Friday, June 17, 2005
LARRY BROWN
Q. You and Pop are defensive minded coaches, so coaching somebody like Ben must be a dream. In our lifetime do you think that a defensive specialist like him will get anywhere close to the adoration, the respect, the attention and even the money that your high scoring, no defense stars get?
COACH LARRY BROWN: I don't understand that.
Q. In our lifetime, do you think that defensive specialists like Ben Wallace will get the same kind of attention and respect and honor that the great scorers who don't play any defense get?
COACH LARRY BROWN: No, absolutely not. That's why sometimes when they talk about superstars well, Russell, obviously, is one that we'll all talk about, and Nate Thurmond possibly. But I think in the modern game, it's something that I think is really overlooked. The impact he has on the game has allowed us to win an NBA Championship and be in The Finals.
But the funny thing is, I get calls all the time from college coaches and friends of mine, and they are trying to drum into some of their kids, do what you do best and understand about the Bruce Bowens and the Ben Wallaces, and the fact that, here they are playing on championship caliber teams and have an effect on the game, and making good money.
You know, I think Joe recognizes Ben and his contract is coming up. He's going to be rewarded. Those two kids, when you think of their career paths, a lot of people would have given up. I would hope that you guys can champion them and say things like that, and then maybe coaches can have an easier time showing their kids, hey, if you do what you do best every night, you can be successful.
Q. As someone with some maturity, can you lend some perspective to the debate between Bob Pettit, Tim Duncan, Karl Malone as the greatest power forward ever?
COACH LARRY BROWN: I love Bob Pettit. You know, it's amazing, and I always talk to these players about this, half the guys, if a player played three years ago, they don't even know who the hell they are. So I always point to the rafters when we go into buildings and ask some of the guys, do you remember this guy, do you know who he is.
But my thing with a lot of them, they always tell me how good they are, all the young players when I talk to them. I said, "Well, do you realize when I was coming out of college, or just a short time before, we only had 90 NBA players?" I remember when there were nine teams, ten guys on a team when Bob Pettit played, and every single night, they were coming up against a super player. And they played each other so many times, I mean, the familiarity there made it even more difficult.
And I said, at the time we had 29 teams, I said, we've got 145 starters in our league. That means 55 of you guys wouldn't even have a job. Do you understand that? And no, they don't even comprehend that.
But it's hard to compare one era to the next. Those players back then in my mind really knew how to play, because I don't think they all were quite as athletic. I think they had a great appreciation and respect for the game because obviously the money wasn't great. Most of them had two jobs. And they had to play against a guy every single night that earned the right to play. You know, rookies never played. I think the significance of that and the contribution they made is something we take for granted.
Q. So can you rate Pettit, Malone, Duncan, who is the best power forward?
COACH LARRY BROWN: No, no, don't get I mean, I'll take any one of them and I'd be a hell of a lot better coach than I am today.
But they all had the same thing: They never took a possession off, they made their teammates better, and I think they had an effect on the game on both sides. That's a pretty special group.
Q. You've had a lot of very eventful seasons, but I don't think you've ever had anything to compare to this. Has this been your hardest season?
COACH LARRY BROWN: Oh, no. This has been phenomenal for me. I mean, I don't have too many left, and I've had tzuris (problems) my whole life. I'm doing exactly what I want to do. I mean there are some issues that I've had that I've never had to face before, but it seems like every year there's something. But when I consider what goes on and what other people go through, I'm doing exactly what I want to do. I'm hopeful that I can continue to do it, and when I look at my locker room and consider the people I'm around on a daily basis, I'm blessed.
Q. Let me sneak two more questions in. One, you've had people jumping on you this year, you've had a lot of criticism. Doesn't that stuff get you down?
COACH LARRY BROWN: Oh, yeah. I remember the experience I had last year at this time. I mean, everybody was so happy for me personally, you know, and I have a lot of friends or people I've been around and seen the difficulty in getting to this position. Last year was like, you know, I was put way up here.
