Kori Ellis
06-20-2005, 09:49 PM
LARRY BROWN
Q. On the morning after the loss of Game 5
BROWN: It’s not a lot of fun. A good friend of mine called me this morning and reminded me about the Red Sox. They had to go into Yankee Stadium and win two and they weren’t the defending champs, so I am confident our guys will show up and play our best game.
Q. On the team’s identity overcoming adversity and the next two games being the ultimate test
BROWN: You have to look at it as a great opportunity. They (San Antonio) are a great team and you have to respect what they did. Robert (Horry) made a huge shot. We had our chances and didn’t get it done but this team has always fought back. It happened to us last year; we had some bumps along the way. I remember Game 5 against New Jersey, losing in triple overtime. I think I probably felt the same way as I do now. I think that was one of the greatest games I have been involved with. But we managed to bounce back and we have to try to do it again.
Q. On how much of a challenge it is to win in San Antonio
BROWN: It is a challenge to get to the Finals back-to-back. It’s a challenge to win a championship. Teams don’t accomplish that unless they have a lot of grit and character and I look at it (winning) as a great chance. I am disappointed (about the loss of Game 5) but it’s over. I don’t think you can ever look back. You have to look ahead. Both teams have a lot of character and we are just going to have to do our very best because that is what it is going to take.
Q. On how much sleep he had last night
BROWN: No, I have not gotten to sleep in a long time, but that’s okay. So many things go through your mind because ultimately it’s your responsibility to get it done so I feel terrible from that standpoint.
Q. On Rasheed Wallace taking the heat for Robert Horry’s 3-point shot
BROWN: Ultimately it’s the coach. You can go over things over and over again but you have to be relentless in making people understand. I think he’s trying to make the right play, it just happened. But (Robert) Horry still had to make the shot and we still had an opportunity with 5 seconds to get a shot. Rip (Hamilton) got his hands on the ball, 15 feet from the goal, and they defended it well. But that’s over, there is nothing we can do about that now, the only thing we can do is to figure out what we need to do to make this series go a little bit further.
Q. On Robert Horry’s play
BROWN: (Robert Horry) made five out of six threes. The guy played great. He’s made big shots. Everybody on our team was aware of that. But he had to make shots. We had our chances. That is the difference between being up 3-2 and down 3-2. They made the plays that we have made before and you have to give them credit.
Q. On how much thought last night, if any, was about his future
BROWN: None. My little boy did not come to the game, he was not feeling well, it was Father’s Day, I was concerned about that. But I was thrilled to be in that environment, you have a lot of highs and you have some lows. But I was proud of my team; we gave ourselves a chance to win. I have not even thought about that. My whole thought process is the opportunity that lies ahead. We have another game and I am looking forward to that and I think these are learning experiences. I have a team that has given everything they got since I have been here and even before I have been here, they have shown great character. It’s about them, it isn’t about me. I’m just proud to be part of this.
GREGG POPOVICH
Q: How important is it for the Spurs to close out the series in Game 6?
POPOVICH: Real important.
Q: How important was it for Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to get to the rim last night, and how do you think that it opened things up for the team?
POPOVICH: I think that the whole team has been trying to understand and learn that we have to be aggressive against Detroit in every way, because they are a very physical team and a very experienced club and they know what they are going to do all the time. We are an inside-out team that begins with (Tim Duncan) and on the perimeter we want them to be in attack mode for us.
Q: How much time have you given to reflect on Robert Horry’s game winning shot last night?
POPOVICH: Not much. When the game is over it’s over. It is what have you done for me lately. The guys have enjoyed it, but we have started to focus on tomorrow night.
Q: The Spurs have done a good job of not getting too high or too low, is it hard to focus after a win as dramatic as Game 5?
POPOVICH: One would think that it is a pretty emotional experience for players at this particular point. To stay poised is very important, and to understand how we got here and how we have to play. It isn’t like we kicked anybody around in Detroit. I think they got the better of us in Detroit. Robert (Horry) had a heck of a game and helped us win one, so we still have a lot of work to do against the NBA Champion.
