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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: JAZZ v SPURS

May 27, 2007

Carlos Boozer

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: Practice Day

Q. They asked you about Deron and whether he was an elite point guard and you got really excited. What was exciting to you about that?
CARLOS BOOZER: For me, it seemed like one of my teammates who has played as well as D. Will has, he is in his second year, you know, he just came out of Illinois a few months ago, 18 months, whatever it was, to see how he has been able to progress and get better each series, you know, it is tough -- we have veterans on the same team that haven't been able to step up in the same category as him.
To see him do it at such an early age, I am really excited for him.

Q. How did he do it?
CARLOS BOOZER: He is motivated. He is hungry. He wants to be the best point guard on the floor. There are some really good ones out there. To have his sights so high, he challenges himself every game and every day and that's why he is getting better so quickly.

Q. How would you describe the difference in his confidence?
CARLOS BOOZER: I would say that really came from this summer. His confidence, last year, you know, Coach made him work a little bit to get that starting spot. And over the summer, he came back a different guy. He had confidence from day one in training camp, way, way back in October. How long ago was that?
He came back a different guy confidencewise. He was more -- I think he was more fit. He was in better shape. His mind was fresh. He was pumped up to play basketball and he carried that throughout the regular season. In the post-season he is doing even better.

Q. The fact that both you and Deron played in the NCAA Tournament and went a long way, how does that transfer to situations like this in the playoffs? Do you draw anything from it? What kind of experience do you need for something like that?
CARLOS BOOZER: A lot. It is different because, you know, obviously there is a lot more games and it is a series as opposed to one game. As far as the atmosphere, you still have a great deal of media. You get a great deal of attention. The stakes are very high.
I will tell you, we have a lot of guys, Dee Brown, myself, D. Will, Matt Harpring, Jarron Collins, they have a lot of guys.
Even our European guys like A.K. and Mehmet and Giricek, they played at high levels overseas and were very successful as well, so we have a bunch of guys that have won before, and, you know, we have been able -- the coaching staff put those guys on the same team and got them to mesh together. That experience was definitely drawn on. Me and D. Will are really comfortable in the situation and we will continue to do so.

Q. (Question about Okur on defense.)
CARLOS BOOZER: Defensively, he was great. He blocked shots. He made Tim be a little deeper out when he called for the ball, so to speak. I know you are harping on his offense, but his job is to stop Tim Duncan and that's a tall task.
The way he played last night, if we can have that every night, we are a really good team.

Q. Compared to the games in San Antonio, how much was consistency a key in knowing that your game for the full four quarters was going to come?
CARLOS BOOZER: It was a lot better. We lost those two quarters -- we lost more than two quarters. But the second quarters in San Antonio really kicked our butt and we played much better.
In the second quarter, we were down by 4. In the third quarter, we grabbed on to a lead, and in the fourth quarter we took control of the game.
So it was great to see our team step up like that, and that's what we have to do if we are going to have a chance against them.

Q. When they run so many pick-and-rolls, they will bring it in, kick it back out, is that even more impressive for him to keep him off the block so many times?
CARLOS BOOZER: Tim gets the ball every time down. It just depends what he wants to do with it. Sometimes he passes, sometimes he shoots it, what have you.
So like I said, it is a tall task for Mehmet to have to guard Tim Duncan. Tim is a little more athletic, a little more agile. The way Mehmet played him was magnificent and I am proud of him.

End of FastScripts

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