	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 WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SUNS v LAKERS

May 27, 2010

Phil Jackson

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Five

Lakers Â– 103
Suns - 101

Q. (Question about Ron Artest)?
COACH JACKSON: I don't know why I left him in the game. I actually questioned it myself when I put him out there on the floor, and there he was. Made the key play.

Q. What emphasis was on attacking the zone in this game, and are you happy with your team's execution in attacking the zone.
COACH JACKSON: Yes.

Q. (Question off microphone)?
COACH JACKSON: Could you understand what he said? Neither could I.

Q. (Off Microphone)?
COACH JACKSON: No, I have not. I'm still recovering. We had a little session with Ron after the ball game. A lot of hugs, and then a lot of discussion.

Q. (Question about Kobe Bryant)?
COACH JACKSON: I anticipated a game like this in the series. All of them have been pretty much over in the last minute, and they were able to get this game back in control. Even at the end of three quarters, great comeback that they made. And you know I just felt like this was going to be that game.
And it sure was. And the next time I hope we're as fortunate. Although, you know, you have to say that that bang shot from 3 is pretty fortunate. One good shot deserves another one.

Q. Any idea why you did Ron back in? Did you have any instructions on that?
COACH JACKSON: He has an uncanny knack of doing things, and sometimes it just works out. He had a great steal that vaulted us into a big lead there in the third quarter. And he just has a knack of being around crucial plays.

Q. Talk about a knack of good plays (indiscernible). He seems to give you what you need. You stood by him for that reason.
COACH JACKSON: He performed very well tonight. He's very aggressive. I thought he did a great job offensively. Some things, some of the calls he just weathered through it. Had the poise and stayed strong and I thought there was a charged foul that was called, a blocking foul against him, and he just took it and went right on and played. And he got himself in foul trouble.
I had to give him a little rest here and there when I could. But he did a great job.

Q. Through the years you've won a number of titles along the way. You've had these moments. Tonight, a test of the buzzer beater, which I would consider expected. Is this just the luck that follows you around? How does it happen year after year where there's this one moment where this happens?
COACH JACKSON: My coaching staff says they want to live with me because I'm lucky and hang on. So whatever. Maybe it's luck. You look at the stat sheet tonight. We did most of the things right. Turnovers, rebounds, blocked shots.
We didn't shoot as well as we shot in the course of the series. But we got a number of shots more than our opponent. All that momentum that we had in the game seemed to be the one that carried us over at the end, and I think that's sometimes the way it is.
You create the luck or the momentum that you've built up from the start of the game through the end of the game.

Q. After Ron hits the 3-pointer early in the shot clock off the bench, looked like you were saying something to him, looked like he wasn't listening to you is. Is that correct?
COACH JACKSON: Just talked to him about decisions, we asked him to make good decisions, and his judgment at certain times in the game. He wanted to redeem himself. I understand that. He missed a shot. I missed a shot, I got a second opportunity, I'm going to redeem it this time.
And you understand and kind of feel for a player, but that time of the game, it's not a good play. And I wanted to let him know that he has to know that and recognize it.

Q. (Question off microphone)?
COACH JACKSON: He was trying not to listen to me, very hard.

Q. (Question about Kobe Bryant)?
COACH JACKSON: Did he get an assist on that last play? That was a triple-double. That's too bad.
Yes, I really needed to get him out of the ball game sometime in the fourth quarter. I thought we were going a little bit too reliant on him at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but that will happen at times.
But he played a stellar game tonight. Got in foul trouble early. Had to sit a few minutes and then came back and played great.

Q. How steady was Steve Nash in the fourth quarter?
COACH JACKSON: It's the way we thought he would play. Kind of what we anticipated we would make him have to do was shoot the ball, carry the offense for them, try and stay at home on other guys so we weren't getting burned to the 3-pointers, but unfortunately all of it was happening tonight for us. Frye was hitting 3-pointers and they were getting 3-point plays.
A lot of it Steve was on the bench, but when he came back in at the end of the game he really did carry that charge that they made.

Q. Phil, on the contested shot, when Artest goes for that 3, that's always the no, no, no, yes type thing. Is that shot ever a wise move if it goes in, or is that just always a bad decision with the time situation involved there, even if it goes in? Is that not a shot you want your player to make?
COACH JACKSON: Percentage-wise, you know, if it's someone that's a 45 percent 3-point shooter, you'd certainly live with it. That's something that you have to talk to players about judgment. Do you feel good? Do you have good balance? Did the ball come in your hand the right way?
There are a bunch of things that go into a shot like that besides just casting it up.

Q. You switched a lot of the picks on the pick-and-roll tonight. And you seemed to be more physical both with Nash and with them in general defensively, was that part of the plan and were you happy with how it worked?
COACH JACKSON: Well, it didn't work very well for us to begin with. We got a lot of fouls to start with. And we got in foul trouble in the first three, four minutes of the game in the penalty.
And I had to kind of settle them down, because it's high-energy game. We wanted to play aggressively. We did play aggressively. I thought that switching was sometimes overdone.
I don't mind at the end of a clock and the need situations, we call it. We switched a little bit too much for my tastes at some points in the game.
But that's some of the things you almost have to do against this ball club when they have their 3-point shooting lineup in.

Q. You've coached Dennis Rodman, Isaiah Rider and Ron Artest. I was wondering, the toughest player you've ever had to coach and where would Ron fit in there?
COACH JACKSON: We've got Ron Williams and Bison Dele. A whole list of players that it's -- Ron is unique. And he's very much an individual, and I think that as the NBA goes, every player has his own kind of individual personality you have to handle in a different way.
And Ron is determined. I think he's dogged. I think that's what makes him a great defensive player. I think sometimes he gets very locked in and focused.
And sometimes he has to split his vision or get diversion to get through, break through. His play has generated a lot of energy for our team this year. This is not one of his better series right now. We hope he can break through and open up a little bit in this next game.

Q. Drew's mobility defensively seemed a lot better. Could you talk about what you thought he did on that side of the floor?
COACH JACKSON: Yeah, we had some blocked shots. I thought he was a presence out there, which is really important. Lopez hurt us in the course of these games, and particularly in Phoenix.
And tonight I thought Drew played a really good game as far as the minutes he could play. He got in foul trouble the second half. Kind of limited the minutes he could play.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297