Now I feel like I own more this trophy because I had more protagonism in the team.
by Manu /25-06-05
Wow! How can explain what I feel right now? It’s hard to, because a lot of things come to my head. I think the most important thing is right now I feel different with this le than the one we won in 2003 because I was more involved in the gameplan. I feel like I own this le more than the one in 2003. That’s why I’m really enjoying it. This time I had more responsibilities and more pressure. It’s was worthy. Luckily I was able to bring my family and I could share with them this elation. When the game was over I saw them hugging and cheering in the stands almost ignoring me. It was great that they could come down and it was thrilling. Like in 2003, my wife toss me the flag I had around my waist. I don’t know where we got that flag, I think it was a flag that a fellow argentine gave us in the 2003 playoffs and well we kept it. She always brings it to the SBC. It’s not the same from of the Olympic Games, of course, because she didn’t go to Athens.
About the comparison with the golden medal, you could say the value is the same but emotionally it’s totally different. The NBA le was an objective that had everything to do with the professional side of things, the one in Greece it was something from the heart because we felt the pride to represent our flag, our country and millions of people. But I repeat, professionally this is the single most important thing I’ve earned. I’m very lucky to win my second ring in the third year since I’m here. You just have to think about some of my team-mates, like Massemburg, Barry and Glenn Robinson with more than 10 seasons in the league, they have never reached a final. I’m really happy right now and feel I’m a guy with a lot of luck. I know many people stayed late at night watching the games. I’m very grateful for all the support they gave me and this is also for them. I heard the (TV) ratings climbed and that in my club, Bahiense del Norte, they had a big screen and that a lot of people from my city gathered there to cheer for the Spurs. I’m glad that I could give them and all Argentina something to cheer on.
The truth is that I couldn’t wait for this final to be over, it was very long and the last days were very hard, filled with tension and nervousness. Luckily it ended with a smile, that’s great. Detroit is a great team and a very difficult rival, they have a defense as good as ours and they made us work extra hard to break them. What was different from game 6 is that in the seventh game we could do things a little better in the 4th quarter, because the game could have gone either way. This time I worried about entering the fourth quarter with fresh legs, I didn’t want to happen what did happen in the previous game, I was really tired in that last quarter. That’s why I wasn’t mad when I went to the bench early on with foul trouble.
Well it’s time to talk about “Mr. 21”. Tim Duncan was fantastic. Pop told us that the key to the game was that he had to take at least 25 FG. And not only Tim did it, he also took lots of rebounds and when the double team came he correctly assisted his team-mates. He was very aggressive and he deserved the MVP award. I was told that the people in the stands cheered my name, but I didn’t really listen, the noise was loud and I was focused in what I was doing. The only thing I wanted was the game to be over. Besides, there’s no doubt Tim deserved the award. I think it would be borderline illegal that I would pretend to win the award playing alongside Tim. I made a nice 3 pointer and some FTs but that doesn’t mean I won the game, the guy who made it possible was the guy near the basket, he opened the game for us to make it happen. There is no doubt he was the best. I feel proud that some people thought I could have been the MVP. But it’s clear that Tim didn’t win all by himself, we won it because we have a great team, an unselfish team, with a great defense that always had the same objective.
In the last game we won because we closed in a better way than they did, the last five minutes of the game were very good. In the first half we were focused but in the end of it we made four mistakes in a row and we let them tie the game. Up until the last 20 seconds of the game when I stood there to make a FT I thought the game was ours, at that time Detroit didn’t have more minutes left. It was over.
What can I say about my job (in the game)? I was satisfied because I could do the right things at the end, not rushing things and doing what was had to be done. I was so satisfied in what I did that I’m considering not cutting my hair.
The series was amazing, with great responsibility for both teams and I think very thrilling for the people watching. Luckily everything went right. I’m very tired right now; I had energy left only to shake the bottle of champagne. It was like in Athens, I was dead, I could barely walk, but I jumped with joy more than I jumped in any game of that Olympic Games.
The truth is that winning two NBA les and a gold medal in the Olympic Games in three years it’s amazing, you don’t see that often. I think is too much for only one person.