Thursday, June 19, 2008 - Page updated at 10:10 PM

Spurs coach cautions Ginobili on Olympics

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Thursday that Manu Ginobili should "definitely not" play for Argentina in the Olympics if his injured left ankle doesn't improve.

By ELIZABETH WHITE

Associated Press Writer

SAN ANTONIO —

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Thursday that Manu Ginobili should "definitely not" play for Argentina in the Olympics if his injured left ankle doesn't improve.

Ginobili hurt his ankle early in the playoffs and a recent MRI revealed that a ligament in his heel is about five times the size of the one in his other heel, Popovich said.

Ginobili will have another MRI in three weeks, but Popovich said that "if it hasn't changed at all, I think he should definitely not play in the Olympics."

Popovich said Ginobili will wear a walking boot for the next few weeks. The guard's signature explosiveness was hampered during the playoffs, particularly during the Western Conference finals against Los Angeles.

"He understands fully on an intellectual basis the problem here and he doesn't want to jeopardize his season with the Spurs," Popovich said. "Now Manu also has a pretty high pain tolerance, as we all know. So in that sense, I'm maybe not trying to convince him, but put the facts in front of him so he can make his own decision at some point."

Popovich said that the Spurs are supportive of summertime play, especially when it's organized - as opposed to pickup games - something that he said tends to reduce the risk for injury.

"But I've never felt like this before where I've been very nervous about him playing," Popovich said. "And if it's the same as it is now I just don't think he should play and I think he needs to have that opinion. I think I have to say that to him."

At the end of the season in late May, Ginobili had an injection in the ankle and said he expected it to improve quickly. But he told Argentine media Wednesday that doctors told him the injury was worse than he thought. He said he must immobilize the ankle for 3-4 weeks, but that he still hopes to play for Argentina.

"Maybe the best thing that could happen would be if we, in three weeks from now, we take the picture and everything is calmed down and it's back to normal," Popovich said. "But if it's not, we've got a problem."

Argentina won the gold medal in 2004 in Athens. The team begins practices in early July.

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