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NBA FINALS: HEAT v SPURSJune 15, 2014Erik SpoelstraSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Gam Five San Antonio Spurs – 104 Q. How much of a surprise was it for you that you couldn't get anything beyond LeBron and couldn't get him support? And could you just talk to how frustrating that must have been for LeBron on a night of 31, 10, and 5 that there wasn't a lot there to support him? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: It's just, it's frustrating in general to be in a series like this and have the last three games, particularly coming out of the first two games. But you absolutely have to tip your hat to that team. They played exquisite basketball this series and in particularly these last three games, and they are the better team. There's no other way to say it. They played great basketball, and we couldn't respond to it. Q. And to the LeBron point, just how he was almost on an island there? Did you feel for him? What were your interactions during the game with LeBron? Clearly we could see he was showing a certain level of what appeared to be frustration. COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: No, actually, the interactions, we're all competitive. I mean, when you're in a series like this and it's not going your way, we all get frustrated. But L.J. and I communicated the entire game because he had to play the point guard for us, so we were trying to get on the same page about play calls and making sure everybody was organized. We just came up short. Q. I know you said there are questions that you'll answer in the summer and things like that, but as far as two in four years, do you feel like you guys underachieved, or do you say to yourself, hey, if you had told me at the beginning of this, I would take two in four years? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: I mean, that's, again, the exaggeration that's out there. It's not easy to make it all the way this far. Even as painful as it feels right now, you have to have perspective. Even the team we're playing against has never been to the Finals four straight years. You can't be jaded enough not to appreciate that. None of us really feel those emotions right now, but at some point this summer, hopefully, we can step back and gain some perspective about this that it takes a special group to be able to come together, sacrifice, and be able to weather all of the challenges four straight years. To this point, two times we weren't able to get over the hill. Q. It seemed like Dwyane was really, really trying to search and find things physically in this series, and he never really got to what he gave you in the Eastern Conference Finals. What was your vantage point of what you saw from Dwyane over the course of this series? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Well, look, you know, Mike, it's always going to be about the team. I think you really have to credit San Antonio and their defense and their commitment to keep us out of the paint. It wasn't just Dwyane, it was pretty much everybody except for LeBron, and we just weren't able to get into our normal rhythm. We're a very good offensive team, and we weren't able to display it in this series, so you have to credit the Spurs. Q. Obviously he never made injury an issue or anything like that, but physically was he just less than what‑‑ COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: You'll have to ask him. He's not going to make an excuse. He wouldn't want me to make an excuse. Nobody at this time of the year feels great. It's about competition, and just trying to find a way, and their team found a way. Q. What was the message to the guys in the room?  After all the good and bad in the last four years, can you summarize what you personally are feeling right now as well? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Well, the message was pretty brief, but it was a little bit of what I just mentioned. You can't be so jaded‑‑ even though we don't feel this emotion right now, you can't be so jaded that you can't appreciate what this team has accomplished to be able to make it to the Finals, for the majority of us to be able to do it four straight years, it's a big disappointment feeling like this. It's an incredibly empty feeling. But it doesn't happen. It doesn't happen very often, and, unfortunately, sometimes you're not going to be able to get the job done. I trust the character of our group that there will be a benefit from this. At some point during the summer, what I mentioned earlier, I'm sure we'll all be able to step back and realize it was a heck of a year even though the pain we're feeling right now. Q. Beyond their shot making and ball movement, what was most frustrating? Was there something else, or did it just come down to that? And then you mentioned their defense. What were they doing that just didn't allow you to get to what you like to do? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Well, I can answer both of those in the same way. We built up very good offensive habits. We felt confident coming into the series that we were going to be able to score. Maybe not as much as we typically are used to, but coming off of some very good defensive teams and series in the Eastern Conference, we felt we could rely on that, but they shut us out of the paint pretty consistently. You absolutely have to credit their offense. It was exquisite basketball, ball movement, player movement, unselfish basketball, and exploiting a lot of the things we're typically strong at. Everything seemed to click at the right time for them. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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