Argentines tell Ginobili he should have been finals MVP...

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands -- The debate over who should have won the MVP award at the NBA Finals did not die down over the summer, at least not in Argentina where Manu Ginobili kept hearing from his countrymen that he should have gotten the nod over Tim Duncan.

Manu Ginobili
Shooting Guard
San Antonio Spurs

Profile
2005 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
74 16.0 4.4 3.9 .471 .803




"Well, my mom told me many times," Ginobili said Wednesday, "and I heard it many times in Argentina, but it's just a statue. I'm going to have the ring, same as him, and I was feeling as happy as anyone in the world at that moment, so it doesn't make a difference."


Maybe it didn't matter to Ginobili, but his biggest backers felt the 6-4 vote in favor of Duncan was a slap in the face.


Their argument focused on Ginobili clearly being the Spurs' best player in Games 1 and 2 against Detroit, as well as in the fourth quarter of Game 7 when San Antonio finished off the Pistons. Also, Ginobili was the one who threaded a pass around Rasheed Wallace to find a wide-open Robert Horry for the game-winning 3-point shot in overtime of Game 5.


Duncan's 12 points and six rebounds in the third quarter of Game 7 put the Spurs in control, a factor that carried significant weight in the minds of the six voters -- one each from Detroit and San Antonio, two from national NBA writers and two from broadcasters (all of them Americans) -- who cast their ballots for Duncan late in the fourth quarter of Game 7. Ginobili's four votes came from online balloting, one national NBA writer and one beat writer each from San Antonio and Detroit.


Spurs coach Gregg Popovich heard the MVP complaint several times when he traveled to Argentina during the summer, and the fans in South America even took it a step further.


"I didn't play him enough, we didn't pass it to him enough and all that sort of thing, but that's why they love him," Popovich said. "Either of them could have gotten it, but neither cared because it was irrelevant."


The NBA championship was the second of Ginobili's career, and he plans to display both his rings alongside with his Olympic gold medal from 2004 when he gets around to removing them from a safe deposit box in Texas.


Ginobili's quest for a third NBA title begins in less than a month, and this time he'll have another of his countrymen playing alongside him.


San Antonio signed Argentine center Fabricio Oberto during the summer, adding another knowledgeable, skilled piece to a roster overflowing with talent.


The Spurs originally had planned to sign Argentine forward Luis Scola, but a complicated buyout clause with his Spanish League team prevented him from making the move to the NBA. San Antonio quickly shifted gears and made a play for Oberto, who was ready to sign with Memphis.


"It was a shock for me. I was talking to Luis on a Tuesday, and he was very confident he was going to join the team. But on Wednesday or Thursday I found out the Spurs were going to sign Fabricio," Ginobili said. "I was in a very awkward situation. I love them both, and I've played with them for years, and I knew that after the decision was made I would feel real happy for one and sad for the other."


Popovich expects Oberto to begin the season as one of the backups to Nazr Mohammed, though he left open the possibility that his mind could be changed over the course of the preseason.


Neither Mohammed nor Oberto has much range on his jumper, and Oberto is a poor foul shooter.


But Popovich isn't looking for either center to be a primary offensive weapon, hoping instead that they'll embrace the roll of setting picks, battling under the boards and generally pitching in.


Both players have shown themselves willing to accept such a role, and it may come down to a matter of which player's basketball IQ meshes best with Popovich's mental designs.


Popovich has never denigrated Mohammed, but he often speaks reverentially of the hardwood smarts all the players from Argentina players displayed while finishing second in the 2002 World championship and the 2003 Tournament of the Americas and first in the 2004 Olympics.


That level of knowledge, Popovich believes, is a product of their upbringing in Argentina's national program.


"A lot of those kids start so early in a serious program, age 14 or 17 or whatever it is, and it's basically their life. If NBA teams were together since all the kids on those teams were 16 years old, they'd show a greater degree of understanding, too," Popovich said. "Now, on every team maybe there's a couple of guys that really understand the game. Everybody else is an athlete, but very few combine athleticism with a really innate basketball quotient."


Ginobili is one such player, and his combination of slashing skills, outside shooting and flair is what endears him so strongly to Spurs fans and his countrymen -- even if it wasn't appreciated quite enough last June to earn Ginobili a couple of swing votes.