Q: What is it like for Tim (Duncan) to deal with way that Detroit is defending him?
POPOVICH: He is used to it. It is kind of like Shaq, when you have an inside threat you know that you are going to use it. The ball should go through there. He knows that it is going to be a battle and there are going to be guys going after him all night long. I think that the poise that he shows and the way that he takes it night after night is really a tribute to his character. He knows that is the responsibility that he has.
Q: How important was Bruce Bowen last night switching off from Richard Hamilton to Chauncey Billups down the stretch in Game 5?
POPOVICH: Bruce sets such a tone for us by doing what he does night after night after night. Last night we asked him to do something that was a little different down the stretch, and I think that he responded very well. It is really important for us to have that individual on the team. He knows what his strengths are and he sticks with them. He doesn’t get paranoid about the things that he doesn’t do. We call zero plays for him. I think that the last time we called a play for him was a couple years ago. Most players can’t handle that you have to at least throw them a bone. He has had no bones.
Q: When Robert Horry is in a zone like he was last night were any of the shots that he took too quick in the offense?
POPOVICH: One of them was, but most of them were out of what we were trying to do with the play at the time. It was a reaction to what they were doing defensively.
Q: Why do you think Rasheed Wallace left Robert Horry to double Manu Ginobili in the corner on the Spurs’ last offensive possession of the game?
POPOVICH: Rasheed might have thought that he had a good opportunity to make Manu cough it up in the corner. If he had made a turnover he would have been a hero. Sometimes things work out like that, sometimes they don’t.
Q: Does the fact that Ginobili was in the corner make it more likely that Wallace would have doubled in a situation like that?
POPOVICH: Well, the corner is a great place to double, but to be very honest with you, a lot of teams do that. Especially when there is a guy in trouble and it is at the end of the game, it just didn’t work out for Rasheed.
Q: Does the Spurs past playoff experience help them realize how they have to fight for everything in the postseason?
POPOVICH: What is great about this series is that both teams understand that. Detroit has won on the road in lots of situations. Just off the top of my head, New Jersey was that way, this year was Miami, in past years they had to beat Orlando. Teams that have gotten this far realize that it is difficult to get here. It is not easy, or everybody would be doing it, and sometimes it comes down to one defensive stop, one good possession of offensive execution, or one shot that goes down. So, both teams know that you play for 48 minutes. A lot of people thought that the game was over when Tim (Duncan) had the tip at the end of regulation, but things don’t always go. There are things that are out of your control as a player and a coach, and a really good team has the ability to play through whatever is going on on the court, whether it is a good break or a bad break, they have ability to move on to the next play. That is why I think that we are going to have a heck of a game tomorrow.
Q: How do you think Tony Parker did dealing with the size mismatch guarding Richard Hamilton at the end of the game?
POPOVICH: Tony did a very good job. Tony is going to have a size mismatch against almost anybody. At the time we just felt that Billups was really hurting us, and Tony was have a tough time with him at that point in the game. Tony is pretty quick, and we thought that he could chase Rip around a little bit. On the last play he played great position defense. He kept his position, didn’t foul and made it very difficult of Hamilton to get a shot off. Bruce (Bowen) followed that up with a rebound. Before that we had gotten a couple of shots, but Tayshaun (Prince) had gotten the rebound and put it back in. So, Bruce’s rebound was as critical to the final play as Tony’s defense.
Q: When you are putting a roster together, how important is it to have a player like Robert Horry on it, who has succeeded in the Finals and have experience in big games?
