"There have been times, during this blink-and-you-missed it training camp and preseason, that Spurs guard Manu Ginobili felt like a stranger in his own body.

At times, his legs disobey his brain, his eyes see things that are not there, and the game he's been playing most of his life feels as alien to him as a spacewalk.

"I still feel awkward sometimes," Ginobili said. "Out of balance."

Rest assured, this is all part of the plan."