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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PISTONS v HEATMay 24, 2006Tayshaun PrinceDETROIT, MICHIGAN: Practice Day Q. Talk for a second about drawing offensive fouls. Yesterday you got a lot of them on Wade, got some on Shaq, put them on the bench. That's a certain kind of skill in basketball and a certain kind of attitude. What does it take to do that? TAYSHAUN PRINCE: I mean, I think Lindsey could tell you best; he anticipates things happening as far as being in the -- the guys that guarding Shaq, obviously that's a tough situation, but as far as drawing offensive fouls, you've got to be in a certain -- first, you've got to anticipate what the offensive player is going to do, but at the same time you've got to be at the right place at the right time, and I think Lindsey had some opportunities, and obviously being able to have quick feet and move laterally very well, he can anticipate being in that situation. Q. But you also have to have the mindset to say, okay, I might get kicked in the chin here? TAYSHAUN PRINCE: Yeah, you've definitely got to have the mind set to be ready to take a hit, take a blow, but those are the things you have to do in order to get the ball back and create turnovers. Especially in the playoffs you have to be prepared to do something like that. Q. Can one day really get your legs back that well? I mean, is it that much? TAYSHAUN PRINCE: You can get them back a little bit. I don't think your legs are going to be back 100 percent, but the most important thing about last night's game is we've just got to put it behind us, no matter if guys were tired or not. The way they shot the ball yesterday, especially in the first quarter, first half, was a tough situation for us, no matter if we were tired or not. They shot the ball real well, guys stepped up huge when Shaq and Wade wasn't in the game, so tired legs and all, it really wouldn't have mattered. Q. There's no doubt that Antoine Walker likes to shoot the three, but in the past couple games seems like he's been driving to the basket, as well. Can you talk about how tough a defensive assignment is when he's doing that? TAYSHAUN PRINCE: The thing about it is when you have a player that can play several positions, it opens up things for that person sooner or later. If he's starting at the three and getting the ball inside to Shaq, you've got to be where he's at on the perimeter, and obviously if you put him at the 4 and they do pick-and-rolls, now you've got a big out on him and he can be able to penetrate or shoot the three. Being able to play several positions gives him the opportunity to score in different areas. He's been playing great all series -- excuse me, not all series but all playoffs, and he got off to a great start in the first game. Q. Why does it seem like this team was always known for defense and the walls of the Wallaces, and yet in the Cleveland series and the first game of this, there's a lot of layups by the other team. I'm sure you guys aren't happy, but 52 points in the paint out of 91. Why are teams getting to the hoop again? TAYSHAUN PRINCE: The thing about it, against Miami there's going to be a lot of points in the paint. Shaq is going to get the ball in the paint, Dwyane Wade is going to get the ball in the paint. There is opportunities with that happening. By us being a great defensive team, and still, teams are scoring in the paint, at the same time we still give ourselves the opportunity to be in the game. In the Cleveland series, there was a lot of scoring in the paint. Obviously we did a great job of protecting the three real well, but they did hit some threes in the last game, but that's part of the game; it happens. Obviously this is a tougher situation as far as keeping those two guys out of the paint. Q. As a shooter, what's the key to getting out of a shooting slump, not that you're in one? TAYSHAUN PRINCE: Get to the foul late, try to penetrate, get to the foul line, hit some free throws, try to attack their basket. Those are the keys. You've just got to keep on shooting the ball from the outside trying to get out of the slump very quickly, just trying to get to the basket, create something, assessing teammates, move without the ball, cut to the basket, those type of things. Those type of things will get you out of a slump. Q. Is there something to the saying that this team doesn't really get going in a series until it's got some trouble? TAYSHAUN PRINCE: The thing about it is it seems like we put ourselves in that position every year. Just about every series except the first round, it sounds like every year, as well, at some point we're down in a series or we let a team tie the series up or something like that. It's a tough situation to have it happen in the first game on our home court, but we can't worry about that now. Game 2 is important for us, so we've just got to go out there and make it happen. Q. Is it almost like familiar, like today's feeling, the questions, the reporters, same thing? TAYSHAUN PRINCE: It's definitely familiar because, like I said, it happens to us a lot. Like you said, it seems like we don't start playing good basketball until we're down in a series. But we know how important we've got to play and we know how important it is now that they've got one, they're going to try to get two on the road. We've just got to bring our A game.
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