But I don't get caught up in that too much. It's part of our profession. We get far too much credit when things go too good, and you get a lot more criticism when things go bad. But again, and you know me well enough, I have a hard time when I don't think people like me. When I always hear as a coach, well, I'd rather have the guys respect me than like me, that isn't me. I can't look down the bench and if I feel like, you know, I don't have a relationship with the 12th man, it bothers the heck out of me. When he doesn't play, it kills me. So I'll never change in that regard.
But I still am doing what I love, and I don't want to see this end.
Q. Can you talk a little about your bench the past few games has given you a lot more than it did in the Miami series, especially on the offensive end, can you talk about what the difference might be there?
COACH LARRY BROWN: A lot of times when the bench hasn't done very much, it's because of me. We've shortened our bench since we've gotten into the playoffs. It's just the way it is. You know, the first series, we had a lot of time between games, and even playing every other day, you have more than normal rest.
But we have been able to use Lindsey and McDyess and Elden Campbell in the Miami series. Carlos has given us some critical minutes. Even last night, his seven minutes were huge. But obviously the last two games, when you look at what McDyess and Lindsey have done, you kind of realize why this series is 2 2. I have no explanation for that. I think Game 2 really helped McDyess get confidence.
Lindsey is going to give you effort every single game. He's always had an impact on the defensive end. Last night, I have no explanation for that. A lot of times he's shooting a jumper and the bench coaches are going, no, no, good shot. But he's changed, you know, he changed this series in what he did the end of the third quarter in Game 3 and the fourth quarter, and McDyess has given us an unbelievable lift.
Q. All three of your big guys have had significant stretches regarding Duncan. Do you let them have a part in deciding who is going to guard him, and do you think the fact that Duncan is seeing three different looks from pretty good defenders is having an effect on him not getting on a real roll?
COACH LARRY BROWN: Yeah, I don't go and say, you guard him or you guard him. I respect my players enough to understand. The only thing I will tell them, in transition, you guard who guards you. Especially as quickly as they advance the ball and transition is such a big part of their offense.
You can't guard Timmy with just one guy. They have too many ways to get him the ball. He's too clever in terms of getting position and finding ways to catch the ball. So you need fresh people and different looks, but you have to have length and quickness to guard him, I think. If he's not posting up, he's running into a pick and roll, and if you don't have athleticism, you can't get out on people on pick and rolls, so we've been fortunate.
Then think about it, they have turned the ball over a lot, and we've scored more than we normally do, so our defense has been set a lot, which maybe impacts him and gives us an opportunity to change defenses a little bit. Games 1 and 2, they were just scripting plays. We used to call it "dummy offense," but my players won't allow that, so now you script plays. I think Game 1 and 2, we let them run anything they wanted. The last two ballgames, we've been able to get our defense set and change up a little bit, and that's affected him.
But he'll get 30 the next game. I don't think and I thought, you know, he had 10 rebounds at halftime, he has a game he gets 16 and 16, you know, and we're all saying, well, what's wrong with Duncan? He makes everybody better.
Q. You said regardless of everything, it's 2 2, but how have you dealt with the fact that each game has been a blowout? How does a coach cope with that?
COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, last night was tough for me because of Pop. You know, we commented to each other, he said, "Now I know how you felt in 1 and 2."
One, I have no explanation for what happened. The closest thing to that is I think when I coached San Antonio, we had a series against Portland that we got blown out both games in Portland and then it was a different format, and then we won in San Antonio, got blown out in Portland Game 5 and won in San Antonio, and Game 7 went right down to the last possession.
I cannot explain what's happened. Maybe Game 3 I could say, hey, it was a desperate situation for us, and maybe San Antonio could have thought it might have been too easy. But knowing Pop and knowing what they are about, I had no idea we could win Game 4 like we did. I always look at one stat when I look at our league: I look at how many times a team has gotten beat by ten or more points, and they are always the best. They very rarely get blown out. We have always been pretty darned good. And that is an important thing for me as a coach. And to see that stat, and then know we won these two games so easily and we got beat so easily, I have no explanation for it at all.
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RASHEED WALLACE
Q: Have you always had a lot of success guarding Tim Duncan?
