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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND TWO: GRIZZLIES v WARRIORS


May 13, 2015


Marc Gasol


OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Game Five

Warriors – 98
Grizzlies – 78


Q.  What is the impact without Tony?
MARC GASOL:  Tony gives you a lot of energy defensively.  Disrupts a lot of things, and he's somebody that is a special player that we already know, but he wasn't playing.  So once you know he's going to play and somebody else steps up and takes his spot on the team, that's all that matters.
Once a guy doesn't play you don't look for another guy to do what Tony Allen does, because Tony Allen has a special talent.  If you bring somebody else that has different talent that can bring something different to the party.

Q.  What was your frustration level tonight getting the ball in the paint?  You guys weren't able to knock down outside shots, so they were almost daring you guys to shoot threes, and they were just waiting for you and Zach when you got the ball inside.
MARC GASOL:  We can do a better job of getting first position closer to the basket and giving our guards on high lows an easier target.  I know what they are doing defensively you can see it.  But we've got to do a better job of playing faster.  Once they didn't have anybody behind or loading up and they can crush to the side and load up to that, it becomes tougher to work around their D because they send you to the baseline where the doubting is coming.  They'll mix it up, and even if you go middle, they double team as well, and they do a good job.
So the faster we go and the quicker we move the ball and we get deeper position, the easier it's going to be.  We work around the front and get it 15, 17 feet, it will be a little tougher for us to score because they're going to have more time to read your offense and more than likely double team you.
So we've got to keep the ball in the middle of the floor where it gives us room to double team and you can make quick decisions with the ball.

Q.  Marc, this game looks like Game 1 where you weren't able to be physical.  How hard is it to be physical on this court?
MARC GASOL:  Well, we've got to do a better job of kind of like in Game 4, they got away from us.  They got a way we couldn't catch them kind of because they did a good job of moving and we couldn't do what they did to us.  We couldn't keep them on one side of the floor.  They did a good job of going over the pick‑and‑rolls on the bottom of the floor where you have to help, they got into scramble mode too early.
And then with the outside shooting, we were not able to slow them down, and of course, the fact that they make a lot of shots makes it a little tougher for your defense.  And the ones they missed, it's long rebounds out of position.  They did, they get another shot.  One of the toughest shots to guard is after their offensive rebound.  But you get out and it's tough to guard.

Q.  You only shot ten free throws tonight.  What is the importance of getting to the free‑throw line both for your scoring and also stopping Golden State's fast breaks and disrupting their rhythm?
MARC GASOL:  You know we need to work on first, we need to stay aggressive.  Just because what they do defensively and pressing you to the side and all the switching they do.  You cannot just become static.  If you keep the ball on one side of the floor, like I said, they load up.  They do a good job at it, honestly, especially with their length.
On the wings, they come same size.  They do a good job of switching, widening you.  They keep the ball on the side, hold it, and then you throw inside and they're going to double team.  So you do a good job of moving it, moving it, moving it.  And then try to zip it inside where you don't even have to dribble.  That way we're going to get to the paint and try to be more aggressive in the paint.
Once that happens everything opens up for you because that way they're going to come out, and of course, we need more shots from the outside, especially myself.  That's going to open up the stunner guy, whoever is stunned they're going to have to float because they're going to have to stun longer or even switch.
So we just need to be better players as far as screening the ball smarter, setting better screens, playing at a faster pace.  A quicker pace, but not play fast.  It's a thin line between playing at a fast pace or just playing too fast.  So we've got to play right there at the limit.

Q.  You probably already answered this question; but what emotion are you feeling after tonight's loss losing the way you did after the second game?
MARC GASOL:  Yeah, well, to me, it's no excuse.  I mean, you lose by 1 or lose how we lost tonight and we've still got to go back to Memphis, and we want to be back here for Game 7.  I mean, there is no other way for me in my mind that we're going to go to Memphis, of course facing elimination.  We're going to go back to Memphis and win.
We know the crowd will be behind us.  There is no doubt about that.  I know our emotions, we'll give it everything we have, and hopefully it will work out for us.  We're going to try to execute a little better, hold the ball as long as we have to.  The last couple of games I was telling the guys now trying to see one side the other side.  We're going to see three times, one time is all over the floor.
You just can't load up like the way they've been doing.  Even though we might have mismatches size‑wise, they do a good job.  They do a good job of bringing guys in the paint and leaving one guy in the back.  They do a good job.  So we have to do a better job of executing the offense.

Q.  I know it was a tough night for you shooting as far as percentage‑wise, but it seemed you were getting the shots that you wanted.  So is that something you feel you would take over to the next game?
MARC GASOL:  Yeah, yeah.  I tried to get good shots, I'd like to get great shots, but good shots to me are good enough.  Good looks at the basket, and I'm going to keep aggressive because I'm going to do what my team needs me to do.  Hopefully I'll get to the paint a little more and get away from the double team, that way I can get to the free‑throw line and keep them in foul trouble.  That would be great.
But we've got to play, like I said now, a little faster pace.  We keep playing at a faster pace, and then we'll have that much time to just load up and collapse the paint.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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