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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HEAT v BULLS

May 22, 2011

Chris Bosh

MIAMI, FLORIDA: Game Three

Chicago Bulls 85
Miami Heat 96

Q. Chris, you missed your first I think two or three tonight, and then sort of immediately found that groove. How were you able to sort of get on that roll that quickly and then, I think you were 13-for-15 the rest of the way, maintain it for the last 40 minutes or whatever it ended up being?
CHRIS BOSH: I just wanted to, you know, like I try every game, come out aggressively. I missed some shots. I felt that there were some good shots. I had my balance under me, I just missed them. And then I kind of got to the free-throw line, I kind of got a little bit of rhythm right there. And then after that, I saw the ball go in one time, and that was good enough for me.
I just kind of wanted to work all the areas where I randomly catch the ball in the offense, and be aggressive when they call my number down in the post. So I just wanted to try my best to maintain that intensity and keep it going for Game 4.

Q. Chris, sometimes when you get really going in a game, you get emotional on the court. Seemed like you held it all the way to the very end, until you had that drive to the basket. Were you telling yourself to try to stay calm, stay in the moment?
CHRIS BOSH: I was expending a little bit of energy. That celebration is -- getting the crowd into it, it takes -- they're going to be into it enough. It takes a lot of energy. I was trying to conserve that and expend it all playing.
And once we got into it, it got a lot better. You know, we kind of built the lead a little bit. Once we got it to six or eight points, I felt now is the time to get the crowd into it. That propelled us a little bit further.

Q. Do you ever take a peek at your family during the game? They were really enjoying your success tonight. Do you ever let yourself look over there?
CHRIS BOSH: My dad and my fiancÃ©e are over there. So they have so many conversations with me at home about so many different things about the game, about, you know, life in general. Just to share that moment with them, just to be out there and them being here for this deep run, it's a great feeling.

Q. After what you did in Toronto, being the guy, having that mentality as the guy, how hard was it to just change and have to be a guy that adapts? How mentally difficult was that? Can you talk about the challenge of that, and when you figured out where you could still do what you want to do?
CHRIS BOSH: It was extremely difficult. It was a point where I really didn't know what I was -- how I was going to be able to be effective. But, you know, I still have to have that aggressiveness that I had then.
Of course I'm not going to get as many play calls. I know that, with two other great players and a great team. But, you know, I just have to be aggressive and have a better, you know, swagger about myself and just believe in myself and my teammates and go out there and play basketball.

Q. Do you ever have to fight the ego, where it was and where it is now? Do you have to fight with that?
CHRIS BOSH: Yeah, you do. Nobody really tells you that. Nobody tells you that's going to be something that you have to worry about. Usually it's like okay, you sacrifice to win. But everybody is going to go through it in a different way. Ego is a part of that.
I didn't know I had that big of an ego. But, you know, it's all for the better sake of winning. That's what I keep telling myself. So far we've done pretty good. I'm just trying to be the best player I can be for this team.

Q. Chris, how do you go about attacking Noah?
CHRIS BOSH: Oh, just play my game, really. I don't really worry about who is in front of me. I know they're all good defenders, especially in the post. So I just kind of play my game. Look at how they have their feet. I have my jumpshot sometimes. Or you can just feel the game sometimes when you're going to be aggressive, when you're going to take it.
I practice a lot and I work on my game a lot. That's just time for that to take over sometimes.
Q. How comfortable does your team feel at home now winning all seven games at home in these playoffs?
CHRIS BOSH: You know, I don't think it's ever a comfortable moment. It's never a comfortable moment in these playoffs, especially at home. We want to defend home court so bad. I think that's really given us an edge here.
But it's really important to win out at home, especially when you have the home-court advantage. And we have to keep that. We have to remember that we have home court, and these guys, the only way to do that is to keep winning at home.
It's gotten better for us. We just have to continue to stay strong and play good basketball when we're here.

Q. Chris, Carlos Boozer's comments before the series about facing two great players in LeBron and Wade, I know it's the Eastern Conference Finals, but when you go off on a game like this, is any part of that used as motivation?
CHRIS BOSH: Not really. You know, we've been through so much in the regular season that comments really don't -- that's really not -- that doesn't affect me too much. I just go out there and try to be aggressive. You can find inspiration in all kinds of different ways. But I mean, it does nothing but help.
Yeah, I think about it when I'm shooting. It helps me out. It helps me get some extra reps up. If I practice enough, I go a little longer. For one, I want to win. And we have an opportunity to compete for a championship. So we have to keep going.

Q. Chris, are those shots there for you every night or was something different about tonight? Were they giving you something different?
CHRIS BOSH: Yeah, those shots are there. I was just aggressively taking them. I was kind of -- you know, I have to attack with no hesitation. I feel my jumper is good and I can make it. So I look for it. I try to set guys up, and if they crowd me, I go by them. If they are far off me, I trust my jumper enough to let it go. Usually when that happens, I don't think about it. I just go ahead and shoot it. It's either a good miss or a make.

Q. At what point did you feel comfortable? And early on did you ever second-guess your decision at all to come here?
CHRIS BOSH: No, I didn't. I knew it was going to be tough. I knew that we were going to have a crack at playing -- making a deep run in the summer. And, you know, I just had to just really think, think, think. It wasn't easy by any means. It was not easy at all. It's never going to be easy. I kind of just remember each situation I've been through in my lifetime, and most of them have not been easy.
If you want to get to where you want to go, sometimes you're going to have to have a rocky, rough road to get there.

Q. How have you dealt with often being used as the whipping boy, the one that everybody takes shots at and says stuff about? I'm sure you hear.
CHRIS BOSH: Yeah, I'm human. It is what it is. I really don't care for it. If it's not positive, I don't listen to it. You know, I know I'm a good ballplayer. You know, there's always going to be somebody throwing rocks no matter what you do. So I just continue to go. I know who is in my corner, my teammates and my family. I talk to them. I get better every day. And I play with passion. That's all that matters.
Probably because I'm a new guy, I guess. So, yeah, you know how people want to test a new guy, or whatever. It's okay. We're going to -- I just care about winning on the court. As long as we win on the court, that's what does my talking.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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