Wallace: It wasn’t no big success. I didn’t do it by myself. Ben (Wallace) was there, Dice (Antonio McDyess) was there. It was just a team effort on Tim last night and just trying to throw a couple of different guys at him, a couple of different looks. Sometimes front him three quarter, and sometimes let him catch it and try to keep him off balance. When I was in Portland, I had Dale (Davis) instead of Ben, and Dale and myself, we would try to slow him down a bit. You’re not going to try to stop him. You just have to try to slow him down.
Q: Can you talk about the performance of the bench last night?
Wallace: They gave us that extra lift that we needed, like a good bench is supposed to, especially Lindsey (Hunter) with his tenacious defense, just being himself.
Q: Do you feel like you guys made a statement last night?
Wallace: We haven’t accomplished anything yet. We still have to play this last game here and make sure we get this one, because we know they’re going to be geeked also, because they’re not going to want to go back to San Antonio. I think it’s going to be the toughest of the three games here at the Palace.
Q: What has been the biggest difference in the last two games as compared to the first two?
Wallace: Just playing defense. I think a little bit of homecourt had something to do with it. The fans kept us pumped up. The adrenaline was flowing. And we came up with some big plays when we needed them. It was an adrenaline game last night. We were pumped from the very beginning and we stayed tenacious for the whole 48 minutes. We didn’t let down and we didn’t make it easy for them to run their plays.
Q: Was last night’s outcome surprising?
Wallace: It happens every now and then. We’re not expecting to go out there Sunday and win by 20 or 30.
Q: Do you think they’ve lost some confidence?
Wallace: I don’t think so, because they’re still attacking, they’re still going to the basket strong. (Manu) Ginobili is still trying to penetrate. Same thing with Tony Parker. Teams that give up, you’ll see them taking a whole bunch of jumpshots, don’t really care if they turn the ball over and won’t hussle back on defense, and that is not happening with the Spurs.
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CHAUNCEY BILLUPS
Q. I was wondering if you could just talk about personally how maybe this Finals is different from last year and how much experience did you gain from last year? Do you feel maybe more relaxed just having it under your belt from last year?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Yeah, this, you know, obviously, this second time is a little less nerve wracking, you know last year was the first time that obviously I've been in The Finals, and it makes you a little nervous. But you know this year, you come into it having done it before, so you're not as nervous and you're not you kind of know how to go about it.
So I think that definitely having that year under my belt has made me play a little more at ease and not, you know, with all of this media attention and stuff, I knew what it was going to be like coming in.
So definitely, having that one year under my belt in The Finals has made a difference.
Q. I was talking to your mother and she said that last year, I guess you wanted like a hamburger every day, can you talk about that and do you have any superstitions?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Yeah, I get a little superstitious sometimes. Last year after we won the game, Game 1, I had a hamburger during the day or whatever, cheeseburger, and I had it every game, you know what I'm saying. Like I get a little superstitious like that, like this year after we won Game 3, I think yesterday, I think I wore the same shoes and the same belt you know what I'm saying. Not the same clothes, though. (Laughter).
Yeah, I do man. I used to be real bad, but I tried to get away from it a little bit because it gets a little tough to do the same thing every single day, every single time, you know. I used to be worse but I'm still a little superstitious.
Q. Talk a little about Rasheed Wallace and the enigma that he is. Is he as hard to read as what he seems?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: For y'all, he is, you know what I mean, because y'all don't know him. I mean, y'all don't know him like we know him. He's the same every single day for us, you know what I mean. He's just a great guy, man. He's a great guy. He likes to have fun, he cares about the people that he knows and knows well. He's a family man. He's just a regular dude, you know what I mean. Y'all don't really know him. I think he's very, very misunderstood.
So I think he likes it like that, you know what I'm saying. I don't think he really wants y'all to get to know him, but that's just Sheed.
Q. Why do you think that is? Why won't he allow everyone else to see this other side?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I think he just wants his personal and his private life to be just that, you know what I mean. Don't really want anybody inside of his circle and his square or whatever. Whatever floats your boat, really.
Like I said, I know him and the people around this team, they know him and have got to know him a lot better. I just think it's just that. You know, he wants his life and his private life off the court to be just to him and his family.
