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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SUNS v MAVERICKS

May 30, 2006

Mike D'Antoni

PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Game Four

Q. Can you update us on Raja, how he's feeling today?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: A lot better. He's doing a lot better. And he's working with the guys now, and I mean we'll see. Eventually he'll play. I don't know exactly when. But he's pretty close.
Q. Any chance tonight?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: There's a chance. We'll see what they say. But you know -- you know, just depends on how he does. He has some pain still. But he's getting real close.
Q. When Steve spoke out after last game and yesterday about the team with their shoulders, how do you expect your team to respond?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: The same as they always respond. And looking back, again, I think as coaches and probably, you know, you get a little disappointed in some performances and stuff, I gotta be careful, too, because there's no one in that locker room that didn't want to play 100 percent. Sometimes when you read it you go, oh, they just didn't try. It's a little bit more complicated than that.
Sometimes the importance of the game weighs on you. We don't get running. It's not because they go, oh, it's not important, I got something else to do today. That's what it comes out. That's not fair to the fans. Not fair to the players who it's the hundredth game they've played their rears off and we'll respond the right way.
I just hope that, you know, a little bit of Dallas -- you have to give them credit for what they do. But if we can get our lineups a little bit smaller and run a little harder, we'll get out and do that. I expect us to do it. And you can't have off nights. You can't have off games, and that does happen. And it happened Sunday. But not from lack of effort or lack of, you know, being ready. They're ready to play. They're ready to go tonight. So hopefully it will work out.
Q. An hour and a half before the game, how would you characterize the mood of your team?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: Oh, it's great. It's super. And, too, I think you have to realize as a fan or if you ever played the game, this has gotta be fun. This is what it's all about. To simmer about it and worry about them, you don't worry about them. They're ready to go. I'm sure they get as much rest as they can. They understand the importance of the game and they'll lay it all out on the line.
And, again, a lot of times just looking at the tape, that ball, the long rebounds, it just bounced over where they were. We were there, you just couldn't get to it. Then our shoulders sag a little bit, the crowd goes, whoa, and stuff, and it's a downer.
But sometimes it's -- sometime breaks of the game. And we'll be ready and we'll be on our toes and ready to go.
Q. Mike, I know exactly actually how you feel, and some of the players. Because I really did cut off some adjectives the other day because I was trying hard and it didn't look like it, so I understand. Did you get that?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: I don't know what you said, but I agree with you.
Q. It was really interesting to me. How much of a shoulder sag and all these things -- but how much of a cumulative effect does it have when they're able to keep -- because of your season long of injuries and all these things, which no one wants to make an excuse of, but they keep bringing fresh troops in and they're able to change. One day they play Diop and one day Dampier, and they have a lot of guys coming off the bench and your guys have a tag team, run out, tag somebody, come back?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: Probably. I think it wears on you a little bit. But I don't really believe that we're tired. You know, I just think that we just didn't somehow find a groove. We didn't find the energy, we just -- because our lack of playing well.
You know, our fourth quarter let us down a little bit. The third quarter was really bad, and the end of the second. But up until then it was good. Everything was rolling. We just never could really get the burst on them and we just let the game slip away from us. And I'm sure depth has something to do with it. No doubt about it.
But we do have three guys out. I know I'm not playing Kurt, I understand that. But we have a couple of guys out that -- we get Raja back. We'll be able to play small and we'll be able to run, and it changes things up a lot.
Q. How much is the lack of the running game due to you guys not executing versus them, the adjustments that they made and them getting back and sort of giving up the offensive board to get back?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: I think it's a little bit of both. No doubt about it. They're doing a great job at what they're doing. Clippers did a great job. For about three games they -- took us a while to adjust to them and get back with our running stuff. And our guys have seen the final way to be able to do that and to adjust to it, and I expect us to do the same thing.
Again, it's not going to be perfect. I just don't think this season has ever been picture perfect. We'll have to find a way to gut it out and cut corners and find a way to win the series.
And I don't think we're going to steam roll over anybody. You know, this is a team that everybody said is not even going to make the playoffs, and we're in the Conference Finals. We're not going to come out and go, We're better than you guys, we're running you off the floor. We'll have to find a way. It might be hard, it might be hitting a last second shot, it might be a lot of different ways. But I have supreme confidence these guys will find a way to do it.
Q. Mike, you said you want to get smaller and run harder. Assuming Raja doesn't play, how do you get smaller?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: Don't assume anything. Just don't assume. Maybe we don't. You know, we just have to run hard with what we've got. And that's -- and we can do that. It's not that we can't do it. It's a little bit harder, but we'll find a way.
Q. What will be your determining factor on Raja?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: Just if he can go or not. He'll say whether he can go or not. The trainers are going to be very cautious with him. But the final say-so and also the player knows his own body can you go or not. Can you do it. If he says he can, then we'll do it. And it's up to him. I don't want to risk anything about him. He's been great. But, you know, nature has a strange way of healing warriors a lot faster than most people, and it will.
Q. Mike, I know it means nothing now, but do you get any official notification from the league office they blew the call on Dirk's three?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: I only get upset when we play well. I didn't think we played well enough to win. So it's not fair to get that.
Q. I'll try to keep my question shorter than Sam's. On Boris, how much of what he has done in this series has been him asserting himself and how much of it is them concentrating on Shawn and Steve?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: You have to ask them a little bit. I don't know what their game plan is on Boris, but I think the guy's playing terrific. And to me it's his town and he's been a little bit more aggressive than even normal. But he's feeling good about himself right now. He's hitting that little jumper.
I don't know if they can do something different to cut him off. I don't know that. So, again, it's hard for me to answer that. But the guy is a terrific player and he's having a very good series, that's for sure.
Q. Back to Raja, did he go through all the things in shoot-around that he would normally do to get ready for a game?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: We didn't have a shoot-around, we had a walk-through.
Q. He walked through?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: Yeah, he knows what's going on. He's ready to roll. If he's ready to roll, he's ready to roll. (Laughter) Sam that's a quote from you.
Q. Can you repeat that, Mike?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: Write that down, Sam.
Q. Just on a little broader view, you know Detroit in the East is in trouble a little bit. Cleveland went seven games, San Antonio is out already. Are we reaching a point where there's so much more parody and any teams can jump up at any time and it's hard to determine who exactly will be here? You know, probably, you know, in some respects nobody expected these two teams in the Conference Finals?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: I think you're right. I think it's great for the league, first of all, and I think you're seeing a little bit of what the tax is doing to people. It's bringing everybody back to the fold. They're not going to spend all this money to stack up teams.
And I think it will be even more as we go forward, more parody for the teams, and I think it's a great thing. And the rule changes in different things, because you can offensively be really good in certain areas.
So, yeah, I think it's great. And I think it will be that way. And hopefully it will be that way. But hopefully we'll be stronger than everybody.
Q. We assume that?
COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: Yeah, right. Other than that, everybody else should be the same. Thanks guys.

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