NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PISTONS v HEAT

May 24, 2005

Stan Van Gundy

COACH VAN GUNDY: He walked through some stuff, and that was about it. We'll see, but I think we're ready to go again.

COACH VAN GUNDY: Well, you know, it's doing what we do better, and I think Dwyane can make some adjustments and I think we can run some different things, but it's just -- it'll all come down to execution. We did not put in a new offense today or anything like that. We can run different parts of it maybe, put him in some better spots. Something he's been able to do all year long and for two years really, he'll make some adjustments, and hopefully we'll be better with that tomorrow. But it's not all on him now; it's not Dwyane Wade with the responsibility of everything. This is a team effort, and I didn't think we defended or rebounded as well as we need to against a team like Detroit, and I didn't think we played with the energy that we need to at this level against a team like Detroit. Those are the areas we need to focus on and concentrate on, and if we do those things it takes a lot of the pressure off of our offense, also.

COACH VAN GUNDY: Well, I mean, offensively we had some efficient moments there, but it wasn't better or worse than any other lineup last night to be honest.

COACH VAN GUNDY: Well, they won the first game. It's not a matter of setting a tone; it's a matter of you need four wins to win a series, and if you were Detroit coming in, you absolutely have to win one on the road. They did a great job. They played a hell of a game and got the win and you've got to give them a lot of credit. It's not a matter of setting tone, it's a matter of getting wins.

COACH VAN GUNDY: No.

COACH VAN GUNDY: Well, I don't think it was so much the injury as I think the time that he's missed has taken its toll on his stamina. He got tired very, very quickly. He's defending good players, being defended full court, and you haven't done a lot of work in three weeks. He's worked four days, well, it's going to take its toll on your stamina, and I think that's what you saw last night.

COACH VAN GUNDY: They're not going to have a lot of possessions in the game, so it's not for -- to them to judge that are offense on points. I thought they were efficient last night; they didn't turn the ball over much. They shot a pretty good percentage against us, a lot higher than we would have liked, and out-rebounded us by seven. I mean, they are a post-up, isolation team primarily, but they do a good job of bringing guys off on catch-and-shoots and pick-and-runs. They've got a well-rounded game, got a lot of guys who can score points and shoot the ball, and they were very efficient last night. I wasn't happy with our defense, but they did a very good job of executing offensively.

COACH VAN GUNDY: Yeah, I thought that, look, for whatever happened, we got the game to 80-80, and then just didn't execute at all. They did a good job. They got good shots on every possession but one down the stretch, and we did not get good shots down the stretch. We didn't execute, didn't have patience. They defended probably a little bit better than we did, but they just did a much better job than we did getting shots in the last four and a half minutes of that game, and that's what decided it.