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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HEAT v BULLS

May 18, 2011

Erik Spoelstra

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Game Two

Miami Heat 85
Chicago Bulls 75

COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: That fourth quarter is probably what's going to epitomize this entire series. It's an absolute street fight for both teams. It's physical basketball. Defensive-oriented teams. I don't know if the basketball aficionado likes a 14-10 score in the fourth quarter, but that's probably what it's going to come down to and what it will take often in these games.
It was a great collective effort of endurance. And it takes mental and physical endurance to be able to sustain in a building like this against a very physical team. We were able to play more to our identity. We're an aggressive, physical team. All season long we've proved that. We played a little bit more to our identity tonight and we were able to get the win.

Q. Erik, if you can comment on Udonis' play tonight.
COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: He's an absolute championship warrior. Really, what he did tonight, it's remarkable. He hasn't been in really a game, and now I question myself for not trying him earlier. But there was an incredible unknown. We hadn't seen him in a game. Our practices at this point aren't quite as long as they were in mid-season. But two days ago before practice I talked with him. And there was something, a look in his eye, that I knew it was time. Players will tell you always they're ready and they can help, but I've been through a lot of battles with that warrior. I knew that was the time to plug him in.
I wasn't anticipating this many minutes. It was going to be a couple of short bursts. We got in so much foul trouble in the first quarter that he had to play extended minutes, more than we wanted him to.
Some guys you can't define what's inside them. He was able to really give us a boost when we got in foul trouble.

Q. Just talk about the way LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were able to bounce back after subpar outings on Sunday. The way they bounced back tonight.
COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: We had a couple of days to stew over it. The majority was our mentality. Coming back with an aggressive, physical mentality. Two very aggressive basketball teams. I've seen it enough with Dwyane. And now this year with LeBron, that they respond and often play their best when their back is against the wall under adversity and when they need to come back and help the team win.
It was a great two-way effort for both of them. LeBron was very good on both sides of the ball. He had to guard virtually everybody on the floor and rebound and make a lot of plays for us on the offensive end and do it in 45 minutes. The only thing I kept reminding him every time-out is you cannot afford to get tired. For us to have a chance to win, we cannot have you fatigued. He was able to play through all of that with an incredible mental strength.

Q. Erik, Derrick Rose seemed to drive the lane a lot tonight, but the difference seemed to be that he wasn't able to finish off his shots. Is that a different strategy you had, different conscious effort?
COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: He's a great player. He really is. We think we're one of the best pick-and-roll defensive teams in the entire league in terms of keeping the ball out of the paint. He is so explosive. His handle is so good that it's tough. So you have to try to meet him with athleticism, make it tough for him when he gets to the rim. He missed some that he probably normally makes, which sometimes you need. Sometimes in this league and in the playoffs it's about make or miss. But you have to continue to come.
Multiple efforts. We tried to do the same thing we did the other night in terms of keeping him out of the lane, but that's a major challenge. A lot easier said than done.

Q. Two things: Udonis had that rough couple of minutes in his first game back against Boston in the previous series, which was totally understandable under the circumstances, but what did he do in the interim to get his game so sharp? And secondly, what did he do to galvanize your defense? It seemed like he set the tone so you guys were playing at a different level even when he wasn't in the game.
COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: It was certainly inspirational the minutes he gave us. That's who he has been his entire career. He has always led us in charges taken, hits, dives on the floor. We chart all those things. He's the all-time leader in all of our defensive categories.
He's smart, he's tough, he does all the little intangibles. And that's why we've always said that the image of a Miami Heat player, that's Udonis Haslem. He embodies all the qualities we hope to instill in Miami Heat players. Toughness, intangibles, character, leadership, and he embodies all of those qualities.
He's been working as hard as anybody. He's only been at this probably about a month. And so it was very tough to gauge when he could possibly be ready. He's not a guy who needs touches. So it's a little bit different from a chemistry standpoint. He's more of an effort player. But each day that he was able to work and grind and hit with Pittman and do conditioning and get his strength back, get his timing back, every practice that we went, it seemed like a little bit more of the old Udonis was there. We all hoped for it. But three weeks ago he wasn't where we remembered him. So it took some time.

Q. Erik, do you look to insert him a little bit sooner in the lineup? And what can you take with you going back home that you've seen in these two games that will help you?
COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: I'll tell you what we'll take with us is how physical and how small of a margin of error there is on both sides. We have to absolutely bring those habits and our mentality that we brought tonight when we get back to Miami, because we know they'll be coming out swinging. And that's the way this series will go. I anticipate a lot of quarters like that fourth quarter, 14-10, which is the way both teams like it.

Q. Erik, at the start they had a lot of offensive rebounds again. What was going through your mind, and how were you able to weather what seemed to be a discombobulated start?
COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Did we really solve it? Ultimate bottom line is we got the key ones and we did outrebound them. But they present a lot of different challenges. Obviously with guys putting the ball on the floor, with the pick and rolls, and they're very athletic and big and aggressive going to the glass. So when it happened in the first quarter, of course, my initial thought was, here we go again. We have to make a change, otherwise the result won't change.
We were more physical and battling a little bit more below, and when the ball is up in the air getting some more group and team rebounds. But it will be that type of street fight every single game from here on out.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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