Tag: In the News

Treading on hallowed ground: A trip to Estadio Manu Ginobili in Bahia Blanca

BAHIA BLANCA, Argentina — The gymnasium where Manu Ginobili developed the game that  has made him an NBA champion, Olympic champion and an NBA All-Star sits a few blocks from the center of Bahia Blanca, a town of nearly 300,000 in the Southeast corner of the province of Buenos Aires.

Ginobili was not the first star to be developed by the basketball club Bahiense del Norte, but he is the most celebrated, by far, and the gym has been re-named in his honor.

Ginobili’s friend, Dario Faure, came behind Ginobili on the Bahiense del Norte team by two years, and he understands the import of the tidy facility.

“This is hallowed ground,” said Faure, my guide on a tour of Bahia Blanca, along with another  Bahia Blancan and fluent English speaker, Federico Groppa, who filled in the gaps in my sincere, yet halting, attempts at speaking Spanish.

The three of us watched two teams of Bahia Blancan kids playing a “Mini A” League  game on Saturday morning, a game that included a lithe youngster with floppy black hair and a reckless style of play. It was, Groppa informed me, one of Ginobili’s nephews, the son of his oldest brother.

Spurs draftee Joseph has a good attitude, eh?

After playing collegiately at Texas, a school with ties aplenty to the Spurs, there likely isn’t much the club doesn’t already know about point guard Cory Joseph, the player the Spurs made the 29th selection of the 2011 draft.

Nevertheless, about the Canadian national team Joseph joined recently must have brought smiles to the faces of Gregg Popovich and the rest of the Spurs coaches.

Levon Kendall, a veteran forward on the Canadian team, gushed about Joseph’s humility and team-first attitude after being added to the team a few weeks into its training regimen.

“I’ve been most impressed with his attitude, not having a sense of entitlement,” Kendall, the most veteran member of the Canadian team, told the Sun. “He understands guys have been here. He’s got to prove himself before he gets that respect. He has to earn it to a certain extent so that’s what I’ve been most surprised about. It’s nice to see that.”

If the NBA lockout ever ends and the Spurs have a training camp, that attitude will serve Joseph well there, too.

Joseph, who played only one season for the Longhorns, celebrated his 20th birthday on Saturday, the final day of the Canadian team’s training camp. The team was to depart Sunday for Brazil to begin playing a series of warmup games before the FIBA Americas tournament opens in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on Aug. 30.

Don’t cry for me, Argentine puppy

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — As fate would have it (or dumb luck in this case) the hotel I booked for the FIBA Americas pre-Olympic tournament turned  out to be the same hotel that houses the Argentine national team.

This has been a boon for a reporter unaccustomed to dealing with FIBA’s exgremely limited media access. I have bumped into Luis Scola and had a nice conversation with the player most Spurs fans refer as “the one who got away.” I met the team manager in the cafe for desayuno on Wednesday and was able to arrange some interviews for next week in the hotel.

Thursday night, however, a large convention of veterinarians moved into  the hotel for a two-day conference, some of them with animals in tow. So it was not a great surprise this morning when I was awakened around 5 a.m. by what sounded like a puppy, crying in a nearby room. The crying was intermittent, but it lasted for nearly an hour, and grew in intensity until the yelps sounded more like a coyoute’s howls.

Team Argentina has a big match tonight against Puerto Rico, and my first thought was how angry Argentine coach Julio Lamas must have been if he, too, was awakened by the distressed puppy that likely served as the wake-up call for the players, as well.

My next thought: WWPD? What Would Pop Do?

I’m not suggesting Spurs coach Gregg Popovich ever would kick a crying puppy. I’m sure he loves puppies and kittens and dogs and cats.

I am suggesting a hotel manager might have gotten the full referee treatment from a red-faced Coach Pop.