	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS v MAGIC

May 27, 2010

Stan Van Gundy

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day

Q. Can you talk about the ground he made up?
COACH VAN GUNDY: Oh, my gosh. It was a great, great play. I mean, he just made an incredible effort to get back. I thought he worked real hard, ran the floor in both directions. His effort, I thought, was very, very good last night.

Q. If -- obviously you don't know yet -- but if Perkins is out, if Davis is out, you've been looking for an advantage especially the way Perk plays Dwight. How do you go into that? You just got to wait to see what the rules are?
COACH VAN GUNDY: Yeah, we'll just have to wait to see. It won't change a lot. I mean, it will change a lot for whatever happens. Doc will make the adjustment. We'll play the same game we've been playing.

Q. Don't you think they can adjust to you. When they had Perk, they went one-on-one?
COACH VAN GUNDY: They can play him one-on-one with any of those guys. They played him one-on-one with Glen Davis, they played him one on one with Rasheed. So I don't expect it would be any different.

Q. It won't make a difference?
COACH VAN GUNDY: I don't think so based on how they've played him.

Q. Did you guys ask the league to rescind Vince's in Game 2 when he turned to the scorer's table?
COACH VAN GUNDY: You know, I don't know. I let Otis handle that stuff. I mean, that's just not my concern. They'll let us know what's happening, and I just don't get too concerned with those things.

Q. Can you talk a little about making sure that your team continues to play with the effort that they've been playing with and not get complacent with winning two games to make it in the series?
COACH VAN GUNDY: They're not going to get complacent. We're down 3-2 and we're in on an elimination game, so there is no chance they'll get complacent. 3-2 on their home floor, that won't be a problem.
As far as the energy and stuff, I don't know that I'm going to make sure they bring it; I think they're going to make sure they bring it. I think that our two captains, the guys that are supposed to be our leaders have set the tone in that regard. They certainly haven't been the only guys. I think all of our guys have tried to play with energy.
But, again, when you're looking for leadership, it's not so much what's said in the locker room, it's going out on the court and showing the way. And I think those two guys -- and again, I don't want to take away from anybody else's effort -- but I think those two guys as leaders have shown the way.

Q. In the fourth quarter they cut it to 9, and Rashard had been struggling against Garnett, but it looked like he got something going there a little bit?
COACH VAN GUNDY: You know, they went small there for a little bit. Because Glen Davis was out and they tried to get some offense going, whatever it was, and we immediately put Rashard down in the post. He's always had pretty good success against those sized guys down in the post.

Q. Physical game last night. Do you anticipate as the series goes on it will become more physical, and do you mind that?
COACH VAN GUNDY: Well, the game is the game. Whatever happens, however it's called, whatever. Again, that's not really our concern. I mean, we don't have anything to do with that. We've got to do what we need to do. And I think for us it's more about our energy than trying to knock people around.

Q. The every other day thing is this where the fatigue on both sides starting creeping in a little bit? If so, I saw you were resting guys as much as you could last night.
COACH VAN GUNDY: I wasn't consciously resting guys. I think what happened last night, quite honestly, is we were trying to avoid some foul trouble in the first half. I mean, Rashard got three. Then we were trying to keep Vince from getting his third. We were trying to keep Jameer from getting his third, and we were trying to keep J.J. from getting his third.
So a lot of guys were resting, trying to stay out of foul trouble. So it wasn't really a conscious effort to get guys more rest as it was just situational.

Q. Last night, Dwight had only one at halftime?
COACH VAN GUNDY: I think it always helps when he's not in foul trouble early. I think it helps as much as anything his mentality that he can go out and play aggressively. So that's always a help.

Q. Last couple of games you've taken Dwight out in the first quarter, where you used to play him a lot. What is the thought process there?
COACH VAN GUNDY: Well, again, a lot of it is him. He talked to me before Game 4 up there and he just said, look, I'm going to go as hard as I can and I'll let you know. I think his effort, especially running up-and-down the floor, has been a lot higher than it was in the first three games of the series. Playing at that tempo, he gets tired a little bit quicker, so we give him a blow in there.
It's a great tradeoff. You give him a little bit more rest for him to run that much harder.

