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ESPN NBA MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 15, 2007

Tom Thibodeau

Q. Welcome to the first ever edition of the "Playbook," a coaching podcast of the ESPN.com's Truehoop Blog. I'm Henry Abbot, and joining me today is Tom Thibodeau. He's been coaching in the NBA coming up on two decades and is now on Doc Rivers' staff with the undefeated Boston Celtics. Thanks for joining me, Tom.
TOM THIBODEAU: Thanks for having me on.

Q. First of all, Boston was one of the worst teams in the league last year, now you're the only undefeated team left. It has to be kind of fun?
TOM THIBODEAU: It is fun. It's just the start of the season. We know there is a long way to go, but obviously, we're pleased with the start of the season.

Q. The story of this team, it's been written a million times, is that you have these three superstars, these three primary scorers which not a lot of teams have. But I know you're a defensive guy. I don't want to talk about these particular players, but, in general, superstars aren't known for their defense in most cases. They often try stay out of foul trouble and keep fresh to be scoring on the other end. Is that a particular challenge you face with this team?
TOM THIBODEAU: The thing that they've done, and it's a credit to them, all three came in early, and they were in great shape. And I think the big thing for any team with your best players, along with carrying the load to score, I think that their leadership qualities have to help set the team apart in terms of the commitment to defense. And I think they committed to it right away. The fact that they were in great shape. They got here early. And I think they united and inspired their teammates.

Q. What are some of the things that you actually see on the court that let you know these guys are committed?
TOM THIBODEAU: Well, I think right from the start, the fact that they came in in great shape, and I think when you talk about their talent and their ability to score, and, of course, Garnett has been on the all defensive teams, first team several times. So that's the obvious. But I think what has probably gotten overlooked is the fact that Paul and Ray have done a very good job with their defense as well.
I think when you watch them in practice, the fact that they practice extremely hard every day. So it's not only the obvious is during games when you see their performance, but the way they prepare for each practice, the way they conduct themselves during practice, I think it allows for the team to have a real good, solid practices.

Q. I noticed just watching the game last night, Kevin Garnett seems to have a real ability to poke the ball out of people's hands, too?
TOM THIBODEAU: Yeah, I think he's as versatile a defender as you'll find in this league. His individual defense is terrific, obviously, his team defense is terrific. His ability to guard multiple positions is a great asset to the defense. He can play 94 feet. He gives you the ability to do some switching that normally you might not do. So I think it's a great asset to have.
Of course, he's high energy, and he's a multiple-effort guy. And he seems to be everywhere, all over the court. He's done a great job of anchoring the defense and shutting the lane down.

Q. Those three guys have played a lot of minutes. And I get emails from Truehoop readers saying, "What's with this? Why aren't they sitting a little more?" Is that something you're worried about?
TOM THIBODEAU: I don't know if we're worried about. I think all three are around 38 minutes. You'd like it to be a little less. We had one overtime game already. But we're pleased with our bench play. Eddie House is doing a terrific job, as has James Posey, and Scalabrine, and Tony Allen's starting to come around.
So the bench Scalabrine and Posey missed the game, so we were a little shorthanded there, but Glen Davis stepped up. So we're pleased with the bench. In terms of their minutes, you know, 36 to 38 minutes, that's what they're accustomed to playing.

Q. With all the attention they're getting, is it hard to keep those bench guys prepare d? What do you do when all the media is crowding around those three players?
TOM THIBODEAU: I think that's the great thing about those bench guys. I think Eddie House, Pose and Scal, have been around, and they've played on good teams so they stay ready. And Tony Allen's done a terrific job rehabbing, coming off an injury. He keeps getting better and better each day. And of course, Glen Davis has been very productive for us as well. So we're very pleased with our bench play.
I think a big part of that comes from the fact that with the main three guys that the way they practiced, it prepares everybody because you have to compete hard in practice.

