NBA FINALS: PISTONS v LAKERS

June 10, 2004

Phil Jackson

COACH PHIL JACKSON: It could be a game-time decision. He didn't work out this morning, sat on the sidelines and got some therapy in the day.

COACH PHIL JACKSON: There really won't be that much gained by that.

COACH PHIL JACKSON: Didn't hear it. Don't understand it. We just need players, that's what we need. Those guys are over in Chicago at a talent show and I know a lot of times, they are always bemoaning the lack of young talent coming up. But as far as we are concerned, the talent has gotten better and better over the years in the NBA. We have players that are now playing into their late 30s, mid 30s, 40s, kids coming into this game at 18. So, we have a difference in age of two, three generations almost, and the game has really changed over the last 20 years.

COACH PHIL JACKSON: It would not make a big enough difference for rest for three days to improve what's going on with him.

COACH PHIL JACKSON: Right.

COACH PHIL JACKSON: Well, whatever, yeah. Whatever the last injury was. But it's not -- he's not as bad as the last injury, but yes, he is stretched a little bit.

COACH PHIL JACKSON: I don't know if "look" is the right word, but he's going to feel -- he's going to feel the same Thursday as he is on Sunday more than likely.

COACH PHIL JACKSON: Just that he could play without damaging any more, but, you know, obviously there's some pain threshold and he has to work with it.

COACH PHIL JACKSON: No. But, you know, Devean George is another player that we are real concerned with, too, that was limited in minutes the other night because of injuries. No, we haven't. We think that we have to find a way to get the job done tonight. You know, I'm not going to be surprised if guys show up and play and, you know, gut it out and we get the job done because we have a determined group of guys that want to finish this out.

COACH PHIL JACKSON: He's a surprise factor in that ballgame. They will be prepared for him this time when he comes on the floor. Whether they find a matchup to try and take advantage of him, if they feel they can, or if they adjust his game and what he does, is another possibility, but more than likely, Luke will have a part in this game tonight, too.

COACH PHIL JACKSON: That would be nice, but more than anything else, we rely on Gary for distributing the ball and creating things and going to the hoop, playing defense, coming up with some fast breaks and situations that are created due to turnovers. That's where we would like to see things happen around his end of the game.

COACH PHIL JACKSON: With Shaq, it's probably going to be interesting to see what he does, because a lot of times, he'll play it soft in the early parts of the game. We hound him to get out there and he'll come on out later in the game when it becomes critical, depending upon his foul situation or what level of condition is in the game as far as tired or active or whatever. But yeah, we do want to make a statement in the screen-rolls. We want to make sure that we stop penetration. That's one of his goals.

COACH PHIL JACKSON: Well, that's because Karl was hurt, you know, in that game. We had to take Karl out. We needed his influence in the game. We know what he means to us on court. And he said he gutted through that first half, and, you know, obviously he got in foul trouble. Some of the fouls were just foul variety out of being tired.

COACH PHIL JACKSON: Well, Slava has a role that he plays with us. He has not been capable of doing that yet in this series. He's a great outside shooter, he's an active offensive rebounder. He's a pretty active defender and he's become better over the year. We think that he has real scoring ability. He's a good -- can be a good scorer. Choice of shots are important for him, as with young players, and he's not the passer that Karl is. Karl is a great passer and looks to feed his teammates, so those are differences.