	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 5, 2018

Tyronn Lue

Cleveland, Ohio: Practice Day

Q. After Game 2 you mentioned that you and the coaches would look at stuff for adjustments. Are there any lineup or player rotation adjustments that you can discuss?
TYRONN LUE: No.

Q. Whether or not you do this, you've gone away from Rodney Hood a while ago, and Cedi Osman hasn't played much at all. So I think some fans in some corners are saying, well, try them, try them. But how difficult would that be in a Finals to go to one of those guys who just haven't played much in the playoffs?
TYRONN LUE: I don't think it would be too difficult. We're going to give Rodney a chance. He'll get a shot and see how he does. He's been working, staying ready. So we'll see.

Q. You know that Steph Curry is going to be great and Kevin Durant going to be great and Klay Thompson going to make shots, sure. But when Shaun Livingston is 9-for-9 in those two games, when JaVale McGee goes 6-for-6 in Game 2, how tough is it to deal with that no matter how good a job you do on their big guys? Their role players seem like they've played pretty flawlessly in the first two games.
TYRONN LUE: I think when you're locked in and you're trying to take away K.D., you're trying to take away Steph and Klay -- Livingston, McGee, they're going to get some shots. We've just got to do a better job of taking away the easy dunks and layups around the basket.

When you're focusing on those three guys, other guys are going to get shots. But we've got to do a good job of just taking away the easy ones.

Q. You talked a little bit the other night about Kyle Korver not getting open. How imperative is it for you to change that, find ways to get him shots?
TYRONN LUE: It's hard because they switch out on everything. So all the actions you run for Kyle, they just switch out to deny and take him away. When they are helping on LeBron's penetration, the one guy they're staying at home on is Kyle. They're not leaving his body. With him on the floor, they have to pay attention to him, know where he's at at all times. He gives us spacing offensively, but they're not leaving him. We try to run a lot of actions for him, but they're just switching out and taking it away.

We have to do a better job of playing faster in transition, getting some shots and probably picking up early on in transition instead of waiting until he gets too deep to the corner. So we'll see.

Q. One more thing about Rodney, are you thinking about giving him a chance in this game?
TYRONN LUE: Yes.

Q. With you guys switching as much as you are on defense, what is the most important aspect to do that effectively?
TYRONN LUE: Physicality. I think you've got to be physical, because they slip out a lot and put you in some binds when they slip out. But if we're physical into the body and pushing up the slips, then we can get underneath them and take that away. So the most important thing is physicality.

Q. What is it you like best about coaching besides talking to us, obviously? What is it that you like and appreciate about the job that you do?
TYRONN LUE: I like -- one thing is the playoffs. I think when you get to the playoffs and you're able to scheme and game-plan and make adjustments and things like that throughout the course of the playoffs, I like that. I like the first year, we had a chance to win a championship. All the hard work you put in with your coaching staff and with the players, and then it all comes together and you win a championship. It's gratifying at the end.

Me as a young coach, having older teams, I haven't been able to really teach and kind of mold younger guys into who you want them to be. So that's probably the most gratifying -- if you get younger guys, you can kind of mold and fit your personality, fit the style you want to play. Then at the end of the day, when you do that and see when they get it, it feels good.

Like with Jordan [Clarkson] and Rodney Hood and Larry Nance, Cedi and those guys, when you get an opportunity to see how to come out in the playoffs and carry it over to next year and see how they've grown, that's what it's about.

Q. How much can one win for you guys change the complexion of this series?
TYRONN LUE: I mean, we've got to take care of home. I think we've done a great job of playing here throughout the course of the playoffs. Our fans are great. They're going to be ready and fired up. They took care of their home court. They won two games on their home floor. Now we've got to come back and do the same thing.

So we're very confident we can do that. The guys are engaged and locked in. Winning tomorrow is a step forward, but then going out with Game 4 also. We're locked into doing that, and we know we can.

Q. How do you gauge or measure your guys' belief heading into this one? What do you see that gives you the confidence to say that that is still there?
TYRONN LUE: We believe. We watched tape. We watched film and see the things that we can get better at, very minor things. The most important thing, I think, is physicality. Just being able to be on bodies, being physical, not let Steph and Klay and K.D. roam freely.

We've seen some things that we can do. We played them well the first game. Game 2, all the way up until the last seven, eight minutes of the fourth quarter.

They play well at home, we understand that. We play well at home, too, so we're ready for the challenge.

Q. The other night J.R. Smith and George Hill were talking about miscommunication on defense. I was also thinking about communication at the end of Game 1 about how many timeouts. Do you guys really need to, I don't know, change anything about the communication issues?
TYRONN LUE: No, I think we've got to talk ELC -- early, loud and continuous -- as far as defensively, with our switches. End of the game, we all knew we had a timeout left. But we didn't call a timeout until -- you know, Steph got the and-one. We just took it up the floor so they couldn't try to sub Steph out for what we wanted to run. We got the matchup we wanted and we got two free throws out of it. So no problem with the communication.

Q. Golden State presents a lot of problems in transition when they go on offense. Game 2 you did a much better job eliminating fast-break points. And yet taking those out, transition defense, when they have the ball, it's early in their offense. What has to happen in these games in Cleveland the rest of the series that may have not happened before?
TYRONN LUE: I think continue to do a good job in transition, like you said. They are the most dangerous when they're in transition. Or you have Steph and Klay running to the corners. K.D. bringing it up or Draymond pushing the basketball.

The biggest thing is just we can't relax. I think we showed clips to our guys today where Steph gives the ball up and he continues to keep moving; we relax, he gets a three. Klay, we relax, he gets a three.

So we've got to stay locked in. We can't relax and give them open shots. They're going to make some tough shots; that's who they are. But we've got to take away the easy ones.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297