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NBA FINALS: HEAT v SPURSJune 7, 2014Erik SpoelstraSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Practice Day Q.  Erik, you guys have won your last 12 games after you've lost in the playoffs. Do you sense a different approach, a different look, a different feeling during the days off and going into those games when you guys are coming off a playoff loss? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: I've been asked that before, you know my answer. I don't try to read their body language or facial expressions. What we do is get into the process. We had a lot to cover yesterday, try to be efficient today, we had to differentiate what we need to do much better, much harder, much more true to our identity and what we need to do a little bit differently, and that's the process of yesterday and today. Q. Does it speak to the fortitude of your players that they don't let it fester, that they move and are able to find a way to turn it around? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Sure, the tough part is going through the process. A lot of carnage to go through yesterday in the film and today working through what we need to do better and harder. Our group has been pretty good at developing some mental toughness of owning what we need to do better. That's usually the first step. It's not the only step but it's the first step to trying to get on the right track. Q. How much of physical nature do you expect in today's practice? And also what do you expect LeBron to participate in today? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Whatever he's willing to do. It's not going to be a Bahamas‑like training camp practice today. Q. How is he coming along, improving? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Yeah, he's feeling better. You'll have to ask him, what percentage. I doubt he'll give it to you but he's feeling better, moving around. Yesterday was all about rest and hydration and building his body back up. Thankfully we had that extra day. Q. Coach, I think this is your 84th playoff game in the last four years. You've basically played an extra season here. How do you manage that as a coach? Do you think about it? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: No, you don't manage it now; we're here. You have to deal with that point. I mean, we don't take that for granted. A lot of things have to go in your favor to have that many games in the last four years. What we did try to do is manage the six months leading up to this point, minutes, practices. The minutes during games we managed those more than we ever have, but what's more important is the days in between, what you do there and how much you're on your feet and how much you're grinding and building. Our team has evolved. That first year was virtually every practice was a grueling training camp practice. It's not quite like that now. Q. I wanted to ask you something about Boris Diaw. It's been a difficult match‑up for you guys. What do you think of that player? And is it an issue for you in Game 2? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: They have a lot of players that are multiskilled and he's a great fit for their system. He's multi dimensional, puts the ball on the floor, great vision. You could see with the passes that he made the other night. So we have to do what we do, but do it better, do it with a little bit more thought tendencies, and so forth. Q. I'm not sure what you can address this now, but what are some of the things your team has to do better tomorrow? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: I'm sure they're saying the same thing. It's a big‑time possession series so the miscues that we had offensively, we had some rough possessions particularly in that fourth quarter. We would like to clean that up with our execution and efficiency, and not letting them flatten us out, where we're still able to get to our game. Defensively, although we forced the type of turnovers that we typically would like, we still had more than enough breakdowns where they had great paint opportunities. They won't make it easy. We don't expect them to. So we have to do it much better than we did. Q. After LeBron's first season here, what was it where you guys became even more of a perimeter offensive team, stretching further out to the three‑point line? What was it that influenced that decision? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Pain. Q. The Finals? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Oftentimes failure gets you to that point. We had to make some adjustments offensively. We are not just a perimeter team, we just do it oftentimes inverted, where our perimeter players are in the paint and sometimes our bigs are outside. I've talked about it ad nauseam. We had to look at our team and personnel in a different lens, and it required change. Otherwise it was going to be pain again. Q. Do you expect normal participation from LeBron or are you going to manage minutes differently? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: We'll be open to whatever is necessary. We anticipate we will play in a very cool gym. We will have to deal with that now. I don't know if guys will be wearing tights under their shorts and long‑sleeved shirts, I don't know. Q. Michael Beasley, obviously not in your rotation, but when you view his years, when have you learned about him? And do you feel like he's grown to a point where maybe he can salvage his career and make something of it? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Yeah, we invested so much with Michael the two years that we had him before, that's why when he was available this summer, we didn't hesitate to go after him. We knew at the same time there was probably not a better fit for an organization to get past all the noise and exaggeration and overanalyzing of every move with Michael. It wouldn't necessarily be the role that people would expect from him this year, but he could still contribute and help us on a quest to hopefully play deep into the playoffs. And he had some very good moments this year. It's quite a different team than his rookie year and second year. Much more talent and he would have to fill in a role. Because of all the injuries we had, there are several points during the season where he stepped up and played meaningful minutes for us. But I've seen him grow immensely, maturity‑wise, as a pro, on and off the court. It's really been‑‑ it's been cool to see. I know he will be judged basically on numbers and I think that's unfair. The same thing with Greg Oden. Greg Oden is one of the biggest success stories in this league, and unfortunately people are only judging him by the fact of how many minutes he plays. Two years ago people were saying he would never play the game again and he's available every night. Q. Duncan and Splitter's success in the paint Game 1, what's the fix you need to make there? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: We need to do what we do better and harder. They make it tough with their passing and, you know, getting into the paint with their roles and spreading you out with three‑point shooters. So we need to do that better, there is no question about it. Those were big‑time relief points. Q. Spo, given that you haven't been at the arena since the end of Game 1 and you're practicing here the last two days, will you go to the arena early tomorrow? Will you have guys check it out to see how cool it really is? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: It will be fine. We've been assured of that. Q. Do you have confidence in that assurance? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Yes. Q. Yesterday LeBron called himself the easiest target that we have in sports. Does that come with the territory or is it unfair sometimes, the kind of ridicule and mocking he gets whenever he falters? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: We're way beyond that. We had to go through that extreme the first year. We've all had to learn how to compartmentalize the storylines that come with this group. There are a lot more benefits being part of this group than there are negatives. Q. Coach, what kind of challenges is Boris Diaw presenting for your defense? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Just answered that. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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