NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PISTONS v HEAT

June 6, 2005

Damon Jones

Alonzo Mourning

ALONZO MOURNING: Well, this was a great opportunity for me and I did all I could to try to help this team. I did everything that I could the time that I was out on the floor to try to help this team to get to this championship level. Unfortunately, the powers that be did not see fit for us to go to the Championship and you live and you learn. You know, you live and continue to live and you learn from your experience, you know, and this just can do nothing but make you strong. What does not kill you will make you stronger, so this experience alone can do nothing but make each and every one of these guys strong.

ALONZO MOURNING: Right now I'll spend a lot of time with my family and reflect on my future and discuss my future with my wife and my business people. We'll talk about my future but right now that's just the last thing on my mind right now. I have plenty of time to think about it.

DAMON JONES: Emotional.

DAMON JONES: It's tough at this point in time to just really explain how a team goes out and busts their tail for eight months to have a chance to do something really special and just don't make the necessary plays that you need to finish a game that we had in there.

DAMON JONES: Shock, disappointment, to know we had the game right there in our hands, it's tough.

DAMON JONES: I don't think experience had anything to do with it. I think that, you know, we're an experienced basketball team, we have veteran guys out there at that point in time and just didn't make the necessary plays when we needed to. We've done it all year long and tonight unfortunately we just didn't get it done.