni sabía de qué se trataba y lo duro que era llegar a la final. El de 2005 fue más desbordante en lo emocional, quizá por cómo se dio la serie con Detroit. Y en este último es como que fue más pasivo, hicimos lo que teníamos que hacer. Cumplimos el objetivo.

Lo más valioso para mí es que pudimos ayudar a Michael Finley a conseguir su primer anillo y también a Fabricio (Oberto). Son dos tipos tan excepcionales, laburadores y buenas personas, que se merecen largamente este campeonato. Con verle la cara a Michael, uno ya uno siente satisfecho y muy feliz.

Muchos me preguntan si ya me veo en el Hall of Fame y con los Spurs retirando la camiseta dentro de unos años. Si entro en el Hall of Fame, bárbaro, y si retiran la 20 mejor todavía, pero la verdad es que no juego pensando en eso, no lo puedo definir. No tengo que proponérmelo ni nada, simplemente tengo que seguir jugando en un buen nivel y ser un jugador importante para la franquicia.

También ahora todo el mundo está hablando de Dinastía. No sé, las anteriores de los Lakers y de Chicago fueron muy grandes. Los Spurs consiguieron 4 títulos en 9 años, y 3 en 5; son el más ganador de la década. No sé. Eso que lo diga la gente. Nosotros ahora tendremos que fijarnos el desafío de conseguir por primera vez dos títulos seguidos; repetir lo de este año. Es difícil ponerse objetivos tan rápido, después de esta alegría, pero trataremos se repetir la próxima temporada.

Y eso de equipo aburrido es algo que no comparto. Ser divertido qué te permite lograr. Por ahí San Antonio es el equipo que juega más parecido al básquetbol FIBA, con esquemas y no tanto uno contra uno, por eso la gente dirá que no es divertido. Yo creo que los méritos de nuestro triunfo estuvieron en el carácter y la personalidad. Por ahí no tuvimos una gran serie regular, pero en los playoffs no pasamos momentos de flaquezas o caídas anímicas, el oficio y la experiencia fueron importantes. Yo diría que tuvimos jerarquía.

En la final fuimos claramente superiores, sobre todo en los dos primeros partidos. La clave estuvo en la buena defensa que hicimos sobre LeBron James. Ahora me tomaré unas buenas vacaciones, que serán mucho más lindas después de este tercer título personal en la NBA.

www.manuginobili.com

[austinfan]

Here's my shot at, although my Spanish is a little rusty at the moment:

"To feel important in determining the outcome of a decisive game is fantastic, I think I've already mentioned this before. It's the most beautiful thing in basketball. To be the one who scores, on the other hand, is a matter of circumstance, and it happened to turn out that way. I knew that I wasn't going to have a bad game like Game 3, that I would attack the rim more and that I would be more in control of the ball. Luckily, at the end everything turned out well and we were able to celebrate a title that has a slightly different flavor to it. And like you guys have said, it was a final that had an Argentine stamp on it, because luckily, in the final minutes, Fabri and I put up points and made important rebounds. The truth is that we enjoyed it a lot more because of the fact that we were closing out a final [I think he means to say, that he and Fabricio were happier at closing out a game, than in performing well?].

When I went to make the last free throw and I saw the ball go in, I already began to celebrate because they didn't have any more timeouts left and they couldn't make up the difference of 4 points, that's why I began to hug the closest team member next to me.

The first championship that I was a part of was a new experience for me, I didn't even know what it was all about or how hard it is to arrive in the Finals. The 2005 title was more emotionally overwhelming, maybe because of how the series went between us and Detroit. And in this last one it was more passive, we did what we had to do. We achieved our goal.

The best thing for me is that we could help Michael Finley to get his first ring, and also Fabricio. They are two guys who are so exceptional, so hardworking and such good people that they totally deserve this championship. Seeing Michael's face, you felt satisfied and very happy.

A lot of people ask me if I see myself in the Hall of Fame and the Spurs retiring my jersey in a few years. If I get into the Hall of Fame, wonderful, and if they retire #20, even better, but the truth is that I don't play thinking about this. I don't have to position myself for this, I simply have to continue playing at a good level and be an important player for the franchise.

Also now everybody is talking about a dynasty. I don't know, the previous dynasties of the Lakers and Chicago were really great. The Spurs have won 4 titles in 9 years and 3 in 5; they are the winningest team of the decade. I don't know. Others have to determine this. We now will have to concentrate on the challenge of winning for the first time two titles back-to-back; repeat what we did this year. It's difficult to set goals this quickly, after this happiness, but we are going to try to repeat next season.

