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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v SPURSJune 4, 2012Gregg PopovichSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Game Five Oklahoma City – 108 Q.  Talk about the end of the game. Did you get the look you wanted? Manu with a three, was that what you were looking for? GREGG POPOVICH: Yeah, we were trying to get Manu the three. Q. What do you feel like you got out of the Ginobili start, both good and some of the ways it might have affected you in a bad way? GREGG POPOVICH: Well, it's an energy boost for the team. I mean, he's a great player, he's going to make plays, winning plays, and it might be a steal or an offensive board, a three, whatever. He's a great player, so we wanted to get him more time. When you come off the bench, you can't get as much time as you'd like. So starting allows him to play more. Then Westbrook has somebody he has to guard. So those are really the reasons. Q. Can you just kind of describe how the series has shifted? Do you credit Oklahoma City more, or when you guys were so efficient through the first two games and now they've won three in a row? GREGG POPOVICH: Well, I'm not sure what you're getting at. Q. Is it more them or you guys struggling? How have they been able to win three in a row over you guys when you were as efficient as you'd been through the first two games of the series? GREGG POPOVICH: Because they're the Western Conference Finals and they're a hell of a basketball team. I don't know what else to tell you. It's not like we're playing the Sisters of the Poor. These guys are hard to guard, talented, hungry, athletic, and the bottom line is you can look at whatever you want, but you can't turn it over 21 times for 28 points against a team like that. They're too good. And that's what we did again. Turnovers have been a theme throughout this entire deal, and part of that is us being sloppy or not delivering the ball at the right time, and part of it is that they've played really good defense. They've been physical. Like tonight I thought we spotted them 24 minutes. I didn't think we competed very well in the first half, and they competed for 48. That's not good enough against a team as good as they are. I was disappointed in the lack of competitiveness overall in the first half, the physicality, and I was proud of them that they came back and dug down deep and came back and competed in the second half. But we've been competing for three quarters in the past, and tonight we competed for two quarters. If we don't get that straight, it'll be over on Wednesday. Q. What's the answer then if you're only getting two quarters, you only got three, you're down toward the end of the year? GREGG POPOVICH: Hey, if I had the answer, we wouldn't be doing that. Q. Obviously you've got to win the next one. What's your confidence level? What's the team's mood like? GREGG POPOVICH: Well, the confidence level stays high. We're one of four teams out of 30. We're here for a reason, and I'll be on them, and I'm very sure they'll come out ready to go. You know, championship teams win on the road, and Oklahoma City just did that. So they've proven they're a championship‑caliber team. We have to go do that. If we can't win on Wednesday, we're not a championship‑caliber team. It's as simple as that. You look at anybody who's won championships, and they've won on the road as the process goes along. It's what you do. And they just did it. So we need to do the same thing to hold serve. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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