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NBA FINALS: MAGIC v LAKERS


June 10, 2009


Derek Fisher


ORLANDO, FLORIDA: Practice Day

DEREK FISHER: Poor rotations and decisions on our part defensively. What we talked about today and what we'll talk about over the next 24 hours is the things that we can control. Sometimes guys shoot the ball well and there's not a lot you can do about it. But there are some things that we can do to cut into their field goal percentage and then also do some things better on our end so that our offensive possessions are more efficient.

Q. What are those things you can do better?
DEREK FISHER: Well, defensively there are some things that we can do in terms of taking away some spacing from them and doing a better job with dribble penetration off the screen roll. That's really how they're breaking our defense down is they're using Howard in a screen roll and he's setting really solid screens and putting us on the trail and basically collapsing or rotating our defense. It really comes down to screen-roll defense and being able to contain that.
As the series moves on, we'll be able to continue adjusting and lock in on what we want to do.

Q. I know you don't like to lose at all, but do you find any confidence in the fact that they had to shoot such a high percentage and still only won by two baskets?
DEREK FISHER: Yeah, I guess you don't expect a team to be able to shoot the ball the way they did last night on a consistent basis. At the same time, you don't necessarily rely on them just cooling off. There are some things that we need to do and have to do defensively to impact them offensively, and like I said, our ability to really slow down some things off of their screen roll I think is going to be key for us in order to be successful and try to come back and win tomorrow.

Q. Last night Kobe said that they threw the kitchen sink at him defensively, throwing a second guy his way, bodying up a little bit more. How do you guys take advantage of that when they defend him like that as teammates?
DEREK FISHER: What we have to do is be properly spaced, and then the ball just moves. As he continues to see certain things that they're doing defensively to him individually when he's operating in scoring positions, he'll start to adjust. And then the Magic will have to adjust. So he's a smart enough player, as he watched film last night or today, he'll start seeing spaces where they're coming from, who's coming, and he'll start kicking that ball out to myself, Trevor, Lamar, Luke, Jordan, whoever is open, and we'll make the plays from there.
We're always prepared to do that. But sometimes in the flow of the game it's hard to make those adjustments, in particular for him scoring almost 70 points in two games. So it was a bit of an adjustment to make during the game. But like I said, I think he sees some things he can do now.

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