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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SUNS v LAKERS

May 26, 2010

Derek Fisher

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day

Q. Talk about the free throws?
DEREK FISHER: Well, we found some late, so that was six or eight of them late in the game that we had to take. The rest of it is it goes back to defending the penetration. You know, when you allow teams to penetrate and break down your defense to where they are through the screen and roll, and through Stoudemire's attack, you'll find yourself in more foul situations.

Q. Phil made a comment after the game last night that the Suns would have fallen over and gotten a foul. Did it feel that way?
DEREK FISHER: There were times when that happened, but that doesn't account for all the fouls. There were still other situations where we did foul or it was 50-50. The home team's going to maybe win more of the 50-50 calls.
So those aren't things that we go into the game tomorrow assuming that it's going to be different. You have to assume that it's going to be the same, and you have to be sharper and more efficient in terms of your execution so the game doesn't come down to just a foul shot.

Q. Are you guys following and discussing the speculation around Phil Jackson, where he's going to go and if he's going to coach here?
DEREK FISHER: Not really. We see it, but it's not a topic of discussion.

Q. Can you talk about a sense of urgency. Is there more urgency in this game tomorrow from the Lakers or Phoenix because you don't want to go there down one game?
DEREK FISHER: No, I don't think the sense of urgency really fluctuates in that manner. I don't know if any team ever decides that one game is better than another, especially when you get to the Western Conference Finals. You approach it that you have an opportunity to win a title. Every game really means the same. You can only play the one that's next. So tomorrow night's next, and that is the one that we're focused on.

Q. How big is the problem? Is it a matter of effort or knowing where to go and when to go?
DEREK FISHER: Both. Both. I think your effort and being in the right places can also come from making sure that we're sharp on where we're supposed to go, who should be rotating, and what situations we're going to switch, when are we going to front, when are we going to trap.
So those are things that we have to be sharp on, and that makes the decision making easier. All of a sudden it looks like the effort's better, but it's just about being sharper in what you're doing.

Q. Tell us about the confidence in Phoenix and what they've picked up in the last two games as opposed to they left here after the first two. Now they know they can beat you. Is there a different sense of what's going on in the Series because of that?
DEREK FISHER: No.

Q. Because?
DEREK FISHER: We won two games on our home court; they won two games on on their home court. So we'll just play the next game. This is the NBA, and we don't just go in and beat the best teams on their court on a regular basis. We've just got to kind of figure it out as it goes. Right now we're in a situation where we just need to focus on tomorrow's game and leave it at that.

Q. What is it about home court? It's not like baseball where you can tailer a team to fit a ballpark. You don't have blizzards in the NBA like you might in Green Bay in football. But home team always seems to play better on its home court. Why is that?
DEREK FISHER: If I had to take one guess, I would say you can look at bench play is like the key indicator of why teams play better at home. Whether it's younger guys or guys that are just more comfortable on the home court in front of the fans, maybe their confidence or their energy is better.
So I would point to that one thing as why there are teams that are just clearly better home teams is because the bench play is increased.

Q. Since you guy are the defending championship, do you feel you have a little bit of an edge because you've been here before and you know what it takes to to get it done?
DEREK FISHER: I don't know if that impacts the statute of the scoreboard in any way. I mean, you can't -- experience does count for something, but you don't get any points for it in the game.
Obviously, we'll take it, and we'll utilize it in the right situations. But it's not something that we're just kind of leaning on and saying because we have more experience from a coaching standpoint or these particular players that we're supposed to win.

Q. Is this the right situation though, maybe a Game 5?
DEREK FISHER: Oh, maybe. I mean, there are a lot of situations throughout a game in terms of preparation for a game and all the things that go into winning playoff games where experience matters.
But, like I said, it's not something that we feel like gives us a way to just show up and something's going to happen for us.

Q. What is the importance of you guards particularly dribble penetrating to make the zone react to you rather than you guys reacting to the zone defense?
DEREK FISHER: I don't know. I mean, you penetrate when the situation calls for it. But offense is not really about dribbling, it's about passing the ball, moving guys, moving the ball.
There are situations where you dribbled the basketball and penetrate with the basketball to read the situation, but the zone is actually designed to take away dribble penetration or penetration even by pass.
The zone is not scoring 116 points for them. That's really what it comes down to is our ability to defend them. Maybe we should play zone against them.

Q. How would you describe the morale of the team right now?
DEREK FISHER: I mean, I guess it's what it would be had we won. I don't know.

Q. You guys aren't beating yourself up over this or anything?
DEREK FISHER: I mean, you know, the same emotions that come with losing and being disappointed or frustrated or whatever as an athlete you go through. But I guess you just learn if you've been around long enough to hopefully to be able to let some of those things go and come back with a renewed energy and a renewed focus on what's next.
Had we won last night's game, we'd still have to win tomorrow's game to close out the Series. So a lot hasn't changed other than to go out and try to win a game.

Q. So no one's panicked or over concerned?
DEREK FISHER: I don't think so. But I can obviously speak for myself, I can speak for our team in a sense, but collectively we're fine. We'll get prepared and be ready to go for 6:00 o'clock tomorrow night.

End of FastScripts

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