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NBA FINALS: PISTONS v LAKERSJune 12, 2004Rasheed WallaceDETROIT, MICHIGAN: Practice Day Q. You guys throughout the course of the playoffs have had some problems in terms of reacting to big wins, they have been followed by some disappointing losses. This looks like a similar situation, how do you guard against that the next day or so and take your best game into tomorrow night? RASHEED WALLACE: Just got to go out there and play, you know, we can't think about the things that happened to us last series, and the series with New Jersey. We've just got to go out there and play tomorrow. We know tomorrow is going to be a pivotal game in the series; it's either going to be 2-2 or 3-1, so I think tomorrow is going to be the toughest game. But we are up for a challenge. Q. When you look at the beginnings of this Lakers dynasty, for lack of a better word, you can look at that comeback in Portland a few years back. What's your memories of that game and what happened? RASHEED WALLACE: Matter of fact, I ain't going to answer that for the simple fact I'm pretty ticked off with everybody asking me about that question all the time. You know, Portland is over and done with. Right now I'm just focusing on Detroit and tomorrow. Q. What did you think of the Pistons as a team before you got here, and what do you think you bring in terms of intangibles, not necessarily on-court stuff? RASHEED WALLACE: You know, I still thought they were a hell of a team. Even before this year, before the last few years, I think they were good teams. They were always great on defense, and when I was with Portland, coming here was never a cake walk. It was always going to be work, with me going up against Ben and Corliss, guys like that. But as far as bringing intangibles to the court, my offense has been slow, but I'm not worried about that because we pick it up on the defense, and it's just, like you said, the little things, knowing when to double the big man. Knowing when to try to double the guards coming across half-court or whatever. Certain times of the game, I think those are some of the things that I bring to add to this monster defense already. Q. Did you think this team needed a little edge, also? RASHEED WALLACE: I'm not sure. I'm not sure with that, for the simple fact, like I said, they were the second-best team in the East before I got here, so to me, you know, they were on a hell of a roll. Q. You've been out west for a long time, what did you think of the east in general before you got here? RASHEED WALLACE: You know, east always -- that's where I was born and raised, in Philadelphia. I'm a big East coast boiler. The biggest difference to just going out west that, was the biggest transition because they run a little bit more. But once you get used to that, you're pretty much similar or cool with both styles. Q. Are you getting tired of hearing the Lakers say that you win the games because of the things they do not do instead of the things that you do? RASHEED WALLACE: Well, actually, no. It just makes it more interesting for us. That gets us more hungry. You know, just got to go out there and play. They say that it's not our defense and, you know, they are missing shots. And pretty much it could be a little bit of both. You knows, as far as what they are saying about our defense, we are not worried about it, we worried about everybody, and the Detroit Pistons, that's what we have to go out there and do. We know what we can do.
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