POPOVICH: We all look for that. When you round out a team it is important to find people that come and play at playoff time. That is always a consideration to think who a player has done at playoff time, what has their career been like. Will he take the big shot, will they play defense, will they go to the board, whatever it may be. I am not so sure that it is always an experienced guy. It just has to be someone who has the chutzpah to do that. Stephen Jackson knocked down a lot of big threes for us a couple of years ago. He didn’t have much experience, but he had the guts and the will to do that. It is an individual assessment of each player. There are a whole lot of players who would rather not be in those kind of situations that those would do.
Q: What was the decision process coming into the 2004-05 season on whether the Spurs were going to keep Robert Horry for the upcoming campaign?
POPOVICH: We felt that he had done a good job. We felt that he was an important part of the fabric of the team. The guys really respected him. He is one of our leaders. What he gave us off the bench the year before and what he meant to the group, we just felt psychologically that we needed to bring him back.
Q: Do you remember what your first reaction was when you knew that Robert Horry was going to be available during the off-season before the 2003-04 season?
POPOVICH: We were very interested in him, because we felt that he still had good years ahead of him. We knew that if we were going to bring him in we were going to have to play him the appropriate amount of minutes so that he could be available at playoff time. The year before he came here because of circumstances in Los Angeles he had to play an awful lot. They had some injuries there and he even had to start a little. It really made it tough for him come playoff time. When he came here we knew that if we were fortunate enough to do it differently we would have something very special.
Q: Why did you change the rotation and not bring in Beno Udrih to relieve Tony Parker at the point guard position in Game 5?
POPOVICH: We just decided to go with more experienced players last night.
Q: Were you happy with the way you handled the Detroit press last night?
POPOVICH: I think that we did a good job. Detroit has been a monster in that regard. They are very physical and play great individual defense. They really take you out of what are trying to do at times.
Q: Is it hard to focus on the next game when you are only one win away from an NBA title?
POPOVICH: I don’t give much thought to that. Our focus is on the game tomorrow. I don’t allow myself to, so with all do respect, I just try to ignore it.
Q: Do you think that Detroit was energized by their home crowd, and how important do you think it is for the San Antonio crowd to energize the Spurs in Game 6?
POPOVICH: I think that it is very important. There are always going to be spots in a game when you aren’t playing well, or the other team is making a run, and the players get energy from the crowd is palpable. It is there, it is real, and I know that we are going to have the same thing here tomorrow night. The fans in Detroit were great, and I know that we are going to have the same thing here tomorrow night. We got to the airport last night and there were thousands of people out there. I just shook my head I couldn’t believe it. It was fantastic. Robert, our hero, went over there to talk to them. They got a kick out of that. They are special people who follow the team, and what they do tomorrow will help us and will give us energy in spots tomorrow night.
Q: Are you surprised that four out of the five games thus far in the series have been blowouts?
POPOVICH: Very much so. If you had told Larry (Brown) and I at the beginning of the series that the first four games would have gone like they did we wouldn’t have believed you. We were expecting that it was going to be the fourth quarter with about three minutes to go, and whoever doesn’t screw up, whoever makes the shot or has a good offensive possession is going to win the game. That didn’t happen until last night. I have no idea why it has been like that. It just proves that coaches don’t have as much control over games as people might think. It comes down to players making plays and players stepping up. In our wins and Detroit’s wins it has been about players stepping up, and sometimes at playoff time, that is what it is all about.
Q: Did you know during the course of the game that Horry was doing something special last night?
POPOVICH: With Robert you really know during the course of the game. Once he got that one down, and once he gets in the zone it doesn’t matter what we are running or what we are doing, he gets after it. He knows when he’s got it.
Q: Will you talk to Tim Duncan about his performance at the line last night?
POPOVICH: I’ll probably joke with him and give him static about it. I won’t do any coaching, I’ll figure out something to say, he will say something back to me, and we’ll move on. Some nights he is going to be 15 for 15, and other nights he will shoot like he did last night from the line. I don’t think that there is any kind of a drill that I am going to do that is going to change that one way or another.
Q: Are you giddy?
POPOVICH: Wins are a relief, and losses are devastating. There is no giddy or fun. That is why we are all sick puppies.
