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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORSJune 13, 2015Andre IguodalaOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day Q. I'm curious, obviously, when Draymond started the game at center, it spaces out the floor more. But how important was he with his passing ability and getting the offense going again? It looked like you guys were able to get that first action going when you hadn't been able to do it in the first three games. ANDRE IGUODALA: Yeah, well, Draymond's been awesome all year for us at being really effective with the ball, whether it's scoring or passing, getting the rebounds during the break. Coach talked about how important he was in the Houston series, and he would be near triple‑doubles pretty much every game in that Houston series. He was getting 14 to 17 points a game. He had nine rebounds, and then he'd have 7 of 9 assists. That just showed his versatility. The offense was always flowing when he had those numbers, so that was key for us. Q. What can you tell us about what have you learned as a player from Game 1, from the start of the series from now, from Game 1 to Game 4, now facing Game 5? As a player, what have you learned? What has changed in your mentality and different things that approaches the game? ANDRE IGUODALA: Well, I think you're embracing the moment more and more as each game goes on, and you understand how hard it really is just to win a game, and you take it one game at a time. The flow has changed sometimes. You make so many adjustments, your mind's just always locked in on a task, and you learn how mentally strong you have to be in order to just win a game and not just a series. So we're just taking it one game at a time and trying to get a win every night we go out there. Q. Two things kind of stand out about your team right now at this critical point in the season. One, people are pretty fresh, and, two, whoever is called on seems to be pretty ready on the bench. Could you talk about that, and also what Kerr did to kind of limit your minutes and Bogut's minutes during the season, and if that's paying off now? ANDRE IGUODALA: Well, I don't think it's just Bogut and myself, but Shaun Livingston and Barbosa have been amazing for us all year. And it's kind of been flown under the radar because Steph's had such a great year and Klay's had some amazing games and Draymond has played so well. But our second unit, we've prided ourself on making an impact on the game every night and staying ready. Those two guys, with Shaun and LB, they've really kind of shown what a veteran's supposed to look like and being ready for any moment, and it's helped us get to this moment. Q. (No Microphone)? ANDRE IGUODALA: Physically, it's helped. You still have your bumps and bruises. 82 games is really long. I was almost dead in the water late in the New Orleans series, early in the Memphis series. I don't take medicine, but I had to, and it's kind of helped me tremendously the last two series. Q. Luke was saying that for as long as he's known you you've been very much about not necessarily trying to put up big numbers but putting up the exact specific numbers that you feel like the team needs to win, filling whatever role. I'm just curious, when did you kind of establish that? And do you feel like that type of play is maybe more appreciated now because we have advanced statistics that maybe show there are certain parts of your game that you're contributing more than maybe we would have realized or appreciated before? ANDRE IGUODALA: Well, that's kind of been my game pretty much my whole life. From a kid I was probably the tallest on the floor, but I never wanted to play center. I always wanted to play point guard. My favorite players were Scottie Pippen, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill. So those guys are similar games. So that's just something I saw and tried to do from age six, seven years old. So it's just always been with me. Then in college, playing with Luke, and then having that raw talent being the skill sets put in there, that's kind of how my game evolved. Q. Do you feel like, obviously with advanced statistics now we're able to have a better understanding of maybe how much more valuable certain guys are. Do you feel like maybe, especially with your role with this team that the numbers kind of lend themselves to show maybe how much more valuable you are versus what people might have thought? ANDRE IGUODALA: It's give and take with numbers sometimes. They say numbers don't lie, but sometimes numbers can lie. I think you just have to be smart about when to use it and when you don't use it. Because some guys put up big numbers, but it may not result in a winning culture or a winning player. So for me, it's just at this point in my career, it's just winning and having an impact on the floor. When you win, everything takes care of itself. Q. When you prepare for LeBron, is there anything more you have to do? You said you took some medicine, but from a rest, from a video standpoint, from just physicality standpoint that you might not do typically when you guard somebody? ANDRE IGUODALA: I think you've got to be mentally prepared more than anything, understanding it's going to be a long game. Not to overreact to certain things. I think that is key. If I was guarding another guy and he made a couple baskets, you might overreact like you might need to switch something up. But we have a scheme in place, and in order for the scheme to work, the overall picture is 48 minutes. So one or two minutes may not work, but in the grand scheme of things, you're trying to break them down, you're trying to force your will up on them, and it's going to take the whole game. So mentally you have to be with it the whole night. So that can be really stressful if you don't go about it the right way. Q. When is help good and not good for you? ANDRE IGUODALA: Help? Q. Yeah. When is help good or not good? ANDRE IGUODALA: Well, communication is most important. A guy like LeBron who can pass the ball the way he can, you've got to see where his eyes are. If he can see the whole floor, it's tough to double a guy like that. So it was more surprises. Klay had a few random double teams that we didn't even talk about as a scheme, and it worked out for us. The majority of the time they worked. But the one or two times we got bit because LeBron could see the floor. So it's just about us being smart and, more importantly, communicating. Because if I can hear a guy coming on double team, I know where to funnel. We know how to rotate out of it, and it usually works for us. Q. Coach Kerr was saying you played the other night the way you did years ago in Philly. I'm just wondering, and I know you mentioned this at the beginning of the year here, that going from a starter for many years to coming off the bench, did that take a mental adjustment? Like, hey, I should be out there thinking when the other guy is? ANDRE IGUODALA: Well, it's not thinking I should be out there. It's more so how do I find my rhythm and play the way I would like to play and have an impact on the game while I'm out there.  Coming off the bench is a lot different. You know, you're trying to find your flow quicker than normal. Starting, the flow, you find your flow starting and it's easy to find your flow. But coming off the bench, it's a lot different, and it took me a while to find it. Q. How long did it take you? I mean, a few games into the season? ANDRE IGUODALA: No, no, I'm still trying to figure it out right now (smiling). It's a lot harder than it looks. Q. Obviously when you go undersized against their front line, you have to compensate on the boards somehow. What is the collective mentality of the team rebounding the basketball when you do go small against Mozgov and Thompson? ANDRE IGUODALA: I think the mentality is we're not undersized. I mean, we know it, obviously. You can feel it out there. We're trying to box out those guys. They're very physical. I think LeBron gives those two guys that look, and they look at him, and he says kill them on the glass. So we know that's what they're trying to do. But we're a very competitive group. And Draymond is loud, outspoken, competitive as they come, and he's going to find a way to get it done like he has his whole life because he's always kind of been the underdog. So that kind of rubs off on the rest of us, and we're just trying to get it done. Q. You had Shaun Livingston get eight rebounds in that game the other night. That's pretty impressive for him. ANDRE IGUODALA: It's not impressive to me because I've played against Shaun since 11, 12 years old. Seen him grow up, had some great rivalries with him. His whole season has kind of flown under the radar, like I said before. He's a great player. He's the No. 4 pick in the draft for a reason out of high school. Had one of the worst injuries an athlete can have. Has come back. He's been great. He was my favorite pick up this off‑season, and I knew he'd be a big plus for us this late in the season. Q. Do these match‑ups with LeBron remind you at all of the Philly days when he was in Cleveland the first time and it was probably more isolation heavy? ANDRE IGUODALA: Yeah, a little bit. You take every experience and you want them to help you in the future. You know, the future is now as far as the past match‑ups. You're watching him play for the last ten years and playing with him for a month or two. And you're just trying to pick up things from anybody and everybody. That's just guys I've matched up against throughout the years, whether it be Carmelo, Kobe, T‑Mac, James Harden, all those guys, you just try to pick up things on them. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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