Q. Looking at your roster, you kind of had to have somebody emerge. It turns out Glen Davis has kind of been that guy in the front court. But it seemed you didn't have enough real proven big men that everyone was saying, Well, you know, how are they going to fill these holes? But he's been pretty remarkable, huh?
TOM THIBODEAU: Yeah, Glen's done a solid job, and also along with that Kendrick Perkins gets overlooked. He's a solid individual defender, and he also shuts the paint down so he's protecting our basket. So he's done a terrific job.
And Rajon Rondo at the point has been very, very active. Of course, he plays passing lanes very, very well. So those two guys sometimes get overlooked. But I think, overall, the bench play has been terrific.

Q. Now your point guard situation, if you talk about Rondo, a lot of teams will give significant minutes to two or even three point guards. You really only have one real point guard playing any significant minutes, and that's Rondo.
TOM THIBODEAU: Well, Eddie's played a lot of the back-up point guard minutes. But I think the fact that Kevin is such a terrific passer and you can run your offense through him at times, and when you look at how unselfish Kevin is and, along with Kevin, both Ray and Paul are terrific play makers as well. So the ball is moving very freely.
I think we're playing unselfishly. Maybe at times a little too unselfish. We'd like to get our turnovers down a little bit. But, overall, we're very pleased with the way the ball's been moving.

Q. When Rajon is not in the game, what is your philosophy? It seems that you're kind of letting Ray and Paul and Kevin create a lot. Then sort of they end up finding guys like Eddie House wide open?
TOM THIBODEAU: I think philosophically where we'd like to be, is we want to be an inside-out team. The obvious is with Kevin inside. But also, you know, we want to penetrate and get the ball into the paint and then kickout.
We feel the three-point shot could be a great asset for us. Of course, Eddie's been terrific behind the arc, and Ray is one of the great shooters in the game. But Posey has hit a number of big threes for us. And Scalabrine can stretch the defense also. But that is also a big part of our offense.

Q. Is there some obligation with these three players to make sure everybody gets enough touches, definitely coaching staff has to worry about, or do you sort of let the shots come where they may?
TOM THIBODEAU: No, no one's worried about shots. The one thing we want to do is, we want to set a tone as to who we are and how we're going to play. So we started off in training camp. We knew we wanted to be a defensive team first, a rebounding team second. Low turnovers, get the ball inside and share the ball.
So when you have players like Kevin, Paul and Ray, oftentimes they're going to come in on more than one defender. When that second defender comes, we want that ball to move freely, and they've done a great job of kicking that ball out, finding the open man. And I think we're doing a good job of making that extra pass.

Q. Maybe it's too early, maybe it's too late - is there a moment you start thinking to yourself, wow, this is a special thing we have going here?
TOM THIBODEAU: Yeah, like I think the big thing is you don't want to get ahead of yourself. I think what we're trying to do, is each and every day we want to do the right things. We feel that if we can improve each day that that will prepare us to play the best at the end of the season. And that's what we're striving to do.

Q. I know your winning margins have been fantastic. And you guys are just the best team in the league. But what's giving you trouble?
TOM THIBODEAU: Well, I think the big thing is he we want to get the turnovers down. That's the big thing. I think the other thing is maybe a little less fouling, you know, keeping the ball in front. Those are the two big areas for us right now.

Q. Can you see any particular way this season doesn't turn out well other than someone doesn't get injured?
TOM THIBODEAU: Like I said, for us, what we're trying to do is each and every day we feel if we're doing the right things, the results will end up taking care of themselves. So that's what we're striving for. You know, obviously, you're hoping for good health all the time.

Q. Anything I haven't asked you about that we should know about how your team runs?
TOM THIBODEAU: Well, it's pretty simple. When you look at it, we have three primary scorers that command a lot of attention. Offensively, we try to play through them. But that being said, we also want the ball to move, we want our players moving.
Of course, defensively, we know there are going to be some nights in which we don't shoot the ball as well as others, and we want that defense to be a constant. Each and every night we want to commit to it and keep building on it.

Q. Well, it looks good so far.
TOM THIBODEAU: Well, thank you.

Q. Thanks a lot for your time.
TOM THIBODEAU: All right. Bye now.

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