Q. On the morning after the loss of Game 5
BROWN: It’s not a lot of fun. A good friend of mine called me this morning and reminded me about the Red Sox. They had to go into Yankee Stadium and win two and they weren’t the defending champs, so I am confident our guys will show up and play our best game.
Q. On the team’s identity overcoming adversity and the next two games being the ultimate test
BROWN: You have to look at it as a great opportunity. They (San Antonio) are a great team and you have to respect what they did. Robert (Horry) made a huge shot. We had our chances and didn’t get it done but this team has always fought back. It happened to us last year; we had some bumps along the way. I remember Game 5 against New Jersey, losing in triple overtime. I think I probably felt the same way as I do now. I think that was one of the greatest games I have been involved with. But we managed to bounce back and we have to try to do it again.
Q. On how much of a challenge it is to win in San Antonio
BROWN: It is a challenge to get to the Finals back-to-back. It’s a challenge to win a championship. Teams don’t accomplish that unless they have a lot of grit and character and I look at it (winning) as a great chance. I am disappointed (about the loss of Game 5) but it’s over. I don’t think you can ever look back. You have to look ahead. Both teams have a lot of character and we are just going to have to do our very best because that is what it is going to take.
Q. On how much sleep he had last night
BROWN: No, I have not gotten to sleep in a long time, but that’s okay. So many things go through your mind because ultimately it’s your responsibility to get it done so I feel terrible from that standpoint.
Q. On Rasheed Wallace taking the heat for Robert Horry’s 3-point shot
BROWN: Ultimately it’s the coach. You can go over things over and over again but you have to be relentless in making people understand. I think he’s trying to make the right play, it just happened. But (Robert) Horry still had to make the shot and we still had an opportunity with 5 seconds to get a shot. Rip (Hamilton) got his hands on the ball, 15 feet from the goal, and they defended it well. But that’s over, there is nothing we can do about that now, the only thing we can do is to figure out what we need to do to make this series go a little bit further.
Q. On Robert Horry’s play
BROWN: (Robert Horry) made five out of six threes. The guy played great. He’s made big shots. Everybody on our team was aware of that. But he had to make shots. We had our chances. That is the difference between being up 3-2 and down 3-2. They made the plays that we have made before and you have to give them credit.
Q. On how much thought last night, if any, was about his future
BROWN: None. My little boy did not come to the game, he was not feeling well, it was Father’s Day, I was concerned about that. But I was thrilled to be in that environment, you have a lot of highs and you have some lows. But I was proud of my team; we gave ourselves a chance to win. I have not even thought about that. My whole thought process is the opportunity that lies ahead. We have another game and I am looking forward to that and I think these are learning experiences. I have a team that has given everything they got since I have been here and even before I have been here, they have shown great character. It’s about them, it isn’t about me. I’m just proud to be part of this.
GREGG POPOVICH
Q: How important is it for the Spurs to close out the series in Game 6?
POPOVICH: Real important.
Q: How important was it for Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to get to the rim last night, and how do you think that it opened things up for the team?
POPOVICH: I think that the whole team has been trying to understand and learn that we have to be aggressive against Detroit in every way, because they are a very physical team and a very experienced club and they know what they are going to do all the time. We are an inside-out team that begins with (Tim Duncan) and on the perimeter we want them to be in attack mode for us.
Q: How much time have you given to reflect on Robert Horry’s game winning shot last night?
POPOVICH: Not much. When the game is over it’s over. It is what have you done for me lately. The guys have enjoyed it, but we have started to focus on tomorrow night.
Q: The Spurs have done a good job of not getting too high or too low, is it hard to focus after a win as dramatic as Game 5?
POPOVICH: One would think that it is a pretty emotional experience for players at this particular point. To stay poised is very important, and to understand how we got here and how we have to play. It isn’t like we kicked anybody around in Detroit. I think they got the better of us in Detroit. Robert (Horry) had a heck of a game and helped us win one, so we still have a lot of work to do against the NBA Champion.
