Unlike All-Star teammate Tony Parker, who played more or less nonstop in Europe from late August through the end of the NBA lockout, Manu Ginobili took a three-month hiatus from organized basketball.

“I’m not exhausted, I’m just out of basketball shape,” Ginobili said. “When I want to do a step-back, I’m out of rhythm. I still need to fine-tune it.”

At home in Argentina, he lifted and ran, and occasionally worked out with Weber Estudiantes, one of that country’s top professional teams. He did not play competitively, however, after the final horn at the Tournament of the Americas.

“Hopefully, in the long-term (the break) helps,” Ginobili said. “Short-term, of course, it doesn’t.”