NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 9, 2005

Larry Brown

COACH LARRY BROWN: Oh, I didn't think we, other than the first seven, eight minutes, matched their energy. Their effort was phenomenal. I thought the whole game. First quarter, we had a lot of easy shots, really could have had a big lead. After that, they just made hustle play after hustle play. You know, you look they had 58 rebounds, we had 42. They kept balls alive, got loose balls. Our guards took 25 out of 40 shots the first half. Rasheed took three shots the first three minutes and then he shot one where he had to when the clock was running down and never touched the ball after that. But they had everything to do with that. They just defended great, and Bowen was phenomenal. He made it tough for Rip, and you've got to give him a lot of credit for the way he defended.

COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, he was 9-for-10 the second half. We got it to the rim, he got a couple big offensive rebounds, and he was marvelous, on both ends. He did a great job defensively. You know, Tayshaun, he had a tough matchup guarding Tayshaun and did well there. You know, every time you thought we were going to make a little run, he made a huge play. He hits a big three, makes a dunk, the clock running down. He played a marvelous game. You know, they defended us better than any team all year, and I think most of it came because of their effort and the fact that they rebounded so effectively.