NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 9, 2005

Gregg Popovich

COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, I know him well, but I don't know what he's going to do or how he's going to react, except, I just have unbelievable respect for him. You know, I never, ever look down the other end and worry about what another coach might do. I think you have no control over that. The only thing that we ever think about is how we can, you know, help our team be successful. But we got this thought in mind, we're both going to sit in the stands and watch this, just enjoy it.

COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, one, we try to change up on Shaq, you know, last year a little bit. You know, with the triangle, it's a little easier to pressure up the court and take time off the clock so then maybe you don't have to be as concerned about helping out. This last series we played against Shaq, we had a hard time pressuring up the court and they did a little different job in spacing out, so we just said -- we didn't want other people to beat us. If we were getting hurt, you know, we would change a little bit, you know, especially out on the perimeter. My players, there were times in the game where they suggested we change up and with Tim, I think he can face up and he can post up. He's great in transition. There's so many things that he brings that we're fortunate, we have pretty good long defenders that are athletic, so, you know, hopefully we're going to understand he's going to get his. We want to try to keep him off the line as much as we can and try to cut down transition baskets. That usually is the result of us having good offense. But I'm sure there are going to be times during the course of the games, you know, if he's hurting us, we might have to double. We might have to front him. Those are things we've done in the past, so hopefully we can adjust as the game goes on.

COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, you know, I think they are the most underrated running team in the league, and a lot of that is their field goal percentage defense is great, they have opportunities to get out on the break. He is really, really tough in the open court, so again, we've got to control the tempo of the game. That doesn't mean we're not going to run, but we've got to make sure we take quality shots. The other thing, he's a great stand-still jumper and a great driver. He doesn't shoot mid-range very much. So again, if you get caught up in doubling and then closing out on him, either he has the threat of the three or he can drive. So we've got to try figure out a way we can keep in front of him, and we have a number of guys that are going to have to guard him. You know, Lindsey will have to guard him, and I think Lindsey is as good a defender as there in the league at his position. Rip will have to guard him, Tayshaun will have to guard him. We don't like to mix-and-match, so if he's guarding one of our guys, chances are we'll guard, we'll have that kind of matchup. But in slow possessions, we'll change up. I don't think the way he's playing you can stop him. You've just got to cut down on easy baskets.

COACH LARRY BROWN: When I watch baseball, most of the time it's pitching and defense. That gets there -- at least when I was a Dodger fan growing up. You know, the NFL, there's usually great defensive teams. I think anybody that appreciates basketball will appreciate this series. They have some unbelievable offensive players, and I think we have some that are pretty darned good. Again, I think they run as well as anybody. They played Phoenix and averaged well into the 100s, 110s, 115s. The end of the year, I really believe the four best teams were playing, and they all presented different problems. But I would hope so. I think just based on my experience from last year, I got calls from coaches everywhere telling me how much they appreciated the way we play. I got coaches that didn't coach basketball telling me that; they thought we helped. I think it's good for our league. It's about San Antonio playing Detroit, and young kids don't understand that. That's what the game is about, and I would hope that this would be appealing from that aspect.

COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, they are different but they both, you know, make everybody around them better. I think Tony Parker is one of most underrated players I've seen in this league. He's great in the open court. He's the closest to Allen (Iverson), you know, from foul line to foul line as I've seen in this league in terms of his ability to get the ball up the court quickly. He's very unselfish. If he's making his jumpshot, you know, you're in deep trouble. But he complements them so well. He's got a unique relationship with Pop. And he has won a championship. I think, you know, based on all of my experience, it's not an easy thing to be part of a championship team. Chauncey, you know, we play a little different style. He's a little different kind of point guard. You know, you can post Chauncey up. He's probably as good a stand-still jump shooter as I've ever been associated with, and he's got big-time courage; he's not afraid to accept responsibility, and he has -- I think Tony would probably tell you, his relationship with Pop has been a work-in-progress. Chauncey would say the same thing. His sacrifices for our team has allowed us to get here.

COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, I'm a big fan of our league. I look at the young kids we have in our league, I think the NBA is going to be healthy for a long time. I know people talk about this Olympic experience and the fact that we didn't get the job done, but we had some young players that if you look at what they have done this year, like Stoudemire and Wade and LeBron and Carmelo, I don't see that as much as other people. I've been around them, and unfortunately a lot of young kids haven't been coached. A lot of young kids are getting a bad message. You know, they are told to come out, and when I was growing up, the important thing about playing ball was to play well enough to get a college education. Now these kids feel like they are failures if they don't get drafted. But for the most part, the guys I've been around are good kids that care about the right things. Our team, and I know Pop's team, Joe Dumars brought a culture to Detroit about bringing character guys that respect the game and respect each other, and I think that's been well documented. I think when you talk around the league, you could say the same thing about San Antonio. They are a model for that, if you look at one, their star, he's everything good about our game, and I think the people around him are just like that. So that's good. You know, maybe, again, talking about San Antonio and Detroit will be a good thing.

COACH LARRY BROWN: Well, again, you know, we played Miami. I think what Pat's (Riley) done with that team, surrounding Shaquille and they have that young kid that I think is so, so special. I mean, if you can get a Shaq, a lot of teams will model themselves after Miami. I think the way Phoenix played was what coaching is about; D'Antoni recognized what those guys could do, and he maximized the things that they were capable of doing, and brought kind of a new style. And I looked at the way Seattle played and Dallas. But I would hope that everybody understands how important it is to have a culture in the locker room about being a team and respecting the game and respecting your teammates, because that's the way sports is supposed to be.

COACH LARRY BROWN: You know, I remember in Philly when we lost 4-1 in 2001, we were in every game and it seemed like he hit some shots that just came out of nowhere. I remember he hit one right in front of our bench facing me. I said, "That's great for us," and it goes in. But it's putting people in a position to be successful. One, he's not afraid to take a big shot. Two, he has the ability to shoot the ball. And three, he's been blessed with that Hakeem, Shaq, and Duncan. But we recognize him, and we'd better find him, because I watched the Phoenix series, he did that there. He did it against Seattle. I think he has five rings. So I hope he's a righty. You know, I believe guys that we don't expect are going to step up and really impact this series, and that's the team that has the most of those kind of guys is probably going to be the one that wins.