Kori Ellis
06-11-2005, 06:55 PM
LARRY BROWN
Q. What adjustments can your team make in guarding Manu in Game 2?
COACH LARRY BROWN: I don't know, maybe we've got to think about doubling him in certain situations. We've got to figure out a way to keep him in front of us a little bit better. You know, we switched a lot on him. Usually when we switch, we try to take something away when we switch. I think a lot of times in this last game, we just switched without taking anything away, and that, you know, got him isolated on the big person, which made him even more effective.
But he played great, you know, he was just remarkable. I thought his effort, you know, he made some great plays to score the ball, but just his effort and his aggressiveness was great. Then we got to make him defend a little bit. I don't think we put him in a position where he had to work defensively as maybe we need to make him work.
Q. Game 1, Chauncey Billups was, no question, the brightest spot, how do you keep that candle lit while illuminating the rest of your team tomorrow night?
COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, I would think that Chauncey is always a bright spot. I think he's always played great for us, and the bigger the game, the better he seems to play. But you know, we don't win with our guards taking most of the shots. We don't win when we don't get to the free throw line. We don't win when we don't rebound effectively. So, I think those are things we've got to do a much better job.
To their credit, you know, they did those things effectively. You know, they scored in the paint, either by posting up or driving to the goal. They dominated us on the board. And you know, we all realized how great Manu and Timmy were, and you can probably feel confident they will be great again, but they had a lot of other people, I thought, made huge contributions.
So it's important that we get contributions from everybody, as well.
Q. Just following up on the Chauncey Billups theme, here is a guy who bounced from team to team to team and found a home in Detroit. Can you talk about the evolution of Chauncey Billups as a player?
COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, we have it and they have it. Bruce and Nazr are starting on a team that has a chance to win another championship. You know, Joe Dumars I think, and he talks to me about this all the time, we always look around the league and talk about guys that maybe haven't made it at places and look at them and say, maybe they have been at the wrong place at the wrong time; we've got to find those guys. And then we try so hard to put character guys in a positive situation and a good culture. So you have that in Chauncey. I don't think it was a fluke he was the third pick in the draft, and I don't think it's a fluke that he was the MVP in The Finals. I think it was a kid that didn't give up, got in the right situation.
You know, Flip Saunders gave him a lot of confidence and I thought he played better there. Then when he came to us, Rick Carlisle, you know, put a lot of responsibility on him and he played great for Rick. He's just steadily improved.
But not giving up, you know, is something that I think you've got to give him a lot of credit for.
Q. The Spurs have never given up more than 90 points in an NBA Finals game, why do you think that is?
COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, somebody told me that just before I got in this room. We have trouble scoring 90 every night it seems like. But they are a great defensive team. They have got great perimeter defenders that can keep people in front of them. They have great shot blocking, they have rebounding. They have great coaching. You know, their coaches, I think, emphasize the importance of stopping people. I think that's a priority with Pop, and the players have bought into that.
Then their offense is predicated on moving the ball and taking good shots, which generally makes your transition defense pretty special.
I guess the last thing, a lot of teams play closer to the vest, you know, when they get into the playoffs. Maybe the possessions are down, which, you know, causes the scores to be down a little bit. I know the league doesn't want to hear that, but that sometimes happens.
Q. You've talked in the past about how you admire great coaches from other sports, like Scotty Bowman and one of the things Bowman was good at doing was keeping championship teams together for a long period of time. How do you manage to keep this group of guys on an even keel and producing at a high level?
COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, this is a good group. I mean, you look in the locker rooms of both these teams, they are good guys. I think it's been a priority with these two franchises to make sure you had a good culture in your locker room and guys that have pride and respect for the game. You know, I like this situation because all I have to do is coach. I don't have to police anybody and I know what I'm going to get every night.
Again, I think it starts with management. You know, we've got a general manager who has been through this before as a player. He understands how important it is to have good, tough competitive guys in the locker room, and they all like each other. So that's why we're here.
Q. There was a very funny story today in the paper about your ABA days, one time you played here on ten cent beer night and they doused you guacamole, wonder if you can recount that story as much you can remember?
COACH LARRY BROWN: More than guacamole. I was 15 then. I made this comment, "The only thing I liked about San Antonio was the guacamole." The guacamole dip. So then they had this for like eight days, they kept playing that sound byte. There was a lot more to it because their coach said something about me, and it was Bob Bass at the time.
So they had that ten cent beer night and people were hitting me with after avocados and throwing dip on me. I remember walking through the crowd, people were punching me. In the ABA, that was you know, that was typical. So it was an interesting experience. But you know, I came back and coached here and I found out I liked it a lot more than the dip about San Antonio, but it was pretty intense.
Ten cent beer, huh? Thank you.
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS
Q. Can you talk about the renewed spirit you guys will come out with tomorrow?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: We’re just ready to play another game, really. It’s a lot of time between games, which I guess is good for us because we need a little rest coming off that tough, grueling series. But I think we’re ready now, we watched tape, we talked about some things. We’re just ready to get back out there.
Q. You’ve been with Larry Brown for two years. How hard has he been on you?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Larry’s tough. He’s as tough as any coach I’ve ever played for. He’s just so demanding and so relentless. And what he believes, you know, if he believes that you can be this kind of player he’s going to make sure he gets you there. He won’t let you take any shortcuts, no breaks. He’s just very relentless that way.
Q. I’ve heard there are times when you say you don’t really like him too much?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Oh, there’s definitely been times when I went home and not agreed with him, just been mad at him and not liked him for a few days. I’m sure there’s been times for him when he was like, “That kid just doesn’t get it.” But through all of that and all of those times, we’ve built a great bond and I trust in everything he says.
Q. How has it made you better?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I think just watching my game, anyone who’s watched me over the years can see a progression in my floor game. I’ve always been a scorer, but I think I’ve just learned the game a lot overall. Learning how to dominate a game without scoring. I never knew how to dominate a game if it wasn’t scoring before I got Larry.
Q. You’re not in an unfamiliar position down in the series, talk about your team’s resiliancy?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: This group is very, very resilient. I always said we’re down a lot of times but never out. And right now we’re down 1-0 in this series to a tough team, we’re on the road, we haven’t played our best basketball. But like I said, we’re just looking forward to getting back out there.
BEN WALLACE
Q. Ben, you guys are not in an unfamiliar position, down in the series, you were down the previous two series but you showed a lot of resiliency. Just talk about your team's resiliency and the way it bounces back.
BEN WALLACE: I really don't know, you know, really can't explain how we bounce back, it's just certain things that we do.
Q. Is it possibly because you've got a collection of players who, you know, are resilient themselves, a lot of organizations that kind of gave up on you, a lot of players like that?
BEN WALLACE: Like I said, I really don't know. Just one of those things that we have guys on this team that have come ready to play.
Q. You're a pretty mellow fella and you don't get too many technical fouls, bad call the other night
BEN WALLACE: Was it a bad call?
Q. I believe so. You're Defensive Player of the Year three times, how much of your anger results in the fact you don't get the respect due you as an award winning veteran?
BEN WALLACE: I don't care about respect. Respect is overrated. Just one of these things that happens during the course of a game.
Q. They dominated you guys on the boards in Game 1, why was that and how do you turn that around for Game 2?
BEN WALLACE: You know, I don't know. Just one of those things where the team has to come out and do a better job the next game.
Q. You said something just happened in the course of the game, and the game seemed to turn on that, do you tell yourself afterward that that won't happen again? Can you pretty much say that that's something you'll try extra hard to avoid?
BEN WALLACE: No, I wouldn't try any harder to avoid anything like that. You know, it's part of the game. You go out there and you play with your heart and soul into the game. I don't like to see guys being passive out there. If you think you've been wronged or something is going wrong, then, you know, I would love you to show it. Let your team feed off that energy.
I'm not one of those guys that just twiddles his thumbs. Just show my emotions and I'm fine.
RICHARD HAMILTON
Q. You guys have been behind in the last two series and now it's the third one, can you talk about where do you guys get your collective resiliency to come back like you have all this spring?
RICHARD HAMILTON: I think the one good thing about us, when we're down in the series or down in the game, you know, the one thing that we're able to do is all stay together. You know, we never point any fingers. We all feel as though that, you know, if we're going to get out of this foxhole, we're going to do it together.
Sometimes, or most of the time, we play better that way. But the thing about it, we always just stay connected, regardless of how the game is going or regardless if we're down or whatever, we just always stay connected.
Q. That's a pretty good trait. Is that maybe the No. 1 trait of this team, do you think?
RICHARD HAMILTON: I think so. We've got a great group of guys that want one thing, and that's winning a championship. We all are willing to put our egos to the side, we all put our individual goals aside for one goal, and that's to win a championship.
Q. What adjustments can you guys make against Ginobli for Game 2?
RICHARD HAMILTON: Like I said, I thought we played him well early in the game. I think in the fourth quarter, we allowed him to get to the basket, make plays, get to the free throw line and things like that. You know, the one thing we've got to do, we've just got to keep him out the paint. We've got to make him into a shooter, other than a guy who wants to get to the basket and when he goes to the basket, we've got to take charges.
Q. Like yourself, Chauncey Billups was a lottery pick, yet he took a couple of years to find his niche and now he's here in Detroit and he seems to be flourishing. Can you just talk about the evolution of Chauncey Billups as a player.
RICHARD HAMILTON: Chauncey has been great. He's had a long road. He played on six, seven different teams and he came to Detroit and definitely found his niche. When I got here and got an opportunity to play with him, you know, I couldn't understand how he could be traded that many times, you know, because I think he's one of the best point guards in the league.
But he's a big powerful point guard. He's 6 3, 200 plus, he can shoot and he can pass and he can defend and he can do pretty much everything.
Q. Do you ever offer words of encouragement to Darko when you see other kids around him that got drafted like LeBron, Carmelo all coming out and showing what they can do and he's been stuck on the bench the last two years?