Q: What is it like for Tim (Duncan) to deal with way that Detroit is defending him?
POPOVICH: He is used to it. It is kind of like Shaq, when you have an inside threat you know that you are going to use it. The ball should go through there. He knows that it is going to be a battle and there are going to be guys going after him all night long. I think that the poise that he shows and the way that he takes it night after night is really a tribute to his character. He knows that is the responsibility that he has.
Q: How important was Bruce Bowen last night switching off from Richard Hamilton to Chauncey Billups down the stretch in Game 5?
POPOVICH: Bruce sets such a tone for us by doing what he does night after night after night. Last night we asked him to do something that was a little different down the stretch, and I think that he responded very well. It is really important for us to have that individual on the team. He knows what his strengths are and he sticks with them. He doesn’t get paranoid about the things that he doesn’t do. We call zero plays for him. I think that the last time we called a play for him was a couple years ago. Most players can’t handle that you have to at least throw them a bone. He has had no bones.
Q: When Robert Horry is in a zone like he was last night were any of the shots that he took too quick in the offense?
POPOVICH: One of them was, but most of them were out of what we were trying to do with the play at the time. It was a reaction to what they were doing defensively.
Q: Why do you think Rasheed Wallace left Robert Horry to double Manu Ginobili in the corner on the Spurs’ last offensive possession of the game?
POPOVICH: Rasheed might have thought that he had a good opportunity to make Manu cough it up in the corner. If he had made a turnover he would have been a hero. Sometimes things work out like that, sometimes they don’t.
Q: Does the fact that Ginobili was in the corner make it more likely that Wallace would have doubled in a situation like that?
POPOVICH: Well, the corner is a great place to double, but to be very honest with you, a lot of teams do that. Especially when there is a guy in trouble and it is at the end of the game, it just didn’t work out for Rasheed.
Q: Does the Spurs past playoff experience help them realize how they have to fight for everything in the postseason?
POPOVICH: What is great about this series is that both teams understand that. Detroit has won on the road in lots of situations. Just off the top of my head, New Jersey was that way, this year was Miami, in past years they had to beat Orlando. Teams that have gotten this far realize that it is difficult to get here. It is not easy, or everybody would be doing it, and sometimes it comes down to one defensive stop, one good possession of offensive execution, or one shot that goes down. So, both teams know that you play for 48 minutes. A lot of people thought that the game was over when Tim (Duncan) had the tip at the end of regulation, but things don’t always go. There are things that are out of your control as a player and a coach, and a really good team has the ability to play through whatever is going on on the court, whether it is a good break or a bad break, they have ability to move on to the next play. That is why I think that we are going to have a heck of a game tomorrow.
Q: How do you think Tony Parker did dealing with the size mismatch guarding Richard Hamilton at the end of the game?
POPOVICH: Tony did a very good job. Tony is going to have a size mismatch against almost anybody. At the time we just felt that Billups was really hurting us, and Tony was have a tough time with him at that point in the game. Tony is pretty quick, and we thought that he could chase Rip around a little bit. On the last play he played great position defense. He kept his position, didn’t foul and made it very difficult of Hamilton to get a shot off. Bruce (Bowen) followed that up with a rebound. Before that we had gotten a couple of shots, but Tayshaun (Prince) had gotten the rebound and put it back in. So, Bruce’s rebound was as critical to the final play as Tony’s defense.
Q: When you are putting a roster together, how important is it to have a player like Robert Horry on it, who has succeeded in the Finals and have experience in big games?
POPOVICH: We all look for that. When you round out a team it is important to find people that come and play at playoff time. That is always a consideration to think who a player has done at playoff time, what has their career been like. Will he take the big shot, will they play defense, will they go to the board, whatever it may be. I am not so sure that it is always an experienced guy. It just has to be someone who has the chutzpah to do that. Stephen Jackson knocked down a lot of big threes for us a couple of years ago. He didn’t have much experience, but he had the guts and the will to do that. It is an individual assessment of each player. There are a whole lot of players who would rather not be in those kind of situations that those would do.
