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NBA FINALS: LAKERS v CELTICSJune 14, 2008Derek FisherLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day Q. Yesterday Doc Rivers referred to Kobe as, A, the most criticized star, and B, the scariest to play against. Can you describe -- from your viewpoint, those two perspectives? DEREK FISHER: Okay, what was the first one? Q. Most criticized. DEREK FISHER: I mean, you know, he's received, I guess, obviously his fair share of critiques and criticisms over his career, and I think at times he's received a great deal of respect for what he's been able to accomplish in his career. You know, I do think that most players and I think most coaches would agree that he's the most talented individual, the most well-rounded, complete basketball player on the earth today probably. So I think that's probably what Doc refers to in terms of him being the scariest to play against is there are very few guys I think in our game today that could probably explode for a 30-point quarter or do something that uncommon compared to other guys in the league. Q. Today a practice did you sense any of the shock or stagnation that might have been present yesterday when everybody showed up? DEREK FISHER: No, just the typical not having much physical activity yesterday, just kind of waking the body up again, getting the legs going, getting the energy up. I think that was the tougher part for us today. But in terms of everyone's mentality, you know, I think guys are really just focused on the task at hand. I think it was maybe a little quieter than normal, but in my opinion it wasn't or isn't a bad thing. I think that guys were already getting themselves prepared for where they need to be mentally going into tomorrow. Q. You're a veteran this week. Do you think there can be a psychological turnaround tomorrow? DEREK FISHER: Yeah, I mean, I think in terms of turnaround, meaning from where we were -- or after losing the game how you feel psychologically, well, yeah. A loss is a loss, and there are certain ways that you lose games and certain things you do to contribute to losing a game as well as winning a game. But in a playoff situation and in particular in The Finals, you know, you don't get to this point without being able to then move past what you've already accomplished, and we let that game get away from us and the Celtics were able to take advantage of it, and they won the game. They beat us. But the reality is that we're still in the NBA Finals and we still have a great deal of control over what happens next. As far as I'm concerned, I like those odds. I would rather have the ability to have a say-so in what my future is as opposed to someone else controlling it, and I think we still have a great opportunity. Q. What surprised you most in these first four games? Is it just that you guys haven't really been able to push the tempo and really get the Celtics in a running game, or is it that the Celtics have really controlled the tempo throughout the first four games? DEREK FISHER: Surprising? I mean, obviously I'm surprised we're down 3-1. But in terms of the game itself, I'm not surprised that much. I mean, I think when you look at the ebbs and flows and the ups and downs of all four games, that's pretty typical of high level playoff basketball, like you very rarely see teams get dominated from tip to finish, and you already know who's going to win the game in the first quarter, in the second quarter. Those things very rarely happen at this time of the season. So I'm not surprised by the ups an downs and the turnarounds in scoring and those kinds of things. I think for me it's confirmed how small the margin is, or that line between winning and losing, which is cliché and a lot of people talk about it. But I think this series is a perfect example of how fine that line is between being the champion and not being the champion, and you know, as a young team and as a team that wants to be champions now as well as going forward, you know, we have to continue to raise our understanding of how every possession offensively and defensively, every loose ball, a lot of those little things, how important they are. Q. Players when they reach these sort of situations where you have to win three straight games for a championship always seem to draw upon positives to bring them to a mental place where they have that mindset that they can do it. What are you drawing upon as something to help you maybe get to that place? DEREK FISHER: You know, just the fact that in the playoffs you can only play one game at a time, you know, which is so different from the regular season where you might play Thursday, Friday, Sunday and not really have the opportunity to leave everything out on the floor and then recover and then get ready to do it again a couple days later, which is what the playoffs often times present for you. Sometimes it's difficult to stay right here as opposed to looking back or looking ahead, and at times it takes going through it to know how. But that's what I'm drawing upon is that all that we can control right now is the outcome of tomorrow's game. Q. Is there a previous series, though, that you can kind of say, wow, we were up against them, wow, we were down 3-2 and we were able to come back and I'm going to keep that in my head? DEREK FISHER: No, those were different teams at different times. For this particular season, I'm drawing upon the close of the regular season where we had to win out to finish in the top spot in the west. We had to play New Orleans and then we had to play the Spurs within a two-day situation, and how we were able to bring our game up to a level to beat two of the best teams in the west at the time to put ourselves in position to win the final game against the Kings in the regular season. So in terms of this particular team, I'm looking at that three-game set in terms of how we had to bring it one night and then the next night and then the next night in order to accomplish our goal of finishing No. 1 in the west. Q. You talked a lot about mentality and suffering that tough loss. What do you think the emotions are going to be when you guys tip it up? Can you play with anger? Do you need to play the same way? What do you think emotionally the team will play with tomorrow night? DEREK FISHER: You know, I think it'll