NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 19, 2005

Manu Ginobili

MANU GINOBILI: No, I didn't think they were going to do it. The play was for me to try to take that shot or play one-on-one, but as soon as I saw 'Sheed coming, you know, always my first option is Robert, especially in those moments. So as soon as I saw him I just gave him the ball and he made an unbelievable shot.

MANU GINOBILI: No. Sometimes you don't need to say anything, you just see the game. I couldn't do anything in the corner with Rasheed coming to me, so I just gave him the ball. I had nothing else to do. So the credit goes all to him.

MANU GINOBILI: Yes, but we ran out of plays for me to get it in the top, so Pop wanted to change it a little bit and that was it. It's not that I love going to the corner, it's just another play.

MANU GINOBILI: Confidence, he's a winner, he's been in this situation so many times that he knows what it takes and he loves that moment. So he's always waiting for his chance, and today people are going to remember that three, the dunk, a lot of important plays, he was just unbelievable.

MANU GINOBILI: Well, if they were going to try to put me back in the game, I was a little bit frustrated because I thought I had it, I took a good shot, thought I was going to make it. And if not, I thought that as Ben Wallace came to me, Tim was going to be open for the rebound, so I was very upset that we could not finish in regulation. But still, you know, you've got to forget things. It was hard for me, I really struggled in overtime a little bit, but still, I think we showed a great character. We played with a lot of heart and we were able to win.

MANU GINOBILI: Yeah, yeah, I've watched most of them. Still, I was in Europe, I was a big fan of the NBA, and especially the playoffs. I watched all of them. So I'm very aware. And even if I didn't watch those games, you know, when you've got a teammate, you've got to try to understand what his career, what he did in the past, how he likes playing and stuff like that. You know, Robert is not a mystery. Everybody knows what he does.

MANU GINOBILI: I just tried to be more aggressive, go to the basket harder, grabbing the ball better, because they were slapping the ball out of our hands in Game 3 and Game 4. But I think that the key was to move the ball better. It's easier to go to the basket after a couple of baskets than, you know, holding the ball and letting the defense set. I think what we did well was to move the ball, play unselfish and find the open guy.