RICHARD HAMILTON: The one thing I try to tell him is, "The experience that you have in these last couple years, none of them have. You know, none of them was able to win a world championship. None of them was able to play in their second Finals. The opportunity that you have right now, you've got to cherish, because at one point in time, you're going to be thrown in the fire, so you have to take advantage of playing against Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Elden Campbell and Antonio McDyess learn everything possible, so that when you're thrown in that fire, all of the things you learn, you can just go out there and perform at a high level."
Q. How much do you think that's affected his confidence when you're stuck on the bench?
RICHARD HAMILTON: I think, you know, in a way it affects your confidence to say, "okay, a lot of guys that were drafted after me are playing," but it kind of helps you out when you're going against guys, like I said, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and things like that.
Q. Back over to Chauncey Billups, he was a bright spot in Game 1 and huge for you last year in The Finals winning the MVP, how big does his game have to be for you guys, and at the same time, how big is this game for you guys and how big does he have to be before everyone else is clicking on all cylinders as well?
RICHARD HAMILTON: Chauncey has been big all season. Like I said, he's our floor general, he's our point guard, he knows when to score and he knows when to pass and he knows when to get guys involved and everything like that. He has to be big, you know, because he has the ball in his hand for most of the time on the floor. Like I said, he loves big games, he loves big situations like this and that's a good thing.
Q. Just curious, when did you get that nickname "Rip" and who gave it to you?
RICHARD HAMILTON: I had it since I was a kid. That was something I got from my father, my dad's name being Rip. I just got it off him. I'm from a small town, so everybody knew him, so, you know, I just got it off of him pretty much.
Q. Does it have a special meaning?
RICHARD HAMILTON: Man, it got 50 different reasons why they call me Rip. (Laughter).
TAYSHAUN PRINCE
Q: What challenges do you face in this series?
Prince: It doesn’t get any better than this. But at the same time you can look at the first round. Philly had some good wing players. Indiana with Stephen Jackson and Reggie Miller, they’re great wing players. And in the Miami series you got Dwyane Wade and Eddie Jones. And then here there’s (Manu) Ginobili, (Bruce) Bowen, (Brent) Barry. It seems like every series it gets tougher but I’ve been in the situation before, last year, with the guys I had to guard last year, but it just gets tougher and tougher every year.
Q: How much pressure is there on you because it seems like the top score is yours every time?
Prince: I don’t look at it as pressure, I look at it as a challenge and I feel like I have to take on that challenge in order for my team to be successful. But I don’t look at it as pressure at all because if it were pressure then I would fail at it every time. When you look at it as pressure, I think that’s when teams go bad.
Q: The Spurs haven’t given up more than 90 points in 12 Finals games in a row. Did you guys talk about how to correct the imbalance in Game 1?
Prince: We talked about improving our shot selection at times. When the game is a two or four point game or at crucial points in the game. But other than that, in the first game we missed a lot of easy baskets that usually fall for us. But there are obviously going to be games like that and you have to be able to overcome that situation. So, yes, we did talk about our shot selection at times but for the most part during that game we had great looks.
Q: Larry Brown said the inside game is important to try to beat this team. How important is it to try to get the ball inside to Rasheed Wallace and get him going?
Prince: It’s definitely important to get it inside to our guys. That way they can establish some type of impact presence and when they do that they can kick the ball out and we’re able to create stuff – jump shots and penetration. Obviously in Game 1, we started the game off driving the ball and shooting the ball and we really didn’t get it inside as much and it really cost us. And that way, it wouldn’t give the bigs on the other team that opportunity to try to play defense on our guys. So that’s where went wrong in Game 1 so hopefully we can get them the ball in Game 2.
Q: What surprised you the most about the Detroit Piston’s performance in Game 1?
Prince: We looked like we were tired out there. Usually, even though our starters play a lot of minutes, we really don’t get tired that much and we kind of saw that in the third quarter. But that’s over and done with. We didn’t practice at all yesterday. We watched a lot of film. So we’ll get a good practice in today and hopefully fresh legs will be there tomorrow
ANTONIO MCDYESS
Q: After what happened in Game One, two days off is probably not what this team needed, right?
McDyess: We definitely needed the day off, with all the grind of the seven games against Miami. I think it definitely benefited us to have these two days off, but, overall, I think we’re still in good faith, we still have faith in each other, and we’re still in good spirits.
Q: How is the process of figuring the Spurs out going?
McDyess: Pretty good. We watched a lot of film yesterday. We didn’t get on the court and do anything physically, but today we’re going to go through a lot of stuff and change a lot of things. We’re still confident that we can come in here [Sunday] and win the game.
Q: What kind of changes will you make?
McDyess: We’ll change the things they hurt us on – pick and rolls, their getting to the basket for easy shots. We have to clog the lane and at least stop the pick and roll. I think that’s the main thing.
Q: Why does this team respond so well when it’s in a situation when you’re down a game in a series?
McDyess: I don’t know. I think because number one, with what this team’s been going through in the last two series being the underdogs. I think we like it that way. When our backs are against the wall, we come out on top. For each and every one of us it’s like there’s no pressure. We just go out there and play.
Q: Does the 2-3-2 format, with the possibility of winning one in San Antonio and then closing out at home in Detroit, add more importance to winning one of the first two games?
McDyess: We definitely wanted to get the first one, but we couldn’t. It would be very important to get the second one so we can close things out at home, but it’s not going to be easy. We’re not even trying to look at it that way, because San Antonio is a good ball club, so we’re just going to go out there and just play our game.
Q: What’s it like trying to defend Manu Ginobili?
McDyess: Well, I don’t defend him, Tayshaun [Prince] does. We just try to help out on him. He’s a real crafty player. He knows how to get to the basket and finish. That’s his strongest point. We’ve got to let him shoot jump-shots. If he makes them, he makes them
CARLOS ARROYO
Q. You had already been patient before you arrived in Utah, you had bounced around a bit, were you through being patient?
Arroyo. I look at myself and compare myself to a Steve Nash. Nash was very patient his first couple of years in the NBA and look at where he is now. I try to compare my situation with a lot of players that have been patient their first couple of years in the League and all of a sudden they got a chance, proved themselves and went on to be better players. Not everybody gets a chance to play right away in this League, it takes a couple of years to adjust and get better.
Q. All things considered are you happy?
Arroyo. Yeah, I am definitely happy and Joe Dumars has been nothing but great to me.
Q. How important is it for Detroit’s bench to get involved early?
Arroyo. It is very important, because I think if the game is not going the way we want with the starting five, our job is to come and bring energy. And if we struggle it’s not going to help, but we need to focus on what we are trying to do when we come off the bench. As far as myself and Linsdey, the guys that really get minutes off the bench, McDyess. We have done great in past series and got confidence in what we are trying to do and hopefully continue to get better.
Q. Will you guys need to contribute more than eight points from the bench in Game 2 to get a victory?
Arroyo. I think so, we are out there not a lot of time, but with the time we got we should take advantage of whatever minutes we get, and try to do our best. I am not going to say we are going to get 20 points every night from the bench because as you have seen in past series it has been inconsistent – the bench playing. Some days I’ll play, some day I won’t, some days Lindsey will play, some days he won’t. With that said we have to stay ready whenever called and it’s our job.
Q. Compare the butterflies you had in your stomach prior to Game 1 to those before Olympic games.
Arroyo. It was a great experience, it was different feelings. This summer in the Olympics I was able to have the honor to carry the flag in the Olympics for my country and that by far was the biggest gift basketball has ever given me. It was an honor for me to do it, I think that was the most emotional I have gotten in my career.
GREGG POPOVICH
Q. What are the different ways you've seen teams try to guard Manu, and has there been an approach that's had success?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: You think I would tell you that? (Laughter).
Q. Give us an idea.
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No.
I mean, teams, you know, you play 82 games, and no matter who the opponent, if you're guarding Manu or Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming or whatever, all of those guys have seen a variety of things, you know, clog the lane or playing one on one, drop out and make him shoot all the time, get up on him and make him a driver and send him help; there's all kind of things people basically try to do to each other, but there's not going to be a magic way to play one individual in the league. It's about teams playing defense, and I think that in Manu's case, we're figuring out what we want to do with Rasheed or Rip Hamilton, you hope the team responds well, because one guy doesn't get it done in the league. So the team defenses are what are really important.
Q. When you look back on those years coaching in Division III out in California, what kind of a foundation was that for what you're doing now, and also what types of things do you remember doing?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: It was wonderful. Besides the college, Pomona Pitzer being a wonderful place to work, you can do whatever you wanted to do, experiment wise, it gave you a real breath of experience because nobody wanted to carry 3.4 people in each game and if you wanted to press for 40 minutes or you wanted to zone for 40 minutes or concoct a 1 4 zone and see how it goes for three or four years, nobody would notice that's what you were doing. (Laughter).
So in that sense, it was a great experience factor to be able to do that and obviously you're dealing with kids that are non scholarship, so it's not the greatest players in the world. Plays that you might put together that look great on paper, you really find out if they are any good. You run one play that has Tim Duncan or somebody like that, it makes the play look a little bit better, but if you get five guys who are not exactly highly recruited, plays give you a little bit of confidence, pretty solid basketball wise. It was a great learning ground, great experience, something I never really thought about leaving. That's what I thought I would always do it.
Q. What do you remember about that game at Kansas when you were a coach of a Division III team?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: It was probably the greatest thrill that any of my players had for eight years, and it was great fun for me. I can remember being in a time out and we actually were in the game for a while, and then because we were close and Larry got angry and he pressed us, and then it was over in about two minutes.
But it was a time out and the guys were looking at me for strategy and they wanted answers and "you're our coach and you're supposed to help us. You're supposed to have the answers," and I looked at them and said, "What the hell you guys thinking?" I said, "stop, stand up." I said, "Turnaround, do a 360. We're at Allen Fieldhouse. Division III teams don't play at Allen Fieldhouse," and they all did a 360. I said, "Is this great or what? We're going to get our ass kicked. I don't care, you don't care and we're going to enjoy the hell out of this and Larry is going to take us out to dinner after this, so have a great time and go play." We just had a ball, and that's the honest to God's truth.
Q. Kind of lost in the shuffle Thursday with all of your great performances and with the Wallaces not doing very much, Rip Hamilton getting shut down, the question is, Chauncey Billups, he's kind of lost in the shuffle and it seems this time of year he always steps up and gives his best.
