	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS vs WARRIORS

June 1, 2018

Tyronn Lue

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. Now that you've had a day to process it, were you happy with the way that you guys created second-chance opportunities in the game? You had a lot of offensive rebounds. Aan you also speak to the play of Larry Nance?
TYRONN LUE: Yeah, we're very pleased with that, having 18 offensive rebounds. I don't think we capitalized on enough of those, but we did get 18 offensive rebounds. And Larry Nance's activity around the rim is great. When they're playing small, they're switching a lot of things. Him being on the offensive glass, easy putbacks, giving us extra possessions -- as well as Tristan (Thompson) -- is huge for us.

Q. Kevin Love had mentioned that it's kind of you've got to be careful, too, if you commit too many guys in on it, then you could get burned the other way. Is it one of those things of just a balancing act of how many guys you send to the glass?
TYRONN LUE: Well, I think if Kevin's inside the paint, definitely go for the offensive rebound with him, Larry and Tristan. But if they're on the perimeter and the shot goes up, it's hard to crash from the perimeter and try to get back in transition because they're so fast.

So if they're in the paint and around the basket, we definitely want those guys going for offensive rebounds. But if Kevin's outside the three-point line and the shot goes up, we definitely want him getting back in transition to stop and help with that.

Q. We in the media are still waiting on this, but I'm not sure if you've heard from the league. Is Tristan going to face any further issues from everything that happened last night?
TYRONN LUE: I haven't heard anything yet. But I know the league will do the right thing. So I haven't heard anything about him being suspended or anything like that.

Q. Obviously we all talked at length about the change in call. One thing that I'd like to know, though, is they're saying that the trigger is if there is not clarity as to whether the defender is outside the charge line. But LeBron wasn't close to that. He was way outside of it. So has there been any explanation as to who decided that there was not clarity or how you determine -- I mean, how they even determined that there wasn't clarity to begin with? Have you gotten any explanation on that?
TYRONN LUE: No explanation. You know, it's a tough call. We understand that. But now we've got to bounce back and be ready to go for Game 2. Our guys were disappointed about the loss, but it's behind us now. Now we've got to focus on what we did well and carry that into Game 2 and play better.

Q. Another question about the league: Have they fined you for your comments about the refs?
TYRONN LUE: I haven't heard anything yet.

Q. You say you guys have to move on and focus on the positive. Is there any parallel here with Game 1 of the 2015 Finals, where you lose this one game in overtime to the Warriors, Kyrie Irving blows out his knee and somehow you're able to rally in that time period between Games 1 and 2 to win Game 2? Can you reflect on that time and apply any lessons from that to the situation now?
TYRONN LUE: It's a different team, but we have to have the same mindset and same attitude. We lost a tough game. It's over. It's behind us. We did a lot of great things in that game, so we've got to carry it over. We've got to play better on Sunday. We've got to expect that they're going to play better, so we have to play better on Sunday. I know we're capable of doing that.

Q. I was wondering if you could just talk about Rodney Hood and his situation in going from being a great scorer in Utah to struggling in Cleveland.
TYRONN LUE: Rodney has been working hard. He had opportunities in the first round. He's been working to play, and he's going to get opportunities. Just because he didn't play last night or that much in the Boston series, I've always talked to him about being ready, staying ready, because he is a great talent and we're going to need him. He's going to get a chance and an opportunity.

Q. Is confidence the biggest challenge for him?
TYRONN LUE: I think coming from a situation in Utah he was accustomed to, and then coming to a situation after midseason to a team that had championship aspirations, he didn't really get a chance to have a full year and a full training camp. But he's been great. He did great throughout the course of the regular season, and the playoffs have been just a little different for him.

So we have confidence in him. He has to have more confidence in himself. And he's going to be a big part of what we're trying to do. So he's not X'd out right now.

Q. In the aftermath of last night's game, there seems to be a disconnect between J.R. Smith's understanding of the situation when he got the offensive rebound. You said that he didn't really understand the score. LeBron said he didn't know what he was thinking. And J.R. said he knew the game was tied. Have you talked to him since the game to straighten out that situation, and are you disappointed with his lack of mental discipline in that situation?
TYRONN LUE: Yes, we've talked, but I'm not going to share that conversation last night. It's a tough play. If J.R. Smith doesn't get the offensive rebound, they might get the rebound, call timeout and win in regulation.

Just him fighting for that rebound at the end of the game was important. Whether he knew time or score or not, getting the rebound and not getting the shot off, it was big, because they could have gotten the rebound, called time out and, like I said, won in regulation.

So that's behind us. It's over. There's nothing you can do about it now. We've got to focus in on Game 2.