Q. How important have Lindsey and Dyess been in getting you guys back in this series?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I mean, they made all the difference. They have made all the difference in getting us back in this series and tying this thing up. Dyess has been very consistent, ever since Game 1, he's been very consistent. Lindsey, you know the effort that he's going to give you night in and night out. His shooting percentage is not indicative of the way he really shoots the ball. He's a great shooter. He's one of the top three point shooters in this franchise's history. I think people forget about that because of the way he hogs the ball on the defensive end of the floor. We know, and I always tell Lindsey, "As much energy as you've given us on defense, I need you to be a little aggressive on offense, too. We need that scoring and we need that scoring punch that you have, man."
Yesterday he did and he was very aggressive. It was so much fun for me to see that.
Q. I know we're at the halfway point, but if you had to vote for the MVP right now, who would that be and why?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I think probably Ben Wallace, man. I mean, I think you could vote for a few guys on our team. But Ben, he just makes the difference for us, you know what I mean. He sets the tone for us. We always feel very comfortable, you know what I mean, and like I always said, there's not a guy like him in this league that can dominate an entire game without even having to score. He can dominate both ends really without even having to score, the way he rebounds offensively and defensively, the way that he plays defense, the emotion and the energy that he brings. He's one of a kind. There's nobody like him.
So if I had to vote, that's probably who it would be.
Q. Do you think the day will ever come where a defensive specialist like him will get anything close to the attention, the adoration, and more importantly, the pay, that the glorious scorers get?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I don't know, man. I think it should come fast. I think he's deserving to be looked upon just as the McGradys and the KGs are all looked at. He has the same effect on the game. It's not as pretty to look at, you know what I mean. It's not as pretty to look at. You see these other guys going out and getting 40s and having big nights, you know what I mean. It's not as pretty and it's not as glamorous, but it's a lot harder to do. It's a lot harder to dominate a game the way he does, and I don't know if the day will ever come where he will be looked at in the same light.
But for us, we look at him, we know that he's a superstar. He's a major star, man.
Q. Is there any easy way to explain how you get two really good teams but you end up with four games with a lot of lopsided final scores, and do you think that hurts the interest in The Finals at all?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: No, hurts the interest? No, not at all. I can't really explain it that you've got two great teams and the games have been very lopsided. I really can't, I can't explain that at all.
I think it generates some interest in The Finals, you know, you're tied up 2 2. We came home 0 2 and like I said, all the media and stuff wrote us off. Y'all acted like we had home court advantage and they came and blew us out twice on our court. Everybody gave up.
But I think it generates interest, to be honest with you. People want to see how these last three games are going to go, you know what I mean, or however many games. They just want to see how they are going to go. We came back 0 2 and if they would have blew us out again on our court in Game 3, then the interest there ain't no more interest no more, people really say it's over.
So I think it generates interest, to be honest.
Q. We're here at the NBA Finals, but the talk of labor issues is also in the air. How optimistic are you as a player that there won't be a lockout?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Well, honestly man, you know, I've been very busy obviously. I haven't really been able to keep up with it like I usually do. I'm hoping that everything turns out right, but I don't really want to talk about it right now because I just haven't been able to really keep up with it like I usually do. I've talked to some people you know, namely Michael Curry, but I still don't, you know, I haven't been able to do my due diligence like I always do.
Q. Can you just talk about your growth as a point guard under Coach Brown, and how was it when he first came here last season? Was it frustrating? Can you talk about some of the specific ways you think you've grown and some of the frustrations and emotions that went into getting there.
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Yeah, I've grown a lot, especially under Coach Brown. Before Coach Brown got here, Coach Carlisle was the coach, and the way I played under him was just like, you know, basically you've got to score. Just score, just do what you do.
So that was the setup for me coming and having Coach Brown come here, he thinks the opposite, you know, and it was like two trains on the wrong path, you know what I mean, just waiting to collide. There was some struggles, you know what I mean, early, my first couple of months. There was definitely some struggles with Coach Brown. But we both sacrificed a lot. We came to a happy medium and it's been a perfect marriage ever since then.
But my game has definitely grown playing for Coach Brown. I think I look at the game in a different light. I understand that I can dominate a game now without having to score as much as I usually do on most nights. You know, he's made an unbelievable difference in my game.
