	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MAGIC v CAVALIERS

May 28, 2009

Mike Brown

CLEVELAND, OHIO: Game Five

Cavaliers Â– 112
Magic - 102

COACH BROWN: I thought our guys played well throughout most of the game. It was great to see. We've been getting some great production from Ben off the bench. It was great to see Daniel step up tonight and hit some big shots. He hit some shots, some timely shots for us, which was terrific to see.
I thought Mo was good the entire game. His energy, his mental awareness was terrific, running the ball club the entire ball game.
I thought a key, especially in the second half, was our ability to keep our turnovers down. Throughout most of the series in the second half we've come out in the second half and turned the ball over, and I thought our guys did a nice job of taking care of the basketball, which was good to see. A term I used earlier with Mo, I got to apply that to the entire team. I thought our mental awareness was there, our focus was there prior to the game, during the game and especially down the stretch.
LeBron was huge for us. As you know, we didn't do anything tricky. We just gave him the ball right there at what we call the nail and say "get us some good looks, big fella," and he did it. He had a heck of a game. I didn't even realize had he a triple-double. He had a heck of a game with that triple-double.
That's what great players do. Great players put the team on their back and everybody steps up. When that ball comes to them -- but you have a great player like LeBron that makes plays, and that was great to see tonight.
He was making plays for us offensively, but as a team down the stretch our defense was pretty good. And that's what it has to continue to be. We have to continue to find ways to get stops down the stretch.

Q. Mike, in the fourth quarter specifically LeBron went to the foul line, the high post. Was that something that you guys saw in game films coming into this? Was that something that maybe one of the assistants said to you during the game, maybe we should get him there? Because he was literally posting up with his back to the basket and then attacking.
COACH BROWN: It is a play that we started running last game, and really it is something we haven't had -- had all year that we could go to if we wanted to go to it, because there are other options or other things that Mo and Bron can do.
We just felt that that would be open with the way that they were trying to double team LeBron. It just gave him an opportunity to make plays minus a double team. And if they chose to double, then he was going to pass the ball. And we just had to have guys on the perimeter make wide-open shots, because it is tough to double him right there, or whoever our big is -- whoever our big was in at the time. He just got to be ready to catch and dunk if Dwight steps up too high on LeBron.
So, you know, it is something in our package that we went to some in the last game, obviously more this game.

Q. Coach Brown, you guys hadn't shot the 3 ball in the first four games. You guys shot 50 percent tonight. How big was that for you tonight for your guys' win?
COACH BROWN: How are you doing?

Q. How are you doing?
COACH BROWN: I'm doing good. Thank you.
It was huge for us tonight. With the way that they're going to pay attention to LeBron, you know, guys are going to get some good looks. We just got to step in and we got to shoot them with confidence.
We have confidence in one another. We trust one another. And when have you a guy that's as great a player as LeBron that has the type of trust and confidence that he has in the rest of his teammates, you are going to get some looks because he is going to find you. And Mo and Gib did a terrific job of stepping up and knocking down that three-ball tonight.

Q. In the fourth quarter we saw LeBron playing a lot more on Turkoglu. Is that something that you might use more in Game 6?
COACH BROWN: We may. Delonte, we thought, did a solid job on him in the first half, and he has done a solid job on him throughout most of the series.
Delonte was hurt, and so it gave us an opportunity to put Wally on Rashard and LeBron on Turkoglu. And LeBron did a heck of a job when he did guard him.

Q. You are up 22, which is not an unfamiliar thing in this series. But then they outscored you by 30 and you are down 8. What are you thinking at that point? What adjustments did you make?
COACH BROWN: They're a good team, and we have to understand that they're going to go on runs. They are going to go on runs where they shoot the 3 very well. They may hit two or three of them in a row.
Our biggest thing is we can't hang our head and we have to keep trying to attack on the offensive end of the floor and keep flying around on the defensive end of the floor. We can't afford to -- against these guys, because the way they shoot the ball, because of the way they score, we can't afford to hesitate by being down at all. We have to keep pushing. We have to keep trying to be the aggressors.
And during that stretch, the reality of it is we were turning the basketball over. In that first half, we had eight turnovers for 16 points. We were on track to have 16 turnovers for 32 points. At this level, that's hard to win when you do that.
So we got to take care of the basketball. We have to continue trying to box them out, and any 50/50 ball we have to come up with. And if we do that, we'll have a better chance of sustaining the runs that they are going to go on. Because they will go on runs of 3s and go on scoring runs. We got to keep staying aggressive offensively.

Q. You had three of your other four starters who are not named LeBron James in double digits. How big was that for you tonight?
COACH BROWN: It's huge. This team -- obviously when I say "this team," Orlando can score the basketball very well. So we have to have guys step up and make plays and knock down shots when they're open. And our guys did a nice job of that tonight. That was fun to see.

Q. What about LeBron. Obviously we all saw what he did on the court, especially in the fourth quarter. But what are the other little things that you see him do either on the bench or just pulling over a teammate, that kind of thing?
COACH BROWN: He's our leader. No doubt about it. He has grown tremendously in that area in the short amount of time that I have been with him. It was great to see not only has he led our team this year and done it throughout the playoffs, when I did watch the Olympic team, whether it was in practice or in a game situation, he was doing the same thing. So his growth in that area is off the charts, and we all follow him. We all follow him.
He does -- like you said, he's showing confidence in his teammates. He's encouraging them. He's talking strategy offensively. He's talking strategy defensively. Just his mental awareness, whether it's on the floor during the game or in the huddle is off the charts. We have to continue to have that from him. That's what great players do.

Q. You spoke about shooting with confidence. And Gibson has been struggling over the past couple games, but obviously not today. It seemed like the crowd obviously helped him out almost like a support group. When he goes to Orlando, he's no longer with that support group. Are you confident that he can produce?
COACH BROWN: I'm confident that he can because I trust him. Thank you.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297