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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PISTONS v CELTICS

May 30, 2008

Doc Rivers

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Six

Q. Can you just talk about being down ten, what were you thinking and how you were able to come back?
COACH DOC RIVERS: We talked about before the game that this was going to be the toughest win of the year, that there may be a time that we're going to be down, and we couldn't worry about being down. We couldn't worry about where we're at, and we just have to keep playing through it.
And I thought we did that. I thought we lost our composure a little bit there for a second on the Paul play, but we gathered ourselves, used the one time-out that I thought -- didn't have anything to say as far as X-and-O-wise, it was just we're okay, we're going to win this game one basket at a time, get it to six. If we get it to six, we'll win the game. That's basically all I did in the time-out.
But there were so many great plays by all the guys. I mean, James Posey defensively was phenomenal and Rajon made a big shot for us. We basically ran one play the last seven minutes of the game, and that's unusual for us. My thinking was they were the most comfortable in that play. So to me, when there's a lot of pressure, put them in something they're comfortable in, and they executed the heck out of it.
I was just really proud of ourselves for fighting back and keeping their emotions. I guess if you're going to go to The Finals, I don't know if you could script a better way than the way we're going.

Q. One thing Flip said was that you guys have basically taken everybody's best shot this year, and that's why you're going to be there.
COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, it's been interesting because we haven't done anything, yet everybody was targeting us. You know, hell, maybe it's you guys' fault. You've been putting our guys on TV and the Big Three and all this stuff. But it's been amazing that way.
But we said it early in the year. I thought it was very helpful for us to be a target. You know, every night -- and Flip is right, every night teams, they gave us their best shot during the regular season. They've done it during the playoffs, and I think for us it was probably the best thing because now we can say we have gone through some stuff and we're still standing.

Q. You mentioned Rajon made that big shot. Could you just discuss his growth as an offensive player?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, you know, it comes down to work and confidence. All I told him at halftime is to stop settling for the three and stop thinking that you've got to get to the paint and make some crazy shot. I said, you've worked on your in-between jump shot all year, all year, all summer, and take it, use it. That's what I said when they called a time-out to him, when he walked by, I just yelled "in-between shot." To me it's a great shot for him. He has the speed to get away. He did that, he put the ball on the floor, one dribble, bam, makes the shot, and it was great for him. I just thought the world of it, because he had just missed a shot, and I thought the world -- that was just phenomenal for him and for the team.

Q. Kevin and Paul spoke very eloquently on the specter of the Celtics playing the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
COACH DOC RIVERS: I can't speak that eloquently, but I'll try.
It's going to be fantastic. When we played them in LA earlier in the year, I thought the atmosphere was nuts in LA, and I told the guys after the game, boy, it would be great if we could see them again, and the only way we could have seen them again would be The Finals. That's the way it should be to me as far as I'm concerned.
The Lakers won the west, they were the best team; we won the east, we were the best team, and now we get to play each other. And the history takes care of itself, just on the basketball part. I think the right two teams are playing each other.

Q. In tonight's game were you at all surprised after Garnett picked up the fifth foul and the Pistons were still in the game at that point and close, that the Pistons didn't go after him?
COACH DOC RIVERS: I thought they did. We switched Perk on Rasheed because they realized that, as well. That's, again, the little things that win games for you. Perk did a tremendous job, and that's what we did. We knew they were going to go down to Rasheed and that was their go-to guy down the stretch. Kevin picked his fifth foul up guarding him, so we just switched Perk on Rasheed and put Kevin on McDyess, who's more of a jump shooter, and that kept him out of foul trouble. So I thought they actually did try to do that, but I thought we did a good job of hiding Kevin. We haven't had to do that before, but we had to tonight.

