http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/14249813p-15066696c.html
Ginobili takes turn pondering turnover
Teammates remind him it happens to everyone, but it's cold comfort until he can redeem himself.
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, April 30, 2006
Mike Bibby had his bounce-back game.
He went from a clunker Game 2 outing in which he shot 3 for 16 during an agonizingly close loss to threading the winning assist to Kevin Martin in Game 3 as time expired Friday night and giving the Kings a fighting chance in the series.
Now Manu Ginobili craves some of that karma.
While many thought he was fouled on the play, the San Antonio Spurs guard made sure to point all 10 of his fingers at himself for the turnover - his turnover - that led to Martin's heroics. The fourth-year dynamo from Argentina called it the worst turnover of his life and wasn't feeling much better some 18 hours later.
A brighter day, Manu, on a bright and sunny Saturday? "No, not for me," he said glumly. "I'm still very upset. I let my teammates down. I guess it happens to everyone once or twice in their career."
And Ginobili can hardly wait to redeem himself.
"Of course, you want to change the image you have, to avoid that mistake," he said. "It was totally my fault. I should have thrown the ball into the air. But a turnover on top of the key? I played it (in my mind) a bunch of times.
"But I can't be crying or thinking about that my whole life. I have to get over it."
Ginobili said he could recall only once in his career when one of his mistakes cost his club a game: his rookie year against Milwaukee. But that wasn't a playoff game. That didn't deny his group a chance at a 3-0 advantage and a real stranglehold on the series.
Spurs veterans were quick to console Ginobili after the game, to remind him that there are more plays to be made, more games to be had.
"It happens in this game, and unfortunately, it happened to him," teammate Bruce Bowen said. "Everyone understands he didn't do that on purpose. Just a moment earlier, he made a great defensive play and knocked it out of bounds against Ron Artest. He's the hero at that moment. Then to go from that to his turnover ... it happens.
"And everyone's been there. Everyone on our starting unit, we've been in games with that situation. You want him to understand that, and you want him to recover."
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he has no doubt that Ginobili will recover. He bounced back from a sluggish Game 1 outing (10 points, two assists, three turnovers) to sizzle in Game 2 (32 points, nine assists, no turnovers).
"Sure (he'll recover)," the coach said. "Manu didn't have his best game. I don't even give it a thought. He'll come back and compete. That's just who he is."
And he'll compete with a little fury to his game.
"Usually, when you play upset and with some anger, it makes you play (with more) concentration," Ginobili said. "Besides the last play, I did not have a good game. I was kind of soft."
Ginobili said that was partly because of the efforts of Artest, the ace defender who has at times given him fits.
"I give him credit," Ginobili said. "It was the same as Game 1. He played very good defense, and I wasn't even there. I will come back and be aggressive, help us do things to win."
About the writer: The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at jdavidson@sacbee.com.
Ginobili takes turn pondering turnover
Teammates remind him it happens to everyone, but it's cold comfort until he can redeem himself.
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, April 30, 2006
Mike Bibby had his bounce-back game.
He went from a clunker Game 2 outing in which he shot 3 for 16 during an agonizingly close loss to threading the winning assist to Kevin Martin in Game 3 as time expired Friday night and giving the Kings a fighting chance in the series.
Now Manu Ginobili craves some of that karma.
While many thought he was fouled on the play, the San Antonio Spurs guard made sure to point all 10 of his fingers at himself for the turnover - his turnover - that led to Martin's heroics. The fourth-year dynamo from Argentina called it the worst turnover of his life and wasn't feeling much better some 18 hours later.
A brighter day, Manu, on a bright and sunny Saturday? "No, not for me," he said glumly. "I'm still very upset. I let my teammates down. I guess it happens to everyone once or twice in their career."
And Ginobili can hardly wait to redeem himself.
"Of course, you want to change the image you have, to avoid that mistake," he said. "It was totally my fault. I should have thrown the ball into the air. But a turnover on top of the key? I played it (in my mind) a bunch of times.
"But I can't be crying or thinking about that my whole life. I have to get over it."
Ginobili said he could recall only once in his career when one of his mistakes cost his club a game: his rookie year against Milwaukee. But that wasn't a playoff game. That didn't deny his group a chance at a 3-0 advantage and a real stranglehold on the series.
Spurs veterans were quick to console Ginobili after the game, to remind him that there are more plays to be made, more games to be had.
"It happens in this game, and unfortunately, it happened to him," teammate Bruce Bowen said. "Everyone understands he didn't do that on purpose. Just a moment earlier, he made a great defensive play and knocked it out of bounds against Ron Artest. He's the hero at that moment. Then to go from that to his turnover ... it happens.
"And everyone's been there. Everyone on our starting unit, we've been in games with that situation. You want him to understand that, and you want him to recover."
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he has no doubt that Ginobili will recover. He bounced back from a sluggish Game 1 outing (10 points, two assists, three turnovers) to sizzle in Game 2 (32 points, nine assists, no turnovers).
"Sure (he'll recover)," the coach said. "Manu didn't have his best game. I don't even give it a thought. He'll come back and compete. That's just who he is."
And he'll compete with a little fury to his game.
"Usually, when you play upset and with some anger, it makes you play (with more) concentration," Ginobili said. "Besides the last play, I did not have a good game. I was kind of soft."
Ginobili said that was partly because of the efforts of Artest, the ace defender who has at times given him fits.
"I give him credit," Ginobili said. "It was the same as Game 1. He played very good defense, and I wasn't even there. I will come back and be aggressive, help us do things to win."
About the writer: The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at jdavidson@sacbee.com.
