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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS v MAGICMay 28, 2010Doc RiversBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game Six Celtics: 96 Q. You had said throughout the year when you guys were going through some tough times that you liked what you saw at points when other people didn't see it. Is this what you saw? COACH RIVERS: Yeah, it is. The first thing we said when we got in the locker room is this is where we thought we would be. So, don't be surprised. This is what we talked about before the season started. And, you know, we did go through tough times. We started out so well. I thought after 28 games you could say we felt like we were the best team in the NBA, and then after that we had injuries, we fell apart, we struggled finding ourselves. But as a coach, I just believed that I saw what they did and what they had. And we kept saying as a staff, it's in us. We've got to try to get it back out of us. That stretch the last month, we formed a game plan, and I thought it was the right plan. Obviously it didn't look right because we were losing games, but guys were resting and conditioning, and I thought that was the only chance we had. Because the one thing I did learn through the injuries, we were not good enough injured, and we had a chance healthy. There were no guarantees, but we had a chance healthy. So my gamble was let's take health, so we lost some games, but we got healthy. Q. Can you talk about the contribution of Nate all along. Just what he did with Rondo off the floor. The team hasn't been that great with Rondo off the floor? COACH RIVERS: No, he was great. I told him, and a lot of guys told him, but I told him almost every practice during the Playoffs at every single practice, I made a point of going over to him, stay engaged. At some point you're going to win a game for us. I can't tell you when. I can't tell you when you're going to play. I can't tell you if you're going to play, on what night at least, but at some point you're going to win a game for us. You know, it happened last game. Not this game. He gave me the confidence when he came into Game 5, even though we played awful, that he had bought into our defensive system, and that he was able to run a couple set that's we thought would be effective against them. So I had made the decision before the game. I told our staff Nate would play tonight. I want so say one thing about that team we just beat, Orlando. They were tough. We came in this year thinking that was the team that we were going to have to beat everyone else talked about other teams, but we believed that was the team we were going to have to beat. Stan Van Gundy is a great coach. He is so difficult to coach against. I don't know how many other guys would have been able to rally their guys after the win we had in the third game. And he did that, so my hat's off to them. So I just want to tell them that, and we want to represent the East now. We got it back, now we want more. Q. Can you talk about the way your guys just seemed to keep their composure tonight and just run your stuff? COACH RIVERS: Yeah, we ran our stuff. In Game 4 and 5 we became an iso-basketball team. We had zero movement and today in our shootaround or before the game, it was probably the longest we've ever gone on offense. All I kept stressing is the ball does not need to touch the floor, it needs to touch more hands. It has to move. Orlando's too good defensively to play iso-basketball. We had a great film session before we got on the plane yesterday before we flew into Boston and we showed how we played in the first three games, and how we didn't play in Game 4 and 5. So I was just really happy that even when they made runs, instead of going back to the iso's, they stayed with the movement. They trusted it. My favorite moment of the game was Paul in the timeout. He said, hey, I'm just cutting for my teammates tonight. And that's Paul Pierce saying that. That was a great moment. Q. Was it composure, Doc? COACH RIVERS: Yeah, the composure was great. You know, Kevin was a little amped to begin the game. He turned into Bruce Lee for a minute with the karate chops. I don't know what that was about. But overall I thought everybody. It was a tough game with all the stuff that went on in the last game. I thought both teams kept their composure. I was concerned going into this game, that this game could get ugly, and it didn't. So both team it's well. Q. You mentioned Paul, lot of questions about Paul after the Cleveland Series. The game he had tonight, and the Series he had indicative of him as a player, but the kind of balance you have throughout? COACH RIVERS: Yeah, the first round we told our guys the formula was a certain couple of offensive players we thought would be effective. In the second round we told guys, this would be a Ray-Kevin Series. Rondo always has the ball in his hands. In this round we thought it would be a Ray-Paul Series, and we thought Kevin would be the third guy. And Rondo always is involved. So it does give us because we don't have that one guy, Paul's our best offensive player, and when we have match-ups, he's really good. The Cleveland Series was a tough match-up. Q. (Indiscernible)? COACH RIVERS: The rebounding. I said it earlier, if you want to see how Paul Pierce is playing, go to the rebound numbers. If those numbers are high, that means he's playing well. Q. Because of the history here, does it almost take a second championship with the group to cement yourself in history because of all the winning that's come before you? COACH RIVERS: Obviously, one is special but the other groups have a couple, and we'd love to join that club. But we've got a tough road. Phoenix or the Lakers, it's not going to be easy for us. I'm glad we're going to get done and get some rest. That may be the most important thing going into the next Series. We've talked about that that we want to join that club. No one can ever take away the first title. But we want to join another club too. Q. You had a moment with Nate after the game, embraced on the court there. After everything he's been through what did you say to him and what did that mean to you? COACH RIVERS: I told him I loved him, and I told him at some point it was going to happen for him. And it was all up to him to stay engaged. And he did: I get no credit out of this. Nate Robinson stayed focused in 30-straight whatever games without playing, and stayed focussed. And to me that, to me is more important than anything he's done tonight. Q. I know you're not a doctor. But Rajon Rondo came out and hurt his back? COACH RIVERS: Yeah, he's going to be okay, I'm more concerned with Rasheed, honestly. Rasheed got tight, you could see it. I will say this about Rasheed and Baby neither one of them was in great shape tonight. You could see that. Rasheed could not move. He looked old tonight because of his back. And I told him when he came back. You could see him in pain, and I said thank you for giving me the minutes you gave me, so that's our concern but we have time, so I think by Thursday we'll be good. Q. Were you concerned when Rondo's back went out? COACH RIVERS: I mean, yeah, I'm concerned any time one of our guys goes to the floor. We've had so many injuries of late, so, yeah, I was concerned. End of FastScripts |
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