Q. Can I ask, then, have you lost any confidence in him or do you expect him to start again in Game 2 and go on from there?
TYRONN LUE: Yeah, he's going to start. And no, I haven't lost confidence. J.R. can shake off anything, and when everybody tends to count JR out, that's when he comes through. So he's definitely going to start again. He's a big part of what we do. That last play is over, it's behind us and now we've got to move on.

Q. How does the team as a team overcome such a demoralizing event?
TYRONN LUE: Well, every game of the playoffs is important, whether you lose by 30 or lose by 1, whatever happens. I mean, the game is over. There is nothing we can do about it. The team understands we had a chance to win that game, and we didn't.

Now we have to move on. We can't dwell on it. We can't live on that because then we won't be able to perform in Game 2. So it's behind us, and we'll be ready to go in Game 2.

Q. Not just specific to Shaun Livingston's shot last night, but what is your policy, if there is one, on when you guys take a violation and when you look to score? Usually the benches are kind of emptied at that point anyway. Do you have a policy on when to play it out or when to take a shot clock violation when you guys have the ball and know you're about to win?
TYRONN LUE: For us, I think when the game is out of hand and we know a team can't score a basket in two seconds, then we usually run it out. But that policy all year has been they shoot the ball. They don't take a turnover. You've got to play it to the end of the buzzer. They took a shot, and that's what they do.

It doesn't determine the game. The game was over. It's no big deal to me, so whatever.

Q. One more thing about shaking this off. Will you guys do anything today as a team, or is everyone going their separate ways? Do you think they need to be together or apart?
TYRONN LUE: We'll have a team dinner tonight; we'll all get together. Listen, we're not broken, all right? We lost a game. You've got to win four in the series. We understand that. It was a tough game for us. We played well enough to win, but we didn't. Now we've got to move on.

The guys' confidence is not shaken. We'll see what we need to do and how we need to perform to win. We have the blueprint, so now we have to execute at a higher level.

Q. LeBron was talking about his eye. I don't know if you know anything about that today. He said he had some blurred vision during the game when Draymond Green poked him. Have you heard anything about that?
TYRONN LUE: He's fine. He had a little redness in his eye last night, but he's fine.

Q. I know you were asked earlier about the overturned call on LeBron last night, but I'm curious your view in general on those kind of calls? Should the league or should the refs be allowed to overturn a judgment call? That's a fairly recent phenomenon. I'm curious what you think overall of that as a policy.
TYRONN LUE: Whatever the rule is, you've got to abide by it. But I just wasn't clear on the rules about if you check it if he was inside the restricted area or not, and then you change the call when you know he thought it was outside. So whatever the rule is, just stick to that rule. I'm not sure as far as the circumstances from last night, but it's over now and we've got to move on.

Q. You might run out of ways to describe LeBron because he's done a lot of amazing things this postseason. But where did Game 1 rank for you? What do you make of his performance?
TYRONN LUE: Great performance. I think he did everything he could to will our team to win. He's been doing it all season. You've seen it all season -- playing 82 games, throughout the course of the playoffs making big shots, game-winning shots.

This right here is just a testament to what he's been doing all year. He puts in the work. He takes care of his body. He's always doing the right thing. Last night was no different. Scoring 51 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists. Just showing the team on the biggest stage how you have to play to beat this team.

He did a big job of that.

Q. Can he play any better than that?
TYRONN LUE: I hope so (laughing). I know that's asking a lot. But we need him to lead by example, being aggressive, attacking the basket. We know they're going to come and help. They're a help team, and guys are going to get shots. If you don't have a shot, you've got to put it on the floor and make another play. He did that last night, and he has to keep it up.

Q. Last night there seemed to be an emphasis on keeping the pace under control, slowing down the pace a bit. Yet maybe in four or five possessions, the action at the end of the possession came maybe a second or second and a half too late for you to give yourselves options if the first initial action didn't work. What were your thoughts on pace and initiating the last attack on the basket at the end of possessions last night?
TYRONN LUE: I thought the pace was good. I thought we had a chance to run and get out in transition. After rebounding the basketball and turnovers, we did great. As far as trying to create the switch and attacking to make another play, another move, we've got to get into it a little sooner, a little earlier.

Overall, I thought we did a good job getting into the mismatch, taking advantage of those mismatches. A couple times we got into it late, so we've got to do it a little faster.

Q. Now that you've seen the film, can you talk about what happened in overtime? Was it merely just being overcome by emotions by what happened at the end of regulation?
TYRONN LUE: We had some good shots and we didn't make them, and they made a couple shots early to kind of get the lead. We were kind of playing from behind, playing catch-up. But we got some good shots. J.R. got a wide-open three to start the overtime that we didn't make. Kevin got a good look. But we just couldn't make shots in overtime.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297