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NBA FINALS: WARRIORS VS. RAPTORS

June 2, 2019

Fred VanVleet

Toronto, Ontario - Postgame 2

Golden State - 109, Toronto - 104

Q. What was the defensive strategy in that final possession as far as fouling, not fouling? And what did you think when Iguodala launched that shot five seconds before the clock and the fact that he was so wide open?
FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, I think that obviously from our viewpoint I was picking up Steph, trying to make it tough on him, just trying to make one of those other guys make a play. We got it down, I think me and Pascal maybe got Steph in the corner up there at the top of the half court, and I thought Kawhi had a good play on the ball. He didn't come up with the loose ball and worked back around a little bit and found Iggy on the way back out and he got a wide-open look. So at that point you're probably fighting for a rebounding position. You never want to think that it's going in, as the other team. So fighting for rebound position and obviously he knocked it down. So that was a really big shot for him.

I think would we like to have contested that a little bit more? Probably, yeah, but I think obviously we had a little bit more focus on Steph and just trying to make them take -- do something other than what they wanted to do.

Q. Did you like the fact that Iguodala launched it when he did?
FRED VANVLEET: No, I mean, we don't disrespect those guys. We know that Iggy's made big shots in his whole career. He's done that for that team for the last however many years, so we have seen that movie before. We've seen him make that same shot before, but I think from our viewpoint, just the scheme and the way that we were trying to attack that possession, we wanted somebody else to shoot it. And I think that we just got to do a better job of probably running back out at him when he does get that open look. I haven't seen the play, so I don't know what the next rotation was, but we'll look at it and see how maybe next time we can try to be better.

Q. Coach talked about you guys just not being able to get set on defense, particularly with the third quarter. Was there an issue there with pace that was throwing you guys off?
FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, I think, I mean, overall I think just started too slow. You can't do that against this team. Missing every shot doesn't help, whatever, 10 possessions in a row we didn't score. I'm not even sure. It didn't feel like we were even getting in the paint to control the tempo or the flow of the game.

So they jumped out on us and it was hard to get back set after that. You got to score against this team, I mean 21 points in the third quarter is not going to do it, and our offense has got to be better. And I think that's that probably adds an extra 10 on their side where we just couldn't adjust there.

So got to be better to start the third and we know that, and that's something that we'll focus on and look at the tape and see how we can be better next game.

Q. To elaborate on that run a little bit to begin the third, obviously we know Golden State's capable of doing that but when it's happening, what are the conversations that you're having there, and what's kind of the level of panic, if any, that's setting in?
FRED VANVLEET: No panic, just trying to get our offense going. Like I said, I wasn't on the floor to start the third, so I can't speak to what those guys were thinking at the time, but once I got out there just trying to be aggressive and stay aggressive and get some points on the board just to try to weather that storm and weather the run that they were putting on us.

So I think that when we have good offense and we're able to get our defense set, we can live with that. But when we're turning the ball over and not getting good shots and not making any shots and you got to guard those guys in transition every play, it gets tough and that's what you saw.

Q. You're matching up with Steph a lot, how difficult is it once he gets rid of the ball to kind of keep in him in your sights?
FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, it's tough, he's tough. He's best in the business. That's why he is who he is. He's such a smart player and he knows how to get his shot, and his team looks for him and they got a good rhythm, and they don't have to run plays or anything. They're just playing basketball. So you can't relax, you can't have any lapses. And their help side's got to be good and your trap's got to be good.

I thought that we had some good spots but there were other parts of the game where we just weren't good enough. So got to be better in Game 3.

Q. It looked like the whistle was a little bit tight, early anyway, and did you guys back off in trying to be physical either consciously or unconsciously in the second half?
FRED VANVLEET: Personally, no, I didn't. But obviously I have a different role than some of the other guys. I ended up with 38 minutes but that's probably more of an anomaly than anything.

So you try not to but it's the nature of the game. And you understand if like you come down and you're holding him and they call a foul, and hold them and you come down the next time you hold him, and he push you in the chest and make a three. So that's just kind of how the officiating goes. And as players you got to do a better job of adjusting and trying to find that fine line and straddle that line.

I think that some of us did that better than others, and I thought that Kyle had a got a rough whistle a little bit, and it goes like that sometimes. So just got to try to be able to adjust and not focus on that so much.

Q. Given the fact that you guys were able to claw back and get in position to maybe even tie or win the game, how were you guys feeling emotionally, given the way that you guys started the second half?
FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, we're good. You guys didn't think this was going to be a sweep, I don't know like what you guys thought this series was going to look like, but we went into it expecting a dog fight. And, yes, we won Game 1, I think everybody else outside of our locker room was a lot more excited than we were. We understand what this team brings and what type of effort it's going to take to beat these guys.

So we know what we're dealing with here and obviously we would like to play better and we would like to have a chance to win at the end like we did. We fought back, and we know that going towards Game 3 we got to play a lot better, and it's going to be even harder on the road, but we're capable and we know what we bring to the table. So just got to regroup, flush it and get back to work tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Fred.

FRED VANVLEET: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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