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NBA FINALS: LAKERS v CELTICS

June 8, 2008

Doc Rivers

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game Two

Q. Doc, is Perk a go?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Don't know yet. Paul obviously is fine and Perk we're just going to wait and see. We're not trying to play any games here, we're just going to let him warm up, and he's going to tell us game time whether he can go or not.

Q. He was saying in there that he was going to go.
COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, and I think he will, I mean, obviously. Honestly, to the point I didn't ask Eddie, but I'm still -- we have plan B just in case.

Q. What's plan B?
COACH DOC RIVERS: It's a secret (laughter).

Q. Can you just talk about PJ. Obviously I guess he would be plan B, and has he surpassed your expectations of what he's given to this team?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, I guess he has. I don't know if I had expectations because, you know, of his age, of the fact that he was in New Orleans at home. I mean, when we were getting him, I didn't know what we were getting. The way we looked at it when we decided to go after him and he decided to come, was worst-case scenario that we were adding a quality guy in our locker room. You know, as far as the basketball part of it, I mean, I didn't know. I don't think anyone knew what he could give us.
I did say right away after the first couple days I was very surprised at his condition; he was in great shape. Obviously our defensive system, he's played under Pat Riley, and you can see that he had picked it up in some ways better than some of the guys who had been here all year. So that made us feel better, as well.

Q. And what have you thought of the way he's played in the playoffs?
COACH DOC RIVERS: He's played like a veteran, you know, and I think that's probably the secret. He's been through them before, and that's how he's playing.

Q. If Paul and Kendrick are both a little less than 100 percent, which I guess would be expected, what does it do to you defensively given it's about a team defensive approach?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Well, the team defense doesn't change. The individual defense would be a concern with both. It's a tough matchup to start with with Perk on Gasol with his quickness, and our team defense starts with individual defense, and if guys are getting beat off first dribble, it's very difficult for us to support and help. So that would be a concern. And the same thing with Paul, obviously.
But as far as our team defense and our positioning, that doesn't change at all. But I would watch that closely.

Q. In terms of watching it closely, how short is the leash, particularly on Perkins? If he says he can go at game time, you throw him in there to start, how short is the leash?
COACH DOC RIVERS: I'm going to give him a chance, obviously. I think we just wait and see and watch. You know, the tough thing about this game is he could actually be healthy sometimes, or any of them, and get beat off the dribble, and the key is you don't overreact to it. And so, you know, it's going to just be with eyes and feel with both guys.

Q. Is it fair to say if you see Paul aggressive early, meaning him driving to the basket, that should hold everything off, that the knee is fine?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, I think he will be. Again, I'm not that concerned about Paul. I really am not. He played one-on-one this morning and he looked good, so he's not a concern to me much at all. I think he'll be fine tonight.

Q. Settling for jump shots --
COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, well, that's overall our whole team. If we're all settling for jump shots, then we're probably going to have to have a talk.

Q. Is there anything you can tell us about Paul's treatment? I guess there was a radio report that he was supposed to take a cortisone shot and saw the needle and decided against it?
COACH DOC RIVERS: No, I can't tell you any of that (laughing) because I don't know. I literally stay out of the training room. I'm a coach, and so -- you know what I'm saying? I've done it since I've been here. I never go. I try not to even walk through that place because I just think I let Eddie do his job and I let the players and Eddie decide on health, and I try to stay out of it.
I haven't heard that. That would be his call, I can tell you that. It's always a player's call on whether they want to take a shot or not.

Q. Given the success you've had against Kobe, is there any extra concern he comes out early in attack mode trying to get himself off? Do you have to guard against that?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Well, we have to guard against it, there's no doubt. There's concern every time you play any team that Kobe is on of that. He's a great player. You know, again, he did miss some shots that he's capable of making, we understand that. So yeah, I mean, absolutely. I wouldn't be surprised to see him start out aggressive. But we can do nothing about that; we're going to play our same defense.

Q. Is there any advantage to a team like yours where maybe he gets their offense out of control by trying to shoot too much in the beginning?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Unless he's making them (laughter). If he's making them it's to their advantage. If he's not and it does take him out of the flow, then it's obviously to our advantage. I don't think he plays that way that much even when he's aggressive. I think even when he's aggressive for the most part, he does it through the flow of the triangle. I don't think we're going to see that.

Q. If Kendrick or Paul Pierce are ineffective, how do you support your guys but yet ask them not to play outside of their role?
COACH DOC RIVERS: It's a great question because that's the tendency, and you know that having played, that when the others see one of their main scorers get out of the flow -- Perk I'm not as worried about offensively, but Paul you are, and if he's not effective, then the tendency is, for especially like Ray and Kevin, to try to force the issue. We talk about it all the time. It's just we don't want anyone forcing the issue. We want them making the right play.
And I think our other guys are capable if our two offensive guys left in that -- and do the right thing. But we have talked about it.

Q. But is it a situation where those are the two guys you would expect to pick up the scoring?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, you do. Well, you expect to play through them. Whether they score or not is another issue, but they can call scoring, if you know what I'm saying, and that's what we would have to do.

Q. You talked about getting the ball to Kevin in the post more. Can you expand on that and what kind of looks you hope to get out of that?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Well, you know, our numbers are staggering when we throw the ball to Kevin. That doesn't mean, again, just like I was saying that he scores, it means that we score. We tend to get away from that at times, and I think they think it looks like at times when we go pick-and-roll when he's popping, that counts as a Kevin Garnett touch. We don't count that as a touch. And so we were way under the number that he should have had it in the post in Game 1, and we have to do better.

Q. Is there a reason why you were under that number?
COACH DOC RIVERS: No, I just think we were getting good looks and we fell in love with the good looks, but I thought we could have gotten better looks if we were a little bit more patient.

Q. You have your numbers, are they broken down between Kevin getting the ball in the post and getting it on the perimeter?
COACH DOC RIVERS: They're really just broken down to his post catches. You usually don't have to do the perimeter because if he only has eight or nine or 20, you know, then the other ones are clearly perimeter catches. We really just count that. Obviously I always count the amount of jump shots he takes.
Guys, he's a great jump shooter. We could make the case he's our best mid-range shooter, so he's good at both. But he's effective for him when he's shooting jumpers, for the team when he's on the post, and we want to get him both.

End of FastScripts

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