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: What did he have, 25 points or something. He had a hell of a game. We couldn't stop him. The guy, he played great. I really didn't think anybody noticed. He had a heck of a game. He played Tony tough, he didn't let Tony get off at all, and at the offensive end he was great, I don't know what else to say, but you're correct.
Q. How big of a concern is he for tomorrow?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: He's one of our main priorities and it didn't work out very well in Game 1. Luckily some other things happened in the game that worked well for us, but Chauncey wasn't one of them, he was a big problem.
Q. Could you find some examples and ways in which Tim provides leadership to this team? And the second part of the question; did you know from the very first time you went down to visit with him in St. Croix that you had somebody special?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: The first part of the question, in a general sense, his leadership is exhibited most in the fact that he practices every day. He practices as hard as anybody any day, now some practices I'll boot him after a while and have him go get a rehab or whatever it is. He practices every day, runs whatever we're doing. You know, offense, defense, sprints, does it with his teammates and expects them to do the same thing.
Secondly, since David's (Robinson) retirement the last couple of years, he's become more vocal. As you know he's not a real extroverted, vocal individual, he's more private and he's learned that, you know, him touching players and talking to them, you'll see him now when time outs are called, he'll be walking to the bench talking to one or two guys and while the coaches are out there standing, acting like we're exchanging ideas and everything, the players are on the bench and Timmy is going to be the guy going to them and talking to them and saying, "Hey, we're doing this on the pick and roll, what are you guys doing?" That's where his leadership comes in, in those types of situations.
Q. Can you just talk about Glenn Robinson, how he's managed to deal with everything he's had to go through this year in Philadelphia, especially now with his mom passing and to come back here and doing what he's doing?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: He's done a good job because he has been out for so long and he has not played in a long time. I'm sure he figured his season was over and probably thinking about, somebody is going to pick him up next season. Totally unexpected on his part, I'm sure.
When we brought him in, he was totally out of shape and we didn't know what we were going to get, either. I depended on Donnie Newman, one of my assistants who was with him in Milwaukee who had a really high regard for him. He convinced me to bring him in. And from day one, very honestly, he did things I didn't think he was going to try to do. He did defensive drills, little high school drills and all the baloney we do and he jumped in and tried to do it and show he could be part of this and he knew if we didn't, we were just going to get rid of him. He's smart enough to know if he does well, he's on a pretty good team and maybe somebody will notice and he'll have a contract here or elsewhere and he dove right in.
His mom passed away unfortunately and as he was getting into shape, he kind of lost that and then he came back and missed the whole Phoenix series because it was in the middle, and I didn't have time to get him back involved. So now he's been gearing up again, those eight days we had, trying to get back in shape and trying to get ready for Detroit and lo and behold, he gave us some good minutes in Game 1. That was totally unexpected. I didn't plan on playing him a lick.
Q. How about the fact just that your players have done a really good job to lift his spirits and keep his mind off of what's happening?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: They are good guys, and they are very empathetic people who are going to give anybody a break, as long as the guy accepts what they accept, they are going to give anybody a break. They don't care who it is and they did a real good job of accepting him.
I had him set up pretty good, I think. They were expecting a black hole, you know, somebody, as soon as he caught it was gone, never see the ball again and couldn't find it. I said, "I want you guys to make sure that you give an opportunity to learn defense and all of that, but trust me, all he's going to do is shoot it." Every time he touches it, you're going to have be to be very patient. We had him set up that way and from day one, he's smart. He came in, it might have taken him, you know, shoot, five minutes before he shot and he took the whole five minutes. In that five minutes they saw him try to play D, so they accepted it.
Q. Would you talk a little bit about Bruce Bowen's defense and how important that defensive effort is important to you?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Bruce sets the tone for our team defensively. You know, obviously Timmy with his rebounding and blocked shots and his individual D, he does a great job. We try to play pretty good team D, but Bruce Bowen sets the tone because he takes such pride in it and all of our guys count on him locking up on somebody every night and doing the best job he can. You know, that doesn't mean some nights, somebody is going to go off anyway. There's a lot of great players in the league. But when you count all of the games and the number of times Bruce goes out and does the same thing every night, our guys really respect it, count on it and it's part of their personality. And from that, everything flows defensively.
TIM DUNCAN
Q. Could you talk about Bruce Bowen a little bit. He's relied on so much defensively, how much of a lift does he give your club?
TIM DUNCAN: He's the key to everything that we do. We count on him bringing that energy, bringing the leadership on that end of the floor, and really bothering and sometimes even taking people out of the game. So we rely on him tremendously. He understands that, and he brings that energy every night, so it's not something that won't be there one night or another because of the effort. He's going to bring that effort every night, sometimes guys will hit shots, but he'll play through everything, which is the great thing about him.
Q. Did becoming a leader come natural to you, or is that something that you had to learn how to do? How has that evolved?
TIM DUNCAN: I had to learn. I had to learn. You know, it was just a great situation for me to be in. I wasn't asked to be a leader early on in my career. I was allowed to learn through time, and just in watching the guys around me and in front of me. So it's not something that came natural, but something that came with time, but it was just a great situation for me to learn.
Q. If I can follow up on that, how do you define leadership? What kind of things do you do to exert leadership here?
TIM DUNCAN: I think it's a place of position. I've been here the longest, it automatically kind of makes me a leader in that respect. You just want to go out there and you want to put forth the effort, of course, and things are going wrong, you step up and you say something, whatever it may be.
Leaders are defined in so many different ways, I don't think there's only one way to do it. Every guy on our team that's willing to step up and say something or contribute is a leader in their own way.
Q. Since you and Gregg Popovich get along really well, is it that way from the beginning?
TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, it's been that way since the beginning. He's real easy to get along with. Before I was drafted actually it was after I was drafted, he came down to St. Croix when I was there and we had a chance to sit down and talk and it's been great ever since the start.
Q. Do you feel that he is the perfect coach for you?
TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, I guess so.
Q. Can you talk about the versatility of your team. You guys ran when you had to against the Suns and now you can play halfcourt and play defense against Detroit, just the versatility?
TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, I think it makes this team a lot different from years past. We can adapt to a lot of different situations, although we are most comfortable in this situation where we have a little more control, we also have that explosiveness offensively, and we're able to do that. So it's a good mixture for us. It's a great mixture for us. We have Tony and Manu, who love to run out and get out on the open floor, but we also have the ability to sit on the halfcourt and execute and play with a 24 second clock.
It's more this than it was last year's series. We're more comfortable in this than we were last series.
Q. What will you be able to do to keep Rasheed from being successful in that scenario?
TIM DUNCAN: He's very talented. When he gets his opportunity, he's going to be very effective. I just have to do the best I can to contest every shot that he takes and not give him the open ones because the open ones are the ones that are going to build his confidence and really get him rolling. If I can just stay in front of him and make sure that every look that he gets, if he does make it, it's over a hand or it's a difficult make and everything else will just kind of flow from there.
Q. What sort of other adjustments do you feel the Pistons will make entering Game 2?
TIM DUNCAN: I think they are going to approach this game like they have every other loss of the playoffs. They are going to come out with tremendous energy and they are going to exert on the defensive end. They are going to really jump and try to get in the passing lanes and cause turnovers. They are going to be very aggressive on the offensive end. I think their aggressiveness to that they are going to take it up another level and we're going to have to match that and match it early.
Q. You and I were talking earlier about Bruce Bowen's defense and how the team relies on him, can you recall instances in practices over the last couple of years where Bowen was shutting down somebody even in practice and you guys had a joke about that or an anecdote about that?
TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, you need to talk to Manu about him, because when Manu first got here, Manu was in the starting lineup, so Manu, whenever we played in practice would be the guy that Bruce would guard and it started from then. You need to ask Manu about that because it was not pleasant for him.
Q. When Pop same down to St. Croix way back when you were drafted, what kind of things did you guys do? And did you know right away that he would be a good fit for you as a coach?
TIM DUNCAN: I didn't know right away. I had fun being around him. I thought he was very approachable, easy to talk to and he had an opportunity to talk to my dad, of course, and some of my friends and go to dinner and just kind of start to get to know each other, start that process.
There's no way to know somebody fully in that first meeting, but the way he approached it, the way he started, I thought was a great way.
Q. You guys have never given up more than 90 points in an NBA Finals game, why do you think that is?
TIM DUNCAN: I think our focus is a lot different here. I think Pop gets us ready to the point, to the extent that we understand the game plan and everybody is out there to execute the game plan and I think it's just another level of focus for us. I'm not saying it can never happen or whatever that may be, but we make a lot less mistakes in this situation for whatever reason. I think preparation is there. I think understanding of the importance is there, and people make just a lot less mistakes.
Q. Why would you say that Rasheed Wallace's turnaround jumper is so dangerous?
TIM DUNCAN: Why? Because he's unbelievably athletic, he's long, and his length, he uses every bit of his length with his shot, he gets the ball so high over his head, all you can do is basically contest is because there's no way to really stop it and basically you have to hope that he doesn't make the shot.
That's why it's so effective. It's basically unguardable.
ROBERT HORRY
Q: With all those shots you have made, does one or two stick out?
Horry: Well, one of my favorites is the one I made against San Antonio. I was 0-for-9 in that ballgame. That one, the one in Portland, and of course the one against Sacramento. Those are the best. The ones you hit as the time expires.
Q: Would that have been in 1995?
Horry: The second championship, yes. Whenever they had Dennis Rodman. Whenever that was. They kind of run together now. Also when I was in Toronto. I was 1-for-10 that game and I made a three to win that game in Toronto. It’s always special when you make the ones when you haven’t been shooting the ball well. It lets you know that you still have the confidence even though you haven’t been making shoots.
Q: You have a 45-5 overall at home this year. What has made you so effective here?
Horry: I think it’s our fan base. We have a good crowd. People talk about a lot of crowds in the NBA but they never talk about our crowd. We have a great crowd and we have a great team and we’re just comfortable at home. We never fear at home. There were a lot of games when we were down but we didn’t worry about it. But it’s overall having a good ball club.
Q: How much added confidence does it give you, especially with the 2-3-2 format, to have those home games?