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BEN WALLACE
Q. Can you talk about your role in helping stop Ginobili after those first two games, just keeping him out of the lane. What is it you're doing?
BEN WALLACE: You know, it's not just one guy that's doing anything special. We all are collapsing in the paint, forcing him to shoot jumpshots.
Q. Do you think the day will ever come where a defensive specialist like you will get the attention, and more important, the money, the glory that the big time scorers get?
BEN WALLACE: I don't know. But I'm not complaining. I'm having fun being able to go out on the floor, night in and night out, play basketball and, you know, I'm eating pretty good (smiling).
Q. Tim Duncan has obviously been a Finals and regular season MVP and he's looked ordinary, at best, the last two games, do you feel like you guys have done that to him?
BEN WALLACE: Yeah, you know, we are back to our defensive press. Everybody is playing with a lot of energy and we are not overreacting when they put the ball on the floor. So that way we can keep a body on him and force him to shoot over the top. You know, we've got a couple of guys that we can rotate in and out of the game and put on him. We just want to make him fight for 48 minutes trying to score the basketball and trying to keep him off the boards and keep him from getting easy buckets, unlimited looks.
Q. He's been known to be so steady and consistent, but even his open shots last night he's missing. Do you see him getting flustered?
BEN WALLACE: I think our guard play is really the big key to slowing Duncan down, because they are pressuring up the floor and then when he does catch the ball, he's got to fight against either me, Rasheed, McDyess and the shot clock.
So I see him get a little frustrated doing that.
Q. Can you talk about coming to the Washington I guess there were Bullets back then, what your expectations were, how hopeful were you and how fearful were you?
BEN WALLACE: You know, coming to the Bullets, it's just one of those things, I was sort of on the rebound. I had worked out with Boston. I had played had in Italy for a little while, and coming to the Bullets was just another opportunity for me. You know, being able to make that team, it sort of boosted my confidence a little bit and the next year I was able to step on the floor and play some amazing minutes.
It was a great feeling to be able to play in this league and get your name called every now and then. I just thought maybe I could pick it up from here, trying to move on.
Q. Were you expecting anything? I mean, you're an unusual player, most players come in, most of them they are offensive players, most defensive players playing big man positions are bigger than you. Did you worry that you just didn't fit here?
BEN WALLACE: I was a little concerned because my first work out with Boston, I'm pretty sure everybody knew I played the two three, so coming to Washington, they said they were looking for a center. They brought me in as a center and the rest has been history.
Q. Obviously the home crowd energy obviously helps, but what is it specifically the past two games that has turned you guys into this Herculean team?
BEN WALLACE: It's the energy, everybody coming out and playing with incredible energy. I wish I could say it's this or it's that. Man, it's just the energy everybody brings. We're not playing the perfect game in no way, shape or form, but everybody is playing so hard, so if one guy makes a mistake and everybody else is on the same page, they are able to make up for those mistakes.
Once the crowd gets involved and gets behind, it makes you want to play a little bit harder anyway.
Q. So there's no specific adjustment then that you guys make?
BEN WALLACE: No, not really.
Q. What determines which way you're going to wear your hair for a game?
BEN WALLACE: My wife.
Q. Now that you've had two games with it up, do you have to stay with it up? Is that pretty much it?
BEN WALLACE: Until she feels like braiding it up again.
Q. Is she the one that does the braiding?
BEN WALLACE: That's it.
Q. How long will you get it cut?
BEN WALLACE: I don't get cuts. I haven't had it cut in about six years now. (Laughter).
Q. Are you guys fronting Duncan a little bit more than you would normally front others, and did you make any suggestions to Larry about how to guard him differently after the first two games?
BEN WALLACE: Yeah, you know, Coach Brown wants us to front. He want us to front all the time, but we try to tell him, if we can force him off the blocks a little bit, then there's no need to front. So it's either, you force him off the block or if he gets deep post position, you front him.
But I think that only works when our guards pressure, when our guards up pressure, it makes it easy for us to front down in the block where they can't just come down and throw the ball over the top of you.
