Tuesday, June 14, 2005
GREGG POPOVICH
Q. Was their physical defense that much of a surprise to you?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No, of course not. That's how they play. That's who they are.
Q. Was it more physical than they have been in the past, do you think?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No. I think that they did a great job of forcing turnovers tonight. They were physical as usual, but they were in passing lanes, picked up up the court. I thought some individual people on their team really picked up their games in that regard. And I think that overall, that was our demise, 23 points off turnovers, and for us on the road, when we lose a game, nine times out of ten, that's what the problem is for us. And value of the ball on the road is very important. It was a big priority for us before the game. But you just can't give up in the 20s points off turnovers. And it's a double whammy at the same time, if you give up 20 points on the offensive boards.
So I think they were very aggressive and very focused in that sense. They did a great job. You know, Ben was a man possessed going to the boards. I thought their perimeter guys did it. That was disappointing because I think overall they played they sustained it for more than 48 than we did. We both think the same way, both teams think the same way in that regard, and they won that mental battle tonight. It was a 63 63 game with less than a minute and a half to go in the third quarter and we tried to given Tony Parker a rest for one minute and the dam burst from that point on. They got a few more turnovers, the crowd got into it, spread a little bit and we didn't get back in.
Q. What gives that final burst, is that the home court or what do you attribute that to, whichever team takes it?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Good play on their part; poor play on ours.
Q. Talk a little bit more about Ben Wallace and the job he did on you guys on both ends of the court.
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: He was fantastic. He didn't let anybody block him out. He didn't care. He just kept going. He was going to go get the basketball.
I thought defensively, he switched out on Manu and guys and stayed in front of them. He did a fantastic job that way. So he really set a tone, you know, for them. I thought Chauncey was very aggressive. He took turns between running the show and being aggressive himself offensively, so he had a great balance tonight in that regard.
But they are forcing the turnovers and hitting the boards the way they did was the key to the game, and like I said, at that one minute point from that point on, we didn't sustain it and they got to us in that point.
Q. Manu hurt his knee in the first minute of the game, came back, didn't have anywhere near the game he's had in the first two, was his knee still bothering him as the night went on?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: His knee had nothing to do with Detroit's win.
Q. Was it bothering him?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I would guess so. I didn't even ask him. I mean, I'm sure it bothered him, but that's got nothing to do with the loss.
Q. Getting back to the home court advantage, if there is an advantage, is it a psychological thing or is it more physical?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: You're asking the questions of the ages. I mean, who knows? If given an opportunity, one would say, I'd like to have home court. Let's just put it that way.
But beyond that, make up whatever you want. I don't know what that means.
Q. If they are being overly aggressive playing in the passing lanes, doing all of those things, what are the counters to that, or what should be the counters to that?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, it's not that simple. You can counter anything you want, but then there's, you know, other guys, you go back door, you take care of the ball, you move the ball, you don't hold it. I thought for certain periods in the game, and the very beginning, we held it a bit. We didn't move it. When it did go to Timmy, we stood and watched and said, "Do something great, Timmy." And you can't beat the Pistons one guy at a time, it's got to be the team.
So if the ball doesn't move, they are able to lock in, to use their bodies, to get in the passing lane, so it's more of a ball movement thing than it is a magic play.
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TIM DUNCAN
Q. Ben Wallace seemed like he was a man possessed tonight on both ends of the court. Can you talk about Ben Wallace's play.
TIM DUNCAN: He was great. He was great. Came out with a lot of energy and really got the crowd and his team into it. Hit the glass hard all night. I thought he played excellent all around.
Q. Did he seem like he played a much more impressive, much more determined, a focused game than the games he played in San Antonio?
TIM DUNCAN: Absolutely.
Q. You guys were tied late in the third quarter, what broke down at that point?
TIM DUNCAN: Things that were killing us all night, turnovers, offensive boards, and we just couldn't get anything going on the offensive end, namely myself. I got some shots there but I couldn't knock them down and just fueled their run.
Q. Talk about the guard play for the Pistons, especially Chauncey, and the big run that he had that kind of separated the two teams.
TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, Chauncey has been a point of ours and will continue to be. A great player, a heck of a point guard and with his size and his knowledge of the game, he's effective in so many parts of the floor, and as you said, he kind of made a single man run there for a little while, and they look to him a lot for that. We've got to know that come situations like that, whenever there is a big play to make, he is the guy they are going to look to to make it.
Q. Seemed like in Games 1 and 2, your ball movement as a team was superior, and tonight, it seemed to be lacking. Any explanation for that, and did they try anything differently?
