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NBA FINALS: HEAT v THUNDERJune 14, 2012Chris BoshOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: Game Two Miami – 100 Q. Chris, if you could talk a little bit about your night tonight, the double‑double, especially being able to grab 15 rebounds on the Thunder like you did tonight. CHRIS BOSH: Well, we knew that we were going to give a better effort on defense. We had a solid game plan, and our biggest thing is when we give up a contested shot, which is going to happen a lot, most likely it's going to go out. Rebounding has been a big emphasis for us really since the Playoffs began, since the regular season began, and it's just something that we can get better at as the series goes on. But I just wanted to do my part and make sure I give some help on the boards. Q. Do you feel like you're back, back to your old self yet? CHRIS BOSH: Well, yeah. Coming into this game tonight, it was‑‑ of course it was a big game for us, and I kind of put it in my mind that I knew that I had to really give the effort that I had been giving before, whether I was ready or not. So today was a good time to really see where I'm at. Fortunately things went well for us, it went well for me individually, and we did what we were supposed to do. Now we just have to make sure we rest correctly, talk about things, how we can get better and prepare for Game 3. Q. Did starting make a big difference to you? CHRIS BOSH: Well, I just wanted to be more aggressive coming out starting. I knew it's been such a huge deal the past day or so. But that's my comfort zone. That's what I've been doing. Either way, if I'm out there, I'm going to be effective. But giving the nod to start, I just wanted to make sure I play good defense and just space the floor correctly and everything would take care of itself. Q. Erik said that at practice yesterday he called for the red team starters to come out, you walked out with them to start if I understood the story right. Can you talk about your mindset? Obviously you said, I'm starting. CHRIS BOSH: Well, it's just one of those things where you know it's time. And I have to give credit to my teammates. They really did a great job adjusting to me coming off the bench when I came in because things were so difficult in the last series and Game 1 of this series. Sometimes it's just one of those things you can feel, and I felt‑‑ I knew, I guess, what he was thinking. We spend a lot of time together, so you can just feel that it was time to step up and be where I'm supposed to be and play how I'm supposed to play. Q. What was your team's feeling coming into this game? Did it have the feel of a must‑win game? CHRIS BOSH: Absolutely. This is a good team, and we didn't want to be down 2‑0. We know in order to accomplish our goal, we have to win on the road. We're a good road team. We've done it before. They posed a great challenge because they haven't lost up until today. But we felt that we let one get away and we felt that we could play a much, much better game in Game 2. You know, as long as we get to our basketballs, as long as we play solid, things work out for us, and we just had that urgency from the tip, and I think that really helped us from the get‑go. Q. You said after Game 1 that that loss sort of stuck with you, you thought about it all night, and that if you were to win Game 2, it would change the complexion of the series. Give us your thoughts on that. CHRIS BOSH: Well, any time you drop a game, especially now, it's not a good feeling, and it stays with you all the way up until you get another chance to redeem yourself. We're pretty familiar with that feeling. I'm familiar with that feeling. I don't like it, but it sticks with you, and all I could think about was how we could do better because we felt that‑‑ we made a lot of mistakes in Game 1, and it shouldn't have been like that. We should have played a lot better. Those are the things that stuck with me the most. If we play our best basketball and we get beat, that's a whole different story. You're sick in another kind of way. But to know that you could have picked it up and played a lot better, it was really bothering us. We didn't want to have any regrets. We wanted to come out and play a very, very complete game today. Q. Can you talk about the points in the paint, 48‑32? It wasn't that way in Game 1. And the fast break points also tonight turned over. CHRIS BOSH: Well, those were the major points of emphasis that we were talking about after Game 1 in our practice sessions and film sessions. And this is a veteran group. We know what adjustments to make, and when we talk about it we're going to do it. We're to the point now where we can't make many mistakes, and against this team that has so many great scores that you can't give up lay‑ups. They're going to make enough shots on their own. We just wanted to limit those points, get ourselves going with stops and getting out on the open court, and really just limit their lay‑ups, because especially in this building. If they get lay‑ups, you're probably not going to beat them. So we wanted to change that. Q. With Shane making all those outside shots, what does that do to open everything up for the other guys on the team? CHRIS BOSH: Well, that's huge. That's one of our strengths. We want to spread the floor out. But if they're coming off of Shane, Shane practices that shot all the time. He's a very good three‑point shooter, he's going to let it go without hesitation. We need him to take those shots. We need him to take them and make them. It really opens it up. It puts pressure on the defense and makes them think about it a little bit more, and eventually we can start attacking, get free throws and lay‑ups. And I think we just did a great job of mixing everything up and just giving them different looks with the same plays. Q. What happened on that late turnover that led to the Durant three? CHRIS BOSH: We drew up a play. I mean, it was a tough situation to be in, especially with them. They're long and athletic. You know, if you're in the middle of the court, you really don't know where everybody is coming from. And we had a small amount of time to get the ball across the court. They're athletes. They're going to trail us and really tap the ball from behind and make it tough on us. But we'll be more prepared for that in Game 3, if we come in that same situation. Q. A lot was made out of your last series about how maybe you guys weren't big enough, Garnett had a big series against you. Do you think they're having difficulty matching up against their small guys, in particular Shane Battier, all the threes he's hitting, looks like Ibaka is guarding him but not used to that? CHRIS BOSH: Well, that's one of our advantages. Shane plays big, but he's a deadly outside shooter. That's what he's been doing for years. As long as we play defense well and get stops, we're going to be just fine. And I think with me back in, we can play like we've normally been playing. And we understand that people are going to tell you how you can't do things, you're too small and all these, I guess, criticisms and everything, but we don't worry about that. We just do our job, and as long as we play defensive rebound and share the ball, we're going to win games. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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