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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS v MAGIC

May 21, 2010

Stan Van Gundy

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day

STAN VAN GUNDY: I thought practice was good. Our guys have been very focused on what we need to improve on and the adjustments we need to make. I think their mindset is very good. Now it's a matter of bringing it into the game tomorrow night with a great effort and great focus and really playing together at both ends of the floor.

Q. Fans aren't going to see some huge drastic change in offense, right?
STAN VAN GUNDY: I hope so. I hope we play a lot better. In terms of how we play, no. We've played the same way all year. At this point you're built. But we do need to make some adjustments. Not so much in doing new things, but in making better plays against their defense.

Q. Is (Indiscernible) Gortat going to see more action and with Dwight on the floor at the same time?
STAN VAN GUNDY: He's seen action with Dwight on the floor. He's obviously been our backup four and five in this series. That's how we have it.

Q. To a layman it seems if they can contain Rondo and knock him out of his rhythm, that would make the whole Celtic machine breakdown. Is that simplistic?
STAN VAN GUNDY: It's a little simplistic because I thought in the first game Rondo didn't get going, and we didn't win that one. I think the thing with the Celtics is it's a very balanced group that plays very well together. You get Ray Allen with 25 in Game 1, and, you know, then you come back in Game 2 and he doesn't shoot the ball much. He gets six shots and Rondo goes crazy.
They have a lot of ways they can beat you. I don't think it's a matter of focusing on just one guy. That's not going to get it done against them. You really have to be able to defend all of their options. Clearly, yeah, trying to keep Rondo out of the paint more, playing his pick-and-rolls better would help us a great deal. You still have to guard Ray Allen off screens and you have to guard Pierce's isolations and post-ups, and you have to keep Garnett from getting too many touches in the post. There's a lot to be contained there.

Q. How much do you have to just treat this like a regular road trip to Boston?
STAN VAN GUNDY: Well, I mean, look, I said this yesterday, if we were 1-1, or up 2-0, I would be saying the focus is we have to get ready to play Game 3. It's the same focus down 0-2. It's a basketball game, and, you know, we need great, great focus going up there. I think our guys had that the last two days. Hopefully we get walk-through tomorrow morning to get it in our heads one more time and come out with a tremendous effort tomorrow night.

Q. Stan, having three days between games, has it helped to analyze the game and help simplify things?
STAN VAN GUNDY: I think we've got it. Going through stuff today, I don't think we've confused our guys. I think our guys understand. Again, probably because I'm not smart enough, we don't have 50 different things to do. It's not about that. It's about showing them film and trying to get better and making a couple of adjustments offensively and defensively, which I think are pretty simple.
When I watch our players go through them for two days, it seems to me they're pretty simple and they've got them. It's going out and playing the game well.

Q. Does each game stand completely on its own? Or will there be a carry-over? Can players' or the team's mood affect the way --
STAN VAN GUNDY: I guess it could. But I don't think that's a big part of this now. I think we came out hard the other night. I think we'll come out hard tomorrow. I think our mood is good. I don't think that's going to be a problem going into Game 3 tomorrow night. I think it will come down to how well we play and how well they play.

Q. There's been a championship or bust attitude. It's been around here all season. How important is this?
STAN VAN GUNDY: There's no question. But even if that wasn't, again, it's a basketball game. If you're up 2-0, or if you're down, my message would be the same. It's all about Game 3. That's the only thing that matters. And I think you've got to get rid of all the distractions. One of them is oh, my God, we're down 0-2. That has no relevance right now. It's the situation we're in, I understand that. But what I mean is, we've got to go in and play a great Game 3. That's all that matters right now. It's not anything else. There shouldn't be anything else on our mind.

Q. Mentally, is this similar at all to going up there for Game 7 last year?
STAN VAN GUNDY: I mean, to me your mental approach is -- should be the same all the time. I mean, you've got to go up and get a win. You've got to do that. Yeah, similar to Game 7, similar to Game 5 last year. Similar to Game 3 in the other two series. You have to get a win.

Q. At this point it's a simple formula, win Game 3.
STAN VAN GUNDY: Yeah. If we were up 2-0, it would be the same thing. Win Game 3. I understand the mood would be different with people and fans and everything else. Our approach would be the exact same. You've got to win Game 3.
It's all you can do. I mean, Games 1 and 2 are gone. Game 4 isn't here. It sounds simplistic, but it's the game in front of you you've got to play.

Q. Their transition points, limiting them, is that --
STAN VAN GUNDY: That's huge. That's huge. I think a big part of it is we have to take care of the ball and take better shots. So it's certainly offensive efficiency. Starts with taking care of the ball. We also have to get better shots. When we've taken quick, bad shots, we have not had good floor balance to get back.
And then the third part of it is just quite honestly a better effort, a more consistent effort for five guys to run as hard as they possibly can to get back every time. Something we were pretty good at this year, but we have not done. That is the one area if you want to say I've been the most disappointed in, because it's an effort area, that I don't think -- we were better in Game 2 than Game 1. But we still have not done as good a job as we need to do getting back defensively.
You know, you're really tested. There's no one in the league that gets the ball up the floor any faster than Rondo does. So anything three-quarters speed, 85% speed, 90% speed getting back ain't going to get it done. He's faster than we are anyway. So if we're not ahead of the play and sprinting back, we're going to have problems. It's a major focus. Has been a major focus for two days and will be a major focus tomorrow night.

End of FastScripts

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