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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PISTONS v CELTICSMay 30, 2008Doc RiversDETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Six Q. Just talk about your day, anything particularly you do, try to relax, try to get away or try to study? COACH DOC RIVERS: I do a little bit of all of it. No different than any other day, really. You watch film, you prepare your notes for the game, and that's about it, just relax. Q. Talk about the excitement of being this close. COACH DOC RIVERS: Don't think about it a lot, honestly. Everyone else does for you. My focus is on the process for me as a coach and more importantly for the players to -- you can't start looking at results, and that's where you get caught. We just have to keep focusing on the process and the journey and let everything else take care of itself. Q. You guys have played very close to a quarter of a season now. When you look at your guys, how do you feel they're responding to just the grind? COACH DOC RIVERS: I feel they look great. I mean, I haven't heard anyone talking about fatigue or anything like that. You know, during the playoffs you don't practice as much. You know, you do more prep stuff as far as walk-throughs, so you don't have that grind on your body. I think they're fine. This every-other-day routine has been good, very good for us, good flow for us, so no, I don't think it's been a problem at all. Q. I know you focus on process, but with the West already decided and the Lakers now being able to rest, is there any extra urgency to getting this done so you, too, can rest? COACH DOC RIVERS: No, the urgency should be there anyway. It shouldn't have to -- it doesn't matter if they won or lost last night. That shouldn't affect how we're going to come out and play tonight. That has nothing to do with us. We have to get there, and that should be our only focus, just getting there. Q. When you've got a player like Rip who you know may not be at 100 percent, how, if at all, does that affect your preparation for this game? COACH DOC RIVERS: Not much at all. Our motto is if he steps on the floor, he's 100 percent, and that's how we're going to play. You know, and if he shows us something different, then maybe we will do something different. But as far as I'm concerned, if Rip gets an open shot, you'll be amazed how healthy he looks. That's the way we look at it; you're on the floor, you're fine. So we're just going to come out and play our game. We can't worry about them. Q. Last game Rondo played the whole second half. Are you concerned about having to do that again with the pressure that they're giving? COACH DOC RIVERS: Well, you know, the game will dictate it. Obviously I'd rather not, but if it warrants it, we'll do it and not worry about it. Physically he can handle it, there's no doubt about that. The key is that he was playing great and we need him to do that again, just stay aggressive. He was concerned about the missed shots. He was looking at, I took all the shots and didn't make shots, and I was thrilled that he was getting to the basket and attacking. Obviously you would love some of those lay-ups to go in, but to me the fact that he was getting to the basket and allowing our guys to do things, and that's what I kept telling him, half your misses were rebounded by Perk for an offensive rebound. And we just need you to keep attacking. That's important for us. So I don't worry about Rondo. If the game dictates him playing 48 minutes, we will. Q. What about the other side, Sam and Eddie? COACH DOC RIVERS: We'll see. We'll see when the game starts. Both of them could have an impact in the night, either one of the two, and again, the game will dictate that. Q. Along those same lines, you guys have faced different degrees of ball pressure. How come the Pistons' trap has been pretty effective? COACH DOC RIVERS: It really hasn't been the trap as much as Lindsey Hunter. He's been very effective. And we've faced it all year, you're right. But honestly, I think both times we've had a lead, and one was a Game 5, one was going to be our first road win in the playoffs, and I thought we went to trying to run the clock out instead of playing the game. You can show them it on film, which we've done, and all the openings but when a team traps us we should score every time. For three quarters if you trap us, we have the mentality to attack the trap. That's the same mentality we should have in the fourth quarter, and so far in two games we haven't, and we have to have that mentality. Q. Can you talk about the growth of Kendrick Perkins and just the amount of work he's put in over the past couple years. COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, even going back to my first year, when you look at where he's at now to then, you know, a lot of it is mental growth as far as I'm concerned. You know, and we talk about it a lot with young players. I think they want to have a role sometimes for themselves that maybe you as a coach and a staff don't see, and it takes a year or two to talk them into their role and what's good for them in the long run. You remember in the second half of last year I really thought his growth started. He started seeing himself as what he is; he can be a great rebounder, role player, an opportunity scorer, a great defender. And he started giving up those dreams of being that 30-point-a-night offensive player. And I thought that really helped him. And then bringing in Kevin, that really helped. He wasn't going to get it as much, or at all at times, and he was able to prosper into the role that he's in. The last three games, the last game was tremendous, but the last three games I think he's played as well as he's played all year, and I think that's the reason. Q. And as far as just being on a young team last year, is it easier to find your role, again, like you said with Kevin alongside of him and established stars in the lineup? COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, the more veterans you have it's easier to find your role and it's easier to accept your role. I think that's more than finding it is accepting it. I think it's easy when your team has a chance to be really good, and this is the role we need you to play for the team to win. I think it's easier to sell when you have a better team. When you have a bad team, it's very difficult to sell a role because the guy is thinking, why can't I have that role, it's not like we're winning. So it's more difficult. So clearly it's easy. Q. You shortened your bigs' rotation the last game. Is that something that you're following through on, or was that a one-game situation? COACH DOC RIVERS: Again, the game will dictate it. We talked about that extensively before the game, and I basically told them, I didn't tell our team that, but I told our staff that's what I thought we needed to do. We might do it again tonight. We'll see. End of FastScripts |
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