And this thing about being a boring team is something I don't agree with. Being entertaining, what does that allow you to achieve? San Antonio is the team that plays most like FIBA basketball, with esquemas [tactics? strategy?] and not so much one on one, that's why people say we're not entertaining. I believe that the key to our victory was in our character and our personality. We didn't have a great regular season, but in the playoffs we didn't have moments of weakness or emotional letdowns, hard work and experience were important. I would say that we were dominant.

In the Finals we were clearly better, above all in the first two games. The key was in the good defense we did on Lebron James. Now I'm going to take a good long vacation, which will be much better after this third title for me in the NBA.

[meta2007]

Thanks!


Here's my shot at, although my Spanish is a little rusty at the moment:

"To feel important in determining the outcome of a decisive game is fantastic, I think I've already mentioned this before. It's the most beautiful thing in basketball. To be the one who scores, on the other hand, is a matter of circumstance, and it happened to turn out that way. I knew that I wasn't going to have a bad game like Game 3, that I would attack the rim more and that I would be more in control of the ball. Luckily, at the end everything turned out well and we were able to celebrate a title that has a slightly different flavor to it. And like you guys have said, it was a final that had an Argentine stamp on it, because luckily, in the final minutes, Fabri and I put up points and made important rebounds. The truth is that we enjoyed it a lot more because of the fact that we were closing out a final [I think he means to say, that he and Fabricio were happier at closing out a game, than in performing well?].

When I went to make the last free throw and I saw the ball go in, I already began to celebrate because they didn't have any more timeouts left and they couldn't make up the difference of 4 points, that's why I began to hug the closest team member next to me.

The first championship that I was a part of was a new experience for me, I didn't even know what it was all about or how hard it is to arrive in the Finals. The 2005 title was more emotionally overwhelming, maybe because of how the series went between us and Detroit. And in this last one it was more passive, we did what we had to do. We achieved our goal.

The best thing for me is that we could help Michael Finley to get his first ring, and also Fabricio. They are two guys who are so exceptional, so hardworking and such good people that they totally deserve this championship. Seeing Michael's face, you felt satisfied and very happy.

A lot of people ask me if I see myself in the Hall of Fame and the Spurs retiring my jersey in a few years. If I get into the Hall of Fame, wonderful, and if they retire #20, even better, but the truth is that I don't play thinking about this. I don't have to position myself for this, I simply have to continue playing at a good level and be an important player for the franchise.

Also now everybody is talking about a dynasty. I don't know, the previous dynasties of the Lakers and Chicago were really great. The Spurs have won 4 titles in 9 years and 3 in 5; they are the winningest team of the decade. I don't know. Others have to determine this. We now will have to concentrate on the challenge of winning for the first time two titles back-to-back; repeat what we did this year. It's difficult to set goals this quickly, after this happiness, but we are going to try to repeat next season.

And this thing about being a boring team is something I don't agree with. Being entertaining, what does that allow you to achieve? San Antonio is the team that plays most like FIBA basketball, with esquemas [tactics? strategy?] and not so much one on one, that's why people say we're not entertaining. I believe that the key to our victory was in our character and our personality. We didn't have a great regular season, but in the playoffs we didn't have moments of weakness or emotional letdowns, hard work and experience were important. I would say that we were dominant.

In the Finals we were clearly better, above all in the first two games. The key was in the good defense we did on Lebron James. Now I'm going to take a good long vacation, which will be much better after this third title for me in the NBA.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

Nice translation.

I liked these parts.


And this thing about being a boring team is something I don't agree with. Being entertaining, what does that allow you to achieve? San Antonio is the team that plays most like FIBA basketball, with esquemas [tactics? strategy?] and not so much one on one, that's why people say we're not entertaining. I believe that the key to our victory was in our character and our personality. We didn't have a great regular season, but in the playoffs we didn't have moments of weakness or emotional letdowns, hard work and experience were important. I would say that we were dominant.



A lot of people ask me if I see myself in the Hall of Fame and the Spurs retiring my jersey in a few years. If I get into the Hall of Fame, wonderful, and if they retire #20, even better, but the truth is that I don't play thinking about this. I don't have to position myself for this, I simply have to continue playing at a good level and be an important player for the franchise.

that mentality paralleled what Tim said when asked about his "legacy" ,"that's not really part of my thought process"

we are lucky to have these genuinely cool cats.

[myhc]

:clap