It was a special night: The ball was always going into the basked
por Manu / 01-09-2007
Although we had not gotten tot he point when you say: “We won't recover from this,” the reality is that we were not doing well, we know what our weaknesses are. Losing three games in a row is too much for us. We are not used to this, and we could not allow ourselves to lose one more game.
Given these facts, beating Memphis gave us some tranquility, but we also knew that sooner or later we would snap out of this negative period.
However, I should say that there is no drama here. Our fans support us all the way. When we played against Dallas, we had lost two games in a row and still, our fans shouted and supported us like never before. From time to time I see that when other teams lose a couple of games, the number of fans at their arenas begin to dwindle or the players are booed. I never experienced anything like this iin San Antonio, because there are no reasons for things like these to happen.
In general, the atmosphere is the same. Although we don't talk about the standings, it goes without saying that we watch them. And we don't like seeing that we are fourth on the standings. We are three games behind Dallas (27-8), two games behind Phoenix (25-8) and even Utah is ahead of us (24-10).
What we also know is that there is time for improvement, because we are not yet mid-way through the season. Besides, we have won the play-offs regardless of whether we were number one on the standings.
About the team, I should say that we are somewhat behind where we were in other seasons. We are not defending well and this is what we have to be able to do.
This season, Tony Parker had a great start and Tim Duncan started very well. Now there is more balance. Tim looks calm with what is going on. To me the team is a reflection of its star. And when we are not doing well, he does not shine as much. Within the next 20 games, we may look more like the team that won the championship or we may even get better. We will see.
The 34 points that I made against Memphis had nothing to do with the fact that we did not have Tony Parker. We did not change the way we played. It was a game that was similar to the previous ones. Had the game been closer, I might have ended up having more responsibility at the end, but there was no need for this. The only difference was that I made a couple of extra shots. I realized that it was a special night because the ball was going into the basket and I felt very confident. In particular, this was the case with the three-point shots. I missed the first three pointer at the beginning of the second half, and I did not miss one again.
I heard people say that I am playing like I was two years ago, when I made it to the All Star Game, but I feel that I am the same. Last year I lacked continuity because I was hurt and this led me to be somewhat out of rhythm, but I did not play any better or worse than I am playing now.
It is true that I am more effective. My three-point percentage is a little out of the norm (44%), and the free throws (87%) are much more of a mental thing, it's psychological. I always say that in the end there is balance. Still, I am working a lot on my shooting skills. It's hard to keep those percentages, although I don't think I will go from 44% to the 35% of other years. There is always room for improvemen.
manu