"When I real the newspapers in Europe and Argentina, they said he was the people's MVP," Oberto said. "But the most important thing is to be a champion."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2181970

Even though I hate the guy, I still think he shoulda got it.
But thats only looking at the stats....if Spurs didnt have TD they wouldnt have a chance, if they dont have Ginobili, they still got a chance.

I love Manu. I also think he should have gotten MVP. Although as long as my Spurs win it all, I'm as happy as any fan. It's true that without TD, the SPurs wouldn't have made it but it is also true IMO that without Manu, they wouldn't have made it either.

I agree, Manu should of been Finals MVP.

I was thinking about after the first two games. But ultimately, the fate of the Spurs rests on Tim Duncan's shoulders and even with those blown free throws, he's the most valuable player on the team and while he had a couple of low spots in Detroit, it's not as though he was a non-factor during the series.

I think that Duncan's performance in the second half of the series made a strong influence for the voters. Either way, I don't think it matters who gets the MVP.

lol, argentinians always do this kind of thing!!! thay even want to prove Maradona was better than Pelé! get lost!

It's funny how after the Spurs won the other championships the press still ignored them, now since it "appears" the Spurs are starting to attract higher profile players (FA's) that they're getting lots more media coverage. It appears to me that some entity is trying to rattle the Spurs' tightly nit family atmosphere by causing some form of division or better trying to start some kind of media frenzy like in L.A.(2004), but I doubt it becomes much. I expect to hear more of this garbage as the season goes on. For the record I personally thought if they were going to give out a MVP award to one player, Ginobili should have gotten it though I thought it should have been a co-MVP type deal. Regardless of what happened in games 1-6 they played a Game 7, so the guy who performed the best in Game 7 should have gotten the award. Yes, Wallace and McDyess were in foul trouble but for the most part Wallace just bailed Duncan out by committing stupid reach-in fouls(Duncan still gets credit for getting him into foul trouble) but Ginobili torched the interior defense and was hitting mid range and long ranged bombs. That being said, which player's play was the most profound and significant for the win(not necessarily stat wise) and you can still make a case for both. Co MVP's Duncan and Ginobili of the NBA Finals 2005. My take.

blessed

Last edited by galvatron3000 on Fri Oct 07, 2005 5:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

Co-mvp's sounds good to me. I would've been happy either way. they both had a great performance during the series to merit the award

Robert Horry. End of discusion. He delivered in the clutch and when it mattered. None of Ginobili's inconsistency or Duncan's choke job.

lol, argentinians always do this kind of thing!!! thay even want to prove Maradona was better than Pelé! get lost!

Your dumb. You are saying we do the same thing, hello? Wouldn't any country support their player. You are from Brazil and you think Pele is better so you are doing the same thing.
What a tool...

PG- Tony Parker
SG- Manu Ginobli
SF- Bruce Bowen
PF- Robert Horry
C- Nazr Mohammad

That team doesn't look very scary at all. First round and out type team.

PG- Tony Parker
SG- Brent Barry
SF- Bruce Bowen
PF- Tim Duncan
C- Nazr Mohammad

That team still looks daaaaamn scary.

PG- Tony Parker
SG- Manu Ginobli
SF- Bruce Bowen
PF- Robert Horry
C- Nazr Mohammad

I don't think this team even makes the playoffs.

lol, argentinians always do this kind of thing!!! thay even want to prove Maradona was better than Pelé! get lost!

Your dumb. You are saying we do the same thing, hello? Wouldn't any country support their player. You are from Brazil and you think Pele is better so you are doing the same thing.
What a tool...

no, i think he is better only because he IS WAY better. Ginobili isn't even close to Duncan, though he is a very good player. And Duncan was for sure the finals MVP. They could have won the title with Manu injured, but if Duncan got injuried they wouldn't come close.

Right, so if for instance the Lakers made the finals and Slava Medvedenko found some magic shoes and averaged 30/10 while Kobe struggled for most of the series, Kobe should still get finals MVP because without Slava they could've won whereas if Kobe got injured they wouldn't come close? All of these "if if if if" are irrelevant, what counts are the actual performances the players put in.

My Argentine friends argue that Ginobili should've won the Finals MVP trophy every single day, so no surprise there. Um...who cares though? The Finals MVP trophy has already been handed over? Ginobili did play good in the finals though. However, his best games were the first games of the series, which is why he probably didn't win the Finals MVP trophy.

I just wonder how was the distribution of votes between Duncan and Gino? I do also believe Gino should've won the Finals MVP award.