NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PISTONS v HEAT

May 25, 2005

Larry Brown

COACH LARRY BROWN: I didn't think he made any. You know, he got out on the break in the first half. We had a whole bunch of turnovers. I think the 2nd quarter, I don't know if they scored in the half court, and that got them going, but he just played great. They got him in a lot of screening situations, and he did a tremendous job, but he got a bunch of easy baskets in transitions, which in Game 1 we kind of kept him out of there. That got him going. We had about five or six fast breaks in the second quarter. We had 3-on-1's, 3-on-2's and we didn't even get a shot, and I think that really put us behind the 8 ball. Then the 4th quarter when you get way behind you've got to play perfect, and we missed some shots and maybe we took some quick outside shots, but I thought it was a great game. I was proud of the way we got back in the game, and they just made the plays at the end that we made in Game 1.

COACH LARRY BROWN: I think I told everybody, you know, he's as good as it gets in our league, and he's a great kid to go along with it, and he had a phenomenal game. With that in mind, we still had a chance to win coming from behind, but he was phenomenal in every way, and I think Stan did a great job with putting him in that position where he could be successful.

COACH LARRY BROWN: I'm proud of my team. If I was in the Miami dressing room, I'd feel the same way. We shot poorly. You know, you can't turn the ball over -- when you have numbers, if you don't get a shot, they have numbers the other way. But the effort to come back, you know, was remarkable. But they're a great team. They're well coached. I know Shaq is not Shaq, but you can't guard him. He commands so much attention. You know, hopefully we'll give ourselves a chance to win at home, but I didn't think the series was over after Game 1, and I thought we had to play our best to win this game, and we came up a little short. But they had a lot to do with it.

COACH LARRY BROWN: It didn't surprise me. You know, they're great players. Zo, everybody forgets how good he is. But they did a good job. Defensively they forced us a little outside. They challenged shots, they did a lot of good things. That's why -- you know, I had said last year Joe (Dumars) picked up Rasheed and everybody knows what Rasheed did for us. Pat (Riley) this year picks up a lot of guys, but none any more important than Alonzo.

COACH LARRY BROWN: I don't know. You know, he's a great player. He gives them depth. They've got every position covered. Dooling has played great as a backup point. You know, they have a lot of flexibility. They can put Doleac in or Christian if they get in foul trouble. It's a great team, and when you have two teams that I think defend as well as we both do and compete as hard, you need depth and you need depth in size.

COACH LARRY BROWN: I've done that my whole life. Nothing has ever changed. If we were getting blown out, I might have changed, but the way the game was being called in the first half, I didn't think we could afford to waste him. And we got back in the game. As far as I know, we got the lead after three quarters. But whether it affected him or not, I don't know. He was playing against a great player. But I don't think one player is going to stop anybody. The big issue is if a great player is going to get easy baskets in transition, all of a sudden the basket looks a lot bigger, so it doesn't matter who's guarding him.

COACH LARRY BROWN: We shot 38 percent. Some of our best free throw shooters missed free throws. Our point guard had eight turnovers in the first half. You know, there are a lot of things that went wrong, but we had a chance to win the game. We had a chance to foul Shaq at the end, kind of didn't get it done. But we had shots, we had opportunities. I just look at it like everybody was talking about how we played down the stretch. We made plays, we got stops. Tonight I think it reversed a little bit, you know, but even with that in mind, we cut it to two late. We had ample chances, it just was one of those things. I think it was a great game, and again, I'm proud of the way my guys played. I don't think you're going to win many games on the road shooting 65 percent from the foul line and 37 percent from the field and getting out-rebounded. But with that in mind, we have a chance to win.

COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, I think we took a lot of quick shots. You know, especially in the first half, we were going too fast. You take quick shots, you're not going to offensive rebound. Then they got out on the break, and on the break when you get dribble penetration, it's pretty hard to block out. Huge play was Wade got an offensive rebound late. I think that was a big play in the game, put Miami up 2. But again, when you get down late in the game, you've got to play perfect, and those things bite you.