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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HEAT v BULLS

May 15, 2011

Luol Deng

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Game One

Miami Heat 82
Chicago Bulls 103

Q. Luol, are you more impressed with the fact that you, Boozer and Rose matched their big three in scoring or the defensive job you guys did on LeBron and Wade?
LUOL DENG: No, I mean definitely our defense. We're not playing the matchup game. We just playing a great team game, great team defense, you know, and just trying to win the game however we win it.

Q. Derrick just kept saying, "We wanted to come out with an edge, we wanted to come out with an edge." What does that mean to you, and why does this team want to establish that tone so much in this game?
LUOL DENG: I mean, the edge is really just coming out hungry, just coming out aggressive, just knowing that just being focused from the start of the game. It's really, really important for us to come out like that. The win. When our starters come out with an edge, our bench tends to do better. It gives them confidence when they come in.

Q. (No microphone.)
LUOL DENG: We just believe in each other. I think that's what's really making us a good team this year. We just -- whenever a guy has a hard time out there on the court, we're all behind them 100%. We know we have a great group of guys and everyone is really giving 100% when they are out there.

Q. Do you feel good about the job you did on LeBron tonight? And do you feel there's room for improvement?
LUOL DENG: You know, I think, you know, all of us as a team I think we did a good job on those guys, on LeBron and D-Wade. I think it took a group effort, and really guys staying focused on the game plan the whole game. But we all know LeBron, he's a great player. He just really had some shots that he normally makes that he didn't make. So we're not going to take all the credit.
You know, just guys really stayed with the game plan from start to finish. And that's really what's important.

Q. Luol, following up on that, how do you deal with a guy like LeBron who obviously you're giving up a lot of athleticism to him? How do you counter that?
LUOL DENG: You know, it's tough. He's a great player. Like I said, really it's just making every shot he takes tough. He's going to make tough shots. He's going to make some unbelievable shots out there. You can't really get discouraged when that happens.
It's always about the next play. It's always about the next play. And that's what we really did tonight.

Q. Luol, late in the second quarter you hit a bailout three and it got the crowd on their feet. They never really sat down again until after the half. Can you feel that energy even more so than in a normal playoff game?
LUOL DENG: I mean, yeah, the crowd was unbelievable. That's what our home court is about. I just thought from start to finish, from the National Anthem, the crowd was really into it. But that three, good rhythm three, and it really gave us a good momentum. And it just, like you said, the crowd got into it, and guys started feeding off the crowd.

Q. Luol, two-part question: Not to harp on the LeBron thing, but does it make you more aggressive and confident knowing 99% of the time you're going to have that help if he does beat you? No. 2, putting pressure on the offensive end, how much does that help you stay in rhythm and everything else?
LUOL DENG: Oh, yeah, definitely to guard a guy like that, the whole defense has to stay focused. I just thought our bigs were great. There's times we switched. There's times we forced them into the double. Normally he beats those bigs easily. But our bigs were great at just keeping them in front.
Offensively I really tried to be as smart as I could be. Try to read what they are doing. The start of the game I was kind of rushing it a little bit. I got a good rhythm three. And that kind of got me going.

Q. Luol, there are a lot of ebbs and flows in this game, and you're down one at 58-57 and 11 minutes later you're up 17. What happened in that stretch?
LUOL DENG: We had a good run. Good defensive. We got stops. We went out and ran the floor. Our defense stepped it up. We made baskets and we locked in. It happens a lot where a team gets good momentum, and we had it tonight.

Q. Did Bosh score highly because of matchups? Was there a matchup size issue?
LUOL DENG: Oh, no, no. Bosh just had a great game. I thought he played well for them.

Q. Luol, how much do you think your individual game benefited this year from Thibs' system? And do you feel like he did a great job this year helping you play to all your strengths, using you in ways where you would have some success?
LUOL DENG: Yes, definitely. I think in the past a lot of people just kind of just looked at the scoring part, the scoring part of the game. And a lot of the other stuff that I do or I like to do were kind of like ignored or neglected. But with Thibs, he just kept me focused on those little things, and offense, you know, with the way we play, the ball just finds the open guy. You know, doing a good job of knocking down shots. But it's really staying focused on what I need to do game in and game out to make us a better team, whether it's my defense, my rebounding, you know, just being the leader out there.
I'm always trying to find something each game to lift our team.

Q. Luol, there's that moment in the second quarter LeBron hits a three over you, and you came right back and hit a three over him. Talk about that, and if that was important for you.
LUOL DENG: Yeah. He's going to hit shots. He hit a tough shot. We just came back down. It wasn't a you-scored-on-me-I'm-going-to-score-on-you situation. The play we ran, we really wanted them to help on the big guy diving, and they went for it, and I was wide open for the three.

Q. Luol, even though it was a defensive effort, a team effort against LeBron, how much of the individual success you had against them, how much did you help offensively? How much confidence did it give you?
LUOL DENG: My offense, I just had good rhythm shots. I keep saying just our team defense was great. It wasn't anything I did individually or anything. It was just we had a good game plan and it worked.

Q. Luol, you hit four threes today, the entire Heat team hit three. Was part of your game plan to bounce it out to long-range?
LUOL DENG: No. I mean, the way Derrick has been playing, they got to help. A lot of times that was really the shot that I had. I did a good job of just taking the shot that I had.

Q. Luol, you've been here for a number of years now. There have been changes in the players of the team, and there have been changes of the coaches. What does Coach Thibodeau do to inspire you and the team to play your best? What does he do more than the other coaches have done so far for you? And thank you for the work of your charity foundation.
LUOL DENG: I appreciate it. Thank you.
I've always said I think we've had a number of great coaches here. And different players come in and go like you said. But the one thing that Thibs really does great is just making us prepare well. The way we prepare for each game, I think, we come into the game with a good mindset knowing that we took care of everything leading to that game. So your mindset when you go to that game, you just know that you're prepared. You're prepared to really go out there and give your best.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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