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NBA FINALS: MAVERICKS v HEATJune 6, 2011Jason KiddDALLAS, TEXAS: Practice Day Q. Jason, what can you guys do to try to slow down Dwyane Wade or at least disrupt his rhythm? JASON KIDD: Well, I think if you look at the first three games, he's come out aggressive and he's taken his team -- he's put them on his shoulders to get them off to a good start. So we have to recognize that and pay a little bit more attention to him in the sense of the start of the games. He's been great. He's taken the ball to the basket and being aggressive. Q. Jason, how much have the turnover problems been a product of their defense versus maybe some unforced or uncharacteristic turnovers that you guys have made in this series? JASON KIDD: You have to give them credit. If you see a window, they close it extremely fast. And so we have to understand that. We have to take better care of the ball. Sometimes our best turnovers -- if we do make one, throw it in the stands so we can set our defense. Because if you don't, and they get their hands on the ball, they are laying the ball up on the other end. We have to pay a little bit better attention in the sense of the appreciation of the ball, to make sure we can complete the pass. But the big thing is we have to make shots. Our defense, we've been right there. They scored 85 points last night. They gave us an opportunity to win the game. Q. In terms of adjustments, you're probably not going to try to reinvent the wheel. It's probably more about execution going into Game 4. Do you think you guys have to shake something up maybe make some changes in the rotation? JASON KIDD: That's up to Coach. For us, we've got to understand that the games are going to come down to executing late and what team is going to execute and not make mental mistakes. In Game 1 we're right there. We made mistakes late. And then also in Game 2, we were on the side of that coin where we executed and didn't make mistakes. Last night we made mistakes with a minute left. So the big thing is for us to understand how important it is to mentally be there with a minute left. Q. You guys have been a resilient team all season long. Now you're in this 2-1 deficit. How much do you guys have to rally around what you've been through this season? JASON KIDD: I think we've been playing from behind since Game 3 in Oklahoma, so this isn't anything new. So we have to be prepared mentally and physically, come tomorrow night, and protect home. We've got to take one game at a time and tomorrow we have to be focused and ready to go. Q. Jason, you've spent time with Dwyane at USA Basketball and things like that. The sense in that locker room is he's the guy taking over everything, meetings, huddles, bus rides. He's the loudest voice. Does that surprise you at all given what you know about his personality from being with him? JASON KIDD: I don't look at it as a surprise. That's a veteran guy who's been in this position before and understands when he had two guys come up to him and talk to him about what they looked for him in '06 to do. So I think he's learned that he's the voice now, and that he has to talk to guys and tell them what he's looking for them to do, and they're doing it. That just shows he's the leader and he understands how important it is this time of the year to talk. And when he does talk, guys are going to listen. Q. When they keep opening these double-digit leads repeatedly last night and did it kind of easily, it seemed like, how does doubt not creep in a little bit, like maybe these guys are just a little too good for us? JASON KIDD: We're just too stubborn. That's the game of basketball, it's about runs. The first quarter they make a run on us, 7-love. And they make another run to start the third. But that's just the game of basketball. When you've played it enough, you don't panic. You understand that you just want to be on the other side of that run late in the game and hopefully it's big enough to get you a win. Q. Does this feel at all like when you're playing in The Finals against Kobe and Shaq, and that team was just better than you? Does this team Miami feel like they have that much advantage? JASON KIDD: No, they were super good. That Laker team was very -- we weren't quite ready for that team. But this is a different scenario, different team. We were just happy to be there. In this sense, we're not. We feel we can compete with Miami. We wouldn't have been here if we didn't think that. Q. Jay, did playing with Dirk the last couple of years, did you feel like you got a little bit of a second wind in your career at 37, 38, that you might not have gotten if you had played somewhere else these last few years? JASON KIDD: Yeah, I love the competition. When you can play at a high level and you are surrounded with guys who play at a high level, you don't want to be the odd one out. So you want to bring your game up no matter what age you are, and you want to contribute and help your team win. And that's what I'm trying to do. Q. Jay, if there's one thing that you individually can do much better for the rest of this series, what would that one thing be? JASON KIDD: That's a good question. I would love to score 20 points, but I got guys who can put the ball in the basket. I got to do a better job of putting my teammates in a position to be successful. I think that's the one thing from here on out I'm going to try to do. Q. Going in did you feel like point guard in total, you and J.J., had to win that position? JASON KIDD: We don't look at it as positions. I think they have Bibby and Chalmers out there, but they go to a different lineup coming down the stretch a lot of times. So they're kind of a different -- this is a different type of team in the sense of, I don't think they look at it as point guard or two guards, because LeBron can definitely play the point, and D-Wade have the ball 90% of the time. So it's not a point guard-oriented offense. Q. Also, everybody talked about how big Game 3 was. Even Dirk last night said you do not want to be down 3-1 in this series ever. JASON KIDD: No. We got to look -- this is our chance to tie it up, and we definitely can't go down 3-1. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Jason. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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