|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS v PISTONSJune 1, 2007Mike BrownCLEVELAND, OHIO: Practice Day Q. Everybody is going nuts talking about everything LeBron did last night, how do you guys as players and coaches put that behind you and move on to the next game? COACH BROWN: You know, he does this for us often. I mean, he wins ballgames in dramatic fashion a lot for us. So, yes, we're still in awe of the performance from last night. We all feel fortunate to really know him and understand him, and we don't every underestimate what he can do out there. Seeing his tremendous drive last night and know that he's a unique leader, we all enjoy that in watching it unfold in front of our eyes, but we don't expect him to have to carry us all the time, we have other guys that we feel are capable of stepping up and making plays on both ends of the floor, and when nobody else can, that's when he comes to our rescue. So it's not anything that we're going to carry into the next game hoping he continues to save us throughout the playoff run. Q. Just wanted to ask about today. Did you give them the day off and was it almost like a situation where you had to because of the game they played last night, if you did? COACH BROWN: Yes, we gave them the day off. We didn't land until 3:00 this morning, 2:30, 3:00 in morning and we played a lot of basketball. We've been with each other quite a bit and it's no secret, we sort of know what Detroit is going to do and they know what we're going to do. So it's about the most aggressive team coming out tomorrow, we think is going to have a chance to win. So now for us, we feel that a rest, especially for guys that logged big minutes, Sasha played 42 and LeBron 50, we had some other guys up in the 30s. But we felt rest was more important than anything else, and we'll get together and shoot around tomorrow because it wouldn't have made sense for us to go in and have contact today. Q. I don't want to jinx you, but just in case you play San Antonio, can you talk about your relationship with Gregg Popovich and whether you talk to him on a regular basis? And what it would mean in your second year in this league to get to that level that you've seen up close? COACH BROWN: Well, you know, the one thing I will do is I'll talk about my relationship with Pop. We have a great relationship, we do talk from time to time, you know, he'll call and check up on me, I'll call and ask for advice, he'll call to say "good win," or whatever and I'll do the same. But, you know, that's about it. You know, I learned a lot from him and I grew a lot while working for him, and I continue to look at him as a mentor and a guy that can help me out. But other than that, we've got Detroit tomorrow so I'm not even thinking about the Spurs right now. My thought is on Game 6 and the Detroit Pistons. Q. Would you talk about Larry's contribution last night? He seemed a lot more effective than he was in the first game with the injury. COACH BROWN: Well, you know, I'm glad somebody brought that up, because Larry has been the unsung hero the last couple of games, and he's gone out there with an injury that is extremely painful, and he's laced it up and gone out there and given it everything that he has on both ends of the floor. He's contributed offensively and he's contributed defensively, and he also gives us another steady hand, a veteran hand, at trying to run a team against a very good defense. For him to want to strap it up with as much pain as he's in, my hat goes off to him. He was extremely effective, I thought, last night for the minutes that he played, and even the game before, he was. So without him I don't know if we would be in this position, so I really applaud the production that Larry Hughes has given us with that injury. Q. Walking out of the area room last night, LeBron was clearly taxed and pretty depleted both physically and I think emotionally, and just wondering how you think he will recover from this. I know he's 22 and have you talked to him today? COACH BROWN: No, I haven't talked to him today; we gave the guys the day off. He got an IV last night before he left the arena, to take some precautions and make sure he wasn't dehydrated or anything like that on the flight, didn't cramp up. He's a young guy and that's part of the reason why we wanted, not only him but everybody else, to take the day off and to get away from it because it was an emotional and draining game last night. And we believe that rest now, especially into Game 6, is more important than anything else, not only for him but for the rest of the team, also. Q. Just as a follow-up: He needed IV, was he having any symptoms on the plane or anything? COACH BROWN: No, no, no, nothing, it was just a precautionary measure our doctors and trainers thought just so he wouldn't cramp up on the plane, because he was pretty taxed physically after that contest. Q. Do you suspect that there will be any carryover for tomorrow? COACH BROWN: No, I don't. Q. I guess on the one hand that could be a good thing, though, if you do have carryover. COACH BROWN: Yes, but in terms of him being physically and mentally drained, no, he understands that he needs to get some rest today, and I'm sure he's doing that now. With him being as young as he is and strong as he is, mentally and physically, he should be ready to go tomorrow night. Q. After LeBron's performance last night what do you expect out of the Pistons as far as defending him? COACH BROWN: They're going to jump him right away, they're going to jump him with two guys, and stay on him until he passes the ball and they're going to try to make somebody else beat them. It's similar to what we faced with New Jersey in Game 6 when Donyell had great looks from the perimeter and same with Daniel Gibson, so other guys are going to have to step up and knock down shots because they're going to hit him with two guys right away. Q. After you went to bed last night, I know yesterday your reaction was "wow," after you got to thinking about it, what do you think about his performance the day after? COACH BROWN: You know, still, I'm still in awe of his performance from last night. You know, again, as a