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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MAGIC v CAVALIERS

May 30, 2009

Stan Van Gundy

ORLANDO, FLORIDA: Game Six

Magic - 103
Cavaliers - 90

COACH VAN GUNDY: I don't know what I'm supposed to say here. You are just going to have to ask questions.
I'm really, really, really proud of our guys and the way they -- the way they fought and the way they have fought all year.
I thought we played great tonight throughout the game. I'm really happy for my coaching staff as well as our players. They've just done a tremendous job in terms of preparation all year. That's where the real coaching comes from on our team, and I mean that. Those guys are great.
Really happy for our organization. I mean, I think it says everything you need to know about Otis Smith. He wouldn't even come out there and participate in the celebration. He just put together a great team and then stood to the back. I'm really happy for Rich DeVos, the entire DeVos family, Bob Vander Weide. They have done a tremendous job.
And I'm happy for my family and all the people that supported me. And I'm very happy for the people of Orlando and our fans who can enjoy this and keep it going. And on June 9th, I think it is -- be ready to make this place even crazier than it is today.

Q. I know that you go in, you really don't know how a team is going to react. Did you have any inkling that it was going to go the way it did and how well it did tonight?
COACH VAN GUNDY: I never have any -- you never know how it's going to go. I knew that our guys would come and play very hard and fight very hard. But, you know, a lot of things go into it. You just never know how guys are going to play. And when you are up against a great team like Cleveland, 66 wins, the MVP of the League, the coach of the year in the League, some other very, very good players, you know it is going to be very difficult.
So even if your team is ready to play, you don't know how the game is going to go. But we got off to a good start. We led, I believe, the whole way. Right? Led the whole way. And eventually got up 20. That part amazes me. I never would have thought the way the rest of this series has gone that in the fourth quarter either team would be up 20. But just very, very happy.

Q. Have you ever seen Dwight Howard play better than he has tonight?
COACH VAN GUNDY: There has got to be something after that, because I see him every day.
I have seen Dwight dominate like this, but this is a huge game, man. This is to get to the Finals. And he was incredible. And I thought he did a lot of great things today, but I thought that he protected the basket and defended and didn't worry about, you know, what was going to happen on calls.
And I thought the other thing he really, really did well today was run. And I thought that wore on them and wore on them. We got him easy catches in transition. And then we just rode him in the post to the fourth quarter. I think he was making good plays, scoring when they didn't double, making the pass out when they did double, making his free throws.
And what the post-up game allowed us to do was to just settle in. We could get back and defend them on the break and we could work the clock a little bit.
So I don't know what else he could have done today. He was fantastic. I gave him, you know -- so he could go hard, I gave him about 32 seconds' rest in the second half. They outscored us 5-0, and that was that. He was unbelievable today. And he was smiling, by the way, and, yet, was still able to play well. Imagine that.

Q. Can you expound on what you said out on the court there about how you guys kind of fought back all year and nobody really gave you a chance to get this far?
COACH VAN GUNDY: I think, Mike, you guys here, our own media, have seen it. I think people got excited about our start and then when Jameer went down, I think the expectations -- at the least, let's say, the expectations came way down. I don't think people thought we could be at this level. Our guys stepped up and Otis made a hell of a move. That move has not gotten the attention some of the other moves did.
But then I think even as it went along after that, we got down 2-1 to Philly and some people had doubts. Then we were going into Game 6 in Philly and Dwight's suspended and there are some doubters. And then more than ever, we end Game 5 in Boston terribly and go down 3-2, and I think everybody there, you know, was really down on us. Dwight said some things after the game, you know, everybody thought we were dead, Boston 32-0 and the whole thing.
So I think a lot of times -- then we go into the Cleveland series. And other than Charles Barkley, I don't think very many people thought we could win. And even the games we lost, we were very competitive and against a great team. This team has fought really, really hard.
Our reward is -- especially mine and my coaching staff's is you get to go from preparing for LeBron to preparing for Kobe. That will be a lot of fun, but I'm not doing that tonight.

Q. What kind of defensive schemes did you use? LeBron didn't have any points in the second quarter, which was a decisive quarter. The third quarter he had four, and that was at the end.
COACH VAN GUNDY: We didn't go to anything. We had plans, in fact.
It is sort of funny, because after what he did to us last game, we spent over half of our practice this morning on schemes for his isolations.
But we knew we weren't going to go to those until the fourth quarter, and we were hoping we wouldn't have to go to them until the last four, five minutes. Because if you're double teaming a guy, especially in the middle of the floor and especially a guy as great as LeBron and with the shooters they have on the floor, the more they see it, the more vulnerable you're going to be.
So we just kept waiting and waiting and waiting, and we never got to the point where we needed to do it. So we just stayed with our basic game plan that we have used the entire series. Today we were ready with some adjustments. I'm a little disappointed because you guys could have seen what a genius I was. And instead of all of our players getting the credit, I could have gotten it.
As it is, I don't deserve any of it. That's fine. I like it better like that. And we didn't have to go to anything.

Q. As well as LeBron played in this series, your team was able to offset all of his performances. Is this just a case that one guy can only do so much?
COACH VAN GUNDY: I don't know if it is a case that one guy can only do so much. I thought they had some other guys play well. I think they were a great defensive team. I think you got to realize that Game 6 was the only game -- I mean, this last game was the only one that was decisive. I mean, either team could have won Game 1. Either team could have won Game 2 obviously.
Game 3 we won by double figures. But, come on, you guys were here. With four minutes to go, that game is right there. We go -- Game 4 goes overtime. In Game 5, same thing. They ended up with a double-figure win, but we were ahead with five-something to go. And with four minutes to go, it is a one-point game.
So I'm glad to have the win. We did a great job, but so did they. You just turn a couple of plays in any of those games and the series could be totally different. That's what makes it great to watch, that's what makes it very stressful to coach. And that's the way the game's played.

Q. They came out in the beginning of the second half and had eight real quick points. You called a time-out with less than a minute to go in the half.
COACH VAN GUNDY: The last thing I said to them before we broke the huddle to start in the second half is we wanted them to call an early time-out. I think we missed the word "them." And I think our guys thought we wanted to call the early time-out. That's probably as quick a one as I've taken, 56 seconds. But it wasn't just that they hit some shots. We were out there, no energy. We jack up a couple of 3s. I wasn't -- I wasn't real pleased.
But after that, I mean, it's hard to argue with a whole lot after that. They made some big plays. We couldn't get any real distance, 11, 13, 14, 11. But they also didn't break through. We made enough plays. And then fourth quarter, we took over. Dwight did a hell of a job, and that was it.

Q. Your bunch hasn't shied away from talking about wanting to win a championship. You put pictures up in the RDV. You broke huddles with that word. Can you expound on that?
COACH VAN GUNDY: More than anything, you have to give credit to Otis for that. A lot of people even laugh at it. When I got here last year, I mean, you know, he sends you postcards with the trophy on it, stuff like that. I'm thinking the first time I got it, I'm thinking, 40 wins and got swept in the first round I got a championship trophy postcard.
But I mean that in a good way. I mean, Otis has never shied away from that. I don't think any of us have. Nobody's been afraid of the expectations. And our players have risen to that level. I mean, and in the long run I think Otis has put the team together and set the vision, and he deserves all the credit in the world.
And then our players, I mean, they're the ones that got to go out there and do it. There was nothing today. There was no -- no schemes, no adjustments, no coaching to speak of, and those guys just did one hell of a job to get this done.

End of FastScripts

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