|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NBA FINALS: LAKERS v CELTICSJune 15, 2008Pau GasolLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Five Q. Pau, what got into you specifically tonight, the 19 points, 13 boards and one primal screen early in the first half after a dunk. PAU GASOL: It was needed tonight. It was required for us to give our very best effort and intensity and aggressiveness tonight to be able to bounce back from that loss the other night. And it was -- as painful as it was, I think this win definitely helped us to build our confidence back up. I know I didn't want to see the Celtics celebrating in my home floor with Champaign and all that crap. I definitely didn't want to see that. We played well. We didn't play our best game, but we played our hearts out. We played really hard, and I'm proud of our team tonight. Q. Do you guys talk about the fact that there's a million statistics as to how hard it is to come back from 3-1 and how nobody has ever done it in The Finals, but if you win two games, you win the whole thing. Do you allow yourselves to think about that? PAU GASOL: We know obviously that we're two wins away from winning a championship, but we also know that without the first one, we're not going to get to the second one. So we focus tremendously on Game 6 because it's going to be super-hard to be able to get that one. And we definitely want to give ourselves a chance to get to Game 7. So we'll see, we'll see. We'll see how we come out and how we're able to play for 48 minutes in Boston, which is not going to be easy at all. But we are confident that we can get it done. Q. Did you feel like you guys were able to be more physical throughout the game without Perkins in the lineup? PAU GASOL: We tried to be physical with or without him. Obviously he's a bigger presence than the other guys. But we try to be physical. We try to challenge them as much as they challenge us, and obviously Lamar and me, we try to do as good of a job as we can because it's not easy, but we try to be physical, we try to protect our paint, make sure we control the boards and stuff like that. I don't know if Perk is going to play the next game or not, but whether he plays or not, we're going to try to be really physical and make sure we give it our best shot. Q. Do you think they felt his loss out there, though, his lack of presence? PAU GASOL: They probably do, they probably do. They were forced to go into a smaller line-up, which sometimes is good and it could be helpful to their team, but I think having a bigger body there is a positive thing, and Perkins has been playing well for them all playoff long, so I guess they did miss him. Q. Are you more comfortable with the match-up against Kevin Garnett as the series goes along? Is it getting tougher? Is it getting easier for you? PAU GASOL: It's always tough. I'm getting more used to what he does out there and the pace of the game and facing him up. The first couple games I was still a little bit trying to figure it out, what kind of looks I was going to have to defend and stop. So definitely I feel more comfortable now and more used to everything that is going on out there so I can be more effective guarding him and, you know, seeing what he does. I definitely feel better. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|