|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NBA FINALS: HEAT v THUNDERJune 17, 2012Scott BrooksMIAMI, FLORIDA: Game Three Q.  What are the three things, the most important things, you guys got to work on tonight to take advantage of the series? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: Just three? There's many more. But I think obviously get back in transition. They're a very explosive team. They have high level athletes that get out and run and score at the basket. Protect the paint, close out Shane Battier, rebound the basketball and get out in transition ourselves. I don't know if that was more than three. Q. What's been the problem with Battier? Are you guys just reacting slowly or are you so conscious of the other guys that you have to give him space, and he's just better than you thought he would be? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: Well, he's having a terrific two games. The last three series games he's averaged over five points a game. He's stepped up and made shots. I think about two or three of his threes ‑‑ each game we lost him in transition by getting back, but that's the beauty of having three very talented players. You have to somehow pick your poison, and a lot of times it doesn't work out, but we have to be able to protect the paint and take away their baskets around the paint and then close out better. But we have to match up in transition. I think we can do that tonight. Q. When you struggled there in the first quarter Game 2, Kevin didn't get many looks at all. Was that a case of not finding him when he was open, or was he just not open? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: Well, they do a good job. LeBron is a great defender. He did a good job of denying and forcing him out of his spots, but we also have to do a better job of getting into our offense quickly, setting our screens better and coming off our screens. It's a combination of everybody, including myself. I have to do a better job play‑calling. But we expect to play better to start the game. We've been a pretty good team all year long of starting and finishing. I think tonight we have to obviously come out better and play with more toughness. I said it earlier, toughness is not just defensive, getting after guys, bumping, grinding, rebounding, it's also coming off your cuts hard, setting your man and being disciplined not only physically but mentally disciplined. Q. How often do you call a play? Or in this series how often have you called a play or how often have guys just played? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: Well, we have sets that we run. We call it just to get early offense flow, and we have a combination, I don't know how many exactly, but it's a fair share of them. But we want to run in transition. We want to score off our misses and turnovers and blocked shots. But I think our guys, we have a fair number of sets that we call any given game. Q. Did you consider changing your starting lineup in the wake of those slow starts at all or are you kind of who you are at this point? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: No, I've heard that so many times the last couple of days, that's never even crossed my mind. We've been good all year. Prior to the last game, we won five playoff games in a row. That's hard to do in the Playoffs this late in the rounds. But we lost a game by two points. We didn't have a good start, but the start had nothing to do with the lineup, the start had everything to do with how we were playing, and hopefully we can improve on the way we played. Q. For a team that likes to talk turnovers and transition points with the fast break, how do you combat them doing that, because they love to do that, especially at home? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: Yeah, we've done a good job all Playoffs of really protecting the ball. It's important we continue that tonight. They're a great team at home. They're a great team on the road, also. They're good defensively. They get their hands on a lot of basketballs, and they like to score in transition. There's a lot of similarities the way they play and the way we play. We like to also defend and play passing lanes and get hands on balls and steals, blocked shots and get out in transition and run. Q. To your eyes is Chris Bosh all the way back, or is he still getting better? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: I think he's fine. I think any time you step on the court, you are 100 percent. We respect what he does. He's one of the best power forwards in the league. He's on the Olympic team, he's a multiple