NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CLIPPERS VS. SUNS

June 26, 2021

Tyronn Lue

LA Clippers

Game 4: Pregame

Q. A lot of guys have talked about how you've empowered them and really throughout successes and mistakes, to play their own game. How does that trust on your side come about? Is that something you learned from Doc [Rivers], yourself, your playing days? Where does that come from because a lot of the players have praised you a lot over the past couple weeks?

TYRONN LUE: I just think they are professional for a reason. They got here for a reason. So they have a skill. They have a talent and you just want to bring the best out of each player. You know, try to make them fit into your team, your team philosophy. The guys have done a great job all year long and just want to give guys confidence to play their game. If they are doing too much, I'll let them know.

But I want guys to feel no pressure, just go out there and play their games. That's what got them to this point. It feels good to hear guys saying positive things like that, but they are the one with talent that got so far.

Q. How often do you let them know?

TYRONN LUE: You know, sometimes. Sometimes we're not moving the basketball and we have favorable matchups and we dribble too much and don’t move the basketball, you let guys know. But for the most part they do a great job just being professionals and playing their game.

Q. Waiting until the second half to move the ball again, probably prefer a better first half starting offensively, how do you get to that with Game 4 tonight?

TYRONN LUE: Just show them clips from Game 3 before the game. Not showing them yesterday, show it today so it's fresh in their minds and see what they are looking for and how we want to attack it. So in our pregame meetings, it will be a lot of just advance passes, extra passes, attacking the paint, making the right play so they can see right before we go out.

Q. The fact that your team brought energy the last game; Phoenix felt like they brought it in the prior game. How do you combat with the fact that you can expect them to be more physical and hands on?

TYRONN LUE: I don't care about them. The focus is on us, what we have to do and our mindset. I like our ball pressure the last game. I liked our physicality to start the game. Defensively it has to carry over to Game 4. We can't react to what they are talking about what they are going to do. We have to do our job.

Q. What do you think it's going to take to be able to anticipate what adjustments they make?

TYRONN LUE: I mean, I don't know. I mean, we have a feel for what they are going to try to do but you never know until the game starts. We know those guys are going to shoot the ball better. We understand that. Obviously Chris Paul has been off for a while and that was his first game in I think 10 or 12 days. That's tough to do, jumping into a playoff series in the Conference Finals having not played. So we know he's going to play better, as well, and we've got to be ready for that.

But we have to play better as well, too. We really focus on ourselves and how we've got to be better on both ends of the basketball and kind of just go from there.

Q. You've been playing every other day for a month. Where is your team in terms of what they have left in the tank and energy right now?

TYRONN LUE: There's no need to think about it now. We're in the Western Conference Finals. Can't worry about that. Got to come out and play and have intensity. If guys are tired, just keep rotating guys in and out and get fresh bodies. But our guys are not thinking like that. We have to stay with the hand we are dealt and we've talked about it all year, adjusting and being able to adapt and so that's what we've done. Guys are feeling good and we have a chance to do something special tonight, so just want to focus on that.

Q. With Paul specifically, he's frequently played the whole second half. How does that compare to LeBron, he used to do that, too. Do those players get themselves to that place?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, they just want to play. They want to win and whatever it takes, they are going to do that. We try to do a good job. We are trying to keep PG off Devin and CP as much as possible, try to save some energy but it's the playoffs. No excuses. We've just got to be ready to do whatever we have to do and he's up for that challenge and he says his body feels great.

Q. How is Marcus [Morris] feeling?

TYRONN LUE: He said he feels good.

Q. Okay. So he's good to go?

TYRONN LUE: Yes, sir.

Q. Talk about the development with Terance [Mann], are there other instances how that's paid off for you?

TYRONN LUE: A lot. I think the biggest thing is just Terance Mann's shooting. I think Shaun Fein has done a great job with him and just giving him confidence and some of the mechanics and working on the shot, and making seven threes against Utah in Game 6, so that's the biggest thing I think so far, just how he's improved his shooting.

Q. And what you can say about your team’s player development overall?

TYRONN LUE: Kenny [Atkinson] pretty much runs the player development side of it, so it makes it easy for me. Like I said, he's done a great job and got respect for what he's done and every day he's just planning out different situations for guys to get better. They love him. And so they have taken a liking to it and guys work hard, and he's put those guys in great positions.

Q. How is Nic [Batum] feeling?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, he's good.

Q. You mentioned this the other day but Terance, when he gets going, this place going, you feed off that?

TYRONN LUE: Yes, he's infectious to our team on both sides of the basketball, rebounding, push it out and attack it early, or advance pass it and a chance to attack early.

Defensively I thought last game he really helped us out, set the tone, picking up CP full court to try to wear them down because he had not played in a while and just try to make CP work as much as possible and he did a great job of that. He's definitely a fan favorite. Definitely guys love playing with him and he adds a lot of intensity to our team on both ends of the floor and hope he continues to do that.

Q. Kawhi, since he's been out, has he been more vocal?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, this could be good for him. He's been a lot more vocal just talking to the guys, just talking to the coaches, what he sees. He's been great for the guys, just being around and keeping them positive and keeping them upbeat and just telling them what he sees. He's been great.

Q. What's struck you most about his leadership style during this period?

TYRONN LUE: Just how engaged he is. It's easy to feel bad for yourself or feel down when you're not able to play but he's conscious, flip the switch, you know what, be here in any capacity I want to be in and I want to help the team anyway I can until I can get back. The guys are feeding off him and he has great energy and we just love having him around.

Q. Him being up in the suite -- what's your reaction to that, I guess cameras caught him --

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, I don't know. No comment.

Q. Phoenix has run a lot of pick-and-roll with the back screen in this series and they loved to run it all season, as well. How would you assess the team's communication level when dealing with that in the series?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, they call it snap but the rest of the league calls it stack. I think Monty is the first person to really introduce that to the league and they do a great job of running it. They get in a lot of different variations, a lot of sets they fall into stack action, and it's tough to guard. It's tough to defend.

We've been doing a good job of it. I think the first game with Cameron Payne, he really hurt us, and the second game as well down the stretch he got three layups because we didn't switch it and do the right thing we're supposed to do. But it's a tough thing to cover. Our team is definitely up with that play and they have done a great job all season long taking advantage of teams, so we have to be prepared for it again tonight.

Q. Your players talk all the time about the fact that you empower them and you give them a lot of freedom when they are out there to play through mistakes, and it seems like the way you come back from some of these series, you'll have guys deep on the bench have a big night and there might be a correlation. Is that how you like to be coached as a player? Did you pluck that from somebody in particular coaching-wise? Where does that come from in terms of your style?

TYRONN LUE: I don't know, I just took a lot from a lot of different coaches. I had a lot of great coaches like Doc Rivers, Phil Jackson, I thought Scott Skiles was a great coach, Stan Van Gundy, Jeff Van Gundy, Doug Collins. So I just kind of learned from a lot of different coaches.

I know as a player, it felt good when coaches let you play your game, they let you make mistakes and let you play free, I always felt that it would be good for me. So I just kind of want to do the same thing.

And Phil Jackson taught me a lot just being in L.A. and he did a lot of his coaching in practice for the game and kind of let you figure it out, unless he's just playing bad basketball. I just want to give guys confidence to play, play free, not worry about making mistakes and looking over their shoulder. And like I said, if they are doing too much, I'll let those guys know but for the most part they have been great.