NBA FINALS: PISTONS v LAKERS

June 6, 2004

Chauncey Billups

Richard Hamilton

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I wanted to come out and be aggressive and try to set the tone. We want to get these guys on as many pick-and-rolls as we can, whether it's me or Rip or Lindsey coming off the bench. We did that, and just look really to be aggressive and the shots were falling.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I'm a shooter, I can score the ball. We get in pick-and-roll situations, I come off of the pick and nobody is there, you know, I look to shoot that, and most times, you know, more times than not, I'm going to make that shot. So, I think that's what it is.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Well, they defended the same way as other teams, but you know, when you've got myself or Rip and the pick and roll, handling the ball, or you've got Rasheed setting the pick or Okur hitting the jumpshot. Pick your poison. Either you trap me and leave one of those guys open or you let me come off and hope that everybody else helps. You know, it's a tough play to play.

RICHARD HAMILTON: You know, we did a great job. I think all of the guys on the team did a great job of stepping up tonight. Coming into the game, you know, Chauns and Coach told me, they was really going to focus on me coming off pin-downs and trying to deny me the ball a whole lot. A couple of times, first time-out here in The Finals, you're moving a little too fast, you know, but like I said, my teammates held it down. Tayshaun was big tonight, Ben was big; Rasheed, he came off, and Lindsey and Corliss. It was a total team effort. It tells you how big this team is. When you focus on one player, you can't on this team because we spread the floor and we play together and we did that tonight.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I tell you, people underestimate Tayshaun. He's really 6'9 and when he stretches those arms out, he's seven feet. His length bothers guys, and I think Kobe is the best one-on-one player in the game. You've just got to contest his shots and you've just got to try to make things tough on him. You have to trap him and change defenses, and I think Tayshaun did a great job of staying with him and contesting his shots, and he's the kind of player that's going to hit tough shots. He did that. Tonight he hit tough shots, but I thought Tay did a great job. He's had tough matchups the entire playoffs, with Desmond and Ron Artest and now Kobe. He's battled and I think he did a great, great job.

RICHARD HAMILTON: Sheed did an excellent job. He's a vet, playing in Portland, he understands everybody in the West. He did a good job of using his length. We got each other's back down there and he was helping us out, too. You could not ask for a better player on your team than him.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I can't, man, I can't. This is unbelievable, man, the feeling that we have right now. But, you know, it's no time to dwell on that. We've got a long, long series ahead of us, but we came in here to try to win Game 1 and we've done that. We've got to come in tomorrow and there are some things that we still need to execute better and do better. And we've got to come in tomorrow and start worrying about Game 2, but that's -- I thought we did a great job of taking care of business.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Individually, I had a good game. I mean, I came out, I wanted to be aggressive. You know, a lot of people talk about how I struggled last series, you know, against Indiana, and I had some games that were good and some games that weren't so good. That's how this game goes. That's how this game goes. One thing is no matter how bad I play, I never lose confidence. I know what I can do. I know I'm going to be aggressive. These are things that can happen when it's going good.

RICHARD HAMILTON: One thing we do, regardless of who we play we play as a unit in the defensive ends. We play as five. We are going to pressure the ball, we are going to try to deny and things like that. The Lakers, they have the most dominant player in the game in Shaq, and so we really have to have each other's back. We are a team that, you know, we're never scared. We're going to go out there and play and have each other's back, and that's what we did tonight.

RICHARD HAMILTON: I don't think so. I think that Shaq made plays, Kobe made plays, but we wanted to defend everybody out there. We didn't just want to give Fisher wide-open looks, or Devean George, wide-open looks. We wanted to play everybody straight-up try to deny the ball and try to play them aggressive. We know Shaq is going to make plays. You know Kobe is going to make plays, and Karl is going to make plays and Gary. We just stay with it and stay consistent. Regardless of who we play, we don't underestimate nobody and you can't do that at this level.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: You know, we had the option to run a couple of different plays. So I called, you know, the pick-and-roll, and you know, Coach knows that I'm going to be aggressive. And over the season, I've become a better pick-and-roll player. Because we've run pick-and-roll so much, I felt like I could get a lot of different things. You know, the one that you said, I came off and I scored it. The other one, you know, you bait them in a little bit and try to make a play at the basket. It's just really a game-type situation, just knowing the game, knowing the clock and knowing that we're up, but the game is winding down and they are making a run. Either you try to get a good shot or try to get to the free throw line and slow the game down.

RICHARD HAMILTON: You know, Coach is our biggest fan on this team. He tells me all the time: "You know, Rip, just slow down a little bit, it's going to be there. I mean, you done everything you asked and the shots you take, just slow it down but keep shooting." I'm always a confident person. You ask Chauncey, me and Chauncey talk, we're best friends on the court and off the court. He tells me sometimes: "Rip, regardless of how the ball is going in, I need you to stay aggressive.: When you have that coming from your point guard and your coach, man, it's all the confidence in the world for you to succeed, and I just keep on playing. I feel as though I'm a great shooter, and at some point in time, it's going to drop.