|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS vs CELTICSMay 17, 2018George HillCleveland, Ohio: Practice Day Q. Did you hang your diploma yet? GEORGE HILL: No, I didn't take it out of my backpack yet. Q. How was that experience for you? GEORGE HILL: Great experience. To set one of your goals in life and to finally accomplish it no matter how long it takes you, it's a feeling -- especially you see some of the kids that I kind of mentored back in Indianapolis. For them to be happy and there at the graduation, lending their support and things like that, it was big not just for me but for my family and for the kids that I have mentored. Q. How much time did you spend preparing the speech? GEORGE HILL: Probably two days. Me and someone that I know helped write it. We sat down and went over some things that I'd like to say and put it in perspective of how it should be said. I didn't know if it was going to be possible to even go at first, so I wasn't sure. Q. Were you more nervous for delivering the speech or Game 7 against Indiana? GEORGE HILL: I was more nervous for the speech than the the Game 7. Game 7 is just Game 7. It's like a do-or-die situation. You've just got to go out and live with what happens. Q. Being the first in your family to graduate college, did anyone else come close? GEORGE HILL: I'm sure they did, but they probably wouldn't say it. Not that I can really think of. I think a lot of them went but they ended up not finishing after the first year just because it just wasn't the lifestyle that they were accustomed to. It was always one of my goals to do that, and I think all my family and friends were very excited for me to accomplish that. Q. You mentioned Game 7. What's the difference between facing elimination and being down 2-0? How heavy is this game compared to that game? GEORGE HILL: I mean, same. Right now, we've got our backs against the wall. But it's no time for panic. I think Boston did what they were supposed to do: take care of their home-court advantage. We have a great opportunity to do the same thing here. We've got to rally together, communicate a little bit better, play better on both ends of the floor and try to figure it out. Q. What is either not happening for you in this series or what hasn't been there for you? What's the difference from this one to the Toronto and Indiana series where you played so well? GEORGE HILL: I don't know. I'm trying to figure it out myself. I think a little bit just trying to be more involved offensively and trying to be more involved defensively. Not waiting until a play is possibly called to go do it. Be your best. Make some things happen defensively where I can get active and get some easy baskets, or crash the boards and take it coast to coast and things like that. I've just got to be more assertive. I've got to play with that edge like I did in that second series. There's no one to blame but myself. You've got to look yourself in the mirror and say: What can I do better. Q. When you don't have an assist in Game 1, how hard is that for you to take? GEORGE HILL: I don't know. I don't really play by if I get this many assists or if I get this many rebounds or this many points. I think you guys worry more about that than I do. I just try to play the game, and right now I'm not playing the game the right way. So I've got to continue to watch film, work on my craft and come out with a whole different mindset Game 3. Q. How much time do you guys spend on defensive communication? GEORGE HILL: We watched a lot of film about it, where a lot of our breakdowns are happening. ... We're trying to figure out how we can have few of those and not so many. Q. How do you clean it up? GEORGE HILL: Just being more vocal. It's going to be good to be back home. Guys are probably going to be more relaxed. But the way you can clean it up is communicating early. Q. Ty was talking about how when they started to go on a run, there was a different look from you guys in the fourth quarter and you started falling apart. How can you prevent that from happening? GEORGE HILL: In those situations, we can't settle. When we feel like they're going on a run and things like that, we have to put more pressure on them by going to the basket, maybe getting to the free throw line a little bit more to stop the momentum. And also when we get in that situation, if we get free throws, come together, get them in a little huddle, get all our minds back on track and refocus. Q. I forget what game it was, but you came out driving to the basket right out of the gate. Is that kind of what you might want to do? GEORGE HILL: That's the game that presented itself. But yeah, I feel like situations like that I need to take advantage of. Being a bigger guard -- get in there, get some rebounds, push the tempo, going coast to coast. Like I said, just being more aggressive on both ends of the floor, not just standing there watching. 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
|