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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PISTONS v HEAT


May 23, 2005


Dwyane Wade


MIAMI, FLORIDA: Game One

Q. You were able to roll off eight straight and now you take this loss. How tough is that on your team?

DWYANE WADE: Very tough in a playoff and tough to lose at home. You've got to come here tomorrow and learn from it, but at the same time, we learn from what we did wrong and we learn from what we did right and we take that into Game 2.

Q. Stan said that they did nothing that you hadn't seen and nothing that you hadn't prepared for. How did they get you into spots on the floor where you didn't want to be catching the ball?

DWYANE WADE: It really wasn't -- I'm an unselfish player, and sometimes I've got opportunities to drive and I pick my dribble and I'm looking for my teammates and they did a good job, and then after that I had to force up a shot. It was just more my mind state than them just totally shutting me down. Sometimes I just missed shots and made bad decisions tonight, and I will correct them.

Q. Stan made the point that you have always made adjustments in playoff series when you've had a tough game. Do you already have a sense for what you need to do in the next game, and how confident are you you can build from this for the next series?

DWYANE WADE: First was all, I'm very confident in my ability. I shot terrible tonight, but I had some good looks. It wasn't like all my shots they contested and I just didn't have any good looks. I have to take that positive mind state into tomorrow, look at the film tomorrow and see what I have to do different, see what I have to do to have my team win and I will do it. I'm not really worried about that. Good win by Detroit to come in and get the first one, but we can come in tomorrow and be ready for it.

Q. You usually don't get easily agitated out there, but you could tell you were arguing with the officials, they were banging pretty good, as well. What were you thinking and how were you trying to not be frustrated out there

DWYANE WADE: During the game I say some things to the officials and I get mad, but at the same time it's going to come back to the next player and it's going to better. I get angry but it's just the nature of the game. I just missed some shots tonight I should have hit, and defensively, they had us moving around pretty well. They hit some shots, Ben Wallace hitting jump shots, nobody expecting that, and Rasheed really shot the ball well tonight, so we've got to make some adjustments offensively.

Q. It was great to see Shaq start the game. How did he look out there to you? Did he look like his old self or were there conditioning issues?

DWYANE WADE: He looked pretty good, came out strong early on. Shaq is really -- hurting or not hurting, he really wants to win, and he came out tonight and proved it. We weren't able to keep him in the game for long stretches, but as the series goes on and he gets more comfortable I think you'll see more domination from him.

Q. They have an unusual combination of four men, what can you guys do to give Udonis some help next time?

DWYANE WADE: I think the main they have we have to do is have individual defense where we don't have to help as much. Rasheed got a lot of his looks because Udonis came to help and he kicked it out to Rasheed and he hit the shot. We've got to do a better job individually of stopping their men.

Q. Does Tayshaun give you any particular difficulty where other people in the league might not, and if so, what are they?

DWYANE WADE: Not really, nothing I've never seen. He's a very good defender, he's very long, but more the majority of the night they were switching on screens. Rasheed stuck me pretty much on some switches and Rip, also, so they just threw different defenders at me and gave me different looks. Tayshaun is really long.

Q. Is this the best defense you've gone against all year long, the distance with both Wallaces and the switching?

DWYANE WADE: No question, this was one of the best defensive teams in the league, especially in the playoffs when every game they tune in on what you do. They're a great defensive team. They're very long inside of course with Tayshaun, but that's what makes this game fun, to see what adjustments you'll come out with next game. That's a credit to our team to see how we come out and make adjustments.

Q. I know you guys obviously came in as the No. 1 seed and the Pistons come in with a chip on their shoulder because they don't feel they get the respect they deserve. Obviously I don't think you guys feel that way as far as the respect level of this team.

DWYANE WADE: No, no, they get the respect they deserve. They're the world champions. They're the second best team in the East this season, and they're playing well right now, so they get the respect they deserve and of course they were overshadowed a little bit by Shaq coming here and maybe they did come with a chip on their shoulder, but we're out there playing a game and not worrying about who's getting the most attention. They came out Game 1 and we'll come out Game 2.

Q. Can you make a more concerted effort to drive to the hole? It looked like you were pumping on shots and not being as decisive as you usually are.

DWYANE WADE: A little bit indecisive. I'm an unselfish player and I really wanted to get the ball to my teammates. I got stuck with the ball without dribbling, and I had to make some tough -- I had to shoot some tough shots, so it made it look like I was indecisive. I was ready for this game coming in here but I'll try to do something different.

End of FastScripts...

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