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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SUNS v LAKERSMay 22, 2010Pau GasolPHOENIX, ARIZONA: Practice Day Q. Are you surprised by Lamar; he always seems to step up in the Conference Finals, but he's really stepped up the last two games? PAU GASOL: Yes, he's quite active. I think the matchups are good for him, for him to play well. And he's playing really well. So we want him to continue to play well, continue to be as aggressive and active as he has been and being confident. Q. People say he's a glue guy, do you sense that? PAU GASOL: Yeah, he's a guy that's so versatile and brings so many things to the table. He can do so many things and adjust to different positions. So he's definitely a guy that's great to have on your team. Q. You just got done in the weight room again. How much has that been just developed in terms of your program over the year and starting last year and whatnot? PAU GASOL: Yeah, started last year. Take it a little more seriously in there and understanding how important it is. At this age and at this point of my career and what we're playing for, every single season since I've been here. So it's important to have discipline and a routine that you can get better every single day. Q. Your defense, it's improved, your blocked shots have gone up, have you felt it going on the court, bodying up to people? PAU GASOL: Yes, I feel better. Better strength. Hold my ground a lot better than I used to. Q. Have you grown to enjoy it more? PAU GASOL: Have I what? Q. Have you grown to enjoy the lifting more? PAU GASOL: Some days. (Laughter) Some days it's just you gotta do what you gotta do. So it's not something that I really enjoy, have a lot of fun with, but it helps me to do my job at a higher level. And so it's good. Q. A meathead yet? PAU GASOL: No, I'm not going to be a meathead ever. I'll take care of myself. I won't kill myself in the weight room and enjoy it that much. Q. What else has gone into your consistency, just for the regular season? PAU GASOL: Just being in good shape. Just taking care of myself. Also the maturity level that I reached at this point in my career has also really helped me understand what I need to do and how to play the game better, and just working also every single day helps me be where I am. So I guess all that influences. Q. When you got here, did you find there was a different level of expectation in terms of those kinds of things? PAU GASOL: Absolutely. There's no -- obviously the first impression and idea that I got when I first got here is let's go for the championship. And everybody was really excited. I was excited to be obviously in this position. Because I've never been in the NBA. So it was exciting for me, too. But everything happened so fast. The first year, everything was very intense. The second year, I was able to really settle in and work from the beginning with the team and really helped me out and had a better season this year also, good season again. Q. What guys on the team would you say really enjoy the weight team? PAU GASOL: Who? Q. What guys on the team? PAU GASOL: Jesus. D.J. enjoys it. (Laughter). He likes to look at himself in the mirror, you know. (Laughter) All that flexing thing. Couple of the guys -- I like to lift after my workouts, after the practice. A lot of guys work out before. So I'm not an early morning person. So it is what it is. So I don't see -- I see D.J. every now and then enjoying it a little too much. (Laughter) Q. So they have an elbow sharpener in there? PAU GASOL: No, they don't. They don't. Why would you ask that? Q. Just thinking of D.J. -- PAU GASOL: He's got big elbows. Q. Yeah. PAU GASOL: Sharp, too. Q. Sharp, that's what I mean? PAU GASOL: He keeps them always high, too. He's tough. Q. What's kind of going through your mind now: Are you ready to play now finally after three days? PAU GASOL: Absolutely. Absolutely. We understand how tough it's going to be tomorrow in Phoenix. And the pace and the energy that they're going to bring out is going to be hard to match. But we have to be really focused, understand how they're going to play and who they are and then play our game into our strengths. Q. Phil said that he thought you guys could play better defense than you played the first two games. Would you agree? PAU GASOL: I think as every game go by you adjust and you get more familiar with what they do and what they run. Then you've got to also understand there's going to be adjustments and little wrinkles. But you understand more their personnel. And your defense should get better as the series goes along. So hopefully Game 3 will be another good defensive effort and hopefully that will help us to be successful. Q. Is there something specific you're looking for when Nash is coming out of the pick-and-roll set or you just have to know to adjust depending where he's going to move? PAU GASOL: Yeah, you try to look at his eyes to see where he's looking, see what he's trying to set up, see what he sees behind you, as hard as that is. And then just be active hands, just attack the ball, try to get him off balance a little bit, make him pick it up, if possible. But obviously he's a very good point guard. And he does -- he picks guys up really, really well and picks a pass really well. And so you gotta be also lucky. Q. People talk about the context of Kobe like if you're guarding him, just have to understand that at some point he's going to burn you. Is it the same way with Nash where you know at some point in the game he's going to do something that makes you look bad? PAU GASOL: He's got definitely the potential to do that. And sometimes he will -- obviously, the amount of quality that he's got as a point guard is tremendous. And he's going to do exceptional things out there. But you have to do your best and play as active as possible so you disturb and disrupt those passes, for the most part. He's going to make shots. He hasn't really shot that much in the first two games. So we might see him shoot a little more tomorrow. Q. This is a third straight series now where you guys go into Game 3 up 2-0, 1 and 1 in those games. Is there something to take out of losing the Oklahoma City Game 3, versus Utah winning Game 3? PAU GASOL: Yeah, I think there was an improvement in our approach in Game 3 at Utah as we were in Oklahoma City. Let's see what happens tomorrow. Obviously, our mind is ready to play hard, understands how hard it's going to be. But depends on what they're going to do and how well they're going to play. They play an exceptional game. All you can do is try to give yourself a chance to win the game on the road in a Game 3 that's so crucial. So let's see. We're ready. We understand how hard it's going to be and how well we're going to have to play. Q. Given what you've done for this team since you got here, Kobe mentioned the other day that still things that you don't get the credit that you deserve. Do you feel that way? Do you feel like kind of underrated? PAU GASOL: I don't know. I feel that I've been really valued and people respect and understand what I do and what I bring to the table. And so I have no complaints as far as that. Sometimes people give me more credit. Sometimes they'll give you less credit. And I guess that's a personal opinion. So I always like to be my own critic. I know how well I'm playing. I know when I'm not playing that well. So I'm going to try to do as much as possible to get to my better level. That's all I care about, really, as far as that. End of FastScripts |
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