Horry: It’s crucial. It’s hard to go on the road and play three games, especially when you are playing the defending champs and an extremely good defensive club. We’re very fortunate we can have two games at home and we have to battle hard to get this next win.
Q: What’s your formula for hanging in the game so strong for so long?
Horry: Good genes. I thank my mom and dad. I’m just very fortunate. You see a lot of guys in this league that come in strong, like one of my favorite players of all time was Ralph Sampson, he didn’t get a chance to show the world his talents because of injuries. And I’m just very fortunately that I haven’t had any.
TONY PARKER
Q. One thing that's kind of lost Monday night was Chauncey Billups and you guys played such a great game but he still got his. Talk about how he seems to really step up and show his best this time of year.
TONY PARKER: He had a very good game. He hit some pretty tough baskets early in the game, got his confidence going. He was the only one that was scoring for Detroit, so we just have to make sure we slow him down in Game 2 and try to be more aggressive against him and don't give him anything easy.
Q. The Spurs have never given up more than 90 points in an NBA Finals game. Why do you think that is?
TONY PARKER: Well, I think it's just Pop's philosophy to make sure we get some stops and starts with defense, and everything starts with defense with him and we're very focused and concentrated, try to stop what they do best.
And so Detroit, it's slowing down Chauncey and Hamilton and we're going to try to do the same thing, but maybe they will play different, we'll see.
Q. Could you talk a little bit about your backcourt mate, Bruce Bowen, and his defense prowess, how important it is to your team?
TONY PARKER: His defense is huge. He gives us a lot of energy. When you see a guy like that out there, it makes you want to play defense and pressure everybody. He's just great, you know, to have a guy like that that brings it every night, even if he's off, we don't care, we're going to play the same D and try to slow the best players down. And he did a great job in Game 1 against Hamilton.
Q. How about practice, how has he been in practice?
TONY PARKER: Same thing. He plays the same way. He only plays one way, it's aggressive defense and get fouled all the time.
Q. The last few days, the news about the labor negotiations has not seemed real good, are the
TONY PARKER: The what?
Q. The labor negotiations. Are the players thinking about that at all? And do you ever wonder why everybody can't just get along?
TONY PARKER: No, just focus on the NBA Finals now. I'm sure the players will focus on that, but we'll see after the series is finished.
Q. You guys ran against Phoenix and now you're slugging out against Detroit, can you talk about the versatility of this team and which you like the most.
TONY PARKER: It's defense, Pop always liked defense and it's always going to be our philosophy, it's just against Phoenix, we had some adjustments to make and try to play a little bit different and use the transition and fast break a little bit more because we knew that we had to score points to beat Phoenix and that's what we did. Now we're playing against Detroit and they play very physical, aggressive, so same thing, that's what it is, the playoffs, it's adjustments and it's more our style of basketball, Detroit than Phoenix.
Q. Your coach has the fourth best winning percentage all time of NBA coaches, do you think he gets enough credit? And also, can you talk about your relationship, how that's evolved over the years?
TONY PARKER: We came along way with Pop our first two years, he was always screaming at me, like he was hard to take sometimes, getting all red and getting crazy.
Now, you know, we can see that we've got a great relationship and we understand each other. I know what he wants on the court and that's why I think I feel more comfortable with the ball in my hands and I know that at the end of the day I'm going to do more good stuff than bad stuff. We're going to make mistakes but he's pretty cool now. He understands and he's pretty flexible, and you have to give him credit for that because he adapts to my style of playing and to Manu's style of playing because Manu was crazy when he arrived, and he and Pop had some hard times and he's just perfect with Manu and you can see the result, Manu is playing amazing. That's definitely a lot of credit from Pop, giving us the freedom to play our game.
Q. You were talking about Bruce's defense a little bit earlier, you hear a lot of times after he plays against guys, they go, "well, all he has to do is play defense. He doesn't have to expend any energy on offense." Is that usually just a guy who is just can't give the guy credit for what he does?
TONY PARKER: No, that's not true, because his offense, people have to be scared of something and I think they are scared about his 3 pointer in the corner. So he's still I think dangerous in the offense because he's got that weapon, you know. He's very consistent with that three point shot and that's energy right there, because it's not an easy shot.
You know, defense, you use a lot, a lot of energy. So I think people just don't like how he plays D, but I'm happy he's on my team because he's playing physical.
Q. Is it that guys don't like to give credit, like "I had an off night. He didn't do a lot. He just missed shots"?
TONY PARKER: Well, it's always going to be 50/50, when you're not shooting the ball well, you're always going to say you had a bad shooting night. I think with Bruce, it's obvious that he slows you down a little bit.
Q. (Question in French.)
TONY PARKER: I think they are going to come out very, very physical and very aggressive and maybe they are going to change a little bit how they play, maybe give the ball more to Rasheed and to Tayshaun Prince.
Q. (Question in French.)
TONY PARKER: I'm sure they are going to try to do something on Manu and we'll see what adjustments we have to make.
Q. Rephrasing again on Chauncey, can you be more specific about tomorrow night, things you have to do tomorrow night to kind of slow him down.
TONY PARKER: I think it will be like Steve Nash, maybe push him full court and just try to get him tight a little bit. I thought especially in the first half, I didn't pressure him at all, so we watched film with Pop and he showed me stuff he wants me to do and I'm going to try to do it tomorrow, but it's not going to be an easy task
BRUCE BOWEN
Q. Do you feel that you were shut out of the offense because of how Pop ran his system?
BRUCE BOWEN: We have a system that works for us. It’s not about me trying to get out of that system. I don’t have a problem with the system.
Q. Do you feel as if you have to hold Rip to a certain amount of shots to stop him?
BRUCE BOWEN: Rip Hamilton doesn’t quit. No matter how the game is going. I look at it like this: Either you’re going to score 40, or I’m going to make it difficult on you – if you get a lot of shots.
That’s the thing that I learned in this league. Some guys take a lot of shots during the course of the game, and they still get their numbers, but if they’re taking all the shots, then their teammates aren’t getting as many touches as they normally would. Then I think I’m doing my job.
Q. How do you respond to the critics that say you play dirty?
BRUCE BOWEN: You’ll have to ask them that.
For those that say that, that’s their opinion. People are entitled to say what they want, in a free country. There’s freedom of speech here (laughter). But I’m not a player that looks to intentionally hurt anyone. You look at Tim, when he rolled his ankle on guys this year, he didn’t come back saying they purposely did that, slid their foot under so he could twist his ankle.
Q. Do you do a lot of homework to prepare for how certain guys shoot and where they like to shoot the ball from on the court?
BRUCE BOWEN: You do your work. You don’t eve know how many shots a guy’s going to take. They get in a great rhythm, they may take 30 shots.
But, you try to look at where they like taking their shots and you try to adjust from that point. Making sure you take them off their sweet spot is very important. Because a guy at this caliber, I mean you look at Rip Hamilton. Great shooter, he’s been in this situation numerous times, from college to the NBA. He understands adversity on the court. And I try my best to take him away from his strengths. He has so many strengths on the court, it’s not easy to do. So if I can’t take it away, I make sure to try to make the shot as difficult as possible.
Q. Does that involve watching a lot of video?
BRUCE BOWEN: It’s all about how you prepare for a game. Some guys don’t prepare that way. I’m a guy that would watch the Miami series and I watched him and Dwyane Wade. I watched what he’d do, and I’d see what Dwyane would do, just kind of preparing for either or.
NAZR MOHAMMED
Q. Compare the glitz of New York to this, is it fair to say this might be one of the most un-glamorous teams to play for because there are no agendas?
Mohammed. For me its glamorous, winning is glamorous. It’s a great feeling. New York, of course, there is a little bit more media in practice. It’s just all about winning and its more of a family type environment.
Q. Talk about how you guys handled Ben Wallace.
Mohammed. Ben is extremely tough, he’s a 2-3 time All-Star and he’s one of the best rebounders to play this game so I just try to go out there and keep him off the glass, and try to find open spots on offense. He is a big spark for their team.
Q. What were your big thoughts when you were traded?
Mohammed. Whenever you’re traded, the first thing that goes through your mind is disappointment, you have a family that is just getting situated in a city. I was disappointed just to be traded, I thought I’d be in New York for a while and when I finally got over the initial shock I was pretty excited for the opportunity to come here and actually have a chance to compete for a championship.
Q. Talk about playing along side of Tim Duncan
Mohammed. It’s amazing, he’s such a great player, he’s so unselfish. And being a big guy playing along side him makes it even better, because he takes the attention and focus of two big guys on the other team, so it kind of leaves you by yourself a lot.
MANU GINOBILI
Q: Is it an advantage being left-handed?
Ginobili: I really don’t know. Probably, because you are different than most other guys. I think lefties are about ten percent of the league. I don’t know how big of an advantage it is, but probably a little.
Q: Are you reluctant to accept the superstar status you’re receiving?
Ginobili: All of this attention feels very awkward. Of course, I am enjoying it. I’m enjoying the whole experience of being in the Finals again with a different role. But I’m not the kind of guy who’s going to say how good I am and those kind of things. I’m very low key.
Q: What do you anticipate from Detroit in Game Two?
Ginobili: Of course they’re going to try to not let me go easy into the paint. I know that. I thought they did very well at that in the first half of Game One. They lost me a little bit in the second half. But I’m not worried about that. If the paint is crowded, I’m just going to try to kick it. We have pretty good shooters in the corner. I think Brent Barry is going to have a great game. I think we have more options than me going into the paint.
Q: Do you expect them to be more physical with you than in Game One?
Ginobili: I think they were physical. They’re a very physical team with a lot of size. Every time you penetrate, it’s not easy to shoot over Ben and Rasheed. They’re probably going to try to step up because they know it’s a great opportunity for them, but it’s going to be hard to be more physical than they were in Game One.
Q: How does Robert Horry make this team better?
Ginobili: With a lot of experience. He’s a guy that makes his teammates calmer, knowing that he’s going to do something in most games, especially in the playoffs. Sometimes, it’s not a big shot. Sometimes, it’s just a block, a rebound, a steal, or [taking] a charge. He always does something that’s going to help this team win.
