Blogging the Journey: Manu Ginobili
30 July 2008
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Team DNA: They proved at the last Olympics that they can achieve the impossible. So where do they go from here?
I grew up in Argentina. Inside that soccer-crazy country, there’s one small basketball-crazy city with a lot of history related to hoops. That’s where I grew up, and with a crazy-about-basketball father, too. My whole family was always oriented toward basketball, my two older brothers played growing up, and you always want to be like your older brothers. And when we were kids, I dreamed about playing on the national team.
This year, we have many strengths. We know each other really well, probably better than anybody. We’ve won together before, that experience is really important. We like being with each other. And there’s this sense of team unity that I haven’t seen in many other teams. Now we’re much more experienced, and even though we don’t have the same young legs we had four or six years ago, the experience will always be good.
Our biggest challenge is to maintain the level we reached with the last three competitions, and to get a medal. It doesn’t matter what color it is. We’re getting older, so it’s not the same as eight years ago, but we still have a great shot. We’ve got a great team. Of course, we’re going to face some very talented teams – the US, Spain, and others – but it’s going to be a great challenge. In the end, the most important thing is to enjoy and compete in these Olympics.
More on Manu
Read his Bio »
More on Team USA
See all Team USA Blogs »
Check out the Olympic Histories »
Meet the Competition »
Team DNA: They proved at the last Olympics that they can achieve the impossible. So where do they go from here?
I grew up in Argentina. Inside that soccer-crazy country, there’s one small basketball-crazy city with a lot of history related to hoops. That’s where I grew up, and with a crazy-about-basketball father, too. My whole family was always oriented toward basketball, my two older brothers played growing up, and you always want to be like your older brothers. And when we were kids, I dreamed about playing on the national team.
This year, we have many strengths. We know each other really well, probably better than anybody. We’ve won together before, that experience is really important. We like being with each other. And there’s this sense of team unity that I haven’t seen in many other teams. Now we’re much more experienced, and even though we don’t have the same young legs we had four or six years ago, the experience will always be good.
Our biggest challenge is to maintain the level we reached with the last three competitions, and to get a medal. It doesn’t matter what color it is. We’re getting older, so it’s not the same as eight years ago, but we still have a great shot. We’ve got a great team. Of course, we’re going to face some very talented teams – the US, Spain, and others – but it’s going to be a great challenge. In the end, the most important thing is to enjoy and compete in these Olympics.
More on Manu
Read his Bio »
More on Team USA
See all Team USA Blogs »
Check out the Olympic Histories »
Meet the Competition »
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