coaching staff and teammates and organization and city, we're all fortunate to really have a guy like this and to know him, understand him and be able to watch him as much as we have, you know, we're able to see the tremendous drive and will that he has and he's a unique and unbelievable leader and individual. His aggressive play last night and his determination during the course of the game, especially down the stretch, you know, carried him and us through. And everybody else last night, the whole country had a chance to see what we've seen as his coaches and teammates and organization on a daily basis. We know what he's capable of doing, because we've seen it a lot. Q. Coach, I wanted to follow up, you had a couple of times where you rested him and particularly in the start of the fourth quarter, and he was anxious to get back in, but you held him out a little longer. Do you think if you had not done that that LeBron would have had the energy to do what he did late in the game? COACH BROWN: I don't know because there have been times when I played him straight through, you know, the third and fourth without bringing him out, and he's had huge games for us, so I don't know. It probably did help because I've seen the more rest -- obviously the more rest you can get, the better. But I'm not sure. I'm glad we had a chance to rest him, and I'm glad he was able to respond the way he did. Q. You were asked something about how Detroit would defend LeBron, just Detroit as a whole, I mean, you had a situation you could have closed out New Jersey in Game 5 and I don't know what they would have had to do, if they had to play an extra game. Do you talk to your team about that situation and correlate it to this at all, or do you not bring that up? COACH BROWN: You know, everybody is not going to win every single close-out game that they have and two teams are different, so on, so forth. So, you know, there's no need to bring it up, we've been in this situation before with the same team last year, and we understand it's going to be a dogfight, and the most aggressive team is going to win. So for me to mention the New Jersey series and us not closing out Game 5 against New Jersey, I don't feel the need to do that. Q. Mike, again, can you talk about the imprint San Antonio experience had on you? I talked to Pop this morning and he obviously is tight-lipped, but at the same time he says that, "Don't underestimate Mike Brown because he's been in this situation in different capacities." And I want you to talk about, obviously with the San Antonio organization and the impact it had on you as well as how you take this scrutiny that this, you know, this current setting casts upon you. COACH BROWN: First thing is, no offense to any of you guys, but I don't read the newspaper, I don't have the newspaper come to my house, I don't watch the news or anything like that, so you guys get paid to voice your opinion, and sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. And if I'm reading stuff that's good, I may get a little carried away and think I'm starting to turn out pretty good, somehow, some way, it might sidetrack me. If I'm reading stuff that's bad about me, I might get to the a point where I'm down in the dumps and it might affect me, and what I'm doing on the floor. So I stay away from it all, I don't read anything, I don't listen to anything, I don't watch anything and that helps out. To be honest, the next step beyond that is, again, I know you guys have a job you have to take care of, so you've got to do whatever your job entails, so I don't take anything personal. Anybody can write and say anything they want about me. Only thing I'm worried about is whether or not my team plays hard and plays hard for 48 minutes, and that's the only thing that I'm concerned about. If we don't, I get down; if we do, then I'm okay. In terms of the imprint that Pop had or my time with Pop in San Antonio, you know, it's a first-class organization from top to bottom starting with the owner and on down to Pop and everything else. It's a winning organization and they know how to win. They know it doesn't just start in the gym, it starts outside the gym, how you treat people, from your players all the way down to your interns. And I learned a lot from those guys when it comes to trying to build a winner or be a part of a winner, what it takes to put that together. Then the basketball lessons I got there not only from Pop but from coaching a guy like David Robinson. Yeah, I might have been an assistant coach but I learned a ton watching him play and talking to him and learning things from him as a player, and coaching Sean Elliott and Avery Johnson and Tim Duncan. So I had a big-time experience and I grew as a coach my entire time there. Q. There was some speculation after yesterday that the League was going to look at Antonio McDyess' play and maybe hand out a suspension, and they've said they're not going to do that. I just wonder what you think of that decision, and also what was your take on what his absence did down the stretch? Do you think the Pistons missed him down the stretch? COACH BROWN: They probably did. Anytime you have a player that's in your rotation that can't play due to injury or due to him getting kicked out, you know, you can miss them down the stretch, similar to us, the last two ballgames we've missed Larry Hughes down the stretch. He's our starting point guard, so it makes it tough, you have to play a different way, you might not be able to sub or do certain things the way that you're used to because you're missing a key guy. It was tough on them, but that's part of the game, just like for us it's tough on us but it's part of the game and you've just got to figure out a way to get it done. In terms of the League suspending him or not suspending him, I'm behind the League whatever they want to do. Those guys make up the rules, they enforce the rules, I have nothing to do with that. So whatever judgment they came down with I'm okay with. Q. Mike, to follow-up a little bit on LeBron's performance: I guess last night you said that you were a little concerned because you were going to him an awful lot and you had actually