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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS v PISTONSJune 2, 2007Mike BrownCLEVELAND, OHIO: Practice Day Q. What have you learned in these five games that you didn't know about yourself or the business of coaching in The Finals? COACH BROWN: You know, I thought the first two games I kind of went away from what I believed in, which at times you get caught up in the emotion of the game and you might talk about this bothering you or that bothering you, I'm talking about an outside influence, and at the end of the day you have to take wins. You're not going to be given wins, you might say you can earn them, but it's a physical basketball game at this level. Both teams at the present time, nobody wants to go home at this point, both teams are good teams and are used to winning, so there is nothing easy about winning these games. You've got to go take it, and only the guys in the locker room can help achieve that. Q. Mike, players have said in the New Jersey series they were a little tight, that Game 5 trying to close it out here at home in front of the home fans, because they knew how bad the fans wanted it. How loose do you see your team tonight and what do you say to them to relax them a little bit? COACH BROWN: Hopefully they are loose. The one thing we have to do, we have to be aggressive, all right, because I think the most aggressive team is going to win, but also besides being aggressive we have to have some poise, because we're going to have to play through runs. We may be down big, who knows, but we can't get rattled at all, and then we've got to go have fun. This is an enjoyable time, this is not life and death tonight, you know. Life and death, that's the stuff they're doing overseas in the Middle East. What we're doing should be enjoyable and we have to find that balance. Q. Mike, you had so many guys play so many minutes in the two overtime games just a couple days ago. As far as rotations, the same thing, same idea tonight? COACH BROWN: Yes, it is. A lot of it I go on feel and I have a set rotation that I keep in my pocket, but when I think it's time to make a sub or if a group is on a run, I will usually let them stay out on the floor. Minutes aren't really a concern. Q. Mike, I walked out in the arena at 5:25 p.m., I heard somebody pounding a ball out there, it was LeBron doing a shooting drill, and he had already worked up a sweat, so I'm assuming he had been out there for a while. Didn't you give this guy intravenous fluids after that last game? Is he that much of a gym rat or has he literally changed his routine in the playoffs to get here earlier? COACH BROWN: I don't know. I don't know his routine. Somebody told me a few games he was out there shooting, and I said, yeah, he does that every once in a while, and somebody else told me it's not his routine, so I don't know. I gave them the day off yesterday and we went really, really light this morning. So you would have to ask him in terms of the specifics, just whatever he needs to do to get ready, hey, go do it. Q. Mike, Larry has given it a shot the last two games, is he going to do the same thing tonight? COACH BROWN: I don't know. I have not talked to our training staff. What I do is I ask him how he's feeling when I see him, and he tells me how he's feeling, and I wait to hear an hour before the game whether or not he's going to play, and what they did to help him out, and if there are any restrictions at all. Q. Mike, I came in late so if you answered this, sorry: After a game like the other night, where one guy dominates so much at the end, is there any concern on your side that guys may come out tonight and stand around and expect that to happen? COACH BROWN: Yeah, there is. When you have a great player like LeBron James and he put you on his back the way he did in that last game, you do get concerned that, you know, you don't want your team to do that the next time around because Detroit is going to be ready for it, they're going to hit him, take the ball out of his hands and somebody else is going to have to make shots. And it was similar to us in Game 6 against New Jersey, they just ran at him, and if that happens we'll probably have to put our shooters on the floor and let them fly and see if they make them or not. End of FastScripts |
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