vary individually for different guys. I think you'll see a lot of what we were able to do Thursday night in terms of executing and understanding much better compared to the first three games what we want to accomplish out on the floor. You know, I think what will happen, though, is as the game continues to progress and we meet those times in the game where we're challenged, you know, maybe we're ahead by eight or nine and they make a run, how do we respond to it. Maybe they go out and get ahead early; how do we respond to it? I think those will be the things to watch. I think in terms of our mentality, I think we have several guys that have been in situations before where they've been called upon to do their best, and guys have played high level international basketball, guys that have been in the Final Four, guys that have won championships. So I think we have a combination of guys on this team that understand when you have one game to win, you know, you go out and you have to play in a certain space, and hopefully we can do it tomorrow. Q. A quick follow. I know you go after loose balls. Do you fully expect everybody else on your team to leave their feet when you're down 3-1 and go after every single ball? DEREK FISHER: Yeah, I think you'll see guys playing as hard as they've played. I don't know in terms of overall effort that we've lacked. I think there have been times when we've been pushed around a little bit and times where they have beaten us to loose balls but not from lack of desire to be there. You know, I don't think you'll see just a bunch of crazed guys running all over Staples Center tomorrow in terms of not being able to function in the type of environment it'll be. If you get too high, you know, then you can't play with the fluidity and that calm that you need to be able to shoot shots and be efficient and be able to react on a split second. Q. This is a two-part question. There must be losses that really do rock your world, and when you guys played San Antonio you did almost the same exact thing to them from almost the same point, midway through the third quarter, and there did seem to be a carryover effect with them. Can you talk about how hard that game must have hit you, at least for the moment? The other part is, not to make you do this again, but since you're the Professional Basketball Writers Association Magic Johnson Award winner, if you could comment on getting that trophy. DEREK FISHER: First question, you know, I can't speak for what the actually went through in their locker room and what their mentality was. I mean, I know that the first game of the series we were down, we had to fight back. Second game we got it done. So it's hard for me to say how they were able to or not to handle us coming back and winning a game. You know, they've won too many times to let one loss then turn into two or three losses. I just think that we were able to do some things better than they were during that stretch. We were playing at a really, I think, high level. So obviously the loss hurt us because we know it was an opportunity to bring the series back even and turn it into a three-game series where the teams that win two out of the next three can get it done. But now having three games in front of us, it just changes the outlook. Even had we won the game, we still would be looking at tomorrow's game as a game that we have to win. So a lot hasn't changed really about tomorrow. Beyond that I don't think we're thinking much about 6 and 7. I think the only thing we're thinking right now is just win tomorrow's game and continue to give ourselves an opportunity to win a championship and see what happens. Commenting on receiving the Magic Johnson Award, I mean, anything where I'm compared to him is (laughing) the best award in the world, and that's probably the only place I could ever be compared to him. It's definitely humbling, you know, to think that I've been able to carve out, so to speak, the type of career that I have on the court. But to be able to carry the messages that my parents instilled in me a very long time ago, my mom and dad, about respecting other people, no matter who they are, where they're from, and carrying a certain amount of humility that is required at all times, to be recognized for basically being a human being and not being a supernatural athlete I think is a cool thing, and I'm very appreciative of receiving the award. Q. What are the biggest changes in Kobe from the first time you were here to now being back? Is he a different teammate, a better teammate? DEREK FISHER: Wow. Sounds like everybody is getting their what-happens-if-we-lose stories together, huh (laughter)? A lot of Kobe questions. No, I think that Kobe's -- his maturity just as a person away from basketball has impacted his play on the court as much as anything. When you see him interact with his two daughters and with his wife and you see the love and the care and the nurturing that he provides to them and for them, I think that's something that he's grown into over the years that has branched itself out into the other areas and relationships in his life. I think that a lot of times goes for all of us, where our work relationships and our personal relationships kind of start to intertwine. All the experiences we kind of put together to make up who we are. And I don't think it's any different for him. I think he's continued to understand how important it is to -- even when your little girl makes a mistake or does something she's not supposed to do or something you don't like, you still love her, you still support her, you still talk to her in a certain tone that lets her know that no matter what, you're there for her. The same goes for teammates. Not compared to children, the relationship is not the same, but in terms of skills and things that you can do in terms of respecting other people and respecting the fact that they have feelings, they have a heart, they have a life outside of yours, that it's important to respect that balance. I just think that he's gotten older, he's in the 30 club almost now, so he's teetering over the fence where you guys will start talking about how old he is here pretty soon, I just think he has a great understanding of who he is and what it takes to be the best. End of FastScripts |
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