NBA FINALS: PISTONS v LAKERS

June 8, 2004

Larry Brown

COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, I have no control over them, so I think the only thing that we can do is try to remember how well we played and the things that enabled us to win the game. We talked about that immediately following the game. You know, we rebounded effectively, we shared the ball. We didn't turn the ball over in the second half. We gave them four points on the break and I think we had a tremendous contribution from a lot of people, so it's fun going back on the bus and knowing everybody contributed and we were really satisfied with the way they played. So, as the game goes on, you've got to see what's happening. I think, you know, we've done enough things during the season that we might have to adjust, but basically, we played the same way.

COACH LARRY BROWN: No, it was a good memory. A lot of my players called me from Philly, kind of reminding me of what went on after we won Game 1. But that was a decimated team physically. I think we just lost to a much better team and I think we all realize that. I got on you -- you guys probably heard it, I went on the back of the bus after this Game 1, and told them, you know, we had won a tough Game 1, and then kind of felt pretty proud of ourselves and then lo and behold, Phil got them ready, they won four straight and they all looked at me and said we're not the same team. I said, well, that's not what I'm worried about; you've got the same coach. (Laughter). But we respect Phil and the Lakers, we anticipate them playing a great game. They have bounced back every time they have had some adversity, and if we don't expect the best from them tonight, you know, we're in trouble.

COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, I got this new thing tonight. I can tell them they can guard us, let's go home. (Laughter). You know, I've always felt comfortable with people being in the huddle, because I think so many times, people don't realize coaches try to coach. So I don't have a problem with that. You know, I said it -- that doesn't mean I don't respect them, I don't know what -- I'm never going to talk to my team in the playoff situation in a negative manner unless we're playing selfish or not playing with effort. And I would really think that if they mic me every time-out, the more we move the ball, the more we share it, the better shots we're going to get. I'll give you a little example: Phil has a lot of things that I don't have, and I understand that, but everybody asked me about motivation, prior to this series with Philly, I used to play Kirk Gibson hitting a home run and Willis walking out on the court, you know, before Game 7 against the Lakers and Isiah playing with that bad ankle, some of my players were hurt in Philly that I thought maybe could have played, and they would say to the press, God, Coach is a great motivator, saying things like that. The guy I was trying to motivate never played. (Laughter) So, my whole thing is, you know, I'm going to do the best I can to coach my team. If that's what it takes to get those guys ready to play, I'll apologize to my team but I'm probably going to say the same thing.

COACH LARRY BROWN: I've got eye contact with my players. And again, I respect the league for doing that. I've always championed that. Because again, I think it brings to light that people do try to coach and teach. You know, I want to help our game, and I don't want to say something stupid, but in the heat of the moment, coaching makes you do silly things.

COACH LARRY BROWN: Last year?

COACH LARRY BROWN: See, I'm leaving now, right. (Laughter). George Lynch broke his ankle. Eric had a stress fracture late in the season and had a pin. Aaron had that heart problem and he had an irregular heartbeat and a little shoulder problem. And Matt Geiger had one or two knees. (Laughter) Now he's raising Buffalo. (Laughter).

COACH LARRY BROWN: I didn't think anything was weak in Game 1. I think we all were pretty pleased about the way we played. The most important thing is we've got to remember how we won Game 1, the things we did that gave us an opportunity to win. I think that's the thing we're going to focus on.

COACH LARRY BROWN: You know, I read in the papers that Shaq did okay. I thought he did great. You're talking about, you know, one of the most dominant players ever to play our game, and a guy that seems to play at another level this time of year. The fact that we didn't have to double and help when we were guarding Shaq was huge, and like I said the other day, with Rasheed in foul trouble and us being able to keep him on the bench, and having him ready with four fouls in the second half was really important. You can't guard him one-on-one; everybody knows that. You know, he had to earn his points. I thought he made some tough shots and just played great, but I really felt that Elden was huge because, like I said, Rasheed and Ben and some of our other people did not get in foul trouble while he was guarding Shaq.

COACH LARRY BROWN: I don't think about him being more physical. I just know they will play better. I watched them play every game probably in the series, this series prior to ours. With all of the adversity they have, they seem to respond. They do it the right way. You know, they have a coach who has won nine championships and has figured out ways to get his team ready to play, so we anticipate that. We haven't had -- we haven't taken flagrant fouls or had cheap fouls. We just play hard. I respect the team we're playing against. I think they play the same way.

COACH LARRY BROWN: I don't know. We'll just have to see. Somebody is going to have to chase Richard, and, you know, the way I look at it, they have got to play a point guard 94 feet. I don't think there's many players in our league better defensively than Kobe. The thing that I always worry about is when they mix and match, sometimes in transition, if Kobe is guarding Chauncey, then Chauncey is going to have to play him a lot. But, that's the way it is, we'll just have to figure it out. We've seen different kinds of situations but I don't think we've seen, you know, the likes of Kobe defensively very often.