HOOPSWORLD GLOBAL: Manu Ginobili

[tekdragon]

Hoopsworld

GLOBAL: Manu Ginobili By Nikola Olic
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Nov 16, 2006, 11:59


The land of Maradona is slowly becoming the land of Manu. Spurs' guard took Argentina's legendary soccer know-how and applied it to basketball. He is physically aggressive close to the net yet has the finesse to be dangerous from a distance, just like the soccer hero whom he could soon replace as Argentina's premiere sports figure. Manu Ginobili's older brother Sebastian can no longer walk down the street unnoticed, people mistake him for 'Manu!' and want to have their picture taken.

While his two older brothers reached their basketball potential in the Argentine league, Manu -- as youngest brothers often do -- looked for a bigger challenge. Family heritage and exposure to vast basketball opportunities made Italy a logical choice. Ginobili's international climb to the top started with Kinder Bologna, one of four Italian teams playing in Euroleague, arguably the second best league in the world. Awards with the team tell the story of his progress: Most Improved Player in 2000, Most Valuable Player in 2001 and Euroleague Most Valuable Player in 2001. Ginobili and his Bologna coach Ettore Messina had a special year, winning nine out of nine games to capture the Italian championship.

"Messina had a lot of influence on my game. From being a talented player, he turned me into a very good player and a team player. I started playing better defense, I knew where my teammates would be on the court. He made me a team player and the team helped me take the big step in my career."

Manu's teams always win, or come very, very close. It started with that perfect Italian championship in 2001 and continued through the world championships in Japan this summer. In between them, he won two les with the San Antonio Spurs and an Olympic gold medal with Argentina. The medal hanging around his neck also hung on his last-second off-balance shot against Serbia. Argentina's coach Ruben Magnano knew what Messina before him and Popovich after him had come to expect -- the ball was going in. World Championships showcase what Manu basketball is all about: being the best when you absolutely have to be.

"NBA is a tournament of eights months, World Cup is just 12 days. It does not allow for any mistakes. You have to be sharp when you have to. Here in the NBA you have more time, you play seven games in every round. In the World Cup, its one mistake and you are out. But its a great atmosphere and I think everybody feels very proud of representing their countries. This year we played Spain. I feel we were very, very close. Sometimes you are going to win it, sometimes you are going to lose it. They made one shot and we were out. Sometimes, basketball can be cruel."

But basketball can also be beautiful. Its only November and Ginobili might have already made the best assist of the season. It was a fast break against New York that threaded a bounce pass the length of the court. At full speed, the ball went through equally confused Spurs' and Knicks' players, into Beno's hands and ultimately into the basket. In fast breaks coming his way, Manu's court visibility and positioning skills sometimes come to life in arguably less beautiful ways. But he makes no excuses -- flopping is just another skill.

"It's about being at the right place at the right time with your body. Flopping thing got over the top a couple of years ago when we were playing Denver. Their coach started talking about it, all the media started saying it and now I am the flopper. There are a lot of players that get a lot more charges than me and nobody says anything. I am very proud to help my team with that."

In addition to Denver's coach George Karl, there are exactly 435 NBA players whose opinions are of no interest to Ginobili.

"As far as my opponents go, I don't care. I don't care about the criticism. I didn't come to the NBA to make friends. I came to improve, to win championships and to be a great teammate."

Every time Ginobili enters a basketball arena he does the same thing. He looks for Argentine supporters and flashes them a smile. He first notices the blue and white colors of the flag and then he notices the jerseys, his No.5 often covering their backs. Fans also bring something that extends beyond basketball, the many Argentine national chants. After hosting and winning the inaugural basketball world championships in 1950, Argentina has not been close to the top until Manu entered the national team in 1998. Two decades ago Ginobili was chanting for his soccer hero Diego Armando Maradona, and now people of his hometown of Bahia Blanca and all of Argentina are chanting for Emanuel David Ginobili.


"With basketball, I gained a lot. I would not change it for anything in the world. When I am done with basketball I will probably go back to Bahia Blanca. Its not just that it is a beautiful and special place, but my family is there, my fiends are there. I lived there for 20 years, all my roots are there. It would be hard to ever truly leave Bahia Blanca."

There are less popular provinces than Buenos Aires, the famous province where his hometown is located. Manu lists little known Calafate, Ushuaia and Salta as areas he would love to visit after retirement. Argentina is the eighth largest country in the world, he will have plenty of opportunities to relax and contemplate his basketball achievements. The only question is will he have enough fingers for all his championship rings.

[TMTTRIO]

Good article. I'm just hoping he gets better than he's been playing right now. I know he's been doing other things to help when he can't shoot, but he has career low %'s in shooting. Hopefully that will rise as the season progresses. I guess I just miss the old Manu.

"It's about being at the right place at the right time with your body. Flopping thing got over the top a couple of years ago when we were playing Denver. Their coach started talking about it, all the media started saying it and now I am the flopper. There are a lot of players that get a lot more charges than me and nobody says anything. I am very proud to help my team with that."

That's what I was thinking. Ever since the Denver series where Manu was torching them and George Karl was whining and complaining about his flopping all I hear about now is how he flops and nothing else. Like Manu said there are others who do the same thing and nobody says anything about them.

[Cherry]

That's what I was thinking. Ever since the Denver series where Manu was torching them and George Karl was whining and complaining about his flopping all I hear about now is how he flops and nothing else. Like Manu said there are others who do the same thing and nobody says anything about them.

Conclusion: Manu is the best flopper and hat´s enviable in the NBA.