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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SPURS v LAKERSMay 22, 2008Phil JacksonLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day Q. (Indiscernible). COACH JACKSON: Well, we knew we had a pretty defensive set in Kwame and we will have to play a different type of a defense with Pau. So we've adjusted in the period of time with Pau's defense and the things he does. Q. Can you talk about the impact winning Game 1 and what you and your players emphasize on it? COACH JACKSON: I have never been in the finals, and a team I was coaching never won either. That's water under the bridge, too. There is always a chance like something like that is going to happen. You can't take anything for granted. You have to go play it and see what happens. Q. What are you expecting from San Antonio tomorrow? Obviously a pretty good shot last night. I doubt they will be demoralized tomorrow. COACH JACKSON: They will make adjustments. They are a good team in adjustments. They know what to do. They have a lot of different weapons they can use. They will come back with energy and try to carry this next ball game. We were fortunate to get out with the one we had with the home court advantage. Q. How does the way of the flow of the game last night, the big swing, what kind of impact do those games have on a series generally? COACH JACKSON: We have usually said blowout games are usually the ones that have big impact. Games in which teams are demoralized or maybe Game 6 in San Antonio is an example, that type of ball game which that team not only loses but loses that character. A loss of a game where teams come from behind or they lose a lead, the energy of the team is lost on a game and they come back with a vengeance so to speak. Q. Sasha playing 30-plus minutes last night, was that a byproduct of how he was performing for you guys? COACH JACKSON: That's a byproduct of Lamar out there as a guard basically. We had to go to someone else for a while because Lamar got hung up in situations, layups that didn't go in and certain things that weren't happening. We just had to make a change. Sasha filled in. He didn't have the greatest offensive game but he energized the defense and played good. Q. Expecting Kobe to be more aggressive from the start, looking for the shots from the start tomorrow? COACH JACKSON: I'm not going to predict that. I like the fact he is looking for his teammates and obviously we want him to take shots when has opportunities. And I thought he passed up maybe three opportunities to take good shots. Turnover on one of them. So he is going to take the shots that are there and read the defense the right way. But I anticipate that he will be more involved in the game offensively scoring-wise in tomorrow's game. Q. In previous years you guys went to the free-throw line quite a bit. Is that something you want to see happen more, being a little bit more aggressive to the basket? COACH JACKSON: I don't think that's going to change a lot. San Antonio has a reputation of not fouling. Those things happen. There is a reason it happened. So we have to play and make baskets and make things count and play through fouls, even if they are there. Q. After the Spurs blowing a 20-point lead, how do you feel about falling behind 20? COACH JACKSON: Third quarters are difficult a lot of times for us to start. I think a lot of teams sometimes will come out with the home crowd anticipating they will get energized, that the game isn't energized and something has to happen to get it energized. And it's not easy. He are eight down. Give up eight, ten points and suddenly it is a desperate situation and you have to play more intense. We had to bring our level up immediately in intensity. Q. What do you think of Gregg Popovich as a coach? COACH JACKSON: Why would you ask that question? Q. (Indiscernible)? COACH JACKSON: We just had a little issue today. (Laughter). Gregg is one of the coaches that's come into this game that has continually developed. I think a lot of coaches get static and they get resistant and don't change. He is one of the coaches that has evolved and developed his team to a point where the options are almost countless. They have so many plays they can run as a team. They have a lot of the same personnel but a lot of it is because he has continued to evolve his offense. Q. What has been the key from the off-season in the summer with the turmoil of getting to this point right now? COACH JACKSON: I think it is more a belief factor. We went into camp. We have a dinner. Players sit down. We have a dinner. And then they stand up and introduce themselves and have a word or two about their summer. We take an hour or so after our dinner to talk a little bit about it. And the captains, you know, usually give a little talk about what they expect from the year as a player. Kobe stood up and said I don't have anything to say except I want to win. I think that kind of set a tone for the players, and the intensity carried from that particular moment on. So I think that was kind of a warning shot that was fired around the team. Let's good ready to play this game for real. End of FastScripts |
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