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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SPURS v LAKERSMay 27, 2008Phil JacksonSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Game Four COACH JACKSON: Well, that was an interesting conclusion to a game that I felt we had played really well. Not managed the clock well at the end of the quarter -- at the end of the game and almost suffered the consequences for it. I thought we were active tonight, we were aggressive out there rebounding, you know, attacking the basket. It was a much better demonstration. Defensively, you know, so-so I thought on some of the players. Obviously Barry off the bench carried them, gave them a big boost tonight in replace of Manu who didn't have a good game. But, there are obviously some things we have to learn as a young ball club that we didn't execute well. Q. Coach, you challenged Lamar and Pau, I think, to some degree yesterday at practice. Can you describe the manner in which you thought they responded tonight? COACH JACKSON: Well, I thought they both played relatively well. I thought Pau didn't -- wasn't aggressive offensively in the second half. I thought he relaxed, he didn't -- he got a shot I think is all he had in the second half. But, you know, he was active defensively. I thought he was active on the boards, and those things helped us a lot. Q. Sometimes a coach's best friend getting a noncall at the end of the game, it appeared that Fisher -- COACH JACKSON: Bumped him? Yeah, it bumped him. You know, games will go like that. I'm positive Fisher's shot hit the rim. That ball should have been ours with a new 24-second clock. The game shouldn't have come down to that situation. It should have been our ball with them having to foul us at the end of the game to get the ball back rather than us having to take a tough shot. They don't have a replay on that kind of stuff. So they have to rely on the 24-second clock operator and their own best judgment. From our angle, the ball changed direction and that ball went out of bounds off them and should have been returned to us with the 24-second. Not withstanding the fact that Fish did bump him, I thought, and it was a noncall. Q. It seemed like tonight even though Kobe's shooting percentage wasn't that great, every time the game was tied or you had momentum, it is almost like he won't let the team lose. It seems to take over in those situations. COACH JACKSON: He was very aggressive, too aggressive. I talked to him at a time-out and said you gotta let the game come him a little bit. He was trying to get to the foul line. As you guys know, he didn't get to the foul line tonight. That doesn't happen in a basketball game. It is impossible to take 29 shots and not be fouled, but tonight was one of those exceptions, I guess. Q. Some of your young players made mistakes. Kobe took the ball in with 28 seconds to go. COACH JACKSON: Yes. Q. I'm sure you weren't too crazy about that. COACH JACKSON: That transition, he thought he had a direct line to the basket. And that set up a situation that was very -- put us in jeopardy in the ball game. We talked about the play before that not being a great play, and then we doubled it up with that one. As a consequence, we -- we almost lost the game because of it. Q. Did you put considerable weight on them never getting a lead despite tying it a number of times? COACH JACKSON: It was one of those ball games. I told them at the end of the ball game, their energy was terrific. Coming out and responding to a loss and getting a lead, 12 points, whatever we had as a lead out there in the ball game, and playing with that kind of energy, I think, carried us over and we responded every time that they came in, tied the ball game. Most of it was Kobe responding to it. Q. Your team's pretty young most of the way through, hasn't been a position like this to close out to get to the finals. How are you feeling about their mind-set, composure at this point? COACH JACKSON: They certainly can't rely on home court. You know, they will have to go out and play a ball game. We're back at it in less than 48 hours from this time. It is very important that we come out there and play a similar type of game that we played tonight, with the kind of energy that we had and, you know, the kind of board and rebounding and possession -- ball possession. That will win the ball game for us. End of FastScripts |
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