TIM DUNCAN: I don't know if they tried anything differently. Their aggressiveness was up, so that in itself fueled what they were doing. They were out in the passing lanes, they got a steal here and there, and then also that energy kind of builds up and you make runs, you make plays, plays that they were not making in the first two games.
Nothing else to really say about it. I just think they were more aggressive than we were.
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TONY PARKER
Q. Tony, what's the mood in the locker room? Are you guys really disappointed after this loss, and do you think maybe you slowed it down a little bit too much? Did your team slow the tempo down a little too much?
TONY PARKER: We are a little bit disappointed. Obviously Detroit played great basketball today, tonight. We just have to make sure we pay attention on details, too much turnovers, they played very aggressive and very physical tonight. The end of the third quarter, the last minute, really killed us and a change of momentum.
Q. This was very similar to the first game, very tight for three quarters and then one team runs away. Is it like very similar teams and the difference is just going to be those words, aggressiveness and effort and offensive rebounds?
TONY PARKER: Definitely, I'm going to repeat myself that it's just details. When you get two teams that's going to play very good defense and they are going to be patient on the offense and they are going to move the ball, all of the little stuff, it becomes huge and those 18 turnovers that we had and the last minute of the third quarter, that run that they had, that 9 2, that really hurt us because that gave them confidence and we gave all those easy points to Detroit, the fast breaks and all of those dunks that they had, it just gave them more confidence to shoot the ball well.
Q. It seems like that your team didn't put much effort today, when they took a lead.
TONY PARKER: It was tough because they were pressuring the ball a lot full court, and we tried to run a press offense and stuff like that, but they really played good defense.
They had a lot of steals and that gave them the momentum and we had a hard time to set up our offense.
Q. I'll ask you the same thing I asked Manu: With all of the things you guys are trying to control tonight, did you expect Ben Wallace to come out and have the type of game that he had against you?
TONY PARKER: We need to control him a little bit more. He definitely controlled the paint tonight. He blocked shots. He hurt us on the boards. He had some key rebounds in the second half. He just had a good game, very good game. We need to control him a little bit better, and the guards, we need to do a better job to help the bigs get rebounds and try to control him, because he really hurt us.
Q. How much did his energy right off the bat really hurt you guys in terms of the way the game played out?
TONY PARKER: It looks like it starts with him. He sets the tone with the energy and playing with the crowd is extra energy, so we just have to make sure we don't let them get going with any kind of stuff, rebounds, blocks and make sure we pay attention to him, because he seems like he gets everybody going.
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MANU GINOBILI
Q. Did the Pistons do anything different, key on you a little bit more or was it your leg getting hurt at the start of the game?
MANU GINOBILI: No, I think they played a very good defense. They almost double teamed every pick and roll, so I had to get rid of the ball, find the open guy. You know, I just didn't play well enough.
Q. How do you feel? How is the leg?
MANU GINOBILI: I'm all right. I just get hit there pretty often, so I'm used to it. Just one of those things that happens every other game.
Q. Could you tell when your leg was starting to give out a little bit and did it cause you any problems coming back to the game?
MANU GINOBILI: A little bit. It was hard for me to come back into the game after being on the bench for a couple of minutes, my leg gets cold, so it's hard to warm it up again.
But as I said before, I just didn't play well. It's not a matter of putting excuses, find, you know, some way to find a reason. I just didn't make shots. I turned the ball over a lot. That's it.
Q. You guys were tied late in the third quarter and then it just kind of all fell apart. What happened there?
MANU GINOBILI: I think we have three or four turnovers in a row that gave them easy layups, so when that happens, the whole crowd gets pumped up, they get confident, so it's like a snowball.
We didn't play well for those three quarters and we were still almost tied, I think. So it's something that we've got to be happy about in some sort of way. But then we just gave them too many things. We can't allow them to get so many offensive boards, I don't know many how many they got; 17, too many points on that. And besides that, we turned the ball over so much, on the road, we're not going to win.
Q. When they make you a passer does that take a little bit away from your aggressiveness?
MANU GINOBILI: No, I don't think so. For three quarters in Game 1, I just didn't have the opportunity to make many shots and I was feeling good about myself. I was feeling pretty good. I think I just didn't have a great game. We as a team didn't have that juice and that you're not sharp, those details that you need to do well on the road. That was not a matter of one guy didn't play well. Besides that, I don't think anybody of us played really well.
Q. Throughout the playoffs, and especially in The Finals, you literally have been the center of attention on and off the floor, how have you dealt with that the last few days?