Q. What adjustments can your team make in guarding Manu in Game 2?
COACH LARRY BROWN: I don't know, maybe we've got to think about doubling him in certain situations. We've got to figure out a way to keep him in front of us a little bit better. You know, we switched a lot on him. Usually when we switch, we try to take something away when we switch. I think a lot of times in this last game, we just switched without taking anything away, and that, you know, got him isolated on the big person, which made him even more effective.
But he played great, you know, he was just remarkable. I thought his effort, you know, he made some great plays to score the ball, but just his effort and his aggressiveness was great. Then we got to make him defend a little bit. I don't think we put him in a position where he had to work defensively as maybe we need to make him work.
Q. Game 1, Chauncey Billups was, no question, the brightest spot, how do you keep that candle lit while illuminating the rest of your team tomorrow night?
COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, I would think that Chauncey is always a bright spot. I think he's always played great for us, and the bigger the game, the better he seems to play. But you know, we don't win with our guards taking most of the shots. We don't win when we don't get to the free throw line. We don't win when we don't rebound effectively. So, I think those are things we've got to do a much better job.
To their credit, you know, they did those things effectively. You know, they scored in the paint, either by posting up or driving to the goal. They dominated us on the board. And you know, we all realized how great Manu and Timmy were, and you can probably feel confident they will be great again, but they had a lot of other people, I thought, made huge contributions.
So it's important that we get contributions from everybody, as well.
Q. Just following up on the Chauncey Billups theme, here is a guy who bounced from team to team to team and found a home in Detroit. Can you talk about the evolution of Chauncey Billups as a player?
COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, we have it and they have it. Bruce and Nazr are starting on a team that has a chance to win another championship. You know, Joe Dumars I think, and he talks to me about this all the time, we always look around the league and talk about guys that maybe haven't made it at places and look at them and say, maybe they have been at the wrong place at the wrong time; we've got to find those guys. And then we try so hard to put character guys in a positive situation and a good culture. So you have that in Chauncey. I don't think it was a fluke he was the third pick in the draft, and I don't think it's a fluke that he was the MVP in The Finals. I think it was a kid that didn't give up, got in the right situation.
You know, Flip Saunders gave him a lot of confidence and I thought he played better there. Then when he came to us, Rick Carlisle, you know, put a lot of responsibility on him and he played great for Rick. He's just steadily improved.
But not giving up, you know, is something that I think you've got to give him a lot of credit for.
Q. The Spurs have never given up more than 90 points in an NBA Finals game, why do you think that is?
COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, somebody told me that just before I got in this room. We have trouble scoring 90 every night it seems like. But they are a great defensive team. They have got great perimeter defenders that can keep people in front of them. They have great shot blocking, they have rebounding. They have great coaching. You know, their coaches, I think, emphasize the importance of stopping people. I think that's a priority with Pop, and the players have bought into that.
Then their offense is predicated on moving the ball and taking good shots, which generally makes your transition defense pretty special.
I guess the last thing, a lot of teams play closer to the vest, you know, when they get into the playoffs. Maybe the possessions are down, which, you know, causes the scores to be down a little bit. I know the league doesn't want to hear that, but that sometimes happens.
Q. You've talked in the past about how you admire great coaches from other sports, like Scotty Bowman and one of the things Bowman was good at doing was keeping championship teams together for a long period of time. How do you manage to keep this group of guys on an even keel and producing at a high level?
COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, this is a good group. I mean, you look in the locker rooms of both these teams, they are good guys. I think it's been a priority with these two franchises to make sure you had a good culture in your locker room and guys that have pride and respect for the game. You know, I like this situation because all I have to do is coach. I don't have to police anybody and I know what I'm going to get every night.
Again, I think it starts with management. You know, we've got a general manager who has been through this before as a player. He understands how important it is to have good, tough competitive guys in the locker room, and they all like each other. So that's why we're here.
Q. There was a very funny story today in the paper about your ABA days, one time you played here on ten cent beer night and they doused you guacamole, wonder if you can recount that story as much you can remember?
COACH LARRY BROWN: More than guacamole. I was 15 then. I made this comment, "The only thing I liked about San Antonio was the guacamole." The guacamole dip. So then they had this for like eight days, they kept playing that sound byte. There was a lot more to it because their coach said something about me, and it was Bob Bass at the time.
So they had that ten cent beer night and people were hitting me with after avocados and throwing dip on me. I remember walking through the crowd, people were punching me. In the ABA, that was you know, that was typical. So it was an interesting experience. But you know, I came back and coached here and I found out I liked it a lot more than the dip about San Antonio, but it was pretty intense.
Ten cent beer, huh? Thank you.
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS
Q. Can you talk about the renewed spirit you guys will come out with tomorrow?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: We’re just ready to play another game, really. It’s a lot of time between games, which I guess is good for us because we need a little rest coming off that tough, grueling series. But I think we’re ready now, we watched tape, we talked about some things. We’re just ready to get back out there.
Q. You’ve been with Larry Brown for two years. How hard has he been on you?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Larry’s tough. He’s as tough as any coach I’ve ever played for. He’s just so demanding and so relentless. And what he believes, you know, if he believes that you can be this kind of player he’s going to make sure he gets you there. He won’t let you take any shortcuts, no breaks. He’s just very relentless that way.
Q. I’ve heard there are times when you say you don’t really like him too much?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Oh, there’s definitely been times when I went home and not agreed with him, just been mad at him and not liked him for a few days. I’m sure there’s been times for him when he was like, “That kid just doesn’t get it.” But through all of that and all of those times, we’ve built a great bond and I trust in everything he says.
Q. How has it made you better?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I think just watching my game, anyone who’s watched me over the years can see a progression in my floor game. I’ve always been a scorer, but I think I’ve just learned the game a lot overall. Learning how to dominate a game without scoring. I never knew how to dominate a game if it wasn’t scoring before I got Larry.
Q. You’re not in an unfamiliar position down in the series, talk about your team’s resiliancy?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: This group is very, very resilient. I always said we’re down a lot of times but never out. And right now we’re down 1-0 in this series to a tough team, we’re on the road, we haven’t played our best basketball. But like I said, we’re just looking forward to getting back out there.
BEN WALLACE
Q. Ben, you guys are not in an unfamiliar position, down in the series, you were down the previous two series but you showed a lot of resiliency. Just talk about your team's resiliency and the way it bounces back.
BEN WALLACE: I really don't know, you know, really can't explain how we bounce back, it's just certain things that we do.
Q. Is it possibly because you've got a collection of players who, you know, are resilient themselves, a lot of organizations that kind of gave up on you, a lot of players like that?
BEN WALLACE: Like I said, I really don't know. Just one of those things that we have guys on this team that have come ready to play.
Q. You're a pretty mellow fella and you don't get too many technical fouls, bad call the other night
BEN WALLACE: Was it a bad call?
Q. I believe so. You're Defensive Player of the Year three times, how much of your anger results in the fact you don't get the respect due you as an award winning veteran?
BEN WALLACE: I don't care about respect. Respect is overrated. Just one of these things that happens during the course of a game.
Q. They dominated you guys on the boards in Game 1, why was that and how do you turn that around for Game 2?
BEN WALLACE: You know, I don't know. Just one of those things where the team has to come out and do a better job the next game.
Q. You said something just happened in the course of the game, and the game seemed to turn on that, do you tell yourself afterward that that won't happen again? Can you pretty much say that that's something you'll try extra hard to avoid?
BEN WALLACE: No, I wouldn't try any harder to avoid anything like that. You know, it's part of the game. You go out there and you play with your heart and soul into the game. I don't like to see guys being passive out there. If you think you've been wronged or something is going wrong, then, you know, I would love you to show it. Let your team feed off that energy.
I'm not one of those guys that just twiddles his thumbs. Just show my emotions and I'm fine.
RICHARD HAMILTON
Q. You guys have been behind in the last two series and now it's the third one, can you talk about where do you guys get your collective resiliency to come back like you have all this spring?
RICHARD HAMILTON: I think the one good thing about us, when we're down in the series or down in the game, you know, the one thing that we're able to do is all stay together. You know, we never point any fingers. We all feel as though that, you know, if we're going to get out of this foxhole, we're going to do it together.
Sometimes, or most of the time, we play better that way. But the thing about it, we always just stay connected, regardless of how the game is going or regardless if we're down or whatever, we just always stay connected.
Q. That's a pretty good trait. Is that maybe the No. 1 trait of this team, do you think?
RICHARD HAMILTON: I think so. We've got a great group of guys that want one thing, and that's winning a championship. We all are willing to put our egos to the side, we all put our individual goals aside for one goal, and that's to win a championship.
Q. What adjustments can you guys make against Ginobli for Game 2?
RICHARD HAMILTON: Like I said, I thought we played him well early in the game. I think in the fourth quarter, we allowed him to get to the basket, make plays, get to the free throw line and things like that. You know, the one thing we've got to do, we've just got to keep him out the paint. We've got to make him into a shooter, other than a guy who wants to get to the basket and when he goes to the basket, we've got to take charges.
Q. Like yourself, Chauncey Billups was a lottery pick, yet he took a couple of years to find his niche and now he's here in Detroit and he seems to be flourishing. Can you just talk about the evolution of Chauncey Billups as a player.
RICHARD HAMILTON: Chauncey has been great. He's had a long road. He played on six, seven different teams and he came to Detroit and definitely found his niche. When I got here and got an opportunity to play with him, you know, I couldn't understand how he could be traded that many times, you know, because I think he's one of the best point guards in the league.
But he's a big powerful point guard. He's 6 3, 200 plus, he can shoot and he can pass and he can defend and he can do pretty much everything.
Q. Do you ever offer words of encouragement to Darko when you see other kids around him that got drafted like LeBron, Carmelo all coming out and showing what they can do and he's been stuck on the bench the last two years?
RICHARD HAMILTON: The one thing I try to tell him is, "The experience that you have in these last couple years, none of them have. You know, none of them was able to win a world championship. None of them was able to play in their second Finals. The opportunity that you have right now, you've got to cherish, because at one point in time, you're going to be thrown in the fire, so you have to take advantage of playing against Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Elden Campbell and Antonio McDyess learn everything possible, so that when you're thrown in that fire, all of the things you learn, you can just go out there and perform at a high level."