Q. I know you've been asked this a many times, but a year and a half ago, there were fans chanting at the Garden that you should be fired. As recently at the beginning of this postseason people said you couldn't get out of the first round. What does this mean to you now personally?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Not much. I mean, it obviously means a lot that we're going to The Finals. But for me it's just -- I'm doing my job. I was never going to allow anybody to talk me out of that. I didn't change. I've always done what I thought is best for each individual team that I've coached, and no one has ever been allowed or able to talk me out of doing what I do.
So obviously you would love everyone to love you; that's not going to happen. But we have enough fans out there that support us, and I thought during the tough stretch, on the street, there were a lot of people that came up to me and just wished me luck, and those are the guys that I will remember and I keep with me. Those are far more important than any of the other people.

Q. Kevin and Paul were in here talking about the way the two of them and Ray, the three of them, gelled together. It can go either way when you bring a bunch of stars together. How did you see that pay off in these playoffs to get to The Finals?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Well, I just thought it was really important to get them to understand that to win the title or to have a chance at it, that they had to forget their pasts. It didn't matter that they were great, it didn't matter what they've done, and we talked about it a long time, that it's going to take forgetting all the stuff. I don't want to hear about the history of what you've done. You have to give yourself to this team and you have to trust my system, and some of it may not fit what you do, but it's going to be good for the team. If we have an agenda-less team, we have a chance, and if we don't, and I was honest with them, we have no chance. I gave them the names of other guys that always said they want to win but on their terms, and I said, they won't work. I don't care how good you are, it just can't work. That's not how teams work. It was them. I mean, they were fantastic. They from day one gave themselves to the team.

Q. How did you see the three of them through this series to get to The Finals?
COACH DOC RIVERS: I thought the whole year and as the playoffs group, I thought what happened to Ray in the long run was fantastic. He had to fight through things, you know, things wasn't going well for him, and the players and the team just kept trusting him. So for all them -- I'm happy for everybody, but what Ray went through in these playoffs and then to start coming up big the last few games, it's a great example of hanging in there and taking the punches and still going forward. I think he's the example of that right now.

Q. Just talk about your emotions, hugging Paul after the game and just what was going through your mind as you left the floor.
COACH DOC RIVERS: Well, the first thing I was thinking is what Tony said is, I'm glad they stuck with us. That's what Paul said. He said, he loved me, and then he said, "Thank you for sticking with me," and I was thinking, "me with you, I was thinking the other way around." It meant a lot, obviously, but we're going to enjoy this for about 24 hours, at least they are. We're going to get to work, the coaching staff, in the morning.
But then we're not done. We want to be here, and we're at the exact spot that we thought we would be, but we have some more playing to do.

Q. When you signed Pose, you knew he was a guy who had Finals experience, he had a ring, but are you now seeing tonight as maybe a good example?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, I mean, the whole year -- hell, I knew I liked him. I wanted him on the team. He'll tell you stories about when he was about to sign I think with the Nets and we just were having a coaching retreat, me and Tibs and Armond and all my coaches, and Danny called me and told me Pose was about to sign with the Nets, and I told Danny to give me his number. I wouldn't let him off the phone. I talked to him for a long time, then I put Tibs on and I put Armond on, and I told each of them what to say, and then they put him back on, and by the end of the conversation you could tell he was wavering. Then I called Danny and Danny closed the deal. But I still at that point didn't know -- I didn't know he was going to give us this much. Defensively, making big shots, hell, he guarded Chauncey for the last five minutes of the game. He's just the ultimate, in baseball terms, utility player.

Q. You've been here a little bit, Paul has been here a long while. Can you talk about what this is like for him. And also just the way he came out in the fourth quarter saying, hey, we're this close to The Finals, we're going to get there?
COACH DOC RIVERS: You know, for Paul I'm just -- before I got there, I mean, he's been through so much, on and off the floor. I think we were talking about this, the fact that he stayed. In the times when all the stars, when their team gets bad, they want to bail, they want to get traded, Paul re-upped. He stayed with us. To me that means a lot, and I said that when he did it. So he deserves this, he really does.

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