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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v MAVERICKSMay 22, 2011Jason KiddOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: Practice Day JASON KIDD: We've got to get back to just everybody touching the ball and making sure that the guy who does take the shot has a wide-open shot. Q. For the last several years you've always heard about the difficulty you have with quick point guards and you're too old to keep up with these guys, and how do you offset that, but there's more to it than just the defensive end. You control games in different ways. Can you just talk about that a little bit? JASON KIDD: Well, everybody is going to be quicker than I am and younger, so that's a given. But the big thing is just trying on the offensive end for me not to turn the ball over, make sure we get good shots and get guys in position to be successful and kind the keep the tempo kind of high where we can get out and run, get some easy baskets. And then defensively just try to keep them in front and if not contest, and if they make a shot, take it out and go back the other way. Q. You've always been a team guy, but when you've had these individual match-ups earlier, that sort of thing, do you approach them differently now than you did say ten years ago when you were going up against guys that were quick? JASON KIDD: Yeah, I would be a lot closer, but knowing that I'm not as fast, you've got to anticipate, and sometimes you might get wrong and they still score. But the big thing is, again, make it as tough as possible. These guys are extremely athletic and talented and understand how to play, so you just try to make it as tough as possible. Q. How have you compensated over the years to make up that gap in athleticism that you may have lost over a decade or two? JASON KIDD: I believe that I still have that athletic ability. I might have lied to myself that I can still do the things that I could do at 25 or 26, but sometimes I'm brought back down to understand that I'm not as fast as I once was. Q. What is it that allows you to -- you're not getting blown by, you're guarding big guys like Durant who's also quick. It seems like no matter where you are, you're at home on the court and effective. JASON KIDD: Again, I'm just trying to make it tough on these guys. These guys all have the advantage, if it's not speed or height, they all can put the ball up, they all it score. Just trying to make it tough and contest. Again, I've been in the league long enough, I've been scored on, so it's not like if they score it's something new. So you don't let that affect you and you just keep playing. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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