NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SPURS v SUNS

May 29, 2005

Mike D'Antoni

COACH D'ANTONI: Obviously we know the situation and I think our guys will respond. I think we'll give it all we got. We're playing against a great team. We have a limited -- not a big room of margin for error and we know that and we're going to have to play a really super game here Monday night. But I don't believe for a doubt that they don't think they can do it or they are down. They are going to give it all they got.

COACH D'ANTONI: I think right now, yeah, I think they won in the sense right now. Three games, we'll see what happens tomorrow night. But if you remember assessing the situation and they have the better team they have played the better basketball, but I don't think it has anything to do with the system. I think we have to play better defense. We have not been real solid on a lot of things and not real tough and yesterday we got in kind of a muscle game with them and we can't do that. We haven't played real well. That's in my viewpoint. That's what I think and that's what the team thinks. We just have to get better at what we do. Have to get a little smarter and play better. I don't think it's an indictment anyway. But we know good defense and good offense wins. We have good offense we just have to better our defense.

COACH D'ANTONI: No, I think we're awful, as a matter of fact. I think we're not playing very well. We're not playing with a lot of emotion and we're not playing with a lot of smarts sometime. They tricked us into a lot of stuff. And give them credit, they are a great team, have been here seven years, give us -- again, hopefully tomorrow night we'll do it. I don't want to jump ahead of myself. We're not out. We are down, but we have -- we need to play a great game. If we do that, we can win.

COACH D'ANTONI: Yeah, that's history, we have never done it with the Phoenix Suns against San Antonio, it's a new thing, we can do this, and we're not looking -- it's coach's speak and I understand that, we're just trying to win the first quarter tomorrow. That's what we're trying to do, then get the second quarter, see what happens. We have not won the first quarter yet. We'll put all our energy there. We're looking at one game and we have got to win one game on the road, then see what comes back.

COACH D'ANTONI: New story going on. We're going to do the Alamo (laughter.) I don't know, that's a little deep for me. As a matter of fact, I was going too much with the movie tonight, really get excited, is that all right (laughs)?

COACH D'ANTONI: I think it's real simple. We have to play really well and we did not do that. We had our chances in Game 1 and 2. Yesterday we did not play real well. We did not shoot the ball exceptionally well and to beat a really good championship level team which they are playing, Championship level basketball, you have to make big shots and have a game where somebody goes wow, look at that, I mean, it took that for us to beat Dallas. It takes almost for San Antonio to beat us, Duncan, Ginobili, those guys can't make a lot of mistakes in Phoenix and they didn't. We made mistakes. We're going to have to get a better game out of everybody and just tough it up. Again I just think that the disparity that we're talking about is four to five baskets. That's why it's hard for me to say the system works or doesn't work because the margin of victory is very thin and we just have to do what we do a lot better.

COACH D'ANTONI: I think it's fair, I don't want to use an excuse but we're going to have to grow from it. Again, teams go through losses that need to bond them together. We need to get stronger from this and hold in there and everybody saying this is how we play, let's play the best we can play and believe in the system and do it. This is again to use the old adage, tough times it doesn't build character it reveals character. That has to reveal our guys. There's nothing wrong with -- you know, I want to choose my words right, you have to sometimes lose to figure out how to win. We have won all year, and we have gotten into sloppy habits and gotten into some things defensively that's costing us right now. We talked about it, pointed it out, but in the heat of the moment we still revert back to it, and I think that comes from showing them and guys this way we can't win. Sometimes you have to -- depends on how you take losing. You have got to take it bad, but you take it in a positive way, build on it. Have to do a quick turnaround. We got tomorrow to do it. If we can adjust some things, we can get better, we'll have a great game, get some luck, see what we can do with this one game.