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Great read. Thanks El Nono....
My .
We have to start from scratch
By Manu Ginobili
Honestly, it wasn’t a satisfactory Rodeo road trip. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t looking good for a while there. We didn’t play at the level we expected to play, we lost a few games at the very end that we shouldn’t have lost, like against Toronto or Clippers, but well… it happened. Afterwards, we played bad, like against Portland or Utah, so there was a certain worry, but we ended up putting some makeup on the trip winning this last back to back that was something we needed. So we ended the trip 4-5, I don’t remember having a rodeo road trip with a losing record, but it could’ve been worse, because we started 2-5 and it ended ok. I didn’t like how we were playing, stuck, lacking confidence, and mettle. But in the last two games, at the end of the Sacramento game and throughout the Phoenix game things seemed to change. So we ended up with a bit of optimism due to that finish to the trip. It was really a though trip, the last 12 days seemed never ending. The whole thing was so ridiculously long that when I left the house Luca didn’t walk, and now he does.
When I said we were not a playoff team it’s something I felt, we had various meetings with my teammates and we talked about everything. We were playing really bad, very passive and in a Conference like ours, it could easily leave you out. That’s what I was thinking, there were no subliminal messages or anything like that, just what I was thinking. That doesn’t mean that because we won our last game now we’ve solved all our problems, but we certainly took a step in the right direction. Obviously, we have to show we’re doing better for some more games.
It’s possible that we’re a bit weaker or more sensitive. Some losses, the ones we didn’t expect, hits us harder. It’s that, after a game we consider we could’ve won and we end up losing because of a bad bounce or a bad shot, we put our heads down quicker than other times. Even then, I think after the losses to Golden State and Clippers, we assimilated them, but the loss against Utah did hit us hard, we played terrible. So we tried to bring our best game against Portland, but we just couldn’t get it together. It’s like we hit rock bottom a bit. And when that happens, it’s like you push against that bottom to raise up. I didn’t think we had anything magical or strategic to turn it around. We simply were in a tough situation and we brought out the best from inside.
Every game we’re facing players physically stronger, more athletic, younger and very hungry because they want to beat the champs. That makes things more complicated, but all in all we were also fortunate, because after the trades the Suns made, the Anthony Davis’ injury, and Durant being out in Oklahoma City, despite the stretch of games we had, the 7th seed was never at risk. That gave us a bit of breathing room. Because while we also had injuries, we now have everybody back and still can’t find our best game. Now we have a good opportunity, after so many days on the road and so many miles, to get better, with 15 days in a row at home, and that’s good for us.
I’m expecting the team now to decisively bring out everything we have. Up until now we didn’t give those concrete signals of being able to do it. A game and a half is not enough. Because it’s not about flipping the switch when the playoffs come around, even though we still feel that we can put up a fight at that stage. I think only a couple of times before I was part of such an irregular season like this. I remember one season we finished 7th and another at 6th. That’s why this is also something atypical that we need to know how to face.
What we can’t allow ourselves is to keep thinking about the “we have to repeat” ghost or get down because we’re not playing like last season, because we played at such a high level that perhaps we’ll never reach that level ever again. But if we expect to win games playing the way we’ve been playing, it won’t happen, and we’re going to get frustrated. We gotta be thinking that we have to work hard to win. I think that’s the way to face the games. We have to forget about last season. We have to start from scratch. We have to play with humility, aware that it takes hard work, that all the other teams are younger than we are, more athletic and, in some cases, even more talented too. We gotta come out and put up a fight.
I’m feeling good. It’s true that I didn’t play great in this road trip, I though I only have a few good games, but it was more or less like the rest of the team, not terrible, but I didn’t do very good. It was actually difficult to find somebody that had a good game. We were in a sea of mediocrity across the board. I think Tim had a great game against the Clippers, but after him, from Tony to the last bench guy nobody stood out. And we definitely need more players playing well if we want to go up in the standings. I still feel we don’t value each possession. We’re not playing like in the playoffs last season when we felt every possession was life or death, we don’t have that urgency and everything gets more difficult.
We’ve been talking a lot in the latter part of the trip with Tim and Tony, really with the whole team, and we understood that everybody has to play better and especially the three of us. That could help the team. But we also feel that the whole team needs to focus on that. Hopefully after this game and a half where we shown good things, we can start playing more loose, without carrying the backpack of trying to be the team we were last season.
Original in Spanish here:
http://canchallena.lanacion.com.ar/1...mpezar-de-cero
Great read. Thanks El Nono....
My .
Thanks for the translation as always.
Interesting that it's not the "spurs never repeat" monkey that's all their back, but they're just trying to play as well as they did last season, which is tough tbh.
Great article. Very interesting insights. Thanks for translating and posting it, El Nono.
A great job... two thumbs up!
Great read. Thanks for the translation.
He said that the team didn't really feel the struggles after those two losses, but it hit them hard once they lost to UtahGreat read. Thanks for the translation.
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Good read, Manu is definitely a good writer and seems to have a good pulse on the team. Thanks for that translation, bromosexual.
throwing the towel already smh
Manu truly is the heart and soul of the Spurs team. As long as hes still playing, the pulse is still beating.
Like what Parker did in '11?
The silver lining of the part where he says they don't value each possession like they did in the playoffs last year is that maybe they need that spark to get to that level. Last year, it was the year before that fueled them. As we get closer and closer to the big time, they'll get back that same focus.
I haven't had a lot of time to watch much of them year. If Parker is as hobbled as everyone has been saying all the focus in the world won't matter. He's gotta get healthy enough.
Thanks for the translation El.
Porker in 2011:
“We will always have a good team but we can no longer say that we’re playing for a championship.”
He should say it again, maybe it gives us some luck again..
Clearly goes to show that trying to repeat last season's magic is getting in the Spurs' head.
Ironic that everyone thought the heartbreak of 6 would make them crumble, and it turned them into gangbusters.
Now it's almost the ghost of 5 that seems to be haunting them.
What TGY said pretty much. They didn't get down much after those losses (perhaps aware they were not playing at a high level yet), but by the time they lost to Utah, it hit hard.Great read. Thanks for the translation.
Y'all welcome
Awesome article as always. Thanks for posting it
Good read
Watching spurs last games I do think they are trying to play the Finals 2014 way. Which is not really a good idea since they got to the finals playing a different way.
Imo they need to go back n play pre finals way
Which makes no sense because the Utah game was a freak game where Rudy gobert took over and tore spurs a new one. happens.
The game where they really ed up is the clippers game. And Pop should get a lot of blame for that
“We will always have a good team but we can no longer say that we’re playing for a championship.”
Yeah his rotations were horrendous.
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