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NBA FINALS: CELTIC v LAKERS

June 5, 2010

Paul Pierce

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day

Q. It's looking more and more likes Tibs is going to get maybe the Bulls job or another job. Talk about the impact he's had on the team from a defensive standpoint, the impact he's had on you as a defensive oriented coach.
PAUL PIERCE: Tibs has been manager for a lot of things we do, but so have a lot of other guys, a lot of other coaches on our staff. I think Doc does a good job of expanding their roles. Before Doc got here you didn't see too much of that with the past coaches. But especially Tibs, everybody knows his role with the ballclub is mainly with the defensive. He can do anything, but that's just his role. I think his influence defensively on this team has been major in getting us to the point we're at now.

Q. Besides just obviously effort and energy in Game 2, now that you've had a chance to maybe look at some film, what's something specific you need to make an adjustment on to bounce back in Game 2?
PAUL PIERCE: I think those two things that I said before. I know our execution is going to be there. I know the defensive scheme is going to be there. But it's just about how hard and how willing you are to sacrifice your body to go out and do it for 48 minutes. We haven't changed too much throughout the whole year, throughout the playoffs, about the way we play and about the way we defend. So we've just got to go out there a little bit faster and a little bit harder.

Q. Doc was saying after Game 3 against Cleveland you 15 guys were the only ones who believed that series was going to go to Celtics way. Do you have a feeling people might think that after Game 1, that the only people who believe in the Celtics are the Celtics?
PAUL PIERCE: That's fine. That's the way we felt going into the playoffs, that's the way we feel now. It doesn't matter who believes in us. The important thing is the guys in the locker room believe.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about what Game 2 means in terms of the impact. I mean, if you guys win it, all of a sudden you came in here and did what they're supposed to do. This 2-3-2 format, does it add something in terms of you never get to come back if you win, and if they win clearly they're in the driver's seat?
PAUL PIERCE: Well, I really don't think too much past Game 2. Our job is to get Game 2. Obviously we have three games at home, but the most important game is the next game up, and that's No. 2. We don't want to dig ourselves too deep of a hole. We haven't been in a two-game deficit all playoffs. It's definitely important for us to bounce back in Game 2. You want to find yourself crawling back into the series before you go home for Game 3. Even when you go home, games aren't guaranteed. Even though you've got three games, you still have to go out there and play them.

Q. You guys probably try to stay in a narrow range of emotions but does it ever surprise you or amuse you how much people on the outside will swing from game to game?
PAUL PIERCE: The swing what people think of?

Q. Yeah, the talk about the series and things on the outside, the periphery.
PAUL PIERCE: Truthfully to be honest, I really don't even hear that stuff. I don't hear what people are saying. Obviously we're an underdog because of our record with all the series and the way we've been playing. But as far as all that, hearing how we played and how we performed, I really don't even get caught up in that. I really don't watch too much TV, I don't read the press clippings. That really doesn't factor what I think moving forward and approaching each and every game at all.

Q. Lakers did a pretty good job keeping Rondo away from the basket, stopping him from the dribble penetration in Game 1. How much of that had to do with you guys not getting stops on the defensive end of the court and getting into transition and allowing Rondo to do what he does?
PAUL PIERCE: Well, it has everything to do with it. When you don't get stops, that means he's taking the ball out every time, and it doesn't allow Rondo to get out there and use his speed in transition for fast breaks, and every time they got stops, rebounds was another big Achilles heel for us.
So it's important to do a better job on rebounds after each shot, getting the ball in his hands so his speed and play-making ability can become a factor in game No. 2. So we've got to make a concentrated effort at doing a better job at that.

Q. How much of a game changer was it when Ray got into foul trouble? He had been taken off Kobe but he had four fouls, take a shooter off the floor and another defender for Kobe?
PAUL PIERCE: Well, obviously Ray is huge in everything we do, both sides of the ball, so when you take one of your premier players out of the game, it does have an effect when you don't have him out there guarding Kobe like he has been doing over the past years, just his experience out there offensively, it hurts your chemistry, especially early, because you're not used to Ray getting into foul trouble. That hasn't been the characteristics of his game getting into foul trouble too many times throughout the season. So it does hurt. But that's part of the game and that's going to happen, and other guys got to be able to come out there and step up, but not having him hurts.

Q. What are some of the stats or numbers that you look at for energy and effort?
PAUL PIERCE: Well, when I go into halftime the first thing I look at is deflections, turnovers and the other team's field goal percentage. When you see those numbers, I look and see if we got a certain number of deflections, maybe it's 10, 12, 15 deflections at the half or the other team shooting under 40 percent. When I see that type of stat I know we're doing well. When I don't, for instance, in the Laker game and I see them shooting 50 percent, and we had no second-chance points and we gave up some second-chance points and stuff like that, no fast breaks, I know we're in for a long night.

Q. How much does energy and effort and hustle, when it comes to The Finals and you've got two teams that are very good, how much does that determine the outcome?
PAUL PIERCE: Well, you're talking about the last series in all the basketball for the entire year, for the grand prize. So if guys aren't willing to give it their all or sacrifice whatever they need to do at this point in the season, then shame on them truthfully. Hopefully we don't come back and talk about this after today, talk about effort or energy, because this is it. You don't get these type of opportunities in The Finals, to be able to come here not only once but twice, but still you can't take it for granted because you never know if you'll have this opportunity again. Hopefully we can leave it all out there for the next remaining games, and we don't have to talk about this anymore.

Q. Can you just reflect on what John Wooden accomplished at UCLA. And did you follow UCLA much growing up here?
PAUL PIERCE: Well, I'm very familiar with what John Wooden has done for the game of basketball. When I talk about basketball, I don't mean the college game, I mean all of basketball. I look at him really on the same level as what Red Auerbach did for the game of basketball except he coached the college level. I had a chance to meet him a couple of times, so just being able to follow UCLA and the tradition he built there, it's kind of similar to what you've done here in Boston and what you've done in Los Angeles. His influence on the game has been awesome, and when you see an icon like that pass away, your heart just goes out to him and his family.

End of FastScripts

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