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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS VS SPURSMay 21, 2017Pau GasolOakland, California - Practice Day Q. What was it like to see Manu perform the way he did. Just your thoughts on his career and what he's meant to this organization? PAU GASOL: It's always great to see Manu be aggressive and be kind of the heart of the team. Bringing the competitive edge, giving everything he's got, playing like there's no tomorrow kind of thing. I've always respected Manu so much through all our battles, NBA and internationally. It's really a privilege to play with him this season. Q. Do you remember the first time you noticed Manu Ginobili the basketball player, whether it was the NBA or pre-NBA? PAU GASOL: Yeah, pre-NBA, when he played in Bologna. I watched him play and he was already playing at a very high level. He already stood out. I saw him get drafted late in the second round. He's turned out to be a magnificent NBA player with an incredible career, and still playing at a high level. Scoring 20-plus points in the Conference Finals at this age, I think it's pretty remarkable and it speaks highly of what Manu is and has been. Q. (Indiscernible). PAU GASOL: I think his role is different when he played for Argentina than what he plays here for the Spurs, but you've got to appreciate both. You've got to appreciate a guy that is able to lead his country and be more of a scorer and carry more load on his national team. He won an Olympic gold medal in 2004 in Athens; I remember it well. Again, we had a lot of battles. He's been doing a great job here coming off the bench for the majority of his career. He's a guy that has been an All-Star and could be a starter anywhere and everywhere. You've got to give him props for that as well. Q. You're down 3-0 to the Warriors and you're missing three players in the rotation. How would you describe the situation? PAU GASOL: A quite challenging one for our team, I would say. But at the end of the day, you've got to control what you can control and bring the competitiveness and give yourself a chance and execute your game plan. Against a team like the Warriors, you really have to be sharp and minimize your mistakes and be the aggressor all night long and take them out of their comfort zones because you let those guys get rolling, they're a handful. You really have to execute and have to be sharp mentally, physically, and hope that things go your way, too. Q. I know Manu hasn't said anything yet, but with him possibly retiring, does it give you guys a little bit more edge? PAU GASOL: Manu will make his decision. He hasn't really said anything one way or another. I think he's been pretty neutral as far as his choices for next year. We'll try to win tomorrow for ourselves and for everyone that is in this team. We worked so hard all season long to be here. So for many reasons, we'll go out there and compete and give it our best, knowing that we have a tough opponent and they are in a position that they can close. We know how that feels, too. It's going to be a difficult game, but we will give everything we've got and win for many reasons because you never know what's going to happen next year -- who you're going to play with next year, who's going to be on the team, who's not going to be on the team, who's going to be in their last year and so forth. You always have to give your best and play every game like it's your last, enjoy that experience and go from there. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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