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NBA FINALS: LAKERS v CELTICSJune 7, 2008Derek FisherBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day Q. What was it like in your first NBA Finals? DEREK FISHER: I mean, it's an exciting feeling. I mean, you work your entire life to be here in terms of becoming a professional basketball player, and to get to this point and be a part of a team that has this kind of opportunity, I think no matter the age, it's a special feeling that's associated with being in the NBA Finals. Q. Talk about Kobe's shooting performance. DEREK FISHER: You pride yourself in performing well, but if the team doesn't win the game, in one sense it's all for naught. A lot of people speak about guys and individually how they're playing, and a lot of times it overshadows the results of the team. Sometimes it's irrelevant how one guy is shooting the ball or what his percentages are and all those things. It just really matters who won and who lost the game. The Celtics won the game, and there's not as much talk about who shot the ball like what. We lost the game, so then Kobe shot the ball 9-for-26. That's just how it is. Had we won the game, his 9-for-26 would be basically irrelevant and we'd be talking about other things. But that just kind of comes with the territory. Q. Are you tired of answering questions and are ready to move on to Game 2 already? DEREK FISHER: Well, it happens. A part of this process is much more of an interaction with the media, and not just local media but media across the nation and all over the world. I think at times you can let it kind of get to you, but you just have to be able to take a step back and realize that a lot of this is what has helped grow our game to what it is today and the fact that we're growing in popularity in the entire world, and that's a great feeling, to know the NBA is becoming more of a world championship than it's ever been before. Q. Is Ray Allen playing harder on defense than when you played against him in the Western Conference? DEREK FISHER: I can't say he's playing defense harder. I think he always gave a good effort defensively. I think defensively this team is a lot better than teams we've played in the past in terms of their defensive philosophies and the activities of some of the other guys on the defensive end. Whenever you have five guys that are connected and playing good team defense, it makes individuals look even better than what they are. In our game today there isn't really any one player that can play great defense by himself and stop a guy from scoring. It really takes five guys out on the court all working together, and I think the Celtics have been the best all season in terms of playing team defense. Q. Is that something you discussed these past couple days? DEREK FISHER: Yeah, I mean, I think we addressed this somewhat, but it's a conscious decision that individuals have to make, rebounding, loose balls, defense, playing as a team, being selfless. Those are things that other people can say to you, but unless you consciously make a decision to step into those things, it's hard to do. So it's important for all of us to continue to realize that it's not just our field goal percentages or those things that are going to determine us winning games in this series. It's going to be the little things that often times don't show up on the stats sheet. End of FastScripts |
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