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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v SPURSJune 5, 2012Gregg PopovichOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: Practice Day Q.  Can you talk about the residual effects of putting Manu in the starting lineup just on the rotations and the combinations that you use? GREGG POPOVICH: The residual effects? I have no idea. I have absolutely no idea. Q. You had to use some different lineups. GREGG POPOVICH: That's true, but I don't know what the residual effectsare ‑‑ you hope that it's positive. Q. Do you think fatigue played a role in the let‑downs? Do you feel like the Thunder had fresher legs? GREGG POPOVICH: No, I never thought fatigue had anything to do with it. They played better overall. That's the bottom line. Q. Last time we were here, it was so different, we were sending you off to Oklahoma City with all this glory. What has changed? GREGG POPOVICH: Turnovers really plague us. With 30 seconds to go, it's a two‑point game. So it's not like everything has gone to hell. But they're a good enough team already, and I don't think they need our help. But when they score 28 points off of our 21 turnovers, it's enough to make you kick yourself. And with that, it's a two‑point game, and Harden shoots a step‑back three with three seconds on the clock to basically ice the game. So it's frustrating and maddening more than anything because we've played so poorly as far as handling the basketball. And they have something to do with that; their defense has been very good. So they deserve a lot of the credit for that. But it's also uncharacteristic of our guys. Q. How do you get Tony back on track? GREGG POPOVICH: He just comes and competes. He just comes and competes. There's no magic formula or bullet. It's a game. It's just athletes playing. Q. When you guys have been in situations like this, not necessarily with this team, you've used or mentioned the word frightened. GREGG POPOVICH: When we're 2‑0 we're the same way. Q. But you've used (frightened, not fragmented) it before when your backs were against the wall. GREGG POPOVICH: We're just frightened more now, I don't know (laughter). But it's a basketball game. We've won there and they've won here, and I expect to go in there and win a basketball game. But to do that we have to take care of the basketball. We will or we won't. But they deserve credit, because down the stretch in games, they've made shots. That's the talent showing. And we can't afford to do what we've done during those games and expect to win. We'll see if we can handle it a little bit better. Q. Do you ever feel like too much of a big deal is made of officiating when it comes to the Playoffs? GREGG POPOVICH: I don't know. We haven't mentioned it at all. Is somebody mentioning it? Q. No. GREGG POPOVICH: Then why do you ask that question? Q. Because I have a boss. GREGG POPOVICH: Tell your boss to think of a better question. Q. How much deeper does this team need to dig in this game than it has? GREGG POPOVICH: I don't know about digging deep. It's about playing better. It's about handling the ball better, being efficient, getting the open man. It's sort of interesting, I think the first two games, Oklahoma City didn't do a very good job of hitting the open man. They were pretty hell‑bent for leather and didn't really play with all the pieces, and we took those games, and it's sort of reversed when I look at the film now. You can see us try to do some things on our own, too many people doing it on their own, out of good intent, but it leads to contested shots, leads to turnovers, that kind of thing, where you see Oklahoma City passing the ball and playing like we did in the first two games. We can't afford to do that because down the stretch in games, Kevin Durant is somebody who's tough to handle and they're always going to have that weapon. Nobody else has that kind of a weapon. I don't care about anybody else; we don't. That's not how we do it. We've got to do it as a group, and I don't think we've done that as well as we're capable of. Q. Is this the natural evolution of a series, you learn, you adjust? GREGG POPOVICH: Sure. It's interesting to see how it goes, but it's been a common theme throughout as far as our turnovers. We could be up by three, by four, by six, and that just takes away all the momentum. It just is a real downer, especially when the other team is so good and so talented. Q. How much credit do you give Scott Brooks for the turnaround the Thunder have made over the last several seasons? GREGG POPOVICH: A bundle. He's done a great job. They're disciplined, they're unselfish, they have a great work ethic, they're well‑prepared. He and his staff have done a great job. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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