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NBA FINALS: MAGIC v LAKERS

June 3, 2009

Stan Van Gundy

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day

Q. Stan, I guess you've heard a million times, live by the three, die by the three, so I assume that you've got a philosophical approach that includes all that. Beyond that, just watching your team casually there's a significant number of shots they take that just kind of seem like heaves. What do you think?
STAN VAN GUNDY: I mean, we've heard all that. I've heard all that, the criticism and the way we play. You know, again, I think that what you do, at least from an offensive standpoint in this league, is pretty much determined by your personnel. I look at our team. I'm very confident that the way we play and shots we try to create are best for our team. I don't think you can sit down and say, this is the style of play that wins in the NBA and then try to replicate that. I think you have to play the style of play that gives your team, your personnel, the best chance to play, to win, and I think -- you never know how this series is going to go, but we're sitting here now with the way we play.
I like the way we play. I understand that people look at a game where you shoot 35 threes, 38 threes, whatever, and say you can't win that way consistently and everything else. But we like to think we're not setting out to get a number of threes. We're trying to take what the defense gives us. If they're going to double-team Dwight, if they're going to put people in the lane, if they're going to trap pick-and-rolls, we're going to look inside. And if you're going to stay in the lane, we're going to shoot the three.
What we don't shoot is a lot of -- we don't shoot a lot of 15 feet to the arc jump shots. That's what we don't shoot. We like to get stuff in the paint and we'll shoot the three.

Q. If Jameer is able to play in this series, even if it's only for a few minutes a night, what kind of emotional boost is that going to give to your team? And are you worried about the chemistry?
STAN VAN GUNDY: Well, it's a tough decision on Jameer either way you go, because I think he is able to play right now. Now, how much he can do, I don't know. Chemistry, it's not like he hasn't played with our guys. I don't worry about that a whole lot, and I don't really think our guys need an emotional boost. I don't think it's going to be like a Willis Reed moment or anything. We'll just decide after today if we think playing him gives us a better chance to win than not playing him. It's really as simple as that. But the decision won't be easy.

Q. For us that don't cover your team on a daily basis, can you describe what got into Hedo the last couple years that he was able to take his game to another level at the age he's at?
STAN VAN GUNDY: Well, he's not very old. He's 30. As a matter of fact, I would love to get back to 30. But he's not very old. I think Hedo, what's really happened to him can happen to a lot of guys in this league. It's opportunity. He's never really had a chance until the last two years to be a key guy that had the ball in his hands all the time with a chance to create both for himself and his teammates. And so I think in my mind in this league, there's the stars of this league who no matter what system or what team you put them with, are going to be great players, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Paul Pierce, LeBron James. I don't care what offense you run them with, those guys are going to be great.
And then I think there's a lot of guys that can really thrive and do what Hedo has done if they're in the situation where they get the opportunity and the system they're in fits their skills and everything else. And I think what he's done is just taken great advantage of the opportunity he's gotten.
When Grant Hill heft, that sort of made him, besides Jameer, the other guy who was going to have the ball in his hands, and he ran with that.

Q. You started to talk in Orlando about this, about match-ups, and you mentioned the match-up between you and Phil. How would you describe that coaching match-up?
STAN VAN GUNDY: Well, again, I don't think coaches ever match up. I mean, there's not a coaching match-up. If Coach Jackson and I were out there one-on-one, he was an NBA player and I was a below-average Division III player in college, so my guess is the advantage would go to him. The bad hips might even it up a little, but probably not enough to make a difference.
The guy has won more playoff series than I have playoff games. I mean, obviously you're talking one of the greatest coaches, if not the greatest coach, in the history of the NBA, and I'm here for the first time. It's not a coaching match-up, it's a team match-up. We're both trying to do the same thing, get our teams to play at the highest level possible, and we'll see what happens.

Q. You also talked a lot about telling your players about what it's like to be here since most of them hadn't. This is your first time in The Finals. What have you learned or taken from other people to give you experience being here?
STAN VAN GUNDY: Well, I mean, I talked to a lot of people. What I basically learned in a half an hour of being here is that it's hard to do your job because I want to go practice, okay, enough of this stuff. So that's basically what I've learned is you guys make it tough for us to do our job. After practice you meet with the media a little bit, but I want to get out on the court. That's what I mainly learned.

Q. You've seen it before, I know, but Dwight's impersonation of you, what do you think?
STAN VAN GUNDY: Well, it's an impersonation. Dwight is a funny guy. We hear this stuff all the time.

Q. I heard you earlier say that the way you played is the reason that you're here, but can you encapsulate, what is your biggest challenge --
STAN VAN GUNDY: The way we play is not why we're here. I was just saying that I think we play the best way that we can to give us a chance to win. The reason we're here is because of the players we have, not because of the way we play. We're here because Dwight Howard is a great player, we're here because Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu are great players and a lot of other great players who played roles. I don't want to mistake that. We're not here because of our style or our system. We have a style that I think fits our talent the best. We are going to play to that.
What we do is very simple, we're either posting Dwight or running pick-and-rolls, trying to get the ball into the paint and we're going to play off of that. If you're going to take away the paint, we are going to try to spread the floor out, run you around and shoot open shots. It's pretty simple. I've said many times I'm not a genius by any means, and I think for our team to spread the floor out and create space inside is the best way for us to play.

Q. I know you've watched these guys a lot now on film. What are a couple things that concern you? Obviously Kobe, but what are a couple things about the Lakers that concern you the most?
STAN VAN GUNDY: Well, I think that their personnel is obvious. Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players ever in this game. Pau Gasol is a guy who was the go-to guy really with not a lot of other help on 50-win teams in Memphis. This is a guy who's proven he can carry a team. And I think their other personnel is great.
I think two big areas for us, I don't know if they're the biggest, but we have got to limit easy baskets. I think the Lakers are a great passing and cutting team, playing out of the triangle. I think we've got to try to limit the number of lay-up attempts and easy baskets they get. And I think the other real challenge for us on the defensive end is going to be rebounding. I think that watching them, they are a great offensive rebounding team. We have been a pretty good defensive rebounding team, but we've been heavily reliant on one guy in that area, and we're going to need more help to rebound the ball.
If they're getting second chances, if they're getting easy baskets, then I think we're in a lot of trouble.

Q. You guys have shown tremendous resiliency all season and in the playoffs. Does it surprise you at all or did you think this team had it in them?
STAN VAN GUNDY: I think we've had a lot of resiliency really for two years, but particularly this year. I think we were tested a lot when Jameer went down. As I said to somebody, you've got to go back I don't know how far, but at least 30-plus years to find a team that's lost an All Star for the season and made it to the NBA Finals. I mean, it just doesn't happen. You might lose somebody else along the way, but you don't lose an All Star and get this far.
We lost him, he only played 42 games, and yet we were still able to go on and win 59. Our team has been a resilient team. I think it comes from the character of our players. I think that Otis Smith deserves a lot of credit for that. I think it's something that he takes into consideration a great deal when he is deciding who to sign. And I think that the character of our team has shown throughout the season.

End of FastScripts

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