Q. Do you believe in momentum, positive vibes mentality?
COACH VAN GUNDY: Oh, there are certainly when you've won a couple, your confidence goes up and everything else. I believe in that. Momentum, I don't know. I sort of feel the same way in what they say in baseball. Momentum is who you have starting the next day, and I sort of believe that.
With a day off in between games, I don't know that that momentum carries over. But I do think there is a confidence factor, and you feel good about what you're doing and all of that. I think that helps.
But with that said, and I think that every guy on our team would echo that. They know that going in there tomorrow night -- I mean, Game 4 was a challenge. Game 6 will be a much bigger challenge. It's a very difficult challenge in there, and we're going to need to play harder and better than what we've played in the last two games.

Q. Do you think teams ever take on the psyche of their city and their fans?
COACH VAN GUNDY: You know, that's an interesting question. I've never really thought of that. I know your fans help you at the games, that's for sure. But that's an interesting question. I don't really know.

Q. Because everybody out there, a lot of people are talking about the Bruins.
COACH VAN GUNDY: I don't know. I would doubt that players would get affected by what happened in another sport, but I would have a hard time believing that. I don't think most of our guys on any of our teams follow hockey very much.

Q. But (indiscernible) last night said he was looking forward to dressing in the Flyers locker room?
COACH VAN GUNDY: There you go. Okay.

Q. Did you see the pendulum start to swing though? Starting to swing a little bit?
COACH VAN GUNDY: We're down 3-2. That's where we are. I don't think that it matters that we were down 3-0 at this point. And I don't think that in the long haul it really matters beyond the fact that it kept us in the series that we've won the last two.
Bottom line is we're down 3-2, and we're going to Boston. That is really the situation. How it got to there is not really the concern at this point. I mean, we can't get back the first three games and anything. So we're down 3-2, and we're headed to Boston.
I think now it's a series. I think when you're rolling, and we went through it in the last two series, and you're just playing with no pressure and no worries, it's certainly a different game.

Q. 13 threes last night. Was that ball movement? Was that getting them in transition?
COACH VAN GUNDY: I think transition helped us. Looking at the film, we got some in transition. We got some out of ball movement. We got some when they went under on pick-and-rolls. It was a good mixture.
But I thought that the overall thing was certainly the energy and the ball movement, and not letting their defense lock in quite as much.
What we're not getting in this series, and you have to find other ways, we're not going to get inside-out-type stuff. They're not going to come down and double. So you're not going to get the inside-out threes.

Q. In general, your philosophy on technical fouls. Aren't those judgment calls at the time?
COACH VAN GUNDY: It's just that's a tough thing. I mean, you know. Again, the referees decide on those, and then the league office will look at them. Again, I try to be like this as much as I can anyway, but particularly this time of year. I'm just not spending too much time worrying about anything that I don't have any control over whatsoever.
The league decides what goes on. They'll tell you who is playing, who is not playing, and then you get ready to go.

Q. You coaches always talk about can't just flip the switch on and off to make your teams play well. But this series certainly looks like you guys have been two different teams. Why is that?
COACH VAN GUNDY: Yeah, that's a good question. I wish I knew. I mean, I really do. Again, like I just said, we can't go back and get those first three. The question I have, the same question after watching the last two games, I guess.
I mean, I'm not spending a lot of time worrying about it because we've certainly got to move on, but I don't know why we didn't get and didn't play. And I don't think our players probably could answer that. I don't know why we can't play with the same type of energy in the first three games. I really do not know.

Q. Do you think that maybe this team being used to being the underdog, so to speak, is something that motivates them and they respond better to playing against adversity?
COACH VAN GUNDY: You know what, I mean, that's possible. Again, I really don't know. I think we were pretty big favorites in the first two series and responded to that pretty well. So I really don't know the reason.
Again, right now it's just all about moving on to Game 6. How we got to 3-2 Boston and going to their home court is really, at this point, anyway, irrelevant. It's all about Game 6 now.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297