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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MAGIC v CAVALIERSMay 27, 2009Zydrunas IlgauskasCLEVELAND, OHIO: Practice Day Q. What's your thought process? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: One game at a time. Obviously our backs are against the wall. We dug ourselves in a hole. If anybody can come out, we can. Just gotta win tomorrow and put the pressure back on for Game 6. Q. How big a hole is it? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: It's tough. We gotta win three straight games. So it's not impossible. We've done it before. The way the games have been going, there's no reason why it can't swing our way. We could easily be up 3-1 right now and we could easily have swept. It's been a crazy series. Q. When you think about the difference a week makes, Wednesday you guys were starting this series. 8-9 in the playoffs, now it's Wednesday, last night. ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: It happens fast. It happens fast. So, like I said, we need some luck. And I don't think we've got some breaks. You gotta give them credit. They made shots when it counted. Rashard never gave up. Obviously one play away from being 2-2. But it is what it is. So we have to move forward. Q. How impressive are these guys? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: They're playing well. They're playing their best basketball of the season right now. They're playing better than they played against Philly and Boston. We tried everything. Tried to mix up our defensive coverage. Tried the pick-and-rolls, and the post. It worked at times. But 17 3s, it's hard. Q. They were very loose. They miss a shot, doesn't seem like it's a big deal. Seems like every shot you miss, you guys have your heads up? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: That's what happens when you get denied, you try to get the home court advantage. For them that's how they play. They miss two 3-pointers, they don't care, they come back and back them up again. The looks that they get, very good looks. We get them out there and try to contest late. Late contesters in the NBA it's really overrated because the guy can get a shot off. When it's done, there's not much you can do. Q. Dwight Howard came out a number of times, got three dunks in a row. How can you stop that? How can you contain that sort of activity? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: I don't know. I guess play better defense. It's what a difference makes in overtime. We got a little bit of relief. They came back, went right back to them in the post. Q. (Indiscernible)? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: It's hard, because Dwight setting the pick-and-roll down the middle, you've got to pick your poison. Turning up with a guy turning up for a layup, you have to stop him. Someone has to get to Dwight because it's a dunk or layup and get it out for the open 3s. It makes it hard rotation-wise. Q. These guys have tried a lot of different things defensively, put LeBron on Rafer and doubling up the matchup. Should it be time to go through traditional matchups and say guard your guy? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: You know, that's how we've been playing this whole, all season. The way the NBA is set up, it's very hard to stop guys one-on-one, the way the rules are, and especially superstars. How we stop, we guard as a team. The first series, how we stopped Johnson, we guarded. We double teamed him. We did everything to get the ball out of his hands. So we tried playing some one-on-one and stuff. The problem with Dwight is that's when the fouls pile up. And before you know it all the big guys are going to be on the bench. So you gotta get a little help on the pick-and-roll, because it's a team defense. You've got to help them, if they come off, everybody has to help each other, because otherwise it's just too difficult. Q. Been 16 hours since, is it hard not to dwell on it replay after replay? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: It is. But at the same time you gotta move forward. The next game is going to be here before you know it. So we just have to win it tomorrow and then come back and put the pressure back on them. We'll get one more chance. Q. After the game last night and today, did anybody say anything? Did you guys talk? Is that just not your personality as a team, or is it so clear what needs to be done there's no point? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: We talked. Obviously the guys are frustrated that we lost. But we just have to come out and execute, play better. Q. Seems so much for a young man; you've seen so much in your years. There was a time when you wanted to see every play, but compare it to that? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: This is easy. Q. I'm not trying to be easy about that. But there has to be something that disgusts you? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: I mean, yeah, it is. Q. (Indiscernible)? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: But I know -- but it is what it is. It's a basketball game. A very important one. But obviously it's not life or death. But for right now it is. Our backs are against the wall. It could be done. Q. You lived around here two years; you absorbed the local psyche. ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: Stick with us, believing, because we believe in ourselves. Nobody said it was going to be easy. Q. How about those people two weeks ago who were saying that they can't face adversity, won eight straight games? Curious, what have you learned now that you've faced adversity? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: We'll see. The series is not over. So we still have our chances. So this is going to be tough, but it's not impossible. Q. Is there any consolation that you sweat bullets, especially last night you made them sweat bullets? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: We had our chances. You know, we had our chances. That's all we can do. Up one point with six seconds left on the road, you gotta like your chances. But they made a shot when it counted. Q. Does this series at all mean anything, you posted the first two and they really had to work, did they face adversity earlier? ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS: The earlier series is so much different. It's like a different game. It's the matchups and everything else come into play. As soon as you're done with the series, you just get a clean sheet. So I don't think that or anything else really comes into play. End of FastScripts |
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