NBA FINALS: PISTONS v LAKERS

June 6, 2004

Larry Brown

COACH LARRY BROWN: I was with Philly then. (Laughing). No, I think the similarity is this team changed; got Rasheed the middle of the year, and obviously, the contribution he made allowed us to be here. And then with Philly, we got Dikembe in the middle of the year, and I think his contribution was significant. But, Philly, George Lynch broke his foot. Eric had a pin in his ankle. Matt Geiger didn't play and Aaron had that heart problem. We were not a healthy team at the time, and not as deep. I think this team is a little deeper. We didn't have a player like Allen. When you get into the playoffs, I think you get involved in so much halfcourt, you need somebody to break somebody down and get a shot for people, and Allen could do that. I don't know if we have that.

COACH LARRY BROWN: No, Lakers. Oh. I apologize. (Laughter) wow. The Lakers are a lot different, I think. Kobe and Shaq I think are better. But it's kind of a different -- that was a different kind of team because I think the other players really truly knew their roles and they were clearly defined. They seemed offensively, they were much more predictable and running a lot more triangle. This team, with Karl and Gary, seems much more flexible. They run a lot more pro plays to take advantage of Karl and Gary. And I think right now, they are playing their best. I've watched the whole series, each series, and I think at this particular time, on both ends of the court, they are playing as good as any team I've seen in this league at this time. Sorry about that.

COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, we would not be here if it wasn't for him. I'm notorious for being difficult on point guards and expecting them to be an extension of the coaching staff on the court. Most of the point guards recently that I've had have really been point guards, Mark Jackson, and Eric Snow, and Chauncey is more of a scoring guard. I think he's had to sacrifice a lot to enable us to get here in terms of taking shots and being more offensive minded. We want him to shoot the ball, but I want him to shoot the ball after we've moved the defense and try to explore some other stuff, and that's been difficult for him. But if you look at the games we've won, and critical games, he had not scored the ball, but he's made an unbelievable contribution defensively and getting other people involved. So, I think the fact that we're here is a testimony for the contribution he's made to our team.

COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, I always admired him as a player. I always talk about playing the right way; what better example. You know, this was such a sudden kind of situation, me being here with Joe. When he called me, all he told me was he wanted a coach that would come in and teach and show respect for his players because he thought he had a great group of guys with great character, and he wanted me to challenge them. He said all I would have to do is coach and he would take care of the rest and that's basically what's happened. He's involved a lot. He's always around. I throw things off him. But I also think -- you know, I had similar relationships to those other guys, but I had grown up with Donnie and Billy, I recruited Billy in college, and, you know, watched him grow, and they all respected the game and wanted what was best for the players and gave me an opportunity to coach. So I think there's no difference there. Joe's pretty special, because he can walk into our locker room and say anything to anybody on our team and they all feel like he's talking to them for their best interests. Donnie and Billy weren't as accessible to the players because I think they gave me a lot more respect , and I don't mean that in a bad way, but I've been real fortunate, all three of them were great to work for.