NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 11, 2005

Richard Hamilton

RICHARD HAMILTON: I think the one good thing about us, when we're down in the series or down in the game, you know, the one thing that we're able to do is all stay together. You know, we never point any fingers. We all feel as though that, you know, if we're going to get out of this foxhole, we're going to do it together. Sometimes, or most of the time, we play better that way. But the thing about it, we always just stay connected, regardless of how the game is going or regardless if we're down or whatever, we just always stay connected.

RICHARD HAMILTON: I think so. We've got a great group of guys that want one thing, and that's winning a championship. We all are willing to put our egos to the side, we all put our individual goals aside for one goal, and that's to win a championship.

RICHARD HAMILTON: Like I said, I thought we played him well early in the game. I think in the fourth quarter, we allowed him to get to the basket, make plays, get to the free throw line and things like that. You know, the one thing we've got to do, we've just got to keep him out the paint. We've got to make him into a shooter, other than a guy who wants to get to the basket and when he goes to the basket, we've got to take charges.

RICHARD HAMILTON: Chauncey has been great. He's had a long road. He played on six, seven different teams and he came to Detroit and definitely found his niche. When I got here and got an opportunity to play with him, you know, I couldn't understand how he could be traded that many times, you know, because I think he's one of the best point guards in the league. But he's a big powerful point guard. He's 6-3, 200-plus, he can shoot and he can pass and he can defend and he can do pretty much everything.

RICHARD HAMILTON: The one thing I try to tell him is, "The experience that you have in these last couple years, none of them have. You know, none of them was able to win a world championship. None of them was able to play in their second Finals. The opportunity that you have right now, you've got to cherish, because at one point in time, you're going to be thrown in the fire, so you have to take advantage of playing against Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Elden Campbell and Antonio McDyess learn everything possible, so that when you're thrown in that fire, all of the things you learn, you can just go out there and perform at a high level."

RICHARD HAMILTON: I think, you know, in a way it affects your confidence to say, "okay, a lot of guys that were drafted after me are playing," but it kind of helps you out when you're going against guys, like I said, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and things like that.

RICHARD HAMILTON: Chauncey has been big all season. Like I said, he's our floor general, he's our point guard, he knows when to score and he knows when to pass and he knows when to get guys involved and everything like that. He has to be big, you know, because he has the ball in his hand for most of the time on the floor. Like I said, he loves big games, he loves big situations like this and that's a good thing.

RICHARD HAMILTON: I had it since I was a kid. That was something I got from my father, my dad's name being Rip. I just got it off him. I'm from a small town, so everybody knew him, so, you know, I just got it off of him pretty much.

RICHARD HAMILTON: Man, it got 50 different reasons why they call me Rip. (Laughter).