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NBA FINALS: MAVERICKS v HEATJune 5, 2011Erik SpoelstraDALLAS, TEXAS: Game Three Q. Spo, LeBron made a point yesterday, and again today that he wants to be more aggressive early, wants to go to the line as much as possible. Is that good from your perspective to hear, or do you not want him deviating so much from what you guys are going to lay out as far as an offensive plan of attack? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: A couple of things with that. Obviously coming from Game 2, we want to play more to our identity. We don't want to invent a new game. We're an aggressive, attacking team that tries to get into the paint, to the rim, to the free-throw line. At the same time we have to read the game. We have guys that can step up and make timely open threes and open shots to keep the defense honest, and it will be a read of the game. The most important thing is we get back to our identity, which is to be an aggressive, attacking team. Q. Erik, the familiar question, staying with the same inactives? Has there been any thought against the zone to getting a little more James Jones if he's healthy enough and even to Zydrunas Ilgauskas because of his outside shooting? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: They played less zone in Game 2 than in Game 1. The man-to-man is really what disrupted us in the second half. We'll see. Depending on the game. Q. Inactives the same? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Yes. Q. Erik, Haywood is a game-time decision for them. How much of an impact if he is or isn't in the lineup? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: We'll see. Depends on who they play. We're ready to go with however they play. It's more important who we're playing. We've proven all season long we can play different lineups, use our versatility, our size, play small with LeBron at the four, if needed, depending on the game. Right now the physicality of the games really lend toward playing our bigger players right now. But we'll see. Q. Everybody is talking about Game 3 and how important it is and they're all important, but do players actually get into it the first parts of the game, are they jittery, do things happen? Do they feel it out? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: I think once they get out there all of that leaves. I'm sure the moments leading up to it, it's a competitive series. It's what every player dreams about. It's what all of them 25 years from now when they rest their heads on the pillow, they'll remember these moments and wish they could do anything to come back to this time. There's so many storylines out there right now, the Game 3, all these trends and statistics. To simplify it for all of you, the game is not played in a statistical world. It is played between those four lines and 94 feet. Whoever plays the best and more consistent to their identity likely has the best chance to win. They were able to do that down the stretch last game. Q. Erik, you had Shawn for a period of time in Miami. They don't run a whole lot of stuff for him. Are they running more, though, than maybe you guys did down there? And what would you attribute his effectiveness the first couple of games? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: He's one of the most unique players in the game and he always has been. He has always said in Phoenix when they averaged 110 points a game for years that they never called a play for him, which is true. I would say they run more plays for him and it's probably only two or three a game than he's ever had in his career. But he's unique, because all of his actions are things that you can't necessarily scout. It's movement, it's activity. They're cuts, the random movement, offensive rebounds, a lot of these things he's coming from the weak side and using his speed and quickness to make an impact. So as the series goes on, you become a little bit more accustomed to where he's going to be. But he's had an impact so far. No doubt. Q. These two teams tied for the best road record during the regular season. They've already stole one on your home floor. Now three games here, how important is it to rely on that regular season success you had on the road and carry it into the series? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Our guys have great confidence coming into a building like this with the moment. Our guys usually respond in bigger moments like this on the road. You can't take that for granted. I think what it says for both teams, you have two veteran teams that won't likely become unglued in a hostile environment, and both teams can win on either court. So it has to be a consistent game for either team all the way through, and win those battles of endurance. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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