1Parker1
05-25-2005, 10:04 AM
Tony, you have just taken a big step towards the NBA finals by winning in Phoenix (111-108). What a game that was !
We have just played two huge games in Phoenix but we must keep our feet on the ground. Houston was in the same situation against Dallas in round one. They won on the road by could not win at home. We must not get carried away. Let’s keep our focus to avoid the same fate as Houston.
Last night was a great San Antonio’s team. You have played to perfection.
This proves that we have the experience. Despite our win in Game One, the envy to perform well was there. We did not want to rest on our first win. I was talking about Houston but I can also say something about last year and our loss to the Lakers. Mistakes from the past have taught us well. We play to the fullest and we know that each game is extremely important. We must not project ourselves too far as this could lead to some big mistakes.
What is impressive is that you seem not to worry during a game. Phoenix was in the lead a few times, but you also found the resources to come back in the game.
We did talk all together before the series and we said that we needed to stay cool when Phoenix is hot handed. This is the type of team that is able to score lots of points in a small amount of time but we knew that we would have the opportunity to come back. In order to this, you need to be careful of your shot selection. Against Phoenix, if you loose the ball or take a bad shot, the punishment is there. We then must be patient. If we attain this goal, our defense will carry us. We just saw that tonight in the 4th quarter. In the important moment, the defense was in place to stop Phoenix.
The game was far from being an easy especially since Tim Duncan was early in foul trouble.
It is true that Tim was in foul trouble at the half but we were down by only one point (54-53). We can only do so much against a very good team that plays at home ! We remained focus in the third quarter and we finished the job in the last two minutes with Tim’s return.
Facing you there was Steve Nash on fire and an impressive Stoudemire…
I think I did not defended too bad on Nash. He became tired, was at 9/10 in the first half and only 4/12 in the second half. I tried to do an all court press on him and this made him miss a few important shots. We know that they will score lots of points as they are extremely good; hence our goal was to contain the other players.
Was this what coach Popovich asked you before the game ?
You have to make some choice on the defensive end of the game. It is almost impossible to stop everyone on this Phoenix’ team. For Tim and myself it is not a pleasure to have two opponents score 30 but by leading 2-0, we know that our strategy is a good one. We must keep on doing this.
How do you feel physically ?
Beat up. Too defend on Nash calls for a lot of energy. I gave a lot to stop him but the entire team made a great effort. As an example, what Duncan did is incredible. He has two sore ankles but he answered to the physical challenge and it is the same for Manu. I must keep in mind that I did today on Nash. If I can manage to make tired, he performs a little less better; and as he is not often on the bench (he played 46 minutes today) it is difficult for him. With playoffs’ intensity, it is impossible to keep the rhythm until the end. It is too much to ask an athlete that and at some point he must feel the tiredness settle
Mentally we can imagine that is must be tough to face a player that does not miss anything ?
The best weapon in basketball is the pick and roll and it is extremely to defend on that. Nash executes that to perfection but I do not care about the points Nash scores. When you know that you are playing to reach the NBA finals you only think about the team’s interest and the win. Hence it is not too hard to stay in the game.
As you have always said it since you are in San Antonio, there could be no comparison between the regular season and the playoffs. We see this on this series, it is night and day.
There is so much intensity… Everyone knows that the playoffs are the ultimate tasks of the season. The public, the media, the games, all is multiplied by ten. If I play the game it is to leave for these moments. It is awesome, I love it.
We have just played two huge games in Phoenix but we must keep our feet on the ground. Houston was in the same situation against Dallas in round one. They won on the road by could not win at home. We must not get carried away. Let’s keep our focus to avoid the same fate as Houston.
Last night was a great San Antonio’s team. You have played to perfection.
This proves that we have the experience. Despite our win in Game One, the envy to perform well was there. We did not want to rest on our first win. I was talking about Houston but I can also say something about last year and our loss to the Lakers. Mistakes from the past have taught us well. We play to the fullest and we know that each game is extremely important. We must not project ourselves too far as this could lead to some big mistakes.
What is impressive is that you seem not to worry during a game. Phoenix was in the lead a few times, but you also found the resources to come back in the game.
We did talk all together before the series and we said that we needed to stay cool when Phoenix is hot handed. This is the type of team that is able to score lots of points in a small amount of time but we knew that we would have the opportunity to come back. In order to this, you need to be careful of your shot selection. Against Phoenix, if you loose the ball or take a bad shot, the punishment is there. We then must be patient. If we attain this goal, our defense will carry us. We just saw that tonight in the 4th quarter. In the important moment, the defense was in place to stop Phoenix.
The game was far from being an easy especially since Tim Duncan was early in foul trouble.
It is true that Tim was in foul trouble at the half but we were down by only one point (54-53). We can only do so much against a very good team that plays at home ! We remained focus in the third quarter and we finished the job in the last two minutes with Tim’s return.
Facing you there was Steve Nash on fire and an impressive Stoudemire…
I think I did not defended too bad on Nash. He became tired, was at 9/10 in the first half and only 4/12 in the second half. I tried to do an all court press on him and this made him miss a few important shots. We know that they will score lots of points as they are extremely good; hence our goal was to contain the other players.
Was this what coach Popovich asked you before the game ?
You have to make some choice on the defensive end of the game. It is almost impossible to stop everyone on this Phoenix’ team. For Tim and myself it is not a pleasure to have two opponents score 30 but by leading 2-0, we know that our strategy is a good one. We must keep on doing this.
How do you feel physically ?
Beat up. Too defend on Nash calls for a lot of energy. I gave a lot to stop him but the entire team made a great effort. As an example, what Duncan did is incredible. He has two sore ankles but he answered to the physical challenge and it is the same for Manu. I must keep in mind that I did today on Nash. If I can manage to make tired, he performs a little less better; and as he is not often on the bench (he played 46 minutes today) it is difficult for him. With playoffs’ intensity, it is impossible to keep the rhythm until the end. It is too much to ask an athlete that and at some point he must feel the tiredness settle
Mentally we can imagine that is must be tough to face a player that does not miss anything ?
The best weapon in basketball is the pick and roll and it is extremely to defend on that. Nash executes that to perfection but I do not care about the points Nash scores. When you know that you are playing to reach the NBA finals you only think about the team’s interest and the win. Hence it is not too hard to stay in the game.
As you have always said it since you are in San Antonio, there could be no comparison between the regular season and the playoffs. We see this on this series, it is night and day.
There is so much intensity… Everyone knows that the playoffs are the ultimate tasks of the season. The public, the media, the games, all is multiplied by ten. If I play the game it is to leave for these moments. It is awesome, I love it.