NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 8, 2005

Manu Ginobili

MANU GINOBILI: I think it helps for some reason, it really helps. I don't feel that when I'm guarding a left-handed, or right-handed. I just think in my career, it's always been something special that I had. I try to use it.

MANU GINOBILI: No, I didn't. I read what he said. I would have been upset, you get ink instead of blood. But what I think that he should have said to the press and talk straight to coaches and teams or whoever. But he's new in this league. He learned. But what I think is great is that he showed everybody he was upset, because you've definitely got to be upset. Nobody likes that.

MANU GINOBILI: Yeah, of course we have way more confidence now. Remember that he was 19 when we won the first championship. Even though he was still a great player, leading us in many games, now he went through a lot of things. This is his fourth year, so he's way more mature. I have no doubt that it's going to be a great match-up against. Chauncey. He's a great player, very experienced, too. Tony is on the way to get that experience. He's so fast, he is so talented that he's going to find his way through.

MANU GINOBILI: I think that the numbers are relative. Of course, if you play, your numbers are going to go up, the team is going to score 100, 115, you're going to get more points, more assists and get more boards and stuff like that. I don't really care that much about that. Of course it's good to see your numbers improving but this series is going to be a whole different thing. Games are probably going to be around 85 to 90 points and it's going to be harder to score. And I don't really care. Nobody does. The goal is to do the little things, make a key shot that probably you're going to score eight points, but if you make an important one and get a steal or grab a rebound, so numbers sometimes are very relative, especially at this stage. I don't think that anybody in the whole team cares about that.

MANU GINOBILI: I don't know what is going to happen either. (Laughter). I'm a slasher. Slasher, I always try to go by the first defensive line. Once I am on the paint, we'll see, I don't know. Sometimes it's going to be an open teammate, sometimes I'm going to be trying to draw a foul or finish. You know, sometimes -- there's got to be something that people talks about, about the way I penetrate, but for me it's normal, the same way I've always done it, so for me it's nothing that funny about it, in particular.

MANU GINOBILI: Well, I think it did. My confidence, it really helped, because once you feel like you are the Olympic champion and chosen MVP or stuff like that, you start believing even more in yourself, knowing that you've got to be doing something well. So, it was like a carry-over from Athens. Then it really helped me the fact that Pop told me since the beginning that he was going to try to use me more, give me the ball a little bit more. So I had a nice beginning, I started very confidently and it was a carry-over. I think it was the beginning of the change that I made in the last two or three seasons.

MANU GINOBILI: Of course it's got to be pretty special for them. You always hear Pop talking about Larry. You see them always together in the summers. I knew the last year for The Finals, Pop was so excited for Larry and talking to him on the phone all the time, helping each other. So they are good friends. But, you know, at this stage, you want to win so bad, you really don't care much about who is on the other side, even if my brother is playing for the Pistons, I wouldn't care, I'm going to try to win, beat him, make him score fewer points. They are probably in the same spot.

MANU GINOBILI: They are good, because they play like a team. Many of the teams in this league just don't, and you know that.

MANU GINOBILI: So they know what it takes. They have been adding pieces to that team that really fit. Larry is a great coach, makes them play well. And they have guys that can play defense, move the ball, smart players. I think we are very similar franchises. We both care a lot about defense and we both base our games on that. Offensively, you know, they have got some scorers. Chauncey, Tayshaun or Rasheed or even Rip, they can all score. They move the ball very well. It's pretty hard to guard them all.

MANU GINOBILI: How I started?

MANU GINOBILI: Well, I was 14 and my two brothers were already playing as a pro in Argentina. So I wasn't even thinking about any other option; I wanted to make it there, too. What I didn't know is that I was going to make it this far. And of course when I started playing, I probably was their, you know, way to improve and get better and then the best players in Argentina then Europe and then the best in the NBA. You don't try to imitate or play like them, but, you know, you get some things, you admire them, you want to be where they were, so I think that was, I think that helped me to keep improving and looking forward.

MANU GINOBILI: He's a guy that transmits tranquility. He makes you feel comfortable, confident, knowing that you're going to get there, that he's going to be there to help you out. If you're going to depend on him for a shot, he's going to make it. Even for a big player, people talk a lot about his, you know, big shots, but he's giving us a lot of big rebounds, steals, blocked shots. So, he's one of those guys that you need to have around for the end because he's going to maybe get a great play.