asked him, did you want to sit for five, and -- COACH BROWN: No, no, no, not to sit for five, I asked him -- because I was going to him every play down the stretch, and I asked him if he needed a break carrying the load offensively and I asked him if he wanted me to go to Z one play. I just gave you guys the play, it's called "Stiff Punch Five." So I asked him that and he looked at me and smiled and said, "a break, offensively? No, I'm good." And I said, "Okay, we'll keep giving you the ball," and we did. Q. Was it simply that you thought he was being overtaxed or did you want to mess up the defense a little bit? COACH BROWN: No, I just thought he was playing good basketball offensively, he was making plays, he was obviously scoring points, I just thought that, you know, hey, let me see if I can take a little bit of the load off of him and go to somebody else, because Z had some great looks for us in the second half in the low post, so I thought to give him a break and mix it up a little bit, I would go that route, only if he wanted to, because I felt he was in a groove. And when he looked me in the eye and said, no, he didn't want it, he still wanted that basketball, you know, the one thing I do coach on is I coach on feel and demeanor, body vibes, and gut instinct and when he gave me the look he gave me, it was a look of confidence, and it was a look of he wanted the ball, so I went with it. Q. I guess in retrospect that obviously was the right decision. COACH BROWN: Yeah. Q. How many voicemails or text messages, did you get over the last 15 hours? COACH BROWN: Oh, I don't know. (Chuckles.) It was an awful lot, it was a ton, you know, but I'm not a huge phone guy, so I don't respond a lot to the -- I don't check the voicemails that often, but the texts, I hit them back with a short message. But on almost all of them I had to make sure that everybody knew that tomorrow night was going to be a dogfight. Yes, we won last night, but the series is not over until somebody wins that fourth game. Q. Mike, you mentioned earlier that the whole country is getting a chance to see from LeBron what you guys see on a daily basis, are we seeing the emergence of a true superstar in this league? COACH BROWN: I believe so. Again, 22, extremely young man, and it takes guys a few years to get going, unless you're fortunate to be a guy like in Magic's shoes and have Kareem already on your team or a couple of other superstars. Even Tim Duncan was fortunate enough to play with some solid veterans and All-Stars in David Robinson. So with LeBron coming of age and helping this organization grow, this team grow to the level it's at now, you can see the maturity year after year after year in terms of not only his play, but his demeanor on the floor, off the floor, and his play at a high level. So I believe he's headed in the right direction. He believes it, too. He feels it, he understands it. So I'm excited just to continue to see him grow. Q. Hey, Mike, if you could talk about the plane ride back last night and what was the last thing that you said to LeBron before you left him? COACH BROWN: I said "Have a good night, get some rest," that was it. I sat up front with Danny and had a chicken salad sandwich and some Cheetos, and a Snapple, and we talked a little bit, we looked over the stat sheet and were going to watch some tape, but the flight is a 20-minute flight, so I stared off into the distance and next thing you know, we landed. It was a normal plane ride. Q. Is there an experience this year that showed you that LeBron is going to be able to come back, and obviously you said he was going to rest today, but not just physically but mentally come back and be as focused as he's been last three games? Was there something where you saw him click over and be more mature about this thing? COACH BROWN: Yeah. Against New Jersey we had played a lot of basketball and we hadn't had a day off in a while and I was going to give the guys a day off, I think we had two days between games, and before I said anything to the team LeBron comes to me and says, "Hey, what time are we coming in?" And I said, "Well, what time did you want to come?" He said "Let's come in in the afternoon. We're coming in," And I said, "Okay, we're coming in." And that type of leadership, that understanding of knowing it's important to do certain things, even though you may or may not feel like going in, little things like that throughout the year, throughout the playoffs have helped me continue to see him grow into the superstar and leader that he is. He still has a lot of growth in that area because the sky is the limit for him as a player and as a leader, but he's growing in leaps and bounds right now with all he's going through playing at this level. Q. Coach, how has his play affected your whole team, that is, put more pressure on them or inspired your team to step up? We know that LeBron is not afraid to pass the ball at the end of the game if that's necessity. COACH BROWN: I'm sorry, what was the first part? Q. How has his performance last night inspired the rest of the Cavs or has it put pressure on the rest of his teammates? COACH BROWN: No. You know, he's a willing passer, LeBron is a guy that believes 100% in his teammates, and if he finds somebody open, that person just better be ready to step into the shot, because with the double-teams and triple-teams that he faces, they know that he's going to make that pass and they know that they're going to have enough time if they're ready to catch and shoot, to step in and letting it go. So last night, they knew he had it going, they wanted to do whatever they can to make sure he had the basketball, and they supported him by trying to set screens for him or offensive rebounds, and then on the defensive end they knew if we got stops, that we would be able to put the ball back in his hands and continue to give us and him a chance to win the ballgame. So everybody knows that LeBron has won games for us before, plenty of times for us by passing it, and he's won games for us before plenty of times by scoring. So it was a good feeling watching it and a good win. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|