Ginobili seeks a consistency of production
Mike Monroe
SALT LAKE CITY — The subject was consistency, so when Manu Ginobili began to speak about his 31 games that preceded Tuesday's game against the Jazz at Energy Solutions Arena, he felt compelled to offer a clarification.
“Consistency,” he said, “or the lack of?”
Case in point: Ginobili's showing against the Lakers on Sunday afternoon — nine points, on 4-for-11 shooting, and a lone assist — stood in stark contrast to his 9-for-15, 27-point production in the Spurs' 112-111 victory over the Lakers just 11 days earlier.
After scoring in double figures in nine straight games in late December and early January, during which he averaged 17.0 points, he scored only 17 in the two games that preceded Tuesday's contest.
“It's been frustrating, because I started consistently,” Ginobili said. “I had solid games. Then, a month later I find myself playing either very good games or bad games. I don't know what it is, but I am trying to work on it mentally.”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich no longer ponders how close Ginobili may, or may not, be to full-strength after offseason surgery to repair a left ankle impingement.
“All I care about is how he performs on the court,” Popovich said. ‘All you guys ask how close he is to being 100 percent. I have no clue. Watch him play and make your own decision.”
Addressing his up-and-down play has not been easy for Ginobili.
“I don't know what I can do,” he said. “You've just got to try to be more solid, especially in those kind of games like we just played (against the Lakers).
“You must wait a little more. Sometimes I get frustrated with my shot because they feel good when I take them, but they are not falling. I keep trying, and I've got to be a little more relaxed. The team doesn't need me to score as much as last year, so I've just got to learn to be a little more patient.”
Most exasperating for the NBA's reigning Sixth Man Award winner has been his inability to get to the rim on drives from the perimeter as often as he has in past seasons.
“I don't know which comes first,” he said. “If I am not making shots, and that doesn't make the defense commit as much and I can't go to the rim more; or, the fact that I'm not going to the rim as hard makes me rely a lot on the (perimeter) shot.
“I'm not sure yet which it is, but I realize I'm not going as much and getting to the free-throw line, so I will try to do it more.”
Defying the odds: Popovich went into Tuesday's game with 661 victories in his 13 seasons as Spurs' head coach, but he is a neophyte compared to Jazz coach Jerry Sloan.
Sloan, who recently signed a deal that will keep him on the Jazz bench next season, has been there for 20 years and 1,020 victories.
“He's the consummate compe or and the consummate professional, practice to practice, game to game, year to year, and it doesn't matter who's on his team or who's hurt,” said Popovich. “They're consistent, night after night after night, and that's a real tribute to him.”
“It's been frustrating, because I started consistently,” Ginobili said. “I had solid games. Then, a month later I find myself playing either very good games or bad games. I don't know what it is, but I am trying to work on it mentally.”
NO IT HAS BEEN FRUSTRATING!
So which comes first? His jumpshooting or driving? let's help him deciiidddeee!
I'd prefer he stop turing the ball over so much. The shots will fall again.
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