Q. How much do you think that's affected his confidence when you're stuck on the bench?
RICHARD HAMILTON: I think, you know, in a way it affects your confidence to say, "okay, a lot of guys that were drafted after me are playing," but it kind of helps you out when you're going against guys, like I said, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and things like that.
Q. Back over to Chauncey Billups, he was a bright spot in Game 1 and huge for you last year in The Finals winning the MVP, how big does his game have to be for you guys, and at the same time, how big is this game for you guys and how big does he have to be before everyone else is clicking on all cylinders as well?
RICHARD HAMILTON: Chauncey has been big all season. Like I said, he's our floor general, he's our point guard, he knows when to score and he knows when to pass and he knows when to get guys involved and everything like that. He has to be big, you know, because he has the ball in his hand for most of the time on the floor. Like I said, he loves big games, he loves big situations like this and that's a good thing.
Q. Just curious, when did you get that nickname "Rip" and who gave it to you?
RICHARD HAMILTON: I had it since I was a kid. That was something I got from my father, my dad's name being Rip. I just got it off him. I'm from a small town, so everybody knew him, so, you know, I just got it off of him pretty much.
Q. Does it have a special meaning?
RICHARD HAMILTON: Man, it got 50 different reasons why they call me Rip. (Laughter).
TAYSHAUN PRINCE
Q: What challenges do you face in this series?
Prince: It doesn’t get any better than this. But at the same time you can look at the first round. Philly had some good wing players. Indiana with Stephen Jackson and Reggie Miller, they’re great wing players. And in the Miami series you got Dwyane Wade and Eddie Jones. And then here there’s (Manu) Ginobili, (Bruce) Bowen, (Brent) Barry. It seems like every series it gets tougher but I’ve been in the situation before, last year, with the guys I had to guard last year, but it just gets tougher and tougher every year.
Q: How much pressure is there on you because it seems like the top score is yours every time?
Prince: I don’t look at it as pressure, I look at it as a challenge and I feel like I have to take on that challenge in order for my team to be successful. But I don’t look at it as pressure at all because if it were pressure then I would fail at it every time. When you look at it as pressure, I think that’s when teams go bad.
Q: The Spurs haven’t given up more than 90 points in 12 Finals games in a row. Did you guys talk about how to correct the imbalance in Game 1?
Prince: We talked about improving our shot selection at times. When the game is a two or four point game or at crucial points in the game. But other than that, in the first game we missed a lot of easy baskets that usually fall for us. But there are obviously going to be games like that and you have to be able to overcome that situation. So, yes, we did talk about our shot selection at times but for the most part during that game we had great looks.
Q: Larry Brown said the inside game is important to try to beat this team. How important is it to try to get the ball inside to Rasheed Wallace and get him going?
Prince: It’s definitely important to get it inside to our guys. That way they can establish some type of impact presence and when they do that they can kick the ball out and we’re able to create stuff – jump shots and penetration. Obviously in Game 1, we started the game off driving the ball and shooting the ball and we really didn’t get it inside as much and it really cost us. And that way, it wouldn’t give the bigs on the other team that opportunity to try to play defense on our guys. So that’s where went wrong in Game 1 so hopefully we can get them the ball in Game 2.
Q: What surprised you the most about the Detroit Piston’s performance in Game 1?
Prince: We looked like we were tired out there. Usually, even though our starters play a lot of minutes, we really don’t get tired that much and we kind of saw that in the third quarter. But that’s over and done with. We didn’t practice at all yesterday. We watched a lot of film. So we’ll get a good practice in today and hopefully fresh legs will be there tomorrow
ANTONIO MCDYESS
Q: After what happened in Game One, two days off is probably not what this team needed, right?
McDyess: We definitely needed the day off, with all the grind of the seven games against Miami. I think it definitely benefited us to have these two days off, but, overall, I think we’re still in good faith, we still have faith in each other, and we’re still in good spirits.
Q: How is the process of figuring the Spurs out going?
McDyess: Pretty good. We watched a lot of film yesterday. We didn’t get on the court and do anything physically, but today we’re going to go through a lot of stuff and change a lot of things. We’re still confident that we can come in here [Sunday] and win the game.
Q: What kind of changes will you make?
McDyess: We’ll change the things they hurt us on – pick and rolls, their getting to the basket for easy shots. We have to clog the lane and at least stop the pick and roll. I think that’s the main thing.
Q: Why does this team respond so well when it’s in a situation when you’re down a game in a series?
McDyess: I don’t know. I think because number one, with what this team’s been going through in the last two series being the underdogs. I think we like it that way. When our backs are against the wall, we come out on top. For each and every one of us it’s like there’s no pressure. We just go out there and play.
Q: Does the 2-3-2 format, with the possibility of winning one in San Antonio and then closing out at home in Detroit, add more importance to winning one of the first two games?
McDyess: We definitely wanted to get the first one, but we couldn’t. It would be very important to get the second one so we can close things out at home, but it’s not going to be easy. We’re not even trying to look at it that way, because San Antonio is a good ball club, so we’re just going to go out there and just play our game.
Q: What’s it like trying to defend Manu Ginobili?
McDyess: Well, I don’t defend him, Tayshaun [Prince] does. We just try to help out on him. He’s a real crafty player. He knows how to get to the basket and finish. That’s his strongest point. We’ve got to let him shoot jump-shots. If he makes them, he makes them
CARLOS ARROYO
Q. You had already been patient before you arrived in Utah, you had bounced around a bit, were you through being patient?
Arroyo. I look at myself and compare myself to a Steve Nash. Nash was very patient his first couple of years in the NBA and look at where he is now. I try to compare my situation with a lot of players that have been patient their first couple of years in the League and all of a sudden they got a chance, proved themselves and went on to be better players. Not everybody gets a chance to play right away in this League, it takes a couple of years to adjust and get better.
Q. All things considered are you happy?
Arroyo. Yeah, I am definitely happy and Joe Dumars has been nothing but great to me.
Q. How important is it for Detroit’s bench to get involved early?
Arroyo. It is very important, because I think if the game is not going the way we want with the starting five, our job is to come and bring energy. And if we struggle it’s not going to help, but we need to focus on what we are trying to do when we come off the bench. As far as myself and Linsdey, the guys that really get minutes off the bench, McDyess. We have done great in past series and got confidence in what we are trying to do and hopefully continue to get better.
Q. Will you guys need to contribute more than eight points from the bench in Game 2 to get a victory?
Arroyo. I think so, we are out there not a lot of time, but with the time we got we should take advantage of whatever minutes we get, and try to do our best. I am not going to say we are going to get 20 points every night from the bench because as you have seen in past series it has been inconsistent – the bench playing. Some days I’ll play, some day I won’t, some days Lindsey will play, some days he won’t. With that said we have to stay ready whenever called and it’s our job.
Q. Compare the butterflies you had in your stomach prior to Game 1 to those before Olympic games.
Arroyo. It was a great experience, it was different feelings. This summer in the Olympics I was able to have the honor to carry the flag in the Olympics for my country and that by far was the biggest gift basketball has ever given me. It was an honor for me to do it, I think that was the most emotional I have gotten in my career.
GREGG POPOVICH
Q. What are the different ways you've seen teams try to guard Manu, and has there been an approach that's had success?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: You think I would tell you that? (Laughter).
Q. Give us an idea.
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No.
I mean, teams, you know, you play 82 games, and no matter who the opponent, if you're guarding Manu or Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming or whatever, all of those guys have seen a variety of things, you know, clog the lane or playing one on one, drop out and make him shoot all the time, get up on him and make him a driver and send him help; there's all kind of things people basically try to do to each other, but there's not going to be a magic way to play one individual in the league. It's about teams playing defense, and I think that in Manu's case, we're figuring out what we want to do with Rasheed or Rip Hamilton, you hope the team responds well, because one guy doesn't get it done in the league. So the team defenses are what are really important.
Q. When you look back on those years coaching in Division III out in California, what kind of a foundation was that for what you're doing now, and also what types of things do you remember doing?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: It was wonderful. Besides the college, Pomona Pitzer being a wonderful place to work, you can do whatever you wanted to do, experiment wise, it gave you a real breath of experience because nobody wanted to carry 3.4 people in each game and if you wanted to press for 40 minutes or you wanted to zone for 40 minutes or concoct a 1 4 zone and see how it goes for three or four years, nobody would notice that's what you were doing. (Laughter).
So in that sense, it was a great experience factor to be able to do that and obviously you're dealing with kids that are non scholarship, so it's not the greatest players in the world. Plays that you might put together that look great on paper, you really find out if they are any good. You run one play that has Tim Duncan or somebody like that, it makes the play look a little bit better, but if you get five guys who are not exactly highly recruited, plays give you a little bit of confidence, pretty solid basketball wise. It was a great learning ground, great experience, something I never really thought about leaving. That's what I thought I would always do it.
Q. What do you remember about that game at Kansas when you were a coach of a Division III team?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: It was probably the greatest thrill that any of my players had for eight years, and it was great fun for me. I can remember being in a time out and we actually were in the game for a while, and then because we were close and Larry got angry and he pressed us, and then it was over in about two minutes.
But it was a time out and the guys were looking at me for strategy and they wanted answers and "you're our coach and you're supposed to help us. You're supposed to have the answers," and I looked at them and said, "What the hell you guys thinking?" I said, "stop, stand up." I said, "Turnaround, do a 360. We're at Allen Fieldhouse. Division III teams don't play at Allen Fieldhouse," and they all did a 360. I said, "Is this great or what? We're going to get our ass kicked. I don't care, you don't care and we're going to enjoy the hell out of this and Larry is going to take us out to dinner after this, so have a great time and go play." We just had a ball, and that's the honest to God's truth.
Q. Kind of lost in the shuffle Thursday with all of your great performances and with the Wallaces not doing very much, Rip Hamilton getting shut down, the question is, Chauncey Billups, he's kind of lost in the shuffle and it seems this time of year he always steps up and gives his best.
