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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SUNS v LAKERSMay 19, 2010Kobe BryantLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Two Lakers: 124 THE MODERATOR: Questions for Kobe. Q. Lakers have scored quite a bit of points the last two games. What do you anticipate coming up in Phoenix? Is it going to be 50, 60 percent shooting, 124 points a game? Or is it going to be very different? KOBE BRYANT: I hope not. I hope not. They run much, much better at Phoenix. So we've got to do a better job holding them down, pacing the game. It's different game you play on the road. We can't play with this kind of tempo in Phoenix. It's different. Gotta take better shots, not as many transition 3s. We've got to be more patient. Q. I wanted to ask you, what do you think is going to be the No. 1 adjustment that the Suns make on the road? Because they've been playing pretty well offensively. What do you think is going to be the greatest adjustment they make for you and the team? KOBE BRYANT: I think they'll get out in transition a lot more. Push the ball a lot more. Defensively, they'll mix it up quite a bit. I look for them to play a lot of junk defense and zones and switches and try to bait us into taking early shots, which leads to easy points for them. Q. You said after last game you'd be more than happy to just distribute the ball if they wanted to put more focus on you. We saw that happened. How much did it help to have Pau inside to have that same understanding what you wanted to do on offense? KOBE BRYANT: It's great. It makes the game a lot easier, obviously, to have a big that can catch, complete, make plays. And all of our bigs can do that. But we're extremely well versed in playing against teams that double and zone and things like that. So we've seen it before. Q. Can you talk about Ron's progression during the playoffs? Started with locking down Kevin Durant and finding a place on this team? KOBE BRYANT: I think for him it was just getting his rhythm and settling in. I think once the playoffs came around, probably put a little too much pressure on himself to produce and to perform. I think just had to settle in and just play like, just play like he's used to playing. Q. The team is like bamboo, you bend, you do not break. You're tied at 90 going into the fourth quarter. What turned it around in the fourth quarter for you guys? KOBE BRYANT: Jordan Farmar. You know, he came in and made a big 3 for us and got a big deflection and a steal for us. That changed the momentum of the game. Up until that point they had all the momentum. And he single handedly was responsible for changing that at the start of the fourth. Q. Talk about points in the paint every series. It was pretty much tied, and then the fourth quarter you took over. Pau had 14. How did you guys do that in the fourth, and can you carry it over into Phoenix with the same intensity? KOBE BRYANT: We're good at that. We're good at that. We have size. We know how to use it. We have shooters. We know how to use them. And it's all about executing and being patient. Q. Talk about your team's adaptability. You've dealt with -- you've had to have transition defense against the Thunder, and the Jazz are going to execute, you have to be patient. Now you're able to play at the Suns' tempo. Talk about the way the team's been able to adapt in the playoffs? KOBE BRYANT: We're extremely versatile. We can play pretty much every style. It doesn't mean we're better than the team we're playing against. But, you know, it holds us in stretches. We know what our strength is, and we know how to play to that. It's getting the ball in the paint. Q. You talked about having size and knowing how to use it. Can you talk a little bit about how that evolved over the course of the season? Because obviously just having that many talented big guys you still have to figure out how you want to use them? KOBE BRYANT: No, it's pretty simple. We've been playing that way for a couple of years now. And Pau's been doing a great job. I think this year he's getting a lot more attention in the post from defenses than he has in years past. And he's just making all the right reads and all the right plays, and he's really figured it out at the right time. But it wasn't difficult. We've have a lot of bigs, but Pau eats first when it comes to that. No question about it. So it makes it really easy for everybody else to fall in line. Q. The team was ragged at the beginning of the fourth, some back and forth there. Dudley kept getting free for maybe an open shot, was bearing everything. And then Phil sat you down for a minute. Then you came back a little bit later and the momentum had shifted at that point. Could you talk about were you tired at that point or does it take a minute -- does it help you to take a minute to sit for a second, get your legs back and see what's going on and change it up? KOBE BRYANT: I'm old, what do you expect? (Laughter). Q. Game 1, single coverage, we know what happened. Tonight gave you a dose of double. 13 assists. So you showed, as you said, the night before, when you see it, you'll pass it out. What do you expect defensively at home? They'll play faster, shoot it quicker, probably make more shots. Defensively what do you expect? KOBE BRYANT: I think they'll mix it up. I think they'll mix it up and try to keep us off balance. Do a myriad of coverages so we don't get in rhythm. And then it's -- we're going to have the ball, kind of quarterback the situation and make the reads according to the situation. And Pau as well. And we'll be ready to do that. Q. The defense tonight, where do you see the complexion constantly change, constantly having to make adjustments because of you or the inside game or the outside shots going in? KOBE BRYANT: It's just our responsibility. It's my responsibility and Pau's responsibility to make the defense have to do something. If they play straight-up single coverage, then we've got to go to work. That's our responsibility to do that. And then once the defense adjusts, it's our responsibility to make the right play. Q. With Robin back in the lineup for Phoenix, does it change at all anything the way you attack the basket knowing the seven-footer is there? KOBE BRYANT: No. Q. How about Lucky Lamar? Not too bad, huh? Back-to-back double-doubles. KOBE BRYANT: Very fortunate to have him. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Kobe. End of FastScripts |
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