We’re playing better and that’s going to help us in the Rodeo road trip
by Manu Ginobili
SAN ANTONIO.- I don’t think we’re playing that great yet, but the reality is that the schedule now gives us a break, we’re at home, against more accessible opponents. We played against Chicago and then we have two games that should be relatively less complex at home. December was terrible and it costs us. Plus, we were not healthy. In general we’re winning more now, but we’re not satisfied with our current performance and we understand we have a lot of room to improve. The reality is that we need to go back to feeling that we need to compete for 48 minutes, and not 20 or 30, depending on the opposition. It’s like we play hard for a little while and then we relax. At times it looks like we want things to come easy and not work hard for it like we always did.
We’re not a team that has a lot of extra juice to be walking the court some game. Be it against the top team or the last team we have to play well and do everything that’s necessary to win, otherwise, anybody can beat us. And this season, perhaps inadvertently, we’re taking certain extra liberties during the game and that’s why some games become complicated. I feel like whenever the challenge is bigger is easier for us to focus and play at a high level. And at times it looks like we need to be more responsible on that aspect. It’s true we’ve played well in the last few games, winning with certain clarity, but then we pulled our foot from the accelerator. Although we also had situations where we started the game badly and we had to work our way back. But due to all these things, we end up in some close games, and sometimes that’s not enough, anything can happen at the end of the game. We’re missing the consistency and intensity to play hard the whole game and not in spurts. We’re already 45 games in and we should be starting to feel good about playing well.
I think winning the ring last season does, unconsciously, relax us and we’re not playing with that wound we had, which looked like it was still bleeding. That could’ve been a factor, but at this point in time, we all want to fix our problem, because when we play well, we move the ball and we win, the day to day becomes more amenable, better… We need to understand that’s the road we need to follow. But I also think nobody is thinking that because we’re the champs we don’t need to be playing hard. I’m sure it’s something unconscious, something natural. Because we keep on training like before, we tell each other the same things during the games and we have the same motivation to win.
We know our game depends on us. I don’t know if there’s a new scouting report about how we play, the reality is that we’re not doing it all that well, but certainly better than December. Plus, the opponent matters. Some teams are not going through a good time, and then there’s other teams that are in the conversation but they get a chance to beat the champs and take it as an opportunity to turn their season around. Or feel better. That feeds them. There’s also teams that bet we’re going to have to make the extra pass and pack the paint. Another team want us to play two on two and leave a guy glued to Danny Green, Matt Bonner or Patty Mills and then we need to make some decisions, especially Tony and me. We are the guys that play more pick & roll. But honestly I don’t think our problem is the opponent making a good read on our game.
The Rodeo road trip is coming, that for us is always a very special moment, because we’re going to start taking the shape we’re going to have at the end of the regular season and possibly in the playoffs. We’re anxiously waiting to play at a high level during this tour. We’re also hoping to get back all our soldiers, because we’ve yet to play a game with our entire roster available (now we’re missing Marco Belinelli). But we’ve a lot of enthusiasm. We need everybody to help, because we don’t have a Durant or Lebron. It’s important for us that everyone feels valuable and give us a hand. And since we’ve not had the whole roster available for a while, we’re anxious and expectant. Because we know we’re slowly playing better and that help us face the Rodeo road trip, which is key for us.
We also know competition is more even than before. The West was always pretty even, but I think this season there’s at least 10 teams that can easily be in the playoffs, and it’s going to be tough to fight for positioning. The East is surprising, with 3 teams that nobody expected leading the conference, so it’s really a toss up there. And just like it’s been the last couple of seasons, they’re still a step below the West when it comes to parity or overall quality of teams. They have Atlanta that’s shocking the world, but the rest have a lot of up and downs. So it looks like two different leagues, at times.
Personally, in December, I had to play a different role that I normally play, out of pure necessity. Patty Mills was still hurt and Tony missed a lot of games, and my role was to be backup PG. I think the situation will get back to normal now. With Kawhi’s return, who has an expanded role on offense; with Tony, who’s still recovering, and with the whole team feeling whole again, we’ll be going back to normal on shot distribution, assists, minutes played… I’ve been playing more than usual. But I understand that if you look at the numbers from last season with this one, the stats are similar, that things haven’t changed much. And honestly I’m happy, considering the start of the season, the years accumulated, and so on… I’m happy: I still have an important role on a top team and I definitely feel good.
That’s why I’m not looking to score 27 points or if I reach some mark. I really don’t stop to think about that stuff. The fact that I play with Tim makes any accomplishment look like sloppy seconds anyways. He reaches 30,000 points, 147,000 rebounds, 150,000 whatever else… it’s crazy. He goes past incredibly legendary players, and he is one himself. He gets the spotlight and deservedly so. There’s a lot of players that accumulated numbers like mine; maybe it’s different for me because I’m from Argentina, and because I arrived late to the NBA, at 25 years old, but, sincerely, it’s irrelevant to me. What I enjoy is feeling good in the day to day, watch the team win, look for a good seed to be strong when the playoffs come around. I feel like I’m very fortunate to be playing at this level on such a great team. I understand they’re my last few seasons and I want to treasure every moment. Now I can certainly say I’m enjoying the moment more than in December.
Excuse any typos. Original article in spanish:
http://canchallena.lanacion.com.ar/1...o-que-es-clave