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: What did he have, 25 points or something. He had a hell of a game. We couldn't stop him. The guy, he played great. I really didn't think anybody noticed. He had a heck of a game. He played Tony tough, he didn't let Tony get off at all, and at the offensive end he was great, I don't know what else to say, but you're correct.
Q. How big of a concern is he for tomorrow?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: He's one of our main priorities and it didn't work out very well in Game 1. Luckily some other things happened in the game that worked well for us, but Chauncey wasn't one of them, he was a big problem.
Q. Could you find some examples and ways in which Tim provides leadership to this team? And the second part of the question; did you know from the very first time you went down to visit with him in St. Croix that you had somebody special?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: The first part of the question, in a general sense, his leadership is exhibited most in the fact that he practices every day. He practices as hard as anybody any day, now some practices I'll boot him after a while and have him go get a rehab or whatever it is. He practices every day, runs whatever we're doing. You know, offense, defense, sprints, does it with his teammates and expects them to do the same thing.
Secondly, since David's (Robinson) retirement the last couple of years, he's become more vocal. As you know he's not a real extroverted, vocal individual, he's more private and he's learned that, you know, him touching players and talking to them, you'll see him now when time outs are called, he'll be walking to the bench talking to one or two guys and while the coaches are out there standing, acting like we're exchanging ideas and everything, the players are on the bench and Timmy is going to be the guy going to them and talking to them and saying, "Hey, we're doing this on the pick and roll, what are you guys doing?" That's where his leadership comes in, in those types of situations.
Q. Can you just talk about Glenn Robinson, how he's managed to deal with everything he's had to go through this year in Philadelphia, especially now with his mom passing and to come back here and doing what he's doing?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: He's done a good job because he has been out for so long and he has not played in a long time. I'm sure he figured his season was over and probably thinking about, somebody is going to pick him up next season. Totally unexpected on his part, I'm sure.
When we brought him in, he was totally out of shape and we didn't know what we were going to get, either. I depended on Donnie Newman, one of my assistants who was with him in Milwaukee who had a really high regard for him. He convinced me to bring him in. And from day one, very honestly, he did things I didn't think he was going to try to do. He did defensive drills, little high school drills and all the baloney we do and he jumped in and tried to do it and show he could be part of this and he knew if we didn't, we were just going to get rid of him. He's smart enough to know if he does well, he's on a pretty good team and maybe somebody will notice and he'll have a contract here or elsewhere and he dove right in.
His mom passed away unfortunately and as he was getting into shape, he kind of lost that and then he came back and missed the whole Phoenix series because it was in the middle, and I didn't have time to get him back involved. So now he's been gearing up again, those eight days we had, trying to get back in shape and trying to get ready for Detroit and lo and behold, he gave us some good minutes in Game 1. That was totally unexpected. I didn't plan on playing him a lick.
Q. How about the fact just that your players have done a really good job to lift his spirits and keep his mind off of what's happening?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: They are good guys, and they are very empathetic people who are going to give anybody a break, as long as the guy accepts what they accept, they are going to give anybody a break. They don't care who it is and they did a real good job of accepting him.
I had him set up pretty good, I think. They were expecting a black hole, you know, somebody, as soon as he caught it was gone, never see the ball again and couldn't find it. I said, "I want you guys to make sure that you give an opportunity to learn defense and all of that, but trust me, all he's going to do is shoot it." Every time he touches it, you're going to have be to be very patient. We had him set up that way and from day one, he's smart. He came in, it might have taken him, you know, shoot, five minutes before he shot and he took the whole five minutes. In that five minutes they saw him try to play D, so they accepted it.
Q. Would you talk a little bit about Bruce Bowen's defense and how important that defensive effort is important to you?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Bruce sets the tone for our team defensively. You know, obviously Timmy with his rebounding and blocked shots and his individual D, he does a great job. We try to play pretty good team D, but Bruce Bowen sets the tone because he takes such pride in it and all of our guys count on him locking up on somebody every night and doing the best job he can. You know, that doesn't mean some nights, somebody is going to go off anyway. There's a lot of great players in the league. But when you count all of the games and the number of times Bruce goes out and does the same thing every night, our guys really respect it, count on it and it's part of their personality. And from that, everything flows defensively.
TIM DUNCAN
Q. Could you talk about Bruce Bowen a little bit. He's relied on so much defensively, how much of a lift does he give your club?
TIM DUNCAN: He's the key to everything that we do. We count on him bringing that energy, bringing the leadership on that end of the floor, and really bothering and sometimes even taking people out of the game. So we rely on him tremendously. He understands that, and he brings that energy every night, so it's not something that won't be there one night or another because of the effort. He's going to bring that effort every night, sometimes guys will hit shots, but he'll play through everything, which is the great thing about him.
Q. Did becoming a leader come natural to you, or is that something that you had to learn how to do? How has that evolved?
TIM DUNCAN: I had to learn. I had to learn. You know, it was just a great situation for me to be in. I wasn't asked to be a leader early on in my career. I was allowed to learn through time, and just in watching the guys around me and in front of me. So it's not something that came natural, but something that came with time, but it was just a great situation for me to learn.
Q. If I can follow up on that, how do you define leadership? What kind of things do you do to exert leadership here?
TIM DUNCAN: I think it's a place of position. I've been here the longest, it automatically kind of makes me a leader in that respect. You just want to go out there and you want to put forth the effort, of course, and things are going wrong, you step up and you say something, whatever it may be.
Leaders are defined in so many different ways, I don't think there's only one way to do it. Every guy on our team that's willing to step up and say something or contribute is a leader in their own way.
Q. Since you and Gregg Popovich get along really well, is it that way from the beginning?
TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, it's been that way since the beginning. He's real easy to get along with. Before I was drafted actually it was after I was drafted, he came down to St. Croix when I was there and we had a chance to sit down and talk and it's been great ever since the start.
Q. Do you feel that he is the perfect coach for you?
TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, I guess so.
Q. Can you talk about the versatility of your team. You guys ran when you had to against the Suns and now you can play halfcourt and play defense against Detroit, just the versatility?
TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, I think it makes this team a lot different from years past. We can adapt to a lot of different situations, although we are most comfortable in this situation where we have a little more control, we also have that explosiveness offensively, and we're able to do that. So it's a good mixture for us. It's a great mixture for us. We have Tony and Manu, who love to run out and get out on the open floor, but we also have the ability to sit on the halfcourt and execute and play with a 24 second clock.
It's more this than it was last year's series. We're more comfortable in this than we were last series.
Q. What will you be able to do to keep Rasheed from being successful in that scenario?
TIM DUNCAN: He's very talented. When he gets his opportunity, he's going to be very effective. I just have to do the best I can to contest every shot that he takes and not give him the open ones because the open ones are the ones that are going to build his confidence and really get him rolling. If I can just stay in front of him and make sure that every look that he gets, if he does make it, it's over a hand or it's a difficult make and everything else will just kind of flow from there.
Q. What sort of other adjustments do you feel the Pistons will make entering Game 2?
TIM DUNCAN: I think they are going to approach this game like they have every other loss of the playoffs. They are going to come out with tremendous energy and they are going to exert on the defensive end. They are going to really jump and try to get in the passing lanes and cause turnovers. They are going to be very aggressive on the offensive end. I think their aggressiveness to that they are going to take it up another level and we're going to have to match that and match it early.
Q. You and I were talking earlier about Bruce Bowen's defense and how the team relies on him, can you recall instances in practices over the last couple of years where Bowen was shutting down somebody even in practice and you guys had a joke about that or an anecdote about that?
TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, you need to talk to Manu about him, because when Manu first got here, Manu was in the starting lineup, so Manu, whenever we played in practice would be the guy that Bruce would guard and it started from then. You need to ask Manu about that because it was not pleasant for him.
Q. When Pop same down to St. Croix way back when you were drafted, what kind of things did you guys do? And did you know right away that he would be a good fit for you as a coach?
TIM DUNCAN: I didn't know right away. I had fun being around him. I thought he was very approachable, easy to talk to and he had an opportunity to talk to my dad, of course, and some of my friends and go to dinner and just kind of start to get to know each other, start that process.
There's no way to know somebody fully in that first meeting, but the way he approached it, the way he started, I thought was a great way.
Q. You guys have never given up more than 90 points in an NBA Finals game, why do you think that is?
TIM DUNCAN: I think our focus is a lot different here. I think Pop gets us ready to the point, to the extent that we understand the game plan and everybody is out there to execute the game plan and I think it's just another level of focus for us. I'm not saying it can never happen or whatever that may be, but we make a lot less mistakes in this situation for whatever reason. I think preparation is there. I think understanding of the importance is there, and people make just a lot less mistakes.
Q. Why would you say that Rasheed Wallace's turnaround jumper is so dangerous?
TIM DUNCAN: Why? Because he's unbelievably athletic, he's long, and his length, he uses every bit of his length with his shot, he gets the ball so high over his head, all you can do is basically contest is because there's no way to really stop it and basically you have to hope that he doesn't make the shot.
That's why it's so effective. It's basically unguardable.
ROBERT HORRY
Q: With all those shots you have made, does one or two stick out?
Horry: Well, one of my favorites is the one I made against San Antonio. I was 0-for-9 in that ballgame. That one, the one in Portland, and of course the one against Sacramento. Those are the best. The ones you hit as the time expires.
Q: Would that have been in 1995?
Horry: The second championship, yes. Whenever they had Dennis Rodman. Whenever that was. They kind of run together now. Also when I was in Toronto. I was 1-for-10 that game and I made a three to win that game in Toronto. It’s always special when you make the ones when you haven’t been shooting the ball well. It lets you know that you still have the confidence even though you haven’t been making shoots.
Q: You have a 45-5 overall at home this year. What has made you so effective here?
Horry: I think it’s our fan base. We have a good crowd. People talk about a lot of crowds in the NBA but they never talk about our crowd. We have a great crowd and we have a great team and we’re just comfortable at home. We never fear at home. There were a lot of games when we were down but we didn’t worry about it. But it’s overall having a good ball club.
Q: How much added confidence does it give you, especially with the 2-3-2 format, to have those home games?
