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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORSJune 8, 2016Steve KerrCleveland, Ohio: Game Three STEVE KERR: Before I take any questions, I'd like to express my sorrow over the news from last night with Sean Rooks passing away. Sean was a teammate of mine in Arizona in 1988, and through the Arizona connection, Sean has been revered and beloved by generations of Arizona players, former Arizona players, and all the NBA players that he played with during his career. He was a gentle giant. He always had a smile on his face. 6-11, imposing, and yet kind of had the heart of a teddy bear. I'm devastated for his family, especially his kids. Kameron, who was a teammate of my son's at University of California, who I was just with last week. He came to one of our playoff games. He's a lot like his dad -- tall and talented and a gentle soul. And Kam's younger sister, Khayla. I express my deepest condolences to them and to the entire Rooks family. Q. Steve, I think if I'm not mistaken, you had a chance to get to know Channing Frye in Phoenix, and I was wondering if you could give me your impression on him when you first met him, and also what he means to the team that you're kind of responding to him with the moves whenever he goes into the game? STEVE KERR: Yeah, we got lucky. We were able to sign Channing in Phoenix as a free agent. He was coming off a year where he didn't play a whole lot in Portland, and he became a huge part of our team in 2010 that went to the Conference Finals and lost to the Lakers. He's one of my favorite people in the league. He's got a great sense of humor. He's a wonderful teammate, and obviously a brilliant three-point shooter. At his size, when you can space the floor from that position, it presents a lot of problems. So he's definitely attracting a lot of our attention in terms of the game plan in this series. Q. Coach, adjustments are always a big part of the NBA Finals. Last year the insertion of Andre Iguodala and the benefits and enormous dividends that that paid on your end. This year, obviously the Cavs are going to have to do something monumental. Any ideas or game-planning that you've done to try to look at some of the possible scenarios? STEVE KERR: Well, that's always part of our coaching sessions, and our practice sessions, trying to figure out what lineups they might play, how they might attack us differently. It's no different in this series than any other series, and obviously, with Kevin Love being out, there will for sure be lineup changes and different combinations. So there's only so much you can do in preparing for those things. We hope we're prepared, but we'll find out tonight. Q. Kind of piggy-backing off that question, with Kevin Love out and Richard Jefferson starting, how does that change your lineup in terms of in your approach in terms of having LeBron at the four instead of the three? STEVE KERR: Well, they had good spacing with Kevin, and they'll have good spacing with Richard. The difference is just the speed, the ability to get to the rim. Richard is more of a three, obviously, than a four. So they're really going to spread us out and it should give them more driving lanes and more room for LeBron to operate. We're going to have to try to do what we've done the first two games, which is cover the three-point line and also try to cut off LeBron's penetration and keep him from getting all the way to the hoop. It's a lot easier said than done, and I think it may be more difficult tonight, at least, to start the game with that lineup. Q. Steve, when a team like Cleveland comes into their home arena and they're desperate and they're down 2-0, and you know you're going to get their best punch, what do you tell your team in order to kind of prepare them for that? STEVE KERR: I don't really need to say much. We've been through a lot the last couple of years. We know how it is when the series changes venues. The entire emotional dynamic of the games change. So now we have to come in and be prepared for the early onslaught and the crowd noise and all that. The only thing I may remind them is if they get off to a quick start and they have a lead over us. I'll remind them of what a long game it is, and we just need to settle down. I think our guys already know that. We've been through a lot of different situations the last couple of years, and they have the experience to know what it will be like tonight. Q. After Game 7 of the last series, you said you knew Steph was going to have a great game, you told your assistants. I'm not asking you if you said that this time. But what in Steph gives you those signs when you think he's going to have a big game? When do you know he's going to have a big game? STEVE KERR: Well, sometimes it's just the law of averages. He rarely goes more than a game or two where he struggles with his outside shot. In fact, last game he shot the ball really well. He just couldn't stay on the floor because of the foul trouble. So, you know, it's the NBA Finals. He's the MVP. Chances are pretty good he's going to have a good game. Just like the chances are pretty good LeBron's going to have a good game. So I don't need to say much. Great players are great players for a reason. The only thing I'll probably talk to Steph about, which we went over the last couple of days, is to avoid the reach-in, because that's what took him out of the game in Game 2. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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