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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS v PISTONS

May 22, 2007

Richard Hamilton

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Practice Day

Q. What's your take on how last night's game went? Flip said it was kind of like just feeling each other out.
RIP HAMILTON: Oh, yeah, definitely like a heavyweight fight. We had a lot of opportunities to make shots. We turned the ball over too many times. You know, we didn't play our best. We played uncharacteristic at times, but for the most part we defended, you know, and when you do that, good things will happen.
I'll take it as a gain that we won on defense. I'll take it.

Q. What's your take on LeBron there, the last shot that he passed off to Donyell? He's been getting killed in the national media for it.
RIP HAMILTON: Like I said, he made a great move to the basket. I think that was one of them plays that was drawn up. We knew going into time-out that they was going to come back with Donyell and to watch him for a three-point shot. We kind of almost let one get away because that's the last thing we wanted to do is give Donyell a wide-open shot, but he made the pass that he was supposed to make.

Q. They said in the locker room that they thought you were going to foul him, was that ever an option? You guys had one to give.
RIP HAMILTON: No.

Q. When they're trapping Chauncey very aggressively on those pick-and-rolls, what can the other guys do to help neutralize what they're doing?
RIP HAMILTON: Well, like I said, coming into the game, I don't believe that Chauncey knew that they was going to trap him the way that they did. He's got to be a lot more smarter in knowing that, okay, it's coming. They're going to trap him until he gets rid of the ball. So now we've just got to make quick decisions. We've just got to know that. That's something we didn't know come into the game, but now we do.

Q. With everything that happened, wasn't it kind of a strange game when you really break it down and think about everything that happened from start to finish?
RIP HAMILTON: Well, like I said, we came out kind of slow, you know. I knew if the game was close, I liked our chances. So I think we never had a bigger lead than four or five points the whole game, but we just stayed with him.
You know, we defended, took our time down the stretch and got the win.

Q. What do you attribute those slow starts to because that's a couple games in a row now?
RIP HAMILTON: I mean, we've just got to be a lot more in tune. We've got to be a lot more in tune. We've got to come out ready to get into the game. You've got to come out with a spark right from the beginning because they're not going to give us one. In order for us to get to where we want to get to, we've got to come out and play hard from the beginning.

Q. How frustrated do you think C-Webb is right now? The foul trouble last night, and he hasn't played well lately.
RIP HAMILTON: I don't think he's frustrated at all. We won. We've got guys on this team, as long as we win, everything is all good. I think Webb played a great second half, came in, made plays at the basket, got a couple in, so I thought he played great.

Q. Did you see anything from them last night that surprised you, or was it about what you expected?
RIP HAMILTON: Well, we've played them so many times. You know, it's going to be adjustments and things like that. When you've got LeBron, you know he's getting better by the day, so you've just got to expect the unexpected. We've just got to go out there and just worry about ourselves. We can continue to control the tempo and play the way we want to play, we should be okay.

Q. Were the offensive boards an issue last night?
RIP HAMILTON: We knew that coming into the game, too. I think that we've got to help -- the guards have got to help the bigs rebound, try to take away their second and third offensive possessions and things like that.

Q. Flip was just saying that one of the things that threw you guys off a little was that LeBron wasn't as aggressive as you had game planned for.
RIP HAMILTON: Well, I thought he was aggressive. You know, I mean, like I said, he made plays, drove to the basket, you know, tried to find his teammates and things like that, the way that he plays. So I thought he was aggressive.

Q. The game was close going into the fourth quarter. What's the attitude on your team about not being able to kick it in?
RIP HAMILTON: Well, we just know if we don't have a big lead, as long as the game is close, we feel good, we feel comfortable. As long as you come down to the fourth quarter, you've got to defend, we've got to execute our offense, we've all got to be on the same page. We're always in tune, so that's a good thing.

Q. After what you were able to do offensively last night, what are you expecting for Game 2?
RIP HAMILTON: I mean, like I said, it's hard to go out and move without the ball, any time, regardless of what you do or what type of containment and stuff like that, and I knew that coming into the second half. What I tried to do was try to make plays for Chauncey, try to make plays for C-Webb, give them dumb-downs and things like that, try to get the guys going.

Q. Chauncey is usually pretty good if he gets trapped, last night just seemed to strange to see the way he handled that. What was it about their traps that seemed tough?
RIP HAMILTON: I think him being a little too anxious. You want to win so much, and Flip always tells us that that over-aggressive energy, we've got to slow down a little bit. I think when we played Chicago, we blocked it, they didn't really trap. So this is the first time -- in the playoffs they started trapping pick-and-roll, so now we've just got to do a better job of peppering the ball.

Q. So you're saying Chauncey Billups was anxious?
RIP HAMILTON: I'm like -- I'll go out there, "I'm anxious, too anxious," he's yelling and screaming at me, and last night I was doing the same thing to him.

Q. What kinds of things did you have to say to him to get him to calm down?
RIP HAMILTON: Just slow down. I think that's our biggest thing with me and him. You know, when I come out there and I'm running around like crazy, "Slow down, Rip. Slow down, Rip," and vice versa. I think that's the great relationship we have. We can see things out there that if one of us don't see it.
Like I said, this is the first time their team started trapping pick-and-rolls, so now we've just got to adjust.

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