Spurs" Ginobili Finds the Passion to Resume a Title Quest SAN ANTONIO - When it was all over, when the San Antonio Spurs had succumbed to the Miami Heat in seven games and let the N.B.A. championship slip through their fingers, Manu Ginobili just needed to get away. And he was not sure he was coming back. He was almost 36. He was going to be a free agent. And he had just had one of his most challenging seasons. Ginobili sought an escape in the clear waters and coral reefs of the Turks and Caicos Islands, but it did not help. The Spurs had been five seconds away from winning their fifth N.B.A. title in five attempts, but two missed rebounds followed by gut-wrenching 3-pointers helped Miami win Game 6 in overtime, and the Heat closed out their second straight championship two days later. No one took it worse than Ginobili. Not even a family vacation swimming with his twin sons could make him forget. "It could have been easier if every single waiter and employee and visitor of that hotel hadn't watched the finals," Ginobili said. Everybody wanted to tell you that they watched it and appreciated what you did and say something about the game. He added, "It made me remember a lot more than I wanted." Ginobili, as the Spurs" shooting guard, has always been their heartbeat, animating a machinelike organization. But injuries caused him to miss 22 games in the regular season last year, and he was rarely able to summon the verve and uncanny playmaking that make him a fan favorite. He shot less than 40 percent in the postseason and had eight turnovers in Game 6 of the finals, when the Spurs were 5 points and 20 seconds from closing the series out when the Heat rallied. And when the series was over, Ginobili was the only member of the Spurs" star threesome, which also includes Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, who did not immediately vow to come back in 2014. Given his history of injuries and erratic performances in the playoffs, Ginobili was not sure the Spurs wanted him back. It took Spurs General Manager R. C. Buford less than six minutes on July 1 when the market opened to tell Ginobili that he was wanted and needed. "That's all I wanted to hear," said Ginobili, who signed a two-year, $14.5 million deal. And Ginobili truly appears to be back. He had played in three of the team's four preseason games through Thursday, averaging just over 20 minutes, 12 points, 3.7 assists and 2.7 steals. He is once again charging headfirst for layups and dunks, and firing passes to teammates - and occasionally to unsuspecting fans in the first few rows. "To me, Manu was the best," said swingman Marco Belinelli, who signed with the Spurs this summer. This guy can do everything, in Europe and America. Ginobili's revival has not come easily. He and the Spurs still feel their loss to the Heat. "We all have scars in our careers; that one is pretty deep," Ginobili said. But we're going to have a good chance this year to keep getting better and keep doing things well. Most of the Spurs met for dinner during the off-season to commiserate with one another, but the biggest remedy for Ginobili is being back on the court. He acknowledged not being ready mentally a month ago. But being back in training camp with his teammates has refueled his "energy bars." "It was great; I missed it," Ginobili said. I needed to play. As I said before, I had a great training camp. I'm feeling strong, I'm feeling ready and I really have the desire to play. While Ginobili is feeling spry now, San Antonio needs him to stay that way. His 11.8 points a game were the second lowest of his career only to his rookie season, but his creativity, composure, scoring and ball handling are critical to the team's success. To help keep him healthy, the Spurs added in free agency a younger version of Ginobili in Belinelli, his former teammate in the Euroleague. "I consider him to have the same mind-set as Manu, which means I'm going to have to be patient, as I've learned with Manu," Coach Gregg Popovich said. Manu taught me to shut up and just watch him play a little more, which is a good thing. And Marco is going to be the same way. They both have the same passion for the game. They have no fear, which most of the time is good, but sometimes, it can bite you. But I would rather have that than somebody who is timid. Belinelli's ball handling and ability to set up the pick-and-roll are expected to lighten the load on Ginobili. "I'm happy to be playing with him," Ginobili said. We are going to be playing together a lot. It's going to be a great opportunity for us to have fun together and play well. We've got to get to know each other. What he's going to give us is another creator, another generator of situations.