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NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS


June 19, 2005


Gregg Popovich


DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Five

Q. The last play, what did you draw up and what happened after it went?

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: We drew up what you saw. We put all the people where you saw we put them, and Rasheed double-teamed, things changed and Manu made a great pass.

Q. Can you just talk about Robert Horry, fourth quarter, overtime, just stepping up his game.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: He was unbelievable. We started the overtime with Nazr trying to get the tip, and we were fortunate enough to get it and stuck him right back in because throughout the fourth quarter, he was unbelievable. We had to keep him on the court as much as we could, and he read the floor great. He drove it, he got to the open areas. He's just got a great sense about him. He's a really smart player.

Q. Can you explain his penchant for this stuff and late-game shots?

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: That's who he is. That's one of the things he does. He does other things, too, but what people notice is that three, obviously, that he shoots.

Q. Robert was coming off his worst playoffs before you signed him, what made you decide to sign him?

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I just thought that really whether we were right or wrong at the time, I just thought he wore down. I thought he played too many minutes in L.A., you know, his final year, and he just didn't have anything left at that point. But the way the league is going and the way people are playing, it's good to have a four man who can shoot the ball and spread the court. I think he's still fairly young. It's not like he's 36 or 37. So we decided because of his leadership, because he's going to have a summer to rest, if we guarded his minutes, he might be able to be really helpful to us in playoff situations. So we kind of limit him during the year.

Q. You talked about the other things he did besides the threes, what about the one dunk, what were you thinking as he took off on that, put it down and then comes up holding his arm?

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Yeah, I was really worried about him, because he does have a problem in there and he keeps reinjuring it, but obviously it doesn't stop him from being aggressive. He made a great play, the lane opened up and he did something that was very aggressive and usually that works out well.

Q. During the time-out with nine seconds left, did you anticipate that the Pistons might try to trap you guys, and have Horry in that position because of that?

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, Robert -- no. That's not why Robert was there. Robert is almost always there. He's there a lot, to handle the ball in those situations because we think he makes great choices. He's got the length and he can see things out there. So he's there quite often. No, we did not know they were going to trap.

Q. You've got a chance, one game away from yet another title, can you just talk about how you feel personally about this great run you have? I mean, there's not many NBA coaches that have won three or more NBA titles, and you're closing in on that.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Is there another question?

Q. I mean, you don't want to any of the credit, that's a pretty incredible feat.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Any other questions?

Q. There were a lot of moments where you could have had frustration, Tim with the free throw problems and the crowd and everything, what was the tenor of the team during all of that and the spirit of what was going on in the last few minutes?

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I think initially they were a little bit down, understandably so. But I thought Manu, especially, he went over there and grabbed Timmy and talked to him, touched him and, you know, got to him on the bench. And the players were great about supporting each other at that point and remembering that we're starting over again and we had to have that energy. We couldn't afford to hang our heads. I thought they helped each other in that situation really well.

End of FastScripts...

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