NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 15, 2005

Richard Hamilton

Tayshaun Prince

TAYSHAUN PRINCE: I don't know if he bumped me or what. I don't know what happens as far as that.

TAYSHAUN PRINCE: He slowed up a little bit. I thought Brent Barry came in and played very well and scored some points. But other than that, when he came back in, I don't know if that affected him or not, but the important thing for us is just to keep our focus and our energy up on the defensive end.

TAYSHAUN PRINCE: We really just turned the ball over a few times and we capitalized on it. Things just weren't working there, and after the third we had a stretch where we made plays and things went well. We got some steals and that kind of played into everything.

TAYSHAUN PRINCE: That's going to happen no matter what, you're down in the series, that's something you can't be worried about, just have to go play basketball. No matter what the series; you have to keep fighting.

RICHARD HAMILTON: Yeah, you know, it's just that I was making shots. I think that I was using my teammates a lot more than I was in Game 1, you know, and I got a lot of open looks. Guys did a great job of setting screens and giving me wide-open opportunities.

RICHARD HAMILTON: There's too many shots in the game of basketball to get frustrated over a shot. I've got to say, I believe every shot that I shoot is going in. I remember (UConn Coach Jim) Calhoun used to tell me all the time, he used to tell me, "Rip, your problem is, you think that every shot you shoot is going to go in.

RICHARD HAMILTON: Definitely he did, from the first when he got the steal, you know, his energy was off the hook. You know, he rebounded, he had five blocked shots in the first quarter and we just fed off that.

RICHARD HAMILTON: I don't know if he was hurt or not. I think he went down early in the first quarter, but he came right back in. I think the guys did an excellent job of just trying to step up. When he tried to drive, guys stepped in the lane, tried to take charges and tried to cut off his pass and things like that.

RICHARD HAMILTON: Oh, yeah, at first it was tough, it was going off and on. They tried to get me to wear it after the first time I broke it but I said no way. It was one of those things that I had to get adjusted to and now it's just like wearing a head band.