|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORSJune 4, 2016J.R. SmithOakland, California: Practice Day Q. What kind of adjustment does the team have to make for Game 2? J.R. SMITH: We have to do a better job of getting back in transition. We have to do a better job of picking up our pace on the offensive end. When we get stops, we have to run out in transition more and get some easy buckets. Q. How did Muhammad Ali affect you? J.R. SMITH: He affected myself and my peers tremendously. He created so many paths for us to come out here and be what we are and do what we can today. It's a terrible loss. One of our unicorns is gone forever. I just appreciate everything he's done for myself and everybody else. Q. How did Muhammad Ali affect you? J.R. SMITH: He affected myself and my peers tremendously. He created so many paths for us to come out here and be what we are and do what we can today. It's a terrible loss. One of our unicorns is gone forever. I just appreciate everything he's done for myself and everybody else. Q. Did you ever have a chance to meet him? J.R. SMITH: No, I wish. Q. What is your first memory of Muhammad Ali and what will stick with you? J.R. SMITH: My first memory of him is how he beat people with his mind before he stepped into the ring. He played so many mental games with his opponents. That alone made him one of the greatest ever, but also one of the toughest competitors to beat. Q. I just wanted to know, the way he put it out about how he felt about the war and all that, athletes don't do that today for fear it will cost endorsements and stuff. Do you admire the way he sort of told it like it was? J.R. SMITH: Yeah, absolutely. Anything that was on his mind, he said it, no matter what the consequences were. Sometimes it was a smart decision, sometimes it was a great decision. He pioneered that. He allowed people, especially us professional athletes, to have our own mindset and cherish what we do. It's extremely tough to go out there and speak against certain things nowadays, so for him to be able to do that 50 years ago is incredible. Q. How do you make sure you're not overthinking what's going on and just come out and play loose and free in Game 2? J.R. SMITH: It's easy for me. I just play defense, run up and down the court and shoot when I'm open. But for the most part, that's all basketball is. You make minor adjustments. I don't think we have to change anything huge. Just go out there and play. At the end of the day it's just basketball, and it really comes down to who makes the most plays. Q. Could you talk about the transformation of the locker room in the second half of the season after the trade and the switching of the coach? J.R. SMITH: Yeah, once we made our decisions with the trades and the coaches' decisions, everything pretty much calmed down. Everybody was more comfortable with one another. Everybody knows what we need from one another. It just calmed down and everybody understands what it takes to win. Q. Could you talk about your reflections of some of the games you were able to shoot more shots and hit more shots? J.R. SMITH: A lot of my looks come in transition. We don't really run a lot of set plays for me. In transition, that's when I get a chance to bust out and space the floor for LeBron and Kyrie. When they feel as though I'm open, they move the ball to me. If I'm open, I shoot it. If I'm not, I'll make the next pass to Kev or whoever else. Q. Do you need to see one go down early on to get confidence going from that? J.R. SMITH: No, not really. A lot of times I might not touch the ball the first quarter as opposed to the second quarter or vice versa. For me, it doesn't really matter. It's just making sure I'm always locked in and ready to shoot. Q. If you're not getting shots, how can you go about trying to make sure you stay involved in the offense? J.R. SMITH: Just keep spacing the floor, really. Cut when I see the my defender is watching those guys play. Try to get offensive rebounds, extra possessions, loose balls -- anything that will help. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|