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NBA FINALS: LAKERS v CELTICSJune 8, 2008PJ BrownLeon PoweBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game Two Q. Leon, you had a great game in this home crowd, in Boston. How much does it mean to be able to have the experience in front of your own home crowd in California? LEON POWE: You know, it would be great, but our job is to go out there and take it one game at a time, and you know, not try to get too carried away. But if I get out there, I want to have a good game but also just want to help my team doing the things in the flow of the offense, not trying to have a good game on my own, doing too much. Q. Leon, we were talking yesterday about sometimes in the postseason your minutes have really kind of fluctuated not really knowing when they were going to be there. Was today a matter of knowing you were going to get a shot with Kendrick's situation and you had to produce right away? LEON POWE: I just know Coach called my number. He put me in the game and he called a couple post-ups for me and I knew I had to deliver. I was just trying to help my team win. My teammates did a real good job of finding me in good spots in good areas where I could finish easier, don't have to make too many moves. Q. Doc has been talking a lot about the need to post-up, to get some stuff inside. How available was that for you when you got in there? LEON POWE: It was pretty open. You know, they weren't really trying to front me or deny me anything. If they wanted to post me up, they could just go straight in like they did. It was my job to make something happy. But like I said, my teammates, they delivered the ball real well to me and in the right spots, and fortunately a couple shots went down for me. Q. Leon, could you hear the crowd chanting your name during those free throws during the fourth quarter? And what was that like in the NBA Finals for you? LEON POWE: I was just happy to get in the game and just happy to be a part of this whole experience, because it's been a long journey for me. And just to be able to get in the game and contribute, whether it's on the defensive end or the offensive end, it don't matter to me, and just go out there and try to play hard, 110 percent every time. Q. Just to follow up on that, Phil Jackson was in here, he mispronounced your name at first. I know you've gotten that a decent amount. LEON POWE: What did he call me, Pow? That's what my teachers call me sometimes and I let them get away with it. Q. What do you think that so many people here now do know your name now? LEON POWE: It doesn't really matter to me. I've got a job to do for this team, and like I said, whenever Doc calls on me, it's my job to go out there and produce, be a constant professional. Even if he doesn't call on me that day, get in the gym and see what's going on out there on the floor. I'm not worried about people not pronouncing my name right. I ain't tripping off that. Q. Were you surprised with how easy you were able to dribble coast to coast and get that dunk there? And PJ, you seem to have taken Leon under your wing more than maybe other guys this year. Are you kind of proud seeing him up here at the podium after a moment like that? PJ BROWN: I was very excited for him. Leon's minutes fluctuated a lot during the playoffs and there's been some DNPs he's got, but he's always prepared. He's a consummate professional, and to see him have the type of game he had tonight, I was definitely happy for him and was just flying high with him. It was a game of all games, and it will be a game to remember. He deserves it. He's a good man, and I'm sure he's got a few more left in him. LEON POWE: As far as on that coast to coast, Doc just told us, if they pressure us, just get it, just be aggressive with it. Make a decision but be aggressive with it because you don't want them to keep pressuring you every time. What I seen was a lane and I thought I could get there, and fortunately for me, I got there. Q. What's it like for you not playing the first part of the year, and then to come in and not just be in The Finals but to be a big weapon in The Finals, getting a lot of big minutes, scoring some big baskets, what's that like for you? PJ BROWN: It's been unbelievable, an unbelievable experience. I can't really explain it. Like I said, three, four months ago, I was about as close to being out of this league and shutting the door for good, and now I'm in the NBA Finals, a dream that I've had since a kid, a dream since I was drafted in 1992, and to be able to come out and contribute on this level and be effective, it means a lot. It means even more for my teammates to support me and encourage me, and they just give me so much love on this team, and I just want to go out and give them all I can. These guys have built something special here throughout the year, and I missed most of it, but I'm just trying to make up for it in the short period of time that I've been here. Q. Leon, you're out of Oakland, California. There's been quite a few good NBA basketball players out of Oakland. I just wondered if you would rank your top three or four players out of Oakland, NBA or non-NBA if you know that other story, too. LEON POWE: I ain't going to do that because I know a lot of people. I know G.P. and Jason Kidd, and I know from the street legends, Hook Mitchell, but I ain't going to rank everybody. I'm going to keep it cool. Q. What do you know about Hook Mitchell and the legend of Hook Mitchell from Oakland? LEON POWE: That's like I used to talk to Hook every day, and I still talk to him from time to time. My brother, he talks to him a lot more than me. But as far as I know, I know he used to be able to jump over cars, be able to do all type of crazy stuff in the air? Q. Like Kobe? LEON POWE: Kind of like Kobe (laughter). But I've never seen him play, but he was a good street legend. Q. Before the series started, everybody was picking LA and talked about LA's bench being better. Doc mentioned that you guys took that personal. Was that motivation for you guys? PJ BROWN: I didn't really think about it. You heard it all across the news and the media saying that they had a better bench, but you've just got to go out there and play the game. People are going to make predictions and stuff like that, and I didn't hear Leon say much about it and I didn't talk much about it. We were just going to go out there and do what we know we can do, and that's what we did tonight. End of FastScripts |
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