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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS v MAGIC

May 19, 2010

Stan Van Gundy

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day

Q. What needs to change for you guys in Game 3? Is there one overarching thing?
STAN VAN GUNDY: I think, you know, there is -- we still -- we were a little better, but we still did not do a good job in transition defense. We took care of the ball a little bit better. Our ball movement was a little bit better. But we're still taking too many bad shots.
I mean, we looked at a lot of that on film today, and we're taking very, very difficult shots at the rim against their size. You know, our shooting percentage is where it is. It's not going to be 55 or 58% against Boston's defense. But it's down where it is because we're taking quite a few shots we can't make.
I mean, we were 8 for 20 on lay-ups last night. 8 for 20 on lay-ups. If you're going to shoot 40% on lay-ups, the league average is like 60, you're obviously going to have a very difficult time. And it's actually worse than that, because if you take the 8 for 20 on lay-ups, four of them were Dwight's on dunks. He was four for four. And one was Matt's breakaway where he was ahead of the crowd and dunked it.
So on actual drives or attacking the rim with everybody except Dwight, we were 3 for 15 on lay-ups. If you're going to shoot 20% on lay-ups, you're going to struggle. Why do you shoot 20% on lay-ups? Clearly, it's because their size is coming to block and making the shots very difficult. But if people are coming to block, you know, there's obviously other people open.
Now, you know, it's obviously a lot easier for me because I can stop the film and say he's open. It's a little harder on the floor. But we have to be able to make some of those plays. We can't continue to double pump and throw up really difficult shots against them. I mean, we simply can't shoot 3 for 15 on lay-ups and be successful. We have to make better decisions in there and make the extra pass and move men around. Which we did at times. We showed them some very good clips today where the ball movement was good and resulted in very good shots. But not consistently enough.

Q. Stan, what was the mood like today?
STAN VAN GUNDY: I thought our mood was OK. Our guys are disappointed. I thought for the most part we put a lot into the game last night and got a very disappointing result. That's a little scary. You know, so that's always -- that's always difficult. But our point to them was that, you know, we can't do anything about the first two games right now. They were both close games. We lost them.
You know, but it's all about right now getting ourselves mentally and physically ready to go up and play one great game on Saturday night. That's the only thing that matters right now. And to be able to do that, we have to be able to make some adjustments. And we looked at some film today, and we've got to see how we're being played and be able to make those adjustments and make more of the plays that are there to have success.
So as we said to them, you know, you're talking about in a four-point game, three-point game, whatever, you're talking a couple of possessions that need to get better. You go on the road and that probably turns into five or six possessions. You're not talking about 20 possessions difference. You're talking about five or six possessions. And so if we can make half the plays that we didn't make last night that we saw on film, then you're way ahead in the game.

Q. How do you get mentally charged? Do you do anything differently in preparing for this game, anything motivational to drive these guys to do something different or feel different when they get on that court?
STAN VAN GUNDY: No, our guys know what it's all about. It's about going up there and playing a great game on Saturday night and getting a win. I don't think that we will be motivationally challenged.

Q. Have you guys run into a buzzsaw? Are they playing that well? Are they --
STAN VAN GUNDY: They're playing very well, yeah. But, again, it's -- you're talking about over 96 minutes, there's a 7-point difference. They are playing really, really well. But -- and to get two wins on the road, you know, they deserve a ton of credit. They're playing very well at both ends of the floor. But there's still not a huge difference, you know? We need to make the adjustments to be able to play better. That's all it's about for us right now.
It's not about where we play, home, away, anywhere else; it's about how we play. We all have to get on the same page and we have to do it together. I don't think it's been a selfish thing at all. I think guys last night really wanted to win. Tried to be aggressive, and in doing that, were going hard and forcing a lot of shots that were very, very difficult shots.
Again, I said before a lot of you guys came in, we were 8 for 20 on lay-ups last night. That's deceptive even, because Dwight was four for four. Matt had one breakaway ahead of the pack. You take those out, we were 3 for 15 on lay-ups going to the basket. The league average is 60%. We're going 20%. It's just not going to win. It's not like guys can't make lay-ups. It's just their defense is coming to help. They're huge, and we're taking very difficult shots. If they're coming, there's somebody open somewhere.
Now, you've got to be able to see it and make the play. And you're certainly not going to all the time, because it's not that easy. Like I said to them, it's easy for me because I have the remote. So I can stop it, slow down the whole thing and go, OK, he's open. It's not that easy on the court. But if we can make a third of those plays, if we can make a half of those plays, half of those plays, we can get better. So it's about making those adjustments and understanding what's going on and going up there to play the game better. Same thing at the defensive end of the court.

End of FastScripts

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