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NBA FINALS: CLEVELAND VS GOLDEN STATE

June 3, 2017

Mike Brown

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. Coach, what do you think is going to get you to win Game 2? What is going to be the key?
COACH BROWN: Basically the same formula. We probably will have more than four turnovers, but taking care of the ball, trying to win the possession game, being locked in defensively. Our guys were really good defensively. We're going to have to have that same mental focus and effort.

And then continue moving the basketball. We did a nice job moving the basketball.

Q. On the other side, what do you expect from Cleveland to change from Game 1?
COACH BROWN: Well, I'm sure they're going to be better in transition. They're going to do a better job of stopping the ball and getting out to our shooters. But the biggest thing, and they even said it, they're going to try to amp up the physicality of the game. They're going to grab a little bit more and try to knock us off our routes and do what they can to disrupt whatever we try to do offensively.

Q. You mentioned the physicality you expect from them. Do you do anything differently going into the game, or do you just play and expect it?
COACH BROWN: Just kind of play and expect it, especially during this time of the year. They have talked about it; our guys have heard it. We have mentioned it to our guys, and we have played teams in the past that have been real physical with us, so we feel like we'll be okay.

Q. Watching the film of Game 1, was it a little encouraging just seeing that even though you guys won the way you did, there were a lot of areas that can you improve in?
COACH BROWN: Yeah. Just like they feel, we feel the same -- that we could play better. Our guys know they can play better. We missed some shots that we normally make, not only from the perimeter but we missed some layups that we normally make. So we just want to keep doing what we did in Game 1, moving the ball, moving bodies, and seeing if we can convert some of those this time around.

Q. I saw you out there talking to Bob [Myers] and Steve [Kerr] and I guess my first question is: Were you fined for the sweatpants that only go to here?
(Laughter.)

Q. No?
COACH BROWN: You don't like these?

Q. I just want to know.
COACH BROWN: I think they're kind of cool, like fashion forward.

Q. I'm happy you think that. With the three of you, when you guys are on these off days between games, what is the primary sort of discussion besides clearly your sweatpants?
(Laughter.)

COACH BROWN: We like having open forum here, and so we'll talk basketball with Bob. He will have questions. Sometimes we'll go to Bob and say, hey, Bob, what did you see, what do you think about this? He'll throw ideas our way. We'll just kind of bounce them off each other, and so it's just basically an open forum.

Q. Was there anything from Bob that you can share with us?
COACH BROWN: What did Bob say? Well, he asked if we thought that they would match up the same way. And so then we kind of went down that line of discussion for a while.

Q. Is it difficult not knowing if you're going to be the head coach every day? I mean, just you're own -- just from planning purposes, kind of thinking how you're going to approach a game or not?
COACH BROWN: No, because in my mind with what Bob and Steve both told me, they both said, hey, you're the coach until we tell you otherwise. So it's simple for me to plan that way. And then if there comes a time that I'm not, I would have been prepared to coach the game if I needed to, but it's easy for me to take a step back.

Q. Do you see yourself as in some ways a different coach than Kerr or Walton last year? In other words, is there -- is the philosophy sort of the connecting thread?
COACH BROWN: I'm different than Steve in a lot of ways. My car is clean; his car is dirty. His locker's dirty; my locker's clean. He actually pointed that out to me today. We walked in the coaches' locker room, and he goes, Mike, look in my locker. And I just shook my head and I said, Steve, look at mine. You know?

So there's a contrast between the two of us where I think it fits well because we kind of sort of meet in the middle. So it's a good mix. I see things, after being here with him for a year, probably more his way.

But again, when I'm coaching, he always says, if you see something or feel something, go ahead and do it.

Q. Every championship team usually has a glue guy on their team, does the little things, keeps guys together. Who would you identify on the Warriors this year as that glue guy?
COACH BROWN: Draymond. I mean, the stuff he does on the floor, during timeouts, in practice, in film sessions, whatever, it's almost irreplaceable. He's probably the best I've seen at it. He is the best, at least off the top of my head, that I've been around.

Q. Can you give me an example of what something he's done in recent weeks that made you say, there he goes again, he's getting everybody together?
COACH BROWN: Just even the last game during a timeout, they went on a little run, we missed a couple of shots, and then he's in there basically taking over the huddle.

Q. What's he saying?
COACH BROWN: We're better than that, we need to do this, we need to do that. It's whatever needs to be said. Probably 99.9 percent of the time he says the right thing. And then you kind of go, oh, yeah, yeah. We were playing against San Antonio, and it was in the second half, and I don't know if you remember, it was at their place and I was putting KD in a lot of pick-and-rolls and we were scoring bucket after bucket after bucket. Then we started getting a little tired and we started getting a little lazy with it. Steph got involved in the pick-and-roll, too, a little bit. We were a little lazy with it, careless with the ball, and Draymond kind of settled everybody down. But he made a play call going away from the pick-and-roll that was terrific for us at that time.

Q. He audibled it?
COACH BROWN: No, no, he just called out a play. He said, no, no, no, we're going to do this. And usually when you have players of his stature that are confident about wanting to do something, you sit back and you let them do it.

And it was the absolute right play call offensively. It gave them a different look. We scored a basket, and then we started another run from there. So he's got a feel for what he needs to do, what he needs to say, to keep everybody on the right path, whether it's Steve, myself or anybody else on the team.

Q. Kind of along the lines of the earlier question, how has coaching here with Steve and being with Bob, how has that changed you as a coach? Is there anything you've changed in philosophy or beliefs or whatever? Since coming here and being part of this culture and this system, what about you has changed as a coach?
COACH BROWN: The biggest thing is these guys do a great job of thinking big picture. And I was a guy that wanted to squeeze every ounce I could out of every minute we were together or every second we were together. Then it doesn't always have to be that way. So for me if there's a, quote/unquote, coaching strategy, that I think where I've changed or that I would take moving forward, that's probably it. Think more big picture than, hey, we got to get better right now and since we are here, we got to use every single minute of this three hours and 55 seconds that we have.

Q. That's what I was going to ask. So, I mean, I remember your first day back -- I think you had a three-hour summer league practice. Are those days over?
COACH BROWN: Now, a lot of it, too, depends on the team. If you have a young team, probably not that long, but we may go a little longer. But as we're going along, if I feel that the attention span is maybe not there or it's wavering a little bit, before I would have a hard time saying, hey, that's enough, because I would have a practice plan and I'd want to get through it all so that I could feel like we accomplished something today. But I may cut it short and pick up on it the next day.

Q. I think the last time LeBron didn't win a road game in a playoff series was 2009. I think it's 30 straight series he's won a road game in. Obviously you spent a lot of time with him back then toward the beginning of his career. What does it say about the longevity he's had and the ability to kind of go on the road, obviously in the playoffs where it's always difficult to win, and be able to constantly pick up wins on the road like that?
COACH BROWN: It just speaks volumes to who he is as a player. He's one of the greatest all time. When you have his ability, when you have his intelligence and feel and all that other stuff, you're able to lead your team in difficult situations and tough environments. And he's done that for many years. So you take your hat off to him.

Q. Is it hard to believe the last time it happened was when you were still coaching there?
COACH BROWN: Yes. But there are a lot of things -- I heard he was like 1-8 [1-7] in the first games of Finals. I mean, that's testament to where he's kept his team together and helped them overcome tough situations and still come out on top.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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