|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NBA FINALS: PISTONS v LAKERSJune 8, 2004Luke WaltonLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Two Q. How have you been able to stay sharp and fresh? You've got a couple minutes when you have played and you haven't played the last two games. How have you been able to stay mentally sharp? LUKE WALTON: We've been doing this all year. Coach, he makes sure in practice we work hard after the guys that play the majority of the minutes go home. We play two-on-two, three-on-three with the other bench players that don't get big minutes. Q. Do you feel the jitters at all stepping on the court in the NBA Finals? LUKE WALTON: Yeah, of course. (Laughing). I love stuff like this. I've always loved big games, and I was just hoping that I would get my chance and Coach gave me a chance tonight. Q. They talk about visualization where you hope for something, you visualize it. No. 1, have you ever visualized yourself in this setting doing what you did? And did your coaches give you any warning that you were going to get minutes that you got tonight? LUKE WALTON: Yeah, I visualize all the time before every game I play. I visualize myself going in and doing things. When I'm on the sideline, I look what's going on and try to put myself in that situation, what would I do and if they run that play when I do get in. What was the second part? Q. Did your coaches? LUKE WALTON: Yeah, they told -- the assistants told me -- Coach was flirting with the idea of switching some matchups and they told me to be ready tonight because there was a chance I might get in. Q. After the great second quarter that you had, you were an observer in the third quarter and Phil Jackson mentioned that Tex Winter kept saying, when are you going to put the kid back in? Were you anxious to get back in the game? LUKE WALTON: Yeah, I was very anxious to get back in. They were pressuring us, we were having trouble with the pressure, and, you know, I think the court vision I have, I like when teams pressure because it opens up passing lanes, so I was very anxious to get back in the game. As soon as he called my name, I was sprinting to the scorer's table so they could send me in. Q. Can you tell us about the last sequence of regulation when you did the exchange with Kobe? What was said and what you did? LUKE WALTON: Well, the play was for me to set it back for Fish. If he was open, give it to him and if not, Shaq was to hit me and I was supposed to give the ball to Kobe. They did a good job of denying Kobe, so I had a read with him. Kobe, did it again. He's amazing. I was nervous and, you know, once Kobe had the ball in his hand, it was just one-on-one, I knew there was a good chance that we were going to go into overtime. End of FastScripts... |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|