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NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 22, 2005

Tim Duncan

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Practice Day

Q. In the first two games, you guys gave up in the low 70s and the last four you've given up almost 100 a game. Can you talk about getting the defensive focus back for this critical game.

TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, they have done a great job of executing through the last four games. They have shot the ball pretty well, and it will be about imposing our kind of defensive will out there in this Game 7 ; that could be the difference in the game. We're going to have to make less mistakes and allow less open shots and make the right decisions at the right time.

Q. Did you agree with Pop's theory that you guys rushed things last night and not let the game come to you in critical moments?

TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, at some points. I think we were just a little antsy out there, just a little ahead of ourselves. But hopefully we will come with the kind of focus that we've had in games past where we understand it's a 48-minute game and we understand that it's going to take every second of that 48 minutes to decide a winner and play it like that. I think we were just jittery and just ready to go and that's a good thing to have that energy, but to channel it the right way, to use it the right way, and I think at times we were a little bit too rushed.

Q. You've had your heart broken in games before like Fisher last year, when you see the Pistons do that, does it surprise you or how does a team do that?

TIM DUNCAN: How does a team do what?

Q. How do you bounce back from something like that, it was emotional, and you guys were obviously devastated after the game?

TIM DUNCAN: Devastating losses are there, but if you let them affect you for more than the time that it happens, it affects your whole game. They have been in this situation before. They are defending champs. They have been down in the series and they have always responded very well. They did the same, I don't know how else to explain it.

Q. Star players in Game 7s sometimes feel the need to take over games, maybe be extra assertive. How do you balance that with your teammates, and do you have that sense going into Game 7 for yourself?

TIM DUNCAN: I feel I need to be assertive, but I don't need to be overly assertive. I think we're going to stick with our game plan and we're going to continue to move the ball. We're going to use our pick-and-rolls to move the defense and try to move the defense and find open shooters. But at the same time, I want to be aggressive. I want to get the ball, I want to be effective more than anything. And how do you balance that? I don't know. You have to go out there and you have to feel your way through and find an even balance of how to get it done.

Q. You never played in a Game 7 before, can you just talk about your feelings going into a game like this?

TIM DUNCAN: Just a lot of nervous energy. It seems like too long until the game is going to be here. As you said, I've never been in a Game 7 before, and just excited about it. Excited about it, excited to get to the floor more than anything. I think it will be nerve-wracking between now and then, but once you get on the floor and get a minute or two, I'll be excited to be in there.

Q. How would you describe the mindset of rest of your team going into a game like this?

TIM DUNCAN: We're disappointed about the game last night but we understand that we made a lot of mistakes and we did a lot of things wrong, and we hope to correct those things. But I think just like Game 6, I think everybody is really excited about it. We're going to be very nervous up until game time and once we get in the game and kind of get in the flow and get all of the kind of hoopla behind us, we'll be ready to perform.

Q. We're accustomed to see you hit a lot of those bank shots from either wing, have they taken that spot away or has it not been available in this series?

TIM DUNCAN: It's been available, I just haven't been able to hit it. I just haven't been shooting the ball very well. The shots been there. I've been unable to hit it.

Q. After Game 5, you called the fourth quarter like a nightmare or something like that. How would you describe your play personally down the stretch last night?

TIM DUNCAN: I was okay. I was all right. Still not -- still not great, but just okay. Just trying to be assertive at times and try to really take some shots down the stretch there, and then we got down by a couple of points and we had to kind of look to a different area of the floor to try to get some of our shooters some shots. I think in Game 7, I think I'll try to be a little more as I was in that Game 4, asking for the ball and drawing double-teams or trying to make something happen.

Q. You mentioned that you guys made a lot of mistakes; what were the biggest ones?

TIM DUNCAN: Too many open shots.

Q. Defense more than anything?

TIM DUNCAN: Defensively. We did make some offensive mistakes but we have also predicated ourselves on what we do on the defensive end. We have always stemmed everything from there and we just gave too many open shots. Those guys, they made some big shots, Chauncey made some big shots, Rip was shooting the ball as he usually does. We just gave up too many -- too many easy looks.

Q. They single you out more than most teams do, but as you've told us before, they have a bunch of guys playing you with a variety of styles, how would you rate them as post defenders, a good team or great team?

TIM DUNCAN: They are a great team. They are some of the best in the league. Well, they are the best in the league obviously. Defensively, as you said, just the different bodies they throw you and the different kind of styles they throw at you, it's a difficult matchup, so they are the best in the league.

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