Q. You mentioned shot clock, what from your standpoint, what's an ideal time for him to catch the ball for you defensively?
BEN WALLACE: You know, for us we want him to start their offense, start going into their plays at like 14 seconds on the clock. By the time they move the ball around from side to side then you catch with seven seconds, and then he's still got to make his move and be aware of if guys are going to help or do whatever. You know, then he's still got to try to score the basketball. So that's a lot to put on your plate.
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RICHARD HAMILTON
Q: What do you think about every game in these Finals being a blowout?
Hamilton: It’s very different, especially at this level. Anything is possible with us. It’s unbelievable that every game in these Finals has been determined by more than 15 points.
Q: How about you guys committing only four turnovers?
Hamilton: I think it was a game in the Miami series when we had only seven turnovers, which was a rarity. Coach really preaches trying take care of the ball and things like that, and we did a great job of that last night.
Q: Is it hard assessing your opponent when all these games are blowouts?
Hamilton: As the games go on, you get better at it. Now, it’s just a matter of executing. Teams make adjustments and things like that. When you get a lead like we had, you just try to continue to play the right way.
Q: If one of these games is close coming down to the fourth quarter, are you confident you guys will respond well?
Hamilton: Both teams do. Everybody expected it to be a long, grinding series, with two or three point games every night, but it hasn’t gone that way.
Q: Rasheed Wallace hasn’t played like himself lately. What’s going on with him?
Hamilton: The thing about our team is that we’ve got great chemistry. Everybody’s stepping up. Everybody’s playing together. Rasheed’s the guy that goes out there and doesn’t really care about his own numbers, as long as we win the game. He’s done a great job, because he has to defend Tim Duncan with Ben [Wallace], and he’s been great on him. At times, he goes out and hits a lot of shots, and I think that he’s still got a big game in him.
Q: What have you guys been doing differently with Manu Ginobili the last two games?
Hamilton: We’ve been trying to keep a body on him at all times. When he tries to go into his move, we try to put pressure on him. We don’t want to allow him to be out there playing with the ball, going to the basket and things like that.
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TAYSHAUN PRINCE
Q: On a team without a lot of all-stars, what are your thoughts on how unique and special it is to be a part of a team like this?
Prince: It’s definitely special. For the simple fact that nobody cares who gets the credit. Our style of basketball, which I think is different than a lot of others. We just go out there and play together and have fun. That’s the main thing. But it’s definitely special to be a part of something like that whereas, like you said, in previous situations there might be two or three all-stars on one team
Q: It’s seems like your team is made up of guys that nobody seemed to want at first. Does being in that situation help your teams’ success?
Prince: I don’t think that’s what fuels us. I think it’s the strive to never give up, which is most important. But everybody here has been in different situations before and now they get to a place where everybody is comfortable.
Q: You guys are known for playing hard all the time. Do you know why it wasn’t like that in the beginning?
Prince: We can sit here and say a lot of things. But all that matters now is that it’s going to be a best of three now. We just got through a tough seven game series with Miami and had to play right away. I was fatigued a little bit in Game 1. I thought Game 2 we got outright embarrassed. And now we had to come home and play desperate and that’s been the situation.
Q: Can you talk about just how much the tide has turned having won the last two games so decisively?
Prince: We’ve been playing great. We’ve been taking care of the basketball. Something that we had a tough time doing for the course of the season. But obviously rebounding and blocking shots and defense is pretty much the way we’re capable of playing and that’s what we did last night. Energy and effort is what I’ve been saying the last couple of games and that’s what’s been getting us over the hump.
Q: Is this as good as you guys can play right now?
Prince: This is close to it. And I think last night’s game and Game 3 was pretty much how we want to play. But it doesn’t mean nothing if you don’t continue to play the same way. So we have to continue to do that.
Q: Did Lindsey Hunter look as good on film as he did on the court last night?
Prince: Lindsey looked great. Lindsey looks great always. Last night he just did more as far as bringing offense to the tab. As far as looking for his shot, being aggressive but Lindsey is Lindsey for us. I think what he does for us defensively, he pretty much he brings it every night. So he just brought more offense to the table which was huge for us.
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