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NBA FINALS: MAGIC v LAKERS

June 7, 2009

Phil Jackson

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Two

Orlando Magic - 96
Los Angeles Lakers - 101

Q. Give us your assessment from Game 1 now to Game 2, a nail-biter. You actually dodged a bullet today. What can we expect in Orlando for Game 3?
PHIL JACKSON: You're going to see a wide open game. It's going to be a much more free-flowing game, up tempo. In the second half they started to speed the game up a little bit. I think they thought it would help their action and their ability to find open shots and rhythm in the game.
The three-point shooters seemed to flourish tonight, even though looking at the stats sheet they shot 33 percent from the three-point line. It still kept them in the ballgame.

Q. The first quarter both teamed scored 15 points. Very slow start. Why do you say about why it was such a slow start for the team? And then in the final did the teams wake up?
PHIL JACKSON: It's just like a couple heavyweight boxers that have gone against each other before. They're just feeling each other out in the first round, second round, third round type of thing, just kind of looking for holes and the changes in the game a little bit. We stayed in the ballgame because they turned the ball over and we had opportunities because of it and couldn't capitalize on it. They still didn't shoot the ball as well as they can. We know that that's still a possibility next couple games.

Q. How did the Lakers win the game?
PHIL JACKSON: We just drove ourselves through the game. I didn't think Kobe had a good game at all as far as his standards go. They double-teamed him, they trapped him, they came on all his drives, and we didn't adjust to it immediately. We were able to find other guys that did things for us. Lamar had an outstanding game, Pau was there again, as he is usually. We had other guys contribute as we went through.

Q. Along what you're saying, was Kobe trying to do too much, and leadership-wise was he over the line? He was definitely telling guys what he wanted, but was that what you wanted?
PHIL JACKSON: We talked about that possibility happening, moving the ball ahead, and they forced the turnovers because we can't get that ball moved ahead quickly enough when they trapped him or double-teamed him or went to strip him. He'll make that adjustment, but his leadership was still there. He was still encouraging the guys on as we went.

Q. Lamar had some troubles in the last round with his back. Did you ever have doubts that he'd be able to get back to this level that he's had last several games now?
PHIL JACKSON: The fortunate thing with his injury was that it wasn't a spinal injury, it was a muscular. It wasn't anything that had to do with his nervous system or sciatic nerve or whatever. It was about being able to play with discomfort, pain that arises from that. So we that he would improved, and actually he has improved. He's come through in every game, has action, and it creates a reaction from him. I know he's struggling out there at the end of the game but still came through in a big way for us.

Q. Of course a big win for the Lakers but were you a little bit upset about the last play of regulation time when there was only six-tenths of a second and it was a very good possession.
PHIL JACKSON: Yeah, we warned Kobe that was probably what they were going to come back to because the first time he was helping on a lob opportunity to Howard, and we suspected that that would probably be the action that they would come back to, but they still found a way to get a shot off.

Q. Can you talk about the camaraderie or the intuitiveness that Kobe and Pau possess? They connected for that lay-up that put you guys into overtime.
PHIL JACKSON: I thought they were struggling during the ballgame. They kept communicating during the course of the game about how they're going to react to the actions that Orlando was defending, how they're defending it. They finally found a way at the end of the game to come through with some of those plays.
But you're right, it was a communication struggle there for a while.

Q. Derek Fisher had 41 minutes tonight, the most minutes he's played in quite some time. Did you just feel like you could not, with the game so close, experiment with Farmar and Brown?
PHIL JACKSON: Well, you know, this is a reason why Derek has been playing 24 to 28 minutes during the course of the season, so that he could have this type of minutes during the playoffs. He's capable of playing. It's recovery time that's necessary for him. We know how valuable he is just for his heavy play out there and his ability to organize our game and keep everything in flow. So that was important for us to have him out there.
Otherwise I thought Jordan came in, he was aggressive and I wanted to see him do that. Shannon got a few minutes out there and touches a few times, too.

Q. For the past year or so there's been a lot of talk about Pau being soft. How has he responded to that? And do you think he's become a tougher player?
PHIL JACKSON: You know, his resiliency is -- he's not physically a compact muscular player. He obviously weighs 265 pounds, so he's not a lightweight. But his ability to tip the ball, to get angles, to play his length on people is very striking, and I thought tonight he did a great job. We tried to double-team obviously. Drew was having troubles in there. They got three-point looks in the third quarter. Turkoglu knocked down a couple, he got hot at the end of the second quarter. Lewis ripped off some points against us, so then we had to go straight up, and Pau did a good job on him.

Q. I'm curious, do you feel fortunate because of the way regulation ended, or do you feel that because they dug deep in the overtime you take something out of that?
PHIL JACKSON: Well, there is a sense of relief because they played very well. There's no doubt that they had every opportunity or chance to win the game. However, we had that ball at the end of the game with nine seconds after making a really good defensive play. We didn't get a good shot, and that Kobe didn't get a good opportunity I thought it disappointed him. It disappointed us but it didn't weigh us down going into overtime and that's what you're worried about. You don't get a good shot and they get a couple looks with some time-outs and that's what you're always worried about. Even though we got a tip at overtime and got it going.

Q. What's been keeping Orlando from running, two fast break points tonight? And talk about possibly going to Orlando for three games.
PHIL JACKSON: As you know, this has always been a difficult, the 2-3-2 alignment that comes out. It's been almost impossible to sweep three games. Detroit did it on us. I couldn't remember many times since this configuration happened that that goes down. But it weighs on the -- a big factor because Orlando hasn't had a playoff Finals in, what, 18 years, 16 years, it's going to be a big event for their town. We know there's going to be a lot of energy that's surrounding their team. We're going to have to play in a situation where we're going to have to use all our centers, foul situations, and I think that that's where they're going to be best at running and fast-breaking and transition game. I think they'll be much better. Usually teams are on their home floor. We've kept that to a minimum at this point, and we're fortunate because of it.

Q. How concerned are you about Andrew's effectiveness in the next couple games?
PHIL JACKSON: I think he'll learn as he goes along. He made a critical mistake with his fifth foul, trying to run through a pick instead of sliding his way through and wedging his way through that screen. But I think he'll find a way to be effective for us. We need him for 20 minutes. We can't play him for the kind of minutes when he's in foul trouble.

Q. Could Pau have played that type of defense on Howard last year? A lot of times he found himself alone.
PHIL JACKSON: I'm not sure. It's hard to go back in retrospect and think of it. I know he's tougher -- he's done weight training, put his work in towards having more of a physical nature to his game. But I've always been impressed with his ability to find angles and play guys in a way in which the ball is not there for them. It's not as easy as it might appear, even with his slight or slender build.
So I think that he's doing a fine job, and we think he can go ahead, but we like the fact he's on Lewis. We think he does a good job out there, and Lewis in fact to start the ballgame, you'd like to have more minutes on him.

End of FastScripts

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