NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SPURS v SUNS

May 30, 2005

Mike D'Antoni

COACH D'ANTONI: Really glad to see you guys first, that's for sure (laughs). Gutsy game, definitely a lot more determination, a lot more -- just a will not to lose. Joe Johnson is pretty important to us. I think we see that. And getting him back, it is definitely a blessing. They played well. They did what they were supposed to do. I just thought we had a little bit more determination than we had in the last three games. In the end, I think that's what did it.

COACH D'ANTONI: Yeah, little bit more. We have been trying to do that. (Laughs ) I just thought, you know, Joe's (Johnson) figuring out a little bit better. He's staying in there, using his length. You have to give him something, and we give him some shots. We just don't think that over the top they can beat us that much, but getting to the rim will kill us. Trying to choose the lesser of two evils. Thought we did a pretty good job tonight.

COACH D'ANTONI: Definitely a lot. Finally was human for missing foul shots, 3 for 12. He hasn't been doing that. He's still -- we did a good job. Joe (Johnson) did a great job have coming off of Parker, staying in the lane a little bit so we can get to him quicker that way. And then we'll see the game film, see what we do the next game. Joe (Johnson) did a great job of doubling or staying inside the basket. A little doubling with Steve Nash or Johnson who is about 240 and 6' 8''.

COACH D'ANTONI: Just extra force, extra gear. He got the block, a couple of buckets that he had the rebounds, just went after, just saw the sheer determination guy, quick and strong. He just outwilled it. And as we all know, to be a champion, that's what you got to do, and he did it tonight.

COACH D'ANTONI: Coaches talk all the time. We try and say something insightful, you know, but it comes from the players and they did not want to lose, be swept. They do not want to loss. We know it is one game. We got our emotions under control. We're going to go to Phoenix. We're trying to win one more game. That's what we're thinking about, see what happens. You never know what lurks around the corner. We're going to give it a shot, then roll with it.

COACH D'ANTONI: Well, we did we got off to a great start. Offensively and defensively, just an extra little pep in our step. And we knew that was going to be crucial for us. And they have different runs and different barrages that you have to deal with. You can't just come in and dominate the Spurs in San Antonio. We knew that but we never lost our cool. The other night we got our head down, we took a punch and staggered. Tonight they kept coming at us. We just responded every time with a little bit more determination. And, again, just probably the way they reacted to a tough situation and still tough and we're going to have to react to that a lot more times. At least we took one step tonight.

COACH D'ANTONI: I won't say that. I played a long time -- a lot of people have played the game. And you get into funks. You don't know why you are in it. Nothing you did differently. It is tough to get out sometimes. He was in a little bit of a funk and the ball didn't get to him or whatever reason, it's not important. He just kept battling kept battling and he had a great second half. That's what it takes. I think the biggest thing no one is blaming him at all for anything. You just play as hard as you can play and let the chips fall. He has had a great year. He's unbelievable player. You do get in funks sometime. I thought he showed a lot of character second half. We had to have a big half. He stepped right up.

COACH D'ANTONI: I thought -- well, because of your defense picks it up a little bit we get a little bit more rebounds or loose balls. Then we pushed the ball better. There's a lot of cross matches out there. First 3 games we didn't really get into what we do, maybe for whatever reason, and not making excuses, just didn't do it. Tonight it was bit of an extra push on the ball, a little bit extra effort to run the lanes. That all translated into our type of basketball, defensively, and we kept it up for nearly 48 minutes. It was good enough to win tonight.

COACH D'ANTONI: A lot. And we got to build from here. Again we talked a lot about having to know how to win. Sometimes you have to lose and get down and people just treat you like a dog to figure out, you know what? This is how you have to win it. This is the Conference Finals against a great team. I won't expect anything less. You do it with your heart and brains and tonight we did that and we just got to do it one more time. And then one more time. I think we did grow up a lot. Hopefully we don't take any steps backwards.