NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 16, 2005

Chauncey Billups

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Well, you know, we are starting to play the way that we need to play, we are accustomed to playing every single night, we got back into that as far as our effort and I would say when our effort is there, our execution will come around. It will come around. So we're just playing the way we need to play right now. You know, we're at home. When they were at home, they did the right things and took a commanding 2-0 lead, and now we're back home and it's tied up and we have another one. And it's a three-game series now and we have one game at home.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Yeah, we dominated last year in The Finals at home, played with a lot of energy. It was like a snowball effect, you know what I mean. We get one turnover and we convert it and here comes another one and here comes another one and try to execute and try to start it going down. We had it going the last couple of games, but we got a couple days off and hopefully we can just continue to be aggressive.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Well, that's what we do. You know that's what we do. Us guards always feel like we can pressure, you know, pressure our opponents because we've got the most athletic and the quickest big men in the league, with Ben and Sheed and Dyess, so we feel comfortable when guys go by us they are going to take care of business and change their shot, if not block it or clog it up in the middle. It's a confidence thing. We all have confidence in one another that the next man is going to have my back and that's just the way we are.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: No, nothing specific, we wanted to come out aggressive, you know what I mean. It wasn't like we said we were going to trap or do this or none of that, we just came out very aggressive. It started out once again with our bigs, the energy they gave, Ben, getting some deflections and coming out on the break and getting some easy baskets. Our bigs, man, are just playing great, man.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Well, I think you look at the best teams in the league and these probably the two most disciplined teams in the league, so once you get it going, we've been taught very well that you just try to keep it going, keep the pedal to the metal, so to speak. So these are two teams that can get out to a huge, huge lead, and you know, give it up. These are two very disciplined teams, two very good teams. We did that in Game 1, got off to a good lead in that first quarter and gave it up, they got the momentum at home. I think we are really a different team right now than we were in Game 1 or 2. We're playing with a lot more energy.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Not really. I think, you know, Tayshaun or Lindsey or whoever is guarding him is just taking on that challenge of making him work a little harder to get those shots that he got at home when he was so dominant, just making him work harder, going back home on our offensive end, just trying to wear him down and just trying to be aggressive with him. He's a great player, so you're not going to shut him down. He's so slippery with the ball, you know, splitting the double teams and he finishes so well that, you know, you're not going to shut him down, but if you contest all of his shots and at least make him play defense, I think we could have some success.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I think that means taking away -- when people come down on that initial offense, taking that initial pass away, denying all over the court and just pressure. Like I said, you know, when people get by our front, our initial line of defense, they have got to deal with Ben Wallace the best defender in the league, and Rasheed is one of the best defenders in the league. That's difficult. That's difficult, you know, so people think when they get by myself and Rip and Tay that it's going to be an uncontested layup and like in the first two games, it was an uncontested layup, because our energy wasn't there, but now we're back to ourselves again and you've got to deal with our second line of defense.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Definitely, we know when we're clicking on the defensive end of court and these last two games we have clicked. Like I said, it's about confidence. We have confidence to know that when my man beats me, the next man is coming, when they swing it, I've got to get his back, Ben goes for a block, to block his man off the glass, little detailed things like that, that through so much experience and so many battles together, come second nature to us.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Yeah, it definitely feels good to be, you know, tied up, after coming home 0-2, you know, obviously, like I said, I don't think we gave ourselves the best chance in San Antonio in the way that we started out and the way that we played through those games. Coming home, you know, with our fans, we know there's going to be so much energy in our building, we're going to be able to play and get some momentum. You don't think the games are going to go the way they did, like this, but, you know, I didn't think the first two games were going to go like that. It's a great series, this is what NBA basketball is all about, The Finals are all about. It's tied up 2-2, you know, it's a three-game series now. First one to two, so it's going to be a lot of fun.