NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SPURS v SUNS

May 30, 2005

Manu Ginobili

MANU GINOBILI: They played better and we played worse, it's mainly that. We let them score a lot on transition, so they got very confident and they stepped up defensively too. They didn't let us play so comfortable, so we just got to give them credit. They played a very good game.

MANU GINOBILI: I think we shot with very good percentages. We take a lot of open shots and mainly because that's what the risk they took. They were double -- going at Tim very quickly and I think we moved the ball very well. Most of the threes we got were open, so if we got to do that we don't care, as long as we don't take contested shots. I don't think that was the key of the game.

MANU GINOBILI: It's going to be both, no doubt. They had a good game. I am not going to be so stupid and not say that. But at the same time, same thing I always say, we let them get it going, with a lot of threes especially in the third quarter when we had a lead of 7 points going into halftime, we just were not as focused as we should; especially against a team like them. As soon as you blink they can kill you. So we didn't do that so well and they make you pay.

MANU GINOBILI: Not a shock, of course we're very upset. We had a great chance playing at home, but we're not playing a bad team. We're playing the best record in the NBA, so it was not impossible for this to happen. We won twice in Phoenix, I think it's logical that they can come here and get a win. So we're upset. We're angry, but the series continues. We're still in a great shape and the goal is going to the Finals, not to sweep them.

MANU GINOBILI: After every loss the mood is not the best. We're upset because we know we made too many mistakes. We didn't have a great game. We missed too many free throws, so it's upsetting to know that you had a big chance and you let it go. But at the same time, we know we're still in great shape, great position, so we want to go there and try to win again as we did a week ago, come back happily.

MANU GINOBILI: It really is hard to match up against them because most of the times Amare (Stoudemire) is the first one to get to the basket. Many times just one of us got to cover him, so it's unusual for the bigs to go and cover a guy like Jackson or Q (Richardson), that they are always on the 3-point line. Then we had a little problem of communication where sometimes two went to the ball and you know, he's hard because they are good at it but we didn't make those mistakes in the first three games.

MANU GINOBILI: They were playing a little bit with desperation because we were trailing and I was trying to be aggressive on the ball so rotations, he's a big guy and very strong and athletic. One time was against Tony (Parker), a couple of times we were on the rebounds. We know he can do that. I think we control him better than the first three games. It is just that he's a -- he's a tough matchup. He's a very athletic guy.