Ginobili's multinational coronation

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Ginóbili's multinational coronationBy Álvaro Martín

SAN ANTONIO – As Detroit pushed San Antonio to the limit, we saw the best come out in two players, the Spurs' inside-outside combination.

Spurs forward Tim Duncan earned his third Finals MVP award, fighting three superbly athletic defenders. At the same time, however, the nation got to know the funky guard from Argentina who was the other candidate for the award.

If Duncan is the keel and the mast of the Spurs' vessel, Manu Ginóbili is now firmly at the helm. What Italy and Europe, his own country and San Antonio have come to appreciate was on display for the rest of the United States to watch.

In terms of making a name in the United States, Ginóbili's big "mistake" was not choosing to play NCAA men's basketball. Before arriving on the NBA scene in 2003, he had zero exposure in the U.S.: no sports magazine covers, no nationally televised broadcasts, no American coaches who could claim they shaped his development. No roots, no friends, no connections.

Hey, they could not even pronounce his nickname right: It's not man-U, it's MAHN-u.

Few in the U.S. knew his game before he came over in 2003. The only network carrying FIBA basketball, NBA TV, limits its exposure to a game a week. But that does not mean Ginóbili was not an accomplished player before his arrival here. His situation was just like that of a wealthy immigrant told he had to go through Ellis Island to enter the country.

The Detroit Pistons finally paid Manu Ginóbili the ultimate compliment by double-teaming him, beginning in Game 3 of the 2005 NBA Finals. That's what Larry Brown had to do after Manu destroyed his defensive game plan in Games 1 and 2 in San Antonio, averaging 26.5 points in the first two games.

Game 2, in particular, was Ginóbili at his best: 27 points scored in just eight floor shots. That's more than three points scored per shot attempted. Brown could not remember a more efficient performance in such a high-stakes game in his coaching career.

During the 2004-05 regular season, Ginóbili scored 1.7 points for every shot attempt. Only Yao Ming and Paul Pierce bested him. The Spurs star made the most of the NBA's renewed emphasis on limiting contact on ball handlers in the perimeter. He finished eighth in the league in free-throw attempts per game with 8.2.

Manu has not become an appreciably better player than he was when he was dominating the Italian and European leagues in 2001 and 2002. Ettore Messina will tell you that.

Messina tops the list of coaches not born and bred in the United States who could make the transition and eventually become an NBA head coach. The Denver Nuggets invited him to join them as a guest assistant three preseasons ago. (Why doesn't the NBA have each team bring in a foreign coach to join its staff and even let the visitor coach a game during preseason as a league initiative?)

Messina led Benetton Treviso this season, but he coached Manu for two years with Virtus Kinder Bologna. In 2001, Messina's team won the Italian Cup, the Italian League and the Euroleague. Manu was the Euroleague's MVP. The following year, Virtus repeated as Italian Cup champ and came in second in Euroleague play.

"Manu is such a special player," Messina remembered. "When I first saw him play, I had the same reaction Gregg Popovich had in San Antonio in 2003 – 'what's this?'" Ginóbili was unorthodox, but showed very clear traits. He constantly attacks – at both ends of the court. He has surprising quickness. Manu invites contact in his fearless penetrations and has great anticipation on steals and rebounds. "He would fly over people on the way to the hoop," his former coach said.

"He was more of a scorer then," Messina said. "He focused on the basket a lot, especially on his drives. But he slowly became aware of his teammates. He knows where they are and how to find them. He is a scorer, but a very unselfish and intelligent one, who understands the team concept."

Ginóbili might have had to grasp that. He shared Bologna's backcourt with shoot-first point guard Marko Jaric. "I don't want to compare Marko to Tony Parker, but for Manu, Tony's game is something he has seen before. The only category Manu had to work on offensively was assists. But his passing became as daring and as creative as his drives."

But it is smarts that separates Ginóbili from the rest. "He has a rare quality of mastering each environment he enters quickly."

"In the Bologna Derby [Virtus and For udo, the two teams based in that city, played each other early in the 2001 season], Manu had a particularly bad game," Messina reminisced. "A few months later, he destroyed them. In his first Euroleague game in Athens, he did not score a field goal, all he made was one free throw. Six months later, he was the Euroleague MVP. He can figure out what he needs to learn and what the team needs to win and gets the job done."

That's exactly what has happened in these Finals. Detroit's ferocious blitzing of San Antonio's pick-and-roll stunned Ginóbili and the Spurs in Game 3. Manu turned the ball over a whopping six times; San Antonio's ball handlers combined had 14 turnovers.

By Game 5, the Spurs' coaching staff had decided that although Tony Parker would continue as the point guard, Manu would handle the ball in key situations. Whomever Tayshaun Prince guarded had to bring the ball upcourt while the rest of the Spurs ran deep toward the baseline, keeping the four other Pistons away from the player with the ball. That player was primarily Ginóbili.

