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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SPURS v LAKERS

May 22, 2008

Derek Fisher

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day

Q. You have seen a lot of the Spurs over the years. What did you expect from them?
DEREK FISHER: They'll make some adjustments. I think they'll come back and play as good or better as an overall team.
Obviously they had some frustration in the second half, the third quarter and fourth quarter. I don't expect them to be off of their psyche or crushed or all of a sudden they are not the better team.
I suspect they will come back and probably play even better tomorrow night. So we'll have to be better in order to win tomorrow night's game.

Q. Derek, what do you hope to see from them tomorrow? What do you think you will see tomorrow?
DEREK FISHER: Just continuing to reestablish that game rhythm and the pace that you have to play games in. After playing Friday night in Salt Lake City and then coming back and opening up last night, not that you lose your focus or desire to play hard or to do things properly, but there's a certain timing and rhythm.
Especially once you change opponents and you have a break, learning strengths and weaknesses of the guys you are matching up against and the strengths and weaknesses of the team overall, those are things that you have to kind of progress with as the series goes on.
So hopefully tomorrow we'll start the game better but we'll be even hungrier to get a win, understanding that we were fortunate to get the game last night even without a great effort and still had an ability to win the game.

Q. Parker in the first half, he really came out. But in the second half, what happened?
DEREK FISHER: I think we were collectively more aggressive in terms of stopping penetration. A lot of roll at the top of the floor that Ginobili was involved with late in the game. We were aggressive to make him pick up the basketball and made some passes to Duncan and there were some times when he was able to make a play.
But, you know, our chances are better if you have guys that don't do that for a living at the top of the floor, making the decisions.
So Tony and Manu, they've seen it all and they've done it all. And the better job we can do of stopping that penetration, it will give ourselves a better chance to me. That was the difference to me in the second half. More aggressive with the screen and roll and making them make plays to beat us.

Q. (Indiscernible).
DEREK FISHER: Not only did the big guy at the point and screen but also the three guys behind, behind the two guys at the top of the floor. Once that pass out is made, the ability for three guys to contain four for a second or two, rotate and get back in position, good defensive teams are able to do that.
A lot of people speak about Boston's defensive capabilities and the Spurs have been the best in the league for a long time. Phil always tells us, you have to have an ability to contract your defense, so to speak, and then expand it again. We did a better job of that in the second half last night.

Q. (Indiscernible) do you guys talk about how to get yourselves more involved in the game?
DEREK FISHER: At that point we were probably both so upset that we were both sitting here like, Oh, my God, I can't believe we're sitting down -- 8 minutes to go in the third quarter and we are sitting over here on the sideline.
As the quarter wore on and that group was that was out there to finish that fourth quarter, the energy in the game changed. There seemed to just be a different flow. Once we got in there supporting for those guys and cheering those guys on, we were able to step back and start talking to each other a little bit.
The biggest thing with Lamar and myself and even some of our other guys, we are not necessarily going to get a high volume of shots game in and game out. There are times when you have to be extremely efficient. You might only get six shots and you might make all six of them. There is other games you might get six or seven shots and only make one or two.
That's not really the biggest part of our contribution to this team. Lamar is our best rebounder. He is one of our most versatile players. We need him doing a little bit of everything and same for me.
If my shots aren't going in or if they are going in, really my ability to defend, to help stop dribble penetrations, get some steals, take some charges, those are the things that add up. We are able to do some of that once we get back in there and finally make a shot or two.

Q. Do you have concerns about falling behind by 20?
DEREK FISHER: I mean, not concerned in a way that I feel like we are going to do that again but concerned that we can't live that way. We can't expect to come back and win a game every time you put yourself down by 20 points. Spurs are not a team that -- they don't play at a pace that allows you to always work yourself back into a game. You play against Denver, Phoenix, Golden State, some of the teams that play at those higher paces, you are going to have more shot possessions, more shot opportunities. Maybe you can get back into a game on a regular basis against those teams.
But against the Spurs, once you get behind, it is difficult to come back against them. So we were fortunate last night. Think we understand now that's definitely not the recipe for success. We have to come out and play well right from the beginning.
Particularly at home, force the road team to play from behind.

Q. Do you need to try to get them to play at a faster pace to start the game tomorrow?
DEREK FISHER: Sometimes we play better at a faster pace. I think we have been able to find some success. Last night was an 80-point game and we figured out how to do it. We have to find our opportunities to run and we feel like we can run, take advantage of our athletes. In particular, when Lamar rebounds the ball, we want him to be that point forward to get the rebound and go and make a play. Particularly for himself. We don't mind Lamar being aggressive. It doesn't matter whether he is making or missing. When he is aggressive, good things happen.
So we will find opportunities to try to pick up the pace of the game. But, you know, the Spurs are good in transition as well. Tony Parker has the ability by himself to make the transition team and Ginobili's ability to finish in transition along with their good corner three-point shooting on the break. We are not going to fall in love with just running up and down the court, but we want pick our spots.

Q. Being away and coming back, what's the biggest change you have seen from Kobe since you've been back?
DEREK FISHER: I think he's just continued to mature and grow. Like many of us in this league, you -- every year is a learning process. You learn more about ourselves and the team and the game. He seems to have an even greater understanding of when and how he needs to could what he needs to do.
I wasn't that worried about him at halftime last night because I knew he was assessing the situation, you know. And he has that ability. I don't know if there is anybody else that can do what he does. He can take an entire half and read defenses, read how he's being played. Read how the rest of us are being played and basically catalog that information and then come out in the second half and do the complete opposite but be successful in doing it.
So I think his understanding how to do that type of thing has grown a great deal in the three years.

Q. Do you think that -- is there any residual effect for either time with you guys winning?
DEREK FISHER: I think for me personally and my experience, those are the type of wins that, you know, at least for the men will put a little hair on your chest.
It is not easy to do that. And when you are able to do something that is not easy to do, didn't come easy to you, you had to work as hard as you ever worked to do it, there is an appreciation, there is a confidence to come in our overall ability to win. You won in the best of circumstances and you find the way to win in the worst of circumstances. We did that last night.
So to me, that means there really aren't any excuses for ever losing a game. Why ever think that you have to lose? You won a game being down 20. We have won play-off games on the road. We have been great at home. So we just need to continue to focus on ourselves and do what we do best. The opponent at times doesn't matter, but being who you are and being as efficient as you can be, that's the most important thing. Hopefully last night's win proves to ourselves, not really to the rest of everyone, but really to ourselves that we can be the best. We can win a championship. There is no need to feel like we have to wait our turn. Our turn is now.

End of FastScripts

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