Q: What was the decision process coming into the 2004-05 season on whether the Spurs were going to keep Robert Horry for the upcoming campaign?
POPOVICH: We felt that he had done a good job. We felt that he was an important part of the fabric of the team. The guys really respected him. He is one of our leaders. What he gave us off the bench the year before and what he meant to the group, we just felt psychologically that we needed to bring him back.
Q: Do you remember what your first reaction was when you knew that Robert Horry was going to be available during the off-season before the 2003-04 season?
POPOVICH: We were very interested in him, because we felt that he still had good years ahead of him. We knew that if we were going to bring him in we were going to have to play him the appropriate amount of minutes so that he could be available at playoff time. The year before he came here because of circumstances in Los Angeles he had to play an awful lot. They had some injuries there and he even had to start a little. It really made it tough for him come playoff time. When he came here we knew that if we were fortunate enough to do it differently we would have something very special.
Q: Why did you change the rotation and not bring in Beno Udrih to relieve Tony Parker at the point guard position in Game 5?
POPOVICH: We just decided to go with more experienced players last night.
Q: Were you happy with the way you handled the Detroit press last night?
POPOVICH: I think that we did a good job. Detroit has been a monster in that regard. They are very physical and play great individual defense. They really take you out of what are trying to do at times.
Q: Is it hard to focus on the next game when you are only one win away from an NBA title?
POPOVICH: I don’t give much thought to that. Our focus is on the game tomorrow. I don’t allow myself to, so with all do respect, I just try to ignore it.
Q: Do you think that Detroit was energized by their home crowd, and how important do you think it is for the San Antonio crowd to energize the Spurs in Game 6?
POPOVICH: I think that it is very important. There are always going to be spots in a game when you aren’t playing well, or the other team is making a run, and the players get energy from the crowd is palpable. It is there, it is real, and I know that we are going to have the same thing here tomorrow night. The fans in Detroit were great, and I know that we are going to have the same thing here tomorrow night. We got to the airport last night and there were thousands of people out there. I just shook my head I couldn’t believe it. It was fantastic. Robert, our hero, went over there to talk to them. They got a kick out of that. They are special people who follow the team, and what they do tomorrow will help us and will give us energy in spots tomorrow night.
Q: Are you surprised that four out of the five games thus far in the series have been blowouts?
POPOVICH: Very much so. If you had told Larry (Brown) and I at the beginning of the series that the first four games would have gone like they did we wouldn’t have believed you. We were expecting that it was going to be the fourth quarter with about three minutes to go, and whoever doesn’t screw up, whoever makes the shot or has a good offensive possession is going to win the game. That didn’t happen until last night. I have no idea why it has been like that. It just proves that coaches don’t have as much control over games as people might think. It comes down to players making plays and players stepping up. In our wins and Detroit’s wins it has been about players stepping up, and sometimes at playoff time, that is what it is all about.
Q: Did you know during the course of the game that Horry was doing something special last night?
POPOVICH: With Robert you really know during the course of the game. Once he got that one down, and once he gets in the zone it doesn’t matter what we are running or what we are doing, he gets after it. He knows when he’s got it.
Q: Will you talk to Tim Duncan about his performance at the line last night?
POPOVICH: I’ll probably joke with him and give him static about it. I won’t do any coaching, I’ll figure out something to say, he will say something back to me, and we’ll move on. Some nights he is going to be 15 for 15, and other nights he will shoot like he did last night from the line. I don’t think that there is any kind of a drill that I am going to do that is going to change that one way or another.
Q: Are you giddy?
POPOVICH: Wins are a relief, and losses are devastating. There is no giddy or fun. That is why we are all sick puppies.