NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 10, 2005

Tim Duncan

TIM DUNCAN: He was great last night. He came in and obviously did what we wanted him to do. He played for us against Seattle, didn't get a chance to play against Phoenix because of the whole (family) situation. He did come in this week and had some opportunities here and there and some spot time and he was ready to roll. He really gave us a boost. Mostly he is an offensive player but defensively he was big for us, a couple stops and a couple rebounds and gave us a spark there.

TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, Pop has a lot of confidence in him. He understands that he knows how to play the game and if we can get him in the right rhythm, right state of mind, he can really help us. So, he's going to give him some spots here and there and he'll earn some more time as Pop feels comfortable with him out there.

TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, it is, but it's going to be a totally different game this next one. He's going to be a lot more aggressive. They are going to put the ball into him in the post as they did early in the game, and he's going to get a lot more opportunities; he's going to get 16 to 20 shots I've got to guess. It will be a totally different game, but that's the kind of -- if we can be that effective against him, in this upcoming game, it works to our advantage.

TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, but I think they were just trying to stay in the flow of their offense, using Rip coming off the screens and a lot of pick-and-rolls and I think they got away from it and just never went back to it. I have to credit our defense a little bit for that, but at the same time, I think they just got into a rhythm there where they used a lot of their perimeter guys for coming off screens and taking shots that way.

TIM DUNCAN: No, we just had a good fourth quarter. Manu was unbelievable, and it was just a good fourth quarter for us. Those guys are a very good team and we understand that. We just had an opportunity to kind of jump on them for a couple minutes there and got things going our way. We also are a solid defensive team as we believe that they are, so if we can do that and stay in front of those guys, contest every shot and stay away from those second and third opportunities that they got in that first half with Ben and Tayshaun tipping the ball around, we can limit that to one shot and out, it works to our advantage, and I think we're at an advantage there.

TIM DUNCAN: Everything he does surprises me. Even playing with him all year, when he gets into a rhythm like that where he starts going, it's like you want to sit there and watch him play. You get caught up in what he does and that's probably the worst thing that we can do is just sit there and watch him play, but you get mesmerized by what he's doing.

TIM DUNCAN: It's great getting him on our side. He's such a great competitor and he's such a smart player and everybody knows about the big shots that he hits all the time. Having that on your side and having that kind of weapon and that kind of experience that he has and he brings to the game, I think last night was the first night I've ever seen him fired up like that, and it was great just having a voice like him around. No matter who you are, you can't do anything but respect what he's saying out there and listen to what he's saying, especially since he's not that vocal that often. I think that really helped us a lot, and he doesn't get enough credit but I think that really helped us a lot.

TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, in the huddles he got really vocal and when people got outside themselves in what they tried to do or messed up a play, he really got on people yesterday a lot more than usual. So, as I said, it was just great to have that.

TIM DUNCAN: He's appropriate. And I think that's the best way to put it. He gets fired up when it's time to get fired up, and he does it when it's not. I think he does it the right way. Early in the game, he really got on everybody and he told us what we were worth and what we were doing out there, and it was appropriate. Late in the game when we started to take control, he was the same way. He told us what we have to do and what we have to keep on doing, and although he was still on us, he was on us in the right way.

TIM DUNCAN: It's gotten a lot better. It's to the point where we like it right now. Of course it's all about execution and taking care of the ball and not making turnovers and giving up easy baskets and things like that. I think we've done that. We've taken control of those fourth quarters by taking care of the ball, by running our offense and executing our offense and everybody understanding what we want to do. We really cut down on our defensive mistakes and so we're playing at a very efficient level in that fourth quarter. I think everybody gears up and concentrates and everybody is on the same page.

TIM DUNCAN: It's a good and bad thing, but it's been working for us. Last series with Phoenix, we were a little uncomfortable early at being in the 100s and thought it would come back and kind of bite us in the ass but it didn't. This series, it's a lot more comfortable for us. That's where we want to be. We want to be in the 80s and 90s and make games where we can really control the game. It's worked to our advantage so far. We understand that we can be explosive when we can be and we still had a lot of guys miss shots or on the defensive side that we messed up yesterday. We're not going to get Bruce going 0-for-6 again. He's going to make those shots. Rob was frustrated himself; he missed a couple of shots, and things like that. We're going to continue to take those shots and we get all the guys playing the right way, we'll be great.

TIM DUNCAN: Can I describe my on-the-court personality? In what respect?

TIM DUNCAN: I don't know how to answer that question. I think I'm focused. I think I try to stay as even keel as possible, the reason being that's what works for me, and I just don't -- I try to stay away from the highs and the lows.

TIM DUNCAN: It's just me.