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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v MAVERICKSMay 18, 2011Jason KiddDALLAS, TEXAS: Practice Day Q. How does a guy like Barea compete in a league where even the guards are getting bigger and faster? JASON KIDD: I think just his heart and determination. You know, you look at his background and where he comes from, I think that just is his upbringing with his brothers and having a close-knit family. But his heart and determination and work ethic, he works extremely hard. Q. Do you think people underestimate him? JASON KIDD: I think the normal person would underestimate him in terms of walking into the arena, you wouldn't think he's a basketball player. You hear some stories about that. But just his look. I mean, you would look at him and say that he's not a basketball player. Q. Avery Johnson four years ago wanted Dirk Nowitzki to be more of a post-up player rather than just a jump shooter. How much has that changed his game since the years you competed against him? JASON KIDD: Dirk's game hasn't changed. He's kind of expanded it to the three-point line. We've encouraged him to shoot the three a lot more as time has gone on. But for him to be able to catch the ball in the post and do what he does, I mean, he gets to the basket, he's not settling, and at this time you can't settle, and that's what he's doing. Q. Why is he so difficult to contain in that area? He didn't really do anything different the entire game. The ball came to him in the same sweet spot and he kept scoring. JASON KIDD: Well, he works extremely hard on his game. He talks about having nine days off, but he was in the gym every night working on all the stuff that you probably saw last night. People talk about the one-leg shot that he shoots, he works on that. When we see it, it's not a surprise. It's just something that he is accustomed to doing in practice, and he's very comfortable in shooting that shot. Q. Do you hope the Thunder double-team him a lot more the rest of the series? JASON KIDD: Well, we expect some changes. When a guy gets going like that, you know, you expect that they might come and double-team, so those are things we've got to be prepared for, and if they do we've got to be able to knock down the three on the weak side because something has got to give, and if we can knock down a three, that helps Dirk out a whole lot. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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