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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PISTONS v HEAT


May 25, 2005


Larry Brown


MIAMI, FLORIDA: Game Two

Q. What type of adjustments do you think Dwyane Wade made in this game from the Game 1, specifically in the 4th quarter?

COACH LARRY BROWN: I didn't think he made any. You know, he got out on the break in the first half. We had a whole bunch of turnovers. I think the 2nd quarter, I don't know if they scored in the half court, and that got them going, but he just played great. They got him in a lot of screening situations, and he did a tremendous job, but he got a bunch of easy baskets in transitions, which in Game 1 we kind of kept him out of there. That got him going. We had about five or six fast breaks in the second quarter. We had 3-on-1's, 3-on-2's and we didn't even get a shot, and I think that really put us behind the 8 ball. Then the 4th quarter when you get way behind you've got to play perfect, and we missed some shots and maybe we took some quick outside shots, but I thought it was a great game. I was proud of the way we got back in the game, and they just made the plays at the end that we made in Game 1.

Q. Considering what you know about Wade I'm sure you're not surprised that he responded the way he did?

COACH LARRY BROWN: I think I told everybody, you know, he's as good as it gets in our league, and he's a great kid to go along with it, and he had a phenomenal game. With that in mind, we still had a chance to win coming from behind, but he was phenomenal in every way, and I think Stan did a great job with putting him in that position where he could be successful.

Q. Given all the things that went wrong for you tonight, how do you still feel about the long-term prospects given that you still had a chance to win this game last minute, still have home court advantage. What type of feelings do you take out of this game?

COACH LARRY BROWN: I'm proud of my team. If I was in the Miami dressing room, I'd feel the same way. We shot poorly. You know, you can't turn the ball over -- when you have numbers, if you don't get a shot, they have numbers the other way. But the effort to come back, you know, was remarkable. But they're a great team. They're well coached. I know Shaq is not Shaq, but you can't guard him. He commands so much attention. You know, hopefully we'll give ourselves a chance to win at home, but I didn't think the series was over after Game 1, and I thought we had to play our best to win this game, and we came up a little short. But they had a lot to do with it.

Q. Just wanted to know your opinion of the last eight minutes of seeing Zo and Shaq on the court together. Did that surprise you, and what kind of problems did it pose?

COACH LARRY BROWN: It didn't surprise me. You know, they're great players. Zo, everybody forgets how good he is. But they did a good job. Defensively they forced us a little outside. They challenged shots, they did a lot of good things. That's why -- you know, I had said last year Joe (Dumars) picked up Rasheed and everybody knows what Rasheed did for us. Pat (Riley) this year picks up a lot of guys, but none any more important than Alonzo.

Q. Can you just talk about Zo and the impact that he could possibly have for the remainder of the series given the defensive nature that he's taken on?

COACH LARRY BROWN: I don't know. You know, he's a great player. He gives them depth. They've got every position covered. Dooling has played great as a backup point. You know, they have a lot of flexibility. They can put Doleac in or Christian if they get in foul trouble. It's a great team, and when you have two teams that I think defend as well as we both do and compete as hard, you need depth and you need depth in size.

Q. Could you talk about putting Tayshaun on the bench for the whole second quarter there with the two fouls, what the thinking was for saving him and that type of thing? And do you think it had any effect on his effectiveness in the second half?

COACH LARRY BROWN: I've done that my whole life. Nothing has ever changed. If we were getting blown out, I might have changed, but the way the game was being called in the first half, I didn't think we could afford to waste him. And we got back in the game. As far as I know, we got the lead after three quarters. But whether it affected him or not, I don't know. He was playing against a great player. But I don't think one player is going to stop anybody. The big issue is if a great player is going to get easy baskets in transition, all of a sudden the basket looks a lot bigger, so it doesn't matter who's guarding him.

Q. Given the way you played in Game 1 and Game 2, do you really need to make a lot of changes or what kind of changes would you have to make when going back to Detroit for game 3?

COACH LARRY BROWN: We shot 38 percent. Some of our best free throw shooters missed free throws. Our point guard had eight turnovers in the first half. You know, there are a lot of things that went wrong, but we had a chance to win the game. We had a chance to foul Shaq at the end, kind of didn't get it done. But we had shots, we had opportunities. I just look at it like everybody was talking about how we played down the stretch. We made plays, we got stops. Tonight I think it reversed a little bit, you know, but even with that in mind, we cut it to two late. We had ample chances, it just was one of those things. I think it was a great game, and again, I'm proud of the way my guys played. I don't think you're going to win many games on the road shooting 65 percent from the foul line and 37 percent from the field and getting out-rebounded. But with that in mind, we have a chance to win.

Q. What did Miami do defensively to reverse you guys with 45 percent last game, 38 percent tonight? What did they do defensively and how did their rebounding come into play tonight?

COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, I think we took a lot of quick shots. You know, especially in the first half, we were going too fast. You take quick shots, you're not going to offensive rebound. Then they got out on the break, and on the break when you get dribble penetration, it's pretty hard to block out. Huge play was Wade got an offensive rebound late. I think that was a big play in the game, put Miami up 2. But again, when you get down late in the game, you've got to play perfect, and those things bite you.

End of FastScripts...

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