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NBA FINALS: MAVERICKS v HEAT

June 2, 2011

Rick Carlisle

MIAMI, FLORIDA: Game Two

Dallas Mavericks 95
Miami Heat 93

Q. Rick, you went super small for a little bit and then back with Tyson. Down that much that late, what were you trying to get going?
COACH RICK CARLISLE: We needed to get some stops. That was the biggest thing. The small lineup, we needed to get Tyson a couple of minutes rest, just because Haywood got injured. It was an awful long stretch for Tyson to play. And then when he came back in, we were able to get some traction defensively.
And we're down 15, I thought the key was we came out of timeout, went on a 4-0 run and then immediately were able to establish something defensively, and it had been hard the whole game.

Q. After something like that, we're always asking what was said in the huddle? Anything particular get said in the huddle?
COACH RICK CARLISLE: Hang out. Hang around. Keep believing. This team has been through some difficult situations. We've been down big a couple of times in the playoffs. We have shown that we have the ability to come back and the guys believe that if we get stops, we'll always give ourselves a chance. It wasn't gonna happen unless we got stops.

Q. Coach, you had a technical foul in the game. Did that inspire your players to even play harder, to see that you were intense and committed?
COACH RICK CARLISLE: It seemed to inspire the referees. Look, I'm not going to get into a big thing about the officiating. I stand up for my guys. If I think things are going on out there that aren't fair, I'm going to fight for them. That's just how I do business. If you get a technical once in a while, you get a technical once in a while. But that was a long time ago now.

Q. Can you talk about Shawn Marion's performance. He was really performing for you guys until the rest of the guys came around and started to produce.
COACH RICK CARLISLE: He was great. Look, we need him on the floor because of his defense. Offensively he's given us points and play-making. And his movement on the court makes a lot of good things happen for us.
So, you know, he's really important to us. We've got 12 guys we rely on. We went ten deep tonight. Pending Haywood's situation, we'll probably have to go deeper.

Q. Was there anything said, whether it was you or whether it was the players, before you guys went on that really long run, anything that needed to be said or kind of was a motivating factor?
COACH RICK CARLISLE: Just hang in. Let's get some stops. Let's give ourselves a chance. Let's put some pressure on them. We really hadn't put any pressure on them at all in two games to speak of.
It's hard because they make a lot of -- they put you in a lot of tough situations. They have a lot of breath-taking ability out there on the court. But by being solid and getting a couple of stops and scoring, we got some momentum, and it worked out.

Q. At what point did you say, okay, maybe we might be able to catch them?
COACH RICK CARLISLE: Five minutes is a long time. It's a long time. It can be up to I don't know how many possessions. But if you're getting stops and scores, you can make up ground in a hurry. The key thing is to understand that there's no six-point plays. You're going to have to do it one step at a time with a stop, and then a good shot and then hopefully a score and then a stop. You know, we were able to do that in a championship series, you have to have some good fortune along with playing hard and giving yourself a chance.
I thought we missed a lot of good shots again, and we were due to get on a roll, if we could get some stops. And we were able to do that.

Q. Coach, two key possessions defensively for you guys which happened under two minutes left were characterized by LeBron James hoisting up threes as the shot clock went down. He didn't even penetrate during those possessions. Can you describe what your defense was doing during those possessions?
COACH RICK CARLISLE: We were trying to stay solid. James and Wade, they're two of the best facilitators ever, and they're terrific players. They're going to make it tough. Look, at that point we want to stay in front of them, get a hand up and hope they missed. They missed a couple of shots and it allowed us to keep our momentum going.

Q. Rick, I know obviously it's a game of runs throughout. But this one seemed to have even more from the start of the second half and the end of the first half. 13-0, I think. Then they come out fourth quarter, 13-0 to start. You guys finished 22-5. Have you ever seen a game where there were big shifts each time?
COACH RICK CARLISLE: It can happen. There's two good defensive teams that also have great shot-making abilities. So you can see some runs. Look, this was not a conventional game. We all know that. If you're going to win a championship, you've got to have the wherewithal to hang in when things are tough. You have to keep believing.
All year our guys have believed. And tonight was another good example. They had to win the game. It wasn't easy.

Q. Rick, while Dirk was waiting for his offense to come around, he really worked the boards, 11 rebounds, you guys outrebounded them by 11. Talk about his overall performance in addition to what he did in the clutch.
COACH RICK CARLISLE: Well, look, the rebounding was the biggest issue we had facing this coming into this game. We did a much better job tonight. Guys were more conscientious.
Dirk had a great all-around game. He started out not shooting the ball particularly well. He was getting double-teamed. He was doing a good job of making the passes out that were leading to shots and opportunities for other guys. Defensively, he was keeping a body on his man and he was cleaning up defensive possessions with rebounds. The other night we were getting pushed around. They kept getting the ball and getting it back.
His all-around game was great. There are going to be a lot of situations where he's going to be a play-maker because teams commit two guys to him. We've seen it time and time again in the three years I've been here. We've seen times people have thrown three guys at him. There's nothing he hasn't seen. Miami makes it tougher because the guys they send are athletic and long, and they anticipate well. So they deflect. There were sometimes they deflected tonight. We made enough plays to get out of here.

Q. The analogy between he and Bird, that reminded me of a Bird-type performance in terms of the all-around game and the finish at the end.
COACH RICK CARLISLE: Yeah, I've been saying it for a long time. Nobody wants to hear it. The guy has a torn finger, so there you go.

Q. Rick, he had a torn finger on his left hand, and in the final minute two of his three baskets were scored, finished with the left hand. I'm sure you are aware of that. Can you talk about just his ability to go to what might be hurting him when you need him most.
COACH RICK CARLISLE: Look, I played with Bird for three years when he was the best player in the world. Guys like that don't feel pain right now. You play, you play and if you're feeling pain, you make yourself numb so you don't feel pain. You've got to play and you've got to be a warrior.
Look, Dirk knows for us to win this series. He's going to have to play all-around basketball. He's going to have to fight through periods where the ball isn't necessarily going in the basket, which he did tonight. He's going to have to play a solid all-around game, which he did tonight.
Hey, we had a lot of guys who stepped up. This was a great win for us.

Q. Coach, talk about the performance of Shawn Marion, who kind of held you in there when you were struggling a bit.
COACH RICK CARLISLE: Yes, Marion was great. You know, he had 20 points, 8 boards. He's got the toughest job on the planet right now guarding James, and you know, he just came off a series where he was chasing Durant around. This is two of the top five players in the game, easily. What we're really asking him to do is give us everything he can defensively. And the offense he's given us is really helping as well.
He's had a great playoffs. He had a great playoffs, and particularly the last five games he's been spectacular.

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