Horry: It’s crucial. It’s hard to go on the road and play three games, especially when you are playing the defending champs and an extremely good defensive club. We’re very fortunate we can have two games at home and we have to battle hard to get this next win.
Q: What’s your formula for hanging in the game so strong for so long?
Horry: Good genes. I thank my mom and dad. I’m just very fortunate. You see a lot of guys in this league that come in strong, like one of my favorite players of all time was Ralph Sampson, he didn’t get a chance to show the world his talents because of injuries. And I’m just very fortunately that I haven’t had any.
TONY PARKER
Q. One thing that's kind of lost Monday night was Chauncey Billups and you guys played such a great game but he still got his. Talk about how he seems to really step up and show his best this time of year.
TONY PARKER: He had a very good game. He hit some pretty tough baskets early in the game, got his confidence going. He was the only one that was scoring for Detroit, so we just have to make sure we slow him down in Game 2 and try to be more aggressive against him and don't give him anything easy.
Q. The Spurs have never given up more than 90 points in an NBA Finals game. Why do you think that is?
TONY PARKER: Well, I think it's just Pop's philosophy to make sure we get some stops and starts with defense, and everything starts with defense with him and we're very focused and concentrated, try to stop what they do best.
And so Detroit, it's slowing down Chauncey and Hamilton and we're going to try to do the same thing, but maybe they will play different, we'll see.
Q. Could you talk a little bit about your backcourt mate, Bruce Bowen, and his defense prowess, how important it is to your team?
TONY PARKER: His defense is huge. He gives us a lot of energy. When you see a guy like that out there, it makes you want to play defense and pressure everybody. He's just great, you know, to have a guy like that that brings it every night, even if he's off, we don't care, we're going to play the same D and try to slow the best players down. And he did a great job in Game 1 against Hamilton.
Q. How about practice, how has he been in practice?
TONY PARKER: Same thing. He plays the same way. He only plays one way, it's aggressive defense and get fouled all the time.
Q. The last few days, the news about the labor negotiations has not seemed real good, are the
TONY PARKER: The what?
Q. The labor negotiations. Are the players thinking about that at all? And do you ever wonder why everybody can't just get along?
TONY PARKER: No, just focus on the NBA Finals now. I'm sure the players will focus on that, but we'll see after the series is finished.
Q. You guys ran against Phoenix and now you're slugging out against Detroit, can you talk about the versatility of this team and which you like the most.
TONY PARKER: It's defense, Pop always liked defense and it's always going to be our philosophy, it's just against Phoenix, we had some adjustments to make and try to play a little bit different and use the transition and fast break a little bit more because we knew that we had to score points to beat Phoenix and that's what we did. Now we're playing against Detroit and they play very physical, aggressive, so same thing, that's what it is, the playoffs, it's adjustments and it's more our style of basketball, Detroit than Phoenix.
Q. Your coach has the fourth best winning percentage all time of NBA coaches, do you think he gets enough credit? And also, can you talk about your relationship, how that's evolved over the years?
TONY PARKER: We came along way with Pop our first two years, he was always screaming at me, like he was hard to take sometimes, getting all red and getting crazy.
Now, you know, we can see that we've got a great relationship and we understand each other. I know what he wants on the court and that's why I think I feel more comfortable with the ball in my hands and I know that at the end of the day I'm going to do more good stuff than bad stuff. We're going to make mistakes but he's pretty cool now. He understands and he's pretty flexible, and you have to give him credit for that because he adapts to my style of playing and to Manu's style of playing because Manu was crazy when he arrived, and he and Pop had some hard times and he's just perfect with Manu and you can see the result, Manu is playing amazing. That's definitely a lot of credit from Pop, giving us the freedom to play our game.
Q. You were talking about Bruce's defense a little bit earlier, you hear a lot of times after he plays against guys, they go, "well, all he has to do is play defense. He doesn't have to expend any energy on offense." Is that usually just a guy who is just can't give the guy credit for what he does?
TONY PARKER: No, that's not true, because his offense, people have to be scared of something and I think they are scared about his 3 pointer in the corner. So he's still I think dangerous in the offense because he's got that weapon, you know. He's very consistent with that three point shot and that's energy right there, because it's not an easy shot.
You know, defense, you use a lot, a lot of energy. So I think people just don't like how he plays D, but I'm happy he's on my team because he's playing physical.
Q. Is it that guys don't like to give credit, like "I had an off night. He didn't do a lot. He just missed shots"?
TONY PARKER: Well, it's always going to be 50/50, when you're not shooting the ball well, you're always going to say you had a bad shooting night. I think with Bruce, it's obvious that he slows you down a little bit.
Q. (Question in French.)
TONY PARKER: I think they are going to come out very, very physical and very aggressive and maybe they are going to change a little bit how they play, maybe give the ball more to Rasheed and to Tayshaun Prince.
Q. (Question in French.)
TONY PARKER: I'm sure they are going to try to do something on Manu and we'll see what adjustments we have to make.
Q. Rephrasing again on Chauncey, can you be more specific about tomorrow night, things you have to do tomorrow night to kind of slow him down.
TONY PARKER: I think it will be like Steve Nash, maybe push him full court and just try to get him tight a little bit. I thought especially in the first half, I didn't pressure him at all, so we watched film with Pop and he showed me stuff he wants me to do and I'm going to try to do it tomorrow, but it's not going to be an easy task
BRUCE BOWEN
Q. Do you feel that you were shut out of the offense because of how Pop ran his system?
BRUCE BOWEN: We have a system that works for us. It’s not about me trying to get out of that system. I don’t have a problem with the system.
Q. Do you feel as if you have to hold Rip to a certain amount of shots to stop him?
BRUCE BOWEN: Rip Hamilton doesn’t quit. No matter how the game is going. I look at it like this: Either you’re going to score 40, or I’m going to make it difficult on you – if you get a lot of shots.
That’s the thing that I learned in this league. Some guys take a lot of shots during the course of the game, and they still get their numbers, but if they’re taking all the shots, then their teammates aren’t getting as many touches as they normally would. Then I think I’m doing my job.
Q. How do you respond to the critics that say you play dirty?
BRUCE BOWEN: You’ll have to ask them that.
For those that say that, that’s their opinion. People are entitled to say what they want, in a free country. There’s freedom of speech here (laughter). But I’m not a player that looks to intentionally hurt anyone. You look at Tim, when he rolled his ankle on guys this year, he didn’t come back saying they purposely did that, slid their foot under so he could twist his ankle.
Q. Do you do a lot of homework to prepare for how certain guys shoot and where they like to shoot the ball from on the court?
BRUCE BOWEN: You do your work. You don’t eve know how many shots a guy’s going to take. They get in a great rhythm, they may take 30 shots.
But, you try to look at where they like taking their shots and you try to adjust from that point. Making sure you take them off their sweet spot is very important. Because a guy at this caliber, I mean you look at Rip Hamilton. Great shooter, he’s been in this situation numerous times, from college to the NBA. He understands adversity on the court. And I try my best to take him away from his strengths. He has so many strengths on the court, it’s not easy to do. So if I can’t take it away, I make sure to try to make the shot as difficult as possible.
Q. Does that involve watching a lot of video?
BRUCE BOWEN: It’s all about how you prepare for a game. Some guys don’t prepare that way. I’m a guy that would watch the Miami series and I watched him and Dwyane Wade. I watched what he’d do, and I’d see what Dwyane would do, just kind of preparing for either or.
NAZR MOHAMMED
Q. Compare the glitz of New York to this, is it fair to say this might be one of the most un-glamorous teams to play for because there are no agendas?
Mohammed. For me its glamorous, winning is glamorous. It’s a great feeling. New York, of course, there is a little bit more media in practice. It’s just all about winning and its more of a family type environment.
Q. Talk about how you guys handled Ben Wallace.
Mohammed. Ben is extremely tough, he’s a 2-3 time All-Star and he’s one of the best rebounders to play this game so I just try to go out there and keep him off the glass, and try to find open spots on offense. He is a big spark for their team.
Q. What were your big thoughts when you were traded?
Mohammed. Whenever you’re traded, the first thing that goes through your mind is disappointment, you have a family that is just getting situated in a city. I was disappointed just to be traded, I thought I’d be in New York for a while and when I finally got over the initial shock I was pretty excited for the opportunity to come here and actually have a chance to compete for a championship.
Q. Talk about playing along side of Tim Duncan
Mohammed. It’s amazing, he’s such a great player, he’s so unselfish. And being a big guy playing along side him makes it even better, because he takes the attention and focus of two big guys on the other team, so it kind of leaves you by yourself a lot.
MANU GINOBILI
Q: Is it an advantage being left-handed?
Ginobili: I really don’t know. Probably, because you are different than most other guys. I think lefties are about ten percent of the league. I don’t know how big of an advantage it is, but probably a little.
Q: Are you reluctant to accept the superstar status you’re receiving?
Ginobili: All of this attention feels very awkward. Of course, I am enjoying it. I’m enjoying the whole experience of being in the Finals again with a different role. But I’m not the kind of guy who’s going to say how good I am and those kind of things. I’m very low key.
Q: What do you anticipate from Detroit in Game Two?
Ginobili: Of course they’re going to try to not let me go easy into the paint. I know that. I thought they did very well at that in the first half of Game One. They lost me a little bit in the second half. But I’m not worried about that. If the paint is crowded, I’m just going to try to kick it. We have pretty good shooters in the corner. I think Brent Barry is going to have a great game. I think we have more options than me going into the paint.
Q: Do you expect them to be more physical with you than in Game One?
Ginobili: I think they were physical. They’re a very physical team with a lot of size. Every time you penetrate, it’s not easy to shoot over Ben and Rasheed. They’re probably going to try to step up because they know it’s a great opportunity for them, but it’s going to be hard to be more physical than they were in Game One.
Q: How does Robert Horry make this team better?
Ginobili: With a lot of experience. He’s a guy that makes his teammates calmer, knowing that he’s going to do something in most games, especially in the playoffs. Sometimes, it’s not a big shot. Sometimes, it’s just a block, a rebound, a steal, or [taking] a charge. He always does something that’s going to help this team win.