Coach Popovich already lets Manu create on the last possession to close a quarter, while having the other four Spurs spread out to the sidelines. Pop and the Spurs get some kind of production out of that, more often than not.

By the Finals' fifth game, Ginóbili figured out what his team needed to accomplish. He had nine turnovers, including the one that led to Horry's game-defining 3-point basket. On that play, instead of starting at the top of the key, he went to the coffin corner. Rasheed Wallace could not resist temptation and doubled down. Ginóbili and Horry had the last laugh in a game played with Game 7 intensity.

In Games 5 and 6, Ginóbili performed appreciably better against Detroit's pick-and-roll defense by using some slip-screen action and by aggressively driving against Detroit's bigs, even before his own teammate fully established the pick.

The NBA proved to be another transition for Ginóbili, and some things have changed in his game, in Messina's opinion. "His decision making had to be quicker. He had to get used to more physical contact, especially when he invited it. I was scared he would get hurt. But the confidence he has on the court now is as high as ever."

Messina has been watching the Finals on delayed broadcasts on Italian television.

Game 7 showed Ginóbili's ability to adapt to changing cir stances. He cut through the pick-and-roll and dunked on Ben Wallace. The team lost the crucial rebound battle with the Pistons in the first half, so Manu made sure he got five rebounds on the defensive end in the third and fourth quarters. He could not sleep well between Games 6 and 7 with the thought of Prince's scoring twice off offensive rebounds he should have had.

San Antonio even uses some of the plays straight out of the Argentinean national team's playbook, including elements of the flex offense. Duncan's two assists in the fourth quarter were familiar to the record amount of viewers watching the broadcast live in Argentina: Duncan would hold the ball until the bitter end of the possession, convince the defense that he had no alternative but to shoot and then find shooters wide open. San Antonio traded a higher probability of incurring a 24-second violation for the benefit of a clear look at the basket.

When I congratulated Spurs general manager R.C. Buford on San Antonio's fine season, he just shook his head and said: "Congratulations to Manu. He is the most compe ive player I have ever seen up close."

Manu has lost weight this season. His commitment last summer to Olympic gold has pushed his body to the limit. He needs to rest and to put on more pounds to make the most of his gladiatorial style of play before next season, when he will not sneak up on teams as much.
"He keeps his ego in check. In his first year in the NBA [like many FIBA-trained players who come over to play, Manu was no rookie, just a veteran player making his debut], he wins the NBA le, trying to blend into Duncan's team. He leads Argentina to Olympic gold. He makes the All-Star Game, and now he has had an amazing playoff run. Throughout, he does not allow himself to change as a person," Messina remarked.
"He's a coach's dream. He may be the first player trained outside the United States that becomes a league or a Finals MVP, even as transcendent as Duncan is," Messina said. When he outscored Tim the Magnificent in the first round against Denver, Ginóbili became the first Spur not named Duncan to lead the team in scoring in a playoff series since 1999, .

Ginóbili's play in these Finals forced observers to consider him for the MVP, a distinction he might never win as long as Duncan continues to shine imperceptibly. Winning, not individual glory, is what moves Ginóbili. He left considerable money on the table when he re-upped with the Spurs as a free agent last summer – imagine if he had waited to sign until after the Olympics ended. Winning a bunch of championships with Duncan was more than worth the discount.
Ginóbili thinks like a coach, and acts like a coach on the court. It was Manu who gave Duncan a pep talk after Tim's Game 5 fourth-quarter missed free throws, tip-in and turnover. It is Manu who steadily reminds his teammates of their priorities on the court, whether the ball is in his hands or not.
When Popovich had Manu come off the bench during the first-round playoff series against the Nuggets, Ginóbili did not pout or resent his coach's decision. He just went out and led all scorers. After that, he had his teammates' instant and profound respect.

Messina has a running joke with his coaching staff, even now that they have moved on to Benetton Treviso. "Every time we hit a rough spot during a game, I say the same thing to my assistants. This year, we were being pounded in the Italian League semifinals' fifth and deciding game by Milan, and I called a timeout. I noticed everyone was tense, so I brought out our favorite line amongst the staff: 'Is Manu arriving soon?'"
Yes, Ettore, Manu has arrived.

[Manu'sMagicalLeftHand]

Great article. Alvaro Martin comments NBA games for Latin America's ESPN, he makes a great duo with Carlos Morales, their broadcasts are amazing.

Definitely some typo here:

By the Finals' fifth game, Ginóbili figured out what his team needed to accomplish. He had nine turnovers, including the one that led to Horry's game-defining 3-point basket. On that play, instead of starting at the top of the key, he went to the coffin corner. Rasheed Wallace could not resist temptation and doubled down. Ginóbili and Horry had the last laugh in a game played with Game 7 intensity.

Nine assists! Don't drink and write Alvaro!

Well, you are forgiven, the Spurs won!

[Rick Von Braun]

Good read.