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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HEAT v BULLSMay 23, 2011Luol DengMIAMI, FLORIDA: Practice Day Q. What do you see that they're doing to Derrick on the floor defensively? What are they doing to limit him even just getting to the basket? LUOL DENG: They're the most athletic team in the playoffs. They're doing a good job of just shrinking and recovering. It worked for them the last two games. Q. You know him and you thought he was real focused going into the game yesterday. What do you think his mindset is when he's been sort of stopped and frustrated at every turn, going into this next game? LUOL DENG: He's going to come out next game and do a good job. He's done it all year. I know he's going to come out next game -- even if it doesn't go well, he's going to come out the game after that. That's just the kind of team we are all year. We're just going to keep on fighting. We're going to find a way. Q. What about ball movement yesterday? I'm sure some guys looked at the film. Didn't seem you guys had the number of assists and at times the consistency. What can you guys do just to get better? LUOL DENG: You know, if you look back at the game, we were in the game. The last two games, we were in the game with five minutes to go. We win that game and all those stories don't come up. It's a lot. I thought we did a lot of good things. They are overshadowed by the loss. This game is about winning, but there's a couple of passes where we got fouls, went to the free-throw line. We made some good plays, but overall we've got to do a better job of just knocking down shots. Q. Luol, the Heat seemed to play with some doubt in Game 1, because your defense was pretty effective. But they seem to be playing with confidence now. Can they be an even more dangerous team than most when they get their confidence? Isn't it another hurdle to overcome? LUOL DENG: Yeah, they're a good team when they play like that. They won the last two games. We have to try to get the next one. Q. I know you don't want to blame the officiating. Just for the record, did you even touch James on that three-shot foul? Or was it a ticky-tack -- LUOL DENG: I mean, everyone -- I saw the replay. I think you guys saw the replay too. I let everyone be their own judge. You lose your temper during the game, but then again, I really don't think the refs are favoring any side. It's just how the game goes. I don't think -- if I shot that three and he hit me like that, I would have got that call. That's not the way you win the game or lose the game. That's just part of the game. Q. Talk about losing your temper. Were you guys aware of what happened with Joakim and the fan and what he said and the possible fine he's facing? How do you guys react to that? LUOL DENG: I think what Jo said is just something out of frustration. He's got to do a better job of controlling his emotion. But at the same time, as players, we always -- everyone is always watching us. And Jo kind of lost his temper. He shouldn't have. That fan should have been out of the game. He should have been thrown out way before. He just kept going at him. An emotional game like that, and things not going Jo's way, it's human nature to react. I know Jo, and I know he didn't mean what he said at all. At the same time, there's times where a fan like that -- honestly, I feel like jumping in the crowd (Indiscernible) We're human. The camera is not on that fan at all. I know Jo apologized and everything. People got to see it the other way too. Everyone says things they don't mean. He let the emotion get the better of him. Honestly, with the game like that, hearing that fan, I wanted to do something about it too. Unfortunately for Jo, he had to pay the price. Q. What did the fan say? LUOL DENG: He said a lot of things. I'm not going to say it -- tell you guys exactly what he said. But everything he said was not appropriate and not the right thing to be said. Q. Have you heard fans talk like that before and get kicked out? LUOL DENG: Yes, you hear them. They get kicked out. In a game like that, an emotional game like that, Jo being such an emotional player, it wasn't just one time or two times. He kept going. It became really annoying. He lost his temper. Q. Thibs always talks about staying focused. How important is it for you guys to keep your focus on Game 4 and not let distractions get in the way? LUOL DENG: I think our focus is going to be there. We're fighters. We're very disappointed to have lost that last one. Like I said (Indiscernible) we got an opportunity to turn things around. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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