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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORSJune 14, 2015David BlattOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Game Five Golden State – 104 Q. Today Timofey Mozgov only played 9 minutes, had zero points. What made you match Golden State's small lineup during this game? COACH BLATT: The way we needed to play tonight to give ourselves a chance to win. Q. Do you feel like that gave you an advantage and kept you close for most of today's game? COACH BLATT: It looked like that. It sure did. Q. The first half was incredibly physical, starting with the big hit between J.R. Smith and Draymond Green. Was that part of your strategy today, to get into a more physical brand of basketball, or is that just the flow of the game, and how do you think that impacted the proceedings? COACH BLATT: I thought that was the flow of the game. We've tried and we should be physical, as does the other team. Q. The rebounding in the playoffs for you has been a pretty telling stat. I think you've only lost one game where you outrebounded the opponent‑‑ COACH BLATT: Do you want to say that again? I don't think that came out right. We've only lost one game that we've outrebounded the opponent. Okay. I didn't hear you properly. I'm sorry. Excuse me. I'm sorry. Q. So with that said, how much do you think the late‑game offensive rebounding by Golden State contributed to the outcome? COACH BLATT: I thought all game we needed to rebound better, not just the last minutes to be honest with you. No question that we needed to rebound the ball better. Q. When Steph Curry gets hot like he did, what more can you do to stop him? COACH BLATT: That's a good question. That was really a good question. Q. Thank you. COACH BLATT: Not a lot you can do, honestly. He made some terrific shots. Now there were a few that we made mistakes and we went under or we didn't stay connected, and that's on us. But there are a few that he made, more than a few that were extremely difficult shots, high, high‑level shots by a high‑level player. Sometimes you've got to take your hat off to the other guy. He made some tremendous shots. That's respect. Q. I was just hoping you could elaborate on the way they got those offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter. COACH BLATT: I don't know. I've got to look at it. I don't know. You know. I can't‑‑ I can actually remember every play, but I can't sum it all up. It seems like when you force long, hard shots, the ball falls far from the basket. It doesn't fall necessarily within a close distance to the basket, and sometimes you're just not prepared and locked in at the same level to get those balls that fall between the dotted line and the three‑point line, and you need to be. It seemed like we weren't, and if there's any explanation, that is the best I can do for you. Q. You got creative with some lineups in the first half that you hadn't used before. How much of that is flow of the game, and how much of that did you talk about preparing for going in and using some looks that you hadn't really used in the regular season or the postseason? COACH BLATT: Well, I felt we needed to respond to the last game. I thought for the most part our guys did it well and handled it well. Without question we were in that game. I don't know what the final‑‑ game finished 10‑plus points, but it wasn't a 10‑plus points game. That was the reason we played it that way. Q. You talked about how you needed more rebounding today. And not to go back to the Mozgov question, but last game he had 28 points, 10 rebounds, seemed very effective against Golden State's small lineup. Today limited ten minutes. Could you explain what your philosophy was there? COACH BLATT: Well, we were in the game the way we were playing. We were right there. So that's the way that we played it. Q. Obviously, everyone can play better all the time, but how much more can you get from LeBron? What do you expect out of him in the next game? COACH BLATT: Listen, LeBron has been tremendous is even an understatement for how he's played in the series. And he had another one of those days today. Under the current set of circumstances, that's what we've got to get, and he's bringing it. You don't see that every day, what he's doing. You've got to take your hat off to him too. Q. What do you expect out of him Tuesday night at your place? COACH BLATT: Well, should I expect more than 40 and a triple‑double? (Laughing). I don't know. You tell me. Q. Is there any reason other than a professional one for you not using Shawn Marion? COACH BLATT: No, of course not. Only professional. What would even give you the‑‑ Q. Because it seemed to us that you could have used those five, six more minutes of rest at the end. COACH BLATT: That's something different. You should have said it seems to me that you could have done that, and then I could have responded differently to you. But absolutely only on a professional basis. Shawn's a tremendous guy and a terrific player. That's just a professional decision. That's all. Q. Steve Kerr just told us this is not a series for big guys. And going again to the Timofey Mozgov thing, are you going to stay playing not big basketball, or after the circumstances and the result of the game, are you trying to do something different? Because it didn't pay much result tonight, if you think? COACH BLATT: And how did it do the game before? Q. He was the best scorer, but you didn't use him tonight. COACH BLATT: What was the score of the game? Q. You guys lost the game again. COACH BLATT: Yeah, by more. Q. Can could you explain why you didn't use him? 28 points last game, and no points tonight? COACH BLATT: I thought I was pretty clear I thought that was our best chance to win the game, and we were definitely in the game with a chance to win. So that's the way we played it. So I thought I was pretty clear with that. Q. Do you think you're going to repeat the same game plan again? COACH BLATT: Not necessarily. Not necessarily. Q. All right. That was the question.  Thanks. Q. I'm going to ask you about Mozgov again. It looks like you guys have lost ‑‑ after losing Kyrie, losing Anderson Varejao and Kevin Love, it looks like you have lost another guy. I mean, Timo's not playing and that's the way you played. I'm not precise on that, but how does that make you feel that you have lost another guy with still a short bench? And the fact that you have started Timo all the way, does it mean that you have made a mistake? I mean, you have sat him when you were down 2‑8? COACH BLATT: I don't think we've lost him by any means, first of all. I think that's inaccurate. Did I make a mistake? Listen, when you're coaching a game, you've got to make decisions. I felt that the best chance for us to stay in the game and to have a chance to win was to play it the way that we played it. It's no disrespect to anyone, certainly not to Timo who has done a great job for us. That's just the way that we played it tonight, and Timo will be back and he will not lose his way or lose his head just because he didn't play a lot tonight. He'll be back playing like he always can, I'm sure, because he's got character and he doesn't listen to a lot of you guys (smiling). FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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