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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS v HAWKSMay 25, 2015Tristan ThompsonCLEVELAND, OHIO: Practice Day Q. Tristan, a few minutes ago LeBron said that you could be a Cavalier for life. Does he know something that we don't know? TRISTAN THOMPSON: No. I appreciate the compliment, if that's a compliment, from LeBron, but I'm just here to work. Just coming to work, do what the team asks from me, whether it's on the court, off the court, in the community, and just be a professional. Q. Why do you think LeBron has embraced you and your style of play as much as he has, where the leader of the team‑‑ he's not saying that about 12 other guys. He's saying, Tristan will be a Cavalier for life. TRISTAN THOMPSON: I think just playing hard. I think he said, about myself and Delly, and I think it was a press conference in Chicago, guys that just play hard. Another guy that's kind of like that is Varejao. Even though he's hurt, Andy just comes out and puts it on the line. I think all three of us, we just come in and work every day. We may not be the tallest, strongest, or the best shooter in the gym,, but we come in and compete. At playoff time, that's what you want. You want guys that come in and play hard and do the little things. Q. What is your affinity with LeBron? How has it grown over the course of time? TRISTAN THOMPSON: It's grown a lot. Me and him had a relationship prior to him coming back to Cleveland, but this season has definitely helped us grow a lot and grow together, and me just being a sponge, absorbing what he does, what makes him great, what makes him special in this league, and I've been fortunate. Q. How often do you think about free agency? It's going to come up this summer. TRISTAN THOMPSON: I think about Game 4 against the Atlanta Hawks. That's the only thing I'm thinking about. That's the only thing I'm worried about right now. Especially how they came out last night, and it was like a boxing match. They never quit. They kept fighting until the end. We were fortunate to get the win. Q. That pass you made, the rebound you made before it, what was the significance of that in the greater scheme of this season? TRISTAN THOMPSON: When I got the rebound, first of all, it was actually a bad pass, if you guys watch the replay. It was actually a bad pass on my left. So I was like, oh, geez, hopefully, he can still get the shot off because it was a bad pass. But he threw a pump fake in there, gave himself some time, and knocked down the shot. But that was, I guess, the biggest play of my career so far. Q. Have you ever made a more important pass than that? TRISTAN THOMPSON: Not at all, not at all. Conference Finals Game 3 at home to go up, that was definitely the biggest play of my career. Q. He said he had to yell at you to get it because he thought you were maybe going to go back‑‑ TRISTAN THOMPSON: Oh, go up. Originally, I thought about it. I thought about it, I think it was Millsap and‑‑ was it Scott or something? One of the other bigs were in the game. I threw a pump fake. I saw them jump. But I was 0 for 3 free‑throw shooting, so I thought, why not kick this out? Q. You talked yesterday about math‑‑ TRISTAN THOMPSON: Geometry and stuff. Q. Watching Rodman on film. How much did Rodman's rebounding film affect you and help you on your own? TRISTAN THOMPSON: A lot. Rodman was really good at‑‑ even if you can't grab with one hand, tip it to yourself, and I did that, I think, yesterday in one of the games, but I got pushed out of bounds. So definitely stole a couple of his tricks and just‑‑ like I said earlier, just like I said earlier, just his tenacity and he's just see the ball, get the ball. I definitely try to steal that from him. Q. Is it possible to channel Dennis Rodman at all when you're playing, even think of him ever on the court? TRISTAN THOMPSON: I don't think of him, but just being worked up sometimes, trying to stay in my lane but don't get too crazy like him. He's had his moments in the game, but that's what made him special. We've all got our lane in terms of how much emotions we show. Q. What do you see LeBron going through in terms of aches and pains and injuries? I don't know if it rises to that level at this stage. What can you guys do to maybe lighten his load? TRISTAN THOMPSON: Just have his back. For bigs, it's probably just setting good screens, doing things to open up the lane for him. I think us bigs, me and Timofey and James Jones, did a better job yesterday of screening. We watched the film, and we got him open in terms of pick‑and‑roll. Just covering his back, just finding ways to make it easier for him. If he's driving the lane, set a screen on your man so he can finish around the rim because he is taking a lot of hits. That's what makes him so great. He's a warrior, and he is going to bounce back. He's doing treatment right now. Q. Tristan, what do you want to see from the team tomorrow? It's Game 4. You've got a chance to close out. What's the most important thing that you guys do? TRISTAN THOMPSON: Come out and play our brand of basketball right from the gate, throw the first punch. Even though we're up 3‑0, don't come in relaxed and think it's over. It's not over. There's teams that never quit. This is a team that I know their coach is going to preach to them, just go out there and play and leave it all on the line. With a team like that, they can come in and make a couple of shots. We can't be worried about that. We've just got to keep playing, play physical, and play our style of basketball. Q. Fans here, Tristan, have been suffering for a long, long time. How much do you identify with that suffering? TRISTAN THOMPSON: It's definitely‑‑ for me, it's motivation, just to come in every day and work hard just to help put our team in a position where we can bring something very promising back to Northeast Ohio. They've gone through tough times, ups and downs, whether it's the Indians, the Browns, the Cavs, it would definitely be a good feeling to win tomorrow and be just that much closer to our goal for the season. Q. What do you think it would be like outside The Q if you guys get it done with this Indian game letting out right before you guys start? What would that be like? TRISTAN THOMPSON: Some of the fans from the Indians game come in, and if we're able to get the W, downtown Euclid and Prospect is going to be a lot of happy people. It's going to be a great feeling, great vibes. Q. Hawks shot 41 percent yesterday but 48 percent through the first three quarters. What was kind of the thing that got them loose offensively? TRISTAN THOMPSON: They push the tempo. They try to get a lot of quick scoring baskets, a lot of stuff in transition. We watched the film. Whether it was miss or make, Teague, Bazemore, Carroll, and Millsap, they're pushing the ball. They're trying to get a high tempo, a lot of possessions in this game. For us, we've got to make sure we get back. If the bigs crash, three guards get back, we've got to point out, communicate who's got who. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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