|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NBA FINALS: HEAT v MAVERICKSJune 15, 2006Avery JohnsonMIAMI, FLORIDA: Game Four Q. Another tough start for you guys, what was it, something that they were doing, and why was it so hard for you guys to try and break out of it at all tonight? AVERY JOHNSON: Well, we've been having tough starts this whole series. It's been uncharacteristic of our team. But again, you know, we're in a dogfight. We're playing on the road. We've been good on the road all year, and we've gotten off to pretty good starts on the road, but not in this series. You know, we'll address it. Wade has hurt us in the worst way. We haven't been able to guard him. So we have two days now to go back and take a look at it, and we'll make some adjustments. But I've been telling you guys all along, this is a seven-game series. Q. Tell me if I'm wrong here. It seems as though your club has not recovered since the fourth quarter of Game 3. AVERY JOHNSON: Well, I don't know about not recovered. This is a mentally tough team that we have here. We've been mentally tough all year. You're talking about the same team that won Game 7 in San Antonio against a world champion. Like I said all along, it's not always about what we don't do. Why don't you just give Miami credit for playing some balls-out defense and playing tough-minded and scrapping, and they are beating us to the punch. We are not going to win many of our games when two of our better players go, you know, 3-for-22. Again, give them some credit. Q. Talk about Miami's bench play, particularly James Posey, and how unexpected that was from them? AVERY JOHNSON: Well, you know, we've been doing a pretty good job with their bench, but Pose got it loose for a couple of shots there and he rebounded the ball well. And our bench has been a strength for us all year and it still is. But again, we've held their bench down three out of the four games, but tonight Pose hit a few shots and it's a breakout game so everything gets magnified. Q. You said in the pregame conference that the rebounding would be very important. You again lost that battle 48-36. Even though you are out-rebounding them, is there an aggressiveness problem there or something else? AVERY JOHNSON: Well, again, they are just one step quicker. This is two games in a row where we haven't had anybody double-figure rebounding. So normally, we at least have a center rebounding in double figures or one of our front-line players. But again, we're not getting there. We will get there. But it just didn't happen tonight. Q. These teams don't have too much history, they only play twice a year, but do you see some bad blood developing in this series as it intensifies? AVERY JOHNSON: I sure hope so on my team's part. It's hard for me to watch some of this stuff knowing that I have such a recent history playing the game. You know, it's just hard. It's hard. So hopefully what happened tonight will light a little fire under our team. It's just really disappointing when the other team is pushing and we're not pushing back hard enough. Q. How would you describe the type of defense they were playing, specifically on Dirk tonight? AVERY JOHNSON: Well, you know, they are wrapping him up. They are putting a blanket over him and he's going to have to get that blanket off of him. You know, we've had certain demonstrations of how to do it. Now it's just a matter of willpower. And Dirk is not satisfied. He's very disappointed. But again, this is a team game. Even if Dirk comes out and has big numbers, what did he have, 30 the last game, but we still lost. I think overall, our team has to get it together and play better. And we haven't started well, and really and truly, we haven't finished well. We had a 26-, 27-point lead and really didn't finish well in Game 2. But again, right now, it's a three-game series and we've got to play much better in the next game. Q. Just to get back on Dirk, was it more his performance tonight what they were doing, or was it just him missing shots? AVERY JOHNSON: Did Peter (Vecsey) ask you to ask that question? Q. No, did he not. AVERY JOHNSON: Okay, all right. (Laughter) I think it's a little bit of both. You know, Haslem is roughing him up. Posey is playing physical. And again, right now, you know, in New York, you know, they call it Rutgers Park or whatever; is that right? Q. Rucker. AVERY JOHNSON: Rucker. Okay. Thank you, Peter. Where I'm from, they call it playground basketball, and a lot of time, that's what it is, because you can't expect anybody to bail you out. I've tried to get a team that really don't complain, just play. But when we're complaining and we're not playing which it takes sometime, even in the NBA, we are not going to get it done. And throughout this year, we've been doing that. Q. You double-teamed Shaquille a lot less in the second half, do you think they are getting a handle on that, and is it uncovering Wade a little bit? AVERY JOHNSON: Maybe. Maybe they are. This is what a series is about, and we've been doubling teaming a certain way. Maybe they have figured it out. Now we'll try to see what works out best. Shaquille O'Neal is a player that still deserves a double-team in this league, and we have a lot of respect for his game. But just as much as Shaquille O'Neal deserves a double-team, we haven't found the right solution to deal with Wade yet, offensively or defensively. So that's an even bigger problem.
End of FastScripts... |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|