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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORSJune 13, 2015Stephen CurryOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day Q. Two questions. One, does this bother you to be out of this routine? Your basket is right there and there's cameras all under it? STEPHEN CURRY: It's a little different. It's nice to be in our practice facility because that's what we're used to, so the setting is the same, and we kind of had a similar routine this morning with guys being able to get treatment and breakfast and kind of what you're used to every single day for 41 games, pretty much. So it's nice to be here instead of at Oracle Arena; we never practice during the regular season. But, yeah, I'm missing my basket right behind us. I was actually‑‑ don't tell anybody, I was shooting before practice started with all the cameras around. No damage. I made some shots, but definitely a little different shooting at the other end of the court. Q. Here with potentially three games left in the season, how do you feel physically, and how do you think the way Coach Kerr managed your minutes during the season has paid off to this point? STEPHEN CURRY: I feel great, and I think that has a lot to do with it. He managed my minutes with the rotations and kept them pretty much the same no matter what the situation was, but it also helped that we had a lot of blowouts and I was able to sit a lot of fourth quarters and get that built‑in rest. But I think there's something probably‑‑ The Finals, like you said, with three games left, whatever you have percentage‑wise, however you feel, you almost got to psych yourself mentally to think, all right, give it all you got for three games. We're playing for a ring. So I do feel good. I think I'll be pretty fresh once Game 5 starts and kind of take it from there. Q. The first two games here, that was a first for you and pretty much everyone on the team. Do you think you guys will feel a little more comfortable tomorrow versus maybe that opening Finals excitement at home? STEPHEN CURRY: We will for sure, but I think all that was kind of left in the first half of Game 1. We obviously didn't play well in Game 2, but I don't think it had anything to do with the excitement of playing at home in a Finals situation, because I think we settled in pretty well. We just didn't make any shots, didn't play well. Didn't come with enough energy. But I think we're going to be really composed, really aggressive. We're going to feed of our crowd's energy tomorrow, which we're going to need because that's why you play so hard during the regular season, to have home court advantage to be able to capitalize off of that in situations like these. So we want to be able to take advantage of it. Q. First, welcome back to the Bay Area. I know fans really love you. Now, what do you think is the most important factor for tomorrow's game? Thank you. STEPHEN CURRY: Getting off to a good start, just like we did in Game 4. I think we were more aggressive, just more full of life, and we came out with an edge. Obviously, they jumped out to a 7‑point lead, but the way we answered that bell, got an 8‑point lead or 9‑point lead at the end of the first quarter, that really helped build some momentum. We didn't really let go of the rope at all. So we have to get off to a great start and get our fans and our crowd into it and kind of put pressure on them. Because they were very comfortable, I think the first‑‑ even though we got Game 1, the first three games they were really comfortable on both ends of the floor, and we've got to do something about that, especially tomorrow. Q. Can you talk about how do you decide when and when not to double LeBron? What do you look for? Also, with him being so much bigger, what kind of challenge do you have when you do double him? STEPHEN CURRY: You've got to be smart about it because you know how smart he is in reading situations and being able to pick you apart with his drives and his court vision. But once‑‑ definitely, once he's committed to a move, he maybe puts his head down and tries to go through a guy, you can help in that situation because it's harder to pass out of that type of offense. You don't want to double when he's facing up to the basket and can see everybody, because he obviously can make pretty much any pass in the book. So if you allow him to see everything right in front of him, that's where he hurts you. So you want to avoid those situations. But the biggest thing you do is just be long, have high hands, be aggressive, and trust the help behind you once you go to double. You can't really be indecisive because that kills any defense. If you're indecisive about what you're doing. If you're going to go, you go. If not, stay back, stay home and play solid defense. Q. In Game 3 in the iso situations with Dellavedova, it seems as if you were maybe somewhat passive and you would wait for a screen to come and then throw out of the double. Then in Game 4 it seemed as if in the iso situations you had your way with him and you would take him one‑on‑one. Is that something you saw on game film? Is that something we should expect more of in Game 5, of you attacking the one‑on‑one with Dellavedova, because I don't think anyone thinks he can guard you one‑on‑one? STEPHEN CURRY: Yeah, I've got to be more aggressive in those situations and not allow that secondary defender to come. We've been getting good shots out of those double teams, but I have to be aggressive attacking the match‑ups that we like, and that's one of them. In transition, the same thing. Once we get across half court and not slowing it down and waiting for help to be able to set up so we can always keep them on their heels. I think that helps me get going a lot sooner if I can attack those one‑on‑one situations a lot more, and I think we get better shots out of that instead of waiting for them to double team and then try to move eight or nine times to get a shot. Q. You guys had your best offensive game as a group in Game 4, and yet Klay took just nine shots, scored nine points. Was that just a matter of the flow of things and how things unfolded? And what do you expect from him going forward? STEPHEN CURRY: I expect him to be aggressive and take those opportunities that he has to make plays. But the way they were defending, they were trapping me when they had the opportunity to. I kick it out, and they're obviously not going to rotate off of Klay. So he creates shots for others just by his presence on the floor. And that's what makes our team great is you have threats everywhere and you have to choose your poison, basically, of who you're going to rotate off of. That's why H.B. got so many open shots. Andre got open shots. Draymond, Shaun, L.B. got shots, D. Lee. All those guys that found themselves wide open because of Klay's presence on the floor. So eventually I think they'll make the adjustment, maybe get some more open looks. But he's not going to be passive at all in the situation. When he gets the ball, he's going to be looking to make plays, and you can always count on that. Q. By your standards the first three games you weren't shooting like you normally do until the fourth quarter of Game 3, and then had a more consistent Game 4. Do you internalize when you look at this series, are you kind of thinking to yourself, waiting to have that signature Finals moment, that signature Finals game? Does that weigh on your mind at all? STEPHEN CURRY: I think in the midst of Game 2 and 3 you're kind of trying to figure it out: Why am I missing shots? Why things are going the way they're going? I thought Game 1 I played pretty well. Didn't shoot many threes, but made a couple big ones. Made some timely shots, and then it all kind of went downhill from there. But obviously you never lose your confidence. You understand there is a lot of series left, a lot of opportunity to turn it around. I don't know what that signature Finals moment will be. As long as we get four wins, that would be signature enough for me. But I hope to have an impact in that effort. But I don't know what stat line that will be, if I can walk off the court like, yeah, that was my time. But like in Game 4 I felt like I controlled the game pretty well from a point guard standpoint of picking and choosing my spots, being aggressive and attacking, and I was pretty proud of that effort. Especially considering the challenge in front of us in the moment. There is going to be another moment in Game 5 that you have to be able to play well, and whatever that means, and help your team get the win. Q. I want to pick up on the going small strategy, the credit that Nick has gotten. Tell me about Nick and tell me about Coach Kerr listening to Nick. STEPHEN CURRY: That's Coach Kerr's style. He's a collaborative coach. Takes input from everybody and makes his decision based on all of that advice and suggestion. Bruce Fraser and Nick are my two assistant coaches that I work out with every day. So I know how smart Nick is, and the ideas that he has, he's had them all year. It's just this one got a little more shine because of The Finals situation and the result of the decision. But we have so many weapons that we're able to make decisions like that. We're not stuck with a certain lineup based on how things are going so we can have changes and things like that. And Coach Kerr obviously made a great decision in listening to Nick, and I'm sure there will be a couple more adjustments in Game 5 or Game 6 going forward that the whole coaching staff will have input, and we've just got to go out there and execute whatever line they put out there. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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