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NBA FINALS: WARRIORS VS. RAPTORSJune 1, 2019Marc GasolToronto, Ontario - Practice Day Q. What about the pace of play that you liked from Game 1 are you hoping to continue in Game 2? MARC GASOL: Whatever happens on the defensive end, as soon as the possession changes, you run at them. You run at them and be aggressive and use all the 24 seconds to try to get the best shot possible, without turning the ball over and doing the things that we need to do. Q. Speaking of pace, transition was a big thing. You guys had a +7 advantage. Is that the key to this series? MARC GASOL: There are many keys. I don't think there's one key. But to be able to run, you have to get stops. And to get stops, you have to communicate. You have to be physical. You have to do all the little things that are necessary. Finishing the possession with rebounds. I thought in the second half we did a much better job of finishing possessions and running at them. Q. You always seem to be a reluctant three-point shooter. Is it still something that you say, oh, I would rather pass it to somebody else? MARC GASOL: It depends. If the rotation happens and they leave somebody else open, my nature is to make the extra pass. If they stay home, it is my job to knock it down. Q. You've had a lot of experience playing against these Warriors in different iterations over the years. A lot of talk this weekend about the similarities between their team and yours. Steve Kerr talked about when he looks at your team, he kind of sees the Warriors. Wondering if you see the similarities based on your experiences with them? MARC GASOL: I don't analyze them and compare them to the way we are or the way we play. I just don't operate that way. I see their tendencies and how they get comfortable and in rhythm and try to slow them down and do as much as possible to not allow them to get comfortable. Q. What are the things you want to take away from them in terms of them being able to get comfortable? MARC GASOL: The three-point line. It's pretty obvious, but you just can't take one thing away. If you take the three-point line and you allow them to swing to the basket to get dunks, it's just as bad. So it's a multiple-effort thing. You have to be in multiple places, especially when you're a help guy. You have to be up. You have to be down. You're going to be up again. You're probably going to have to crack back and rebound. So it's a lot of fun. Q. Those switches come at you quite a bit. The communication is obviously important? MARC GASOL: Communication is obviously huge in any circumstance in life. Q. But particularly with this matchup. You're not usually seeing this so much in the season. Now that you've had this, what adjustments do you guys need to make defensively? MARC GASOL: Defensively? If you look at film, you saw a lot of things that you can do better. But being physical, it starts with pressuring the ball. All the fundamental stuff. You have to do it all the time; you can't relax. Like I said, when you're a help guy, you do multiple efforts. You got to communicate. Simple. Q. The way your half-court defense has been playing, it's like you guys have been playing together for 10 years. But you just joined this team a few months ago. Can you explain the accelerated learning curve that you've had to your teammates and your teammates have had with you? MARC GASOL: Well, it's everyone's effort. I think everyone wanted the team to play well. Coach does a great job of allowing guys to play free offensively. He's very disciplined defensively with the things that he wants, but after that he's very open-minded and encouraging to guys' reads as long as it's a good basketball read and it's what's best for the team. Q. They're not a team that's down often in a series. The first six minutes I'm sure are just going to be vital. How do you sort of stem their -- MARC GASOL: The first six minutes and then the next six minutes and then the six minutes after that. And then it's going to be a long series. It's going to be a lot of games. It's going to be a lot of possessions. It's going to be a lot of frustration. It's how you stay in the moment and continue to play the next possession. Get one more stop. Get one more good shot. Those are the things, and eventually you put enough of those together, you're going to have a pretty good chance of winning. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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