NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 8, 2005

Nazr Mohammed

Tony Parker

TONY PARKER: Well, I think we need to play better. It's going to be tough against Detroit. They are a very good team and they match up very good against us, a great defense and they play a little bit like us and so we just have to play even better. I think we can play better defense. Against Phoenix, we played pretty good D but I think we can do better.

TONY PARKER: It was fun to watch. It was a great game and two great teams and I think they came out very focused with a great mentality. They fought through the whole series and Game 7 in Miami, that showed character and so we know they are going to come ready against us.

TONY PARKER: I think they played great defense. Very solid and, you know, they don't have any weaknesses. They play a little bit like us. They have a very good mentality. They want to play defense, they want to make shots and we know the Detroit defense, that's how they get their offense going.

TONY PARKER: We know it's not going to be like Phoenix; it's not going to be 120-115. We're not going to see scores like that in The Finals. It's going to be a halfcourt game and every possession is going to be very important and both teams are, I think, going -- we are going to take care of the ball. So it's not going to be a lot of points, I think.

TONY PARKER: I don't think so. It's going to be very physical. You have Rasheed and Ben Wallace inside, they are going to play good D and they are going to play very aggressive and very physical.

NAZR MOHAMMED: I can tell you that if I win another one, if I win another one here.

NAZR MOHAMMED: The atmosphere is similar as far as a lot of media and, you know, our focus is just as -- it's even more focused as it was in '98 when we won the Championship.

NAZR MOHAMMED: It's going to be more physical. The biggest change is that, you know, someone like Shawn Marion who was athletic and ran and they have someone like Rasheed who is 6-11 and long and he can run. That's the biggest difference. They are a little bit deeper coming off the bench with their bigs. You know, it's a long season and you experience things like that throughout the season.

NAZR MOHAMMED: Actually I didn't defend him much. I don't want to chase a guy like Shawn Marion around. As far as Rasheed, he's also a tough matchup but he's long and he has a lot of skills and blocking on the perimeter, so it's going to be a tough battle for us.

NAZR MOHAMMED: I honestly didn't know who we would be playing. I was just watching the game and I noted Detroit's defense always keeps them in games. I was watching the game and I was open to playing either team. But, you know, now it's Detroit and that's who we're worried about.

NAZR MOHAMMED: It can get ugly. As long as we have one more point, I don't care what it is, these are two great defensive teams and they are both going to try to stop each other's offensive output, but I think they are pretty good at scoring, too, and we proved that playing against Phoenix that we can get up and down and put some points up.