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NBA FINALS: HEAT v SPURSJune 15, 2014Erik SpoelstraSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Gam Five Q. Well, Coach, good luck tonight. I know you guys have a lot of pressure on players like LeBron, Wade and Bosh, but I want to know how much pressure does Erik Spoelstra have to perform tonight and push the right buttons in order to keep the series alive? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: We all have to bring our best game tonight, and that's what we talked about for the last day. Q. Any change in roster as far as activating‑‑ COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: I know that's what everybody is curious about right now. It's about our game and what we're going to bring different in terms of how we play. Q. So you don't want to answer that? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: As usual, I'll turn in my card. Q. When LeBron yesterday said why not us at the end of his Q&A with us after you guys got to San Antonio, is that kind of an extension of what you've been telling them? Because you have similar thoughts, I guess, about how it's not supposed to be easy and nobody ever said it would be easy. Is that an extension of what you were telling the guys the last couple of days? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: I don't know. We met yesterday and talked about our approach for the next 24 hours. We had a good day of work the day before that. We had a good day off to clear our minds, and this is about bringing our best game of the series. It's always tough. It's the toughest thing you ever have to do collectively. You can't pick how it's going to be. There are a lot of times no logic to how it's going to be in competition. You just have to figure it out. Q. I know you all trailed in the first quarter for all of these games, but how important is it to get off to a good start here, especially to ‑‑ they could possibly clinch tonight and don't let the crowd get into it and stuff like that? Is that something you talked about with your team getting off to a good start? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Yeah, our guys are well aware that our starts have hurt us. They've set the tone for the game. We're looking to start better, but regardless of what happens, we have to find a way in this game. And we need consistent minutes where we're imposing our identity on this game, which we've yet to do for an entire game. Q. You've had your hand on the pulse of this team for a while and in moments like these. Are you noticing anything different about their approach mentally coming into this game, and how are you‑‑ COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: In terms of body language? I don't look and read into that. What I do like, I love being in the trenches with this group when you're in situations like this. You reveal your character. You reveal what you're made out of when you're facing adversity. Everybody can be in the situation that the Spurs are in right now. It's much more revealing when you're in a situation like this how you respond, individually and collectively, how do we respond in a game like this. I love being in the locker room with those guys in these situations. Q. This will be the 14th game since the start of the last Finals. You guys like to bring a lot against the Spurs, you like to bring a lot of pressure. Have they adapted and they've seen enough of you that they're more comfortable with what you like to do? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: They're playing great basketball. They kicked our tails in the last two games. We're not running away from that. That's new competition tonight where we have to bring our best game of the series. That's quite obvious, and that's what we focused on the last 24 hours. Q. In Games 3 and 4, Chris Bosh kind of had ‑‑ in the first game he had only like 12 touches, four shot attempts, but with the Spurs being able to jump out on y'all as fast as they did in Games 3 and 4, do you think that made your team go away from offense and trying to play catch‑up? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: That's a part of it, when you're playing from a double‑digit lead or deficit. The majority of the game sometimes you're rushing and trying to get back and fewer possessions. But I want him to have his fingerprints on this game on both sides of the floor. Q. How important is the guard play in this series? Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers have kind of struggled a little bit? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Guard play is always important when you get to this level. Q. What if anything can Udonis Haslem bring differently to the defense at this point in the series? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: We know the things that UD brings, the touches, the incompetent tangibles, loose balls, the rebounding, all of those things. He'll be ready. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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