MANU GINOBILI: You know, it's way much more attention than what I would like. You know, I'm a calm guy, I like to rest and don't think about anything else than, you know, get out of the games. We watch way too many videos, we practice, we have games, so when I'm off the court, I like just to rest and forget about basketball. We talk too much about the way I play or things like that. Of course, I'm happy because I have been playing well and I've got to be satisfied because of that. But it's something that I am trying to get off, I'm trying not to think a lot about what people are saying or things like that.
Q. With all of the things you guys are trying to worry about what the Pistons might do tonight, did you expect the kind of game Ben Wallace had, the way he changed the game on both ends of the court?
MANU GINOBILI: We knew they were going to play more aggressively and with more determination than they did in San Antonio. So I think we were very good at holding them kind of tight for the first half when they were so, you know, so aggressive. But then we couldn't do it for 48 minutes. That's a big key play on the road.
Ben Wallace, even Lindsey Hunter played a heck of a game on defense, and the whole team made us make too many mistakes.
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BRUCE BOWEN
Q: You guys were in a comfortable spot at the half. Talk about what they may have done differently in the second half or did you guys get away from your game?
Bowen: I think you have to give them credit. We understood that we were going to come into a hostile environment and when a team is at home they feel most comfortable. They did a great job tonight of being very aggressive and taking us out of a lot of things that we were trying to do and that just continued to motivate them and the crowd.
Q: What did they do to force so many turnovers?
Bowen: I think they were just more physical with us. They were very physical out there and we didn’t take care of the ball the way we should have. Some of them [turnovers] were forced because of their pressure, and others were kind of trying to really back in and you really couldn’t back in.
Q: Talk about how the injury affected (Manu) Ginobili.
Bowen: I know he wasn’t attacking like he was before, because of that spot that got hit.
Q: Is it easier to be more physical when you are at home? Do you tend to receive more favorable calls?
Bowen: I don’t know. I don’t know about receiving more favorable calls. But you are at home and you’re comfortable and you got the crowd behind you and that is what you want being at home.
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NAZR MOHAMMED
Q. Were you guys surprised tonight with all the turnovers?
Mohammed. You are definitely always surprised by turnovers, we know we need to take care of the ball a little bit more because they are a great team and if you don’t they’ll capitalize off of it.
Q. The crowd was going crazy tonight, did you expect this performance by the Pistons coming back home?
Mohammed. We definitely expected them to play hard and play well. We’re disappointed we didn’t play well, but there is another game, we have to look at the film and get ready for the next one.
Q. The team played so well defensively in the first two games, what was the difference tonight?
Mohammed. Defensively, they just made shots. That is something we have to look at film and kind of see what the difference was, it is kind of hard to tell on the fly.
Q. Talk about Ben Wallace, and how ferocious he was at the beginning of the game.
Mohammed. Ben, he goes out there and plays the same way every night. He went out there and played hard, he was able to get some things done.
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BRENT BARRY
Q: Can you explain how the press broke you down?
Barry: Yeah we made some poor plays there. Beno (Udrih) and I have to step up and handle the pressure they put on us and execute against the break a little bit better. They went on a huge run, made some steals and got to the offensive glass and took control of the game.
Q: Up to that point do you think you guys were doing a pretty god job?
Barry: Not really. I mean, we didn’t play our game in the first half and we were up by one. We really played poorly for most of the game tonight. There wasn’t any stretch where we got out rhythm. Manu (Ginobili) got a couple quick fouls, Nazr (Mohammed) a couple quick fouls. We were kind of scrambling to stay in the game a bit. But this is one that we’ll learn a lesson from and prepare ourselves more come Thursday.
Q: Was it more what they did or what you couldn’t do tonight?
Barry: Oh, absolutely. I give them credit for the pressure they put on us, but it’s two-fold. We have to be able to handle that and execute a little better. So again, it’s a good chance to learn a lesson.
Q:How much was Manu hurting out there tonight?
Barry: Well, the first play of the game he got hit pretty good. But he’s not going to make any excuses for his play, but he was certainly not himself tonight. I think that’s something that could be good for us come Thursday if he gets some rest and has that motivation.
Q: How do you approach Game 4?
Barry: Well, they played great. This is the counterpunch that we talked about before. They didn’t do it on our homecourt, but when we got here, they played on a level that we expect from them. So come Thursday, it’s going to be a key game. We have to try to get a win here in Auburn Hills, and I think we’ll play better come Thursday.
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