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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SUNS v MAVERICKSJune 1, 2006Jerry StackhouseDALLAS, TEXAS: Game Five Q. Jerry, when you guys were down 77-70 you got the timeout after Thomas hit consecutive number of threes. How did you adjust and what was said in the huddle and how did you come back from that? JERRY STACKHOUSE: We made the adjustment from the standpoint we knew we needed to rotate to Thomas a little quicker. So we just wound up switching it and not letting them get any space. It put the onus on our big to try to play Nash a little bit. I think Dirk did a good job not letting him containing advantage of the pick-and-roll once we did the switch. Q. Coach just talked about mental toughness all season. Was this the best display of mental toughness by you guys tonight? JERRY STACKHOUSE: Well, I think we had some mental breakdowns, too. I think there were points in the game where we allowed them to get back. We had a pretty nice lead early in the first quarter. Our defense was doing good things, they made some adjustments and we're getting their shooters free, then we had to make another adjustment to kind of combat that. So I think overall just mentally staying in the game and staying with the adjustments that we were trying to make, that's proving our toughness right there. Q. Stack, does a 20-point deficit sometimes help you to come together and focus as a team and really prepare for what has to be done next in a series? JERRY STACKHOUSE: Well, I think that that game, Game 4, was just a bad game for us and I think we knew that once you came back and look at the film, you can't feel it during the game, but I think after the game and going back and watching and saw how poor we played, you know, in a game like that, like I said, I think we got a little complacent. Hopefully we got over that hurdle and we won't do that again. We'll try to bring that same focus. And we've done this all year. We've had bad games and always seem to bounce back and play well in the next game and hopefully we can continue that in Game 6 and not try to make it -- any more drama than need be. Q. Can you talk about this team's performance once they got those two technicals in the fourth, not just the team but Dirk in particular also? JERRY STACKHOUSE: Well, I think Dirk was huge. I mean, the numbers speak for themselves. To get 50 points in a game like this, and everybody contributed, but I think that the fact of how he did it, you know he did it in dramatic fashion, making threes, making clutch shots, you know, when we needed them. And had a rough Game 4 and he came in and bounced back. And so I think everybody -- I knew our team would respond, but, you know, I think he responded great. Q. Jerry, what did you sense about Dirk's demeanor out there on the court, as a teammate you could see, not just the scoring, but in his demeanor and the way he was -- JERRY STACKHOUSE: Early on he was a little passive from the standpoint of settling a little bit. I mean, it's hard with a team like that, that sometimes gives you shots that you know that you can make, but if you were a little more persistent you can get a little better shot. And I think in that second half he didn't settle for any of those fade-aways or anything. Everything, once he got it, he got to, you know -- got to his spot where he wanted to shoot the ball. If they didn't allow him to get to that spot then he just put the ball on the floor and drove it and was able to get some dunks, some and-ones and the same way Josh did some, had switch outs on them with Diaw and guys who were in foul trouble who didn't want to foul, and just persistently drove them and we were able to get something good. Q. Do you think this team has enough left in them to close it out on Saturday? JERRY STACKHOUSE: You know, I think once we're out there we know that, you know, we're going to compete. And, like I said, hopefully we got the bad game out of the way, the bad game of the series, and now we can just focus on the goal. We are one game away from doing something that this team and this franchise have never done before. So hopefully we can bring all of that energy that we need. That's really what it comes down to, is energy. Not really Xs and Os at this point. Everybody, we know what they're doing, they know what we're doing. It's just about the team that's going to make that extra effort to rotate out to the shooters, the team that is going to make the extra effort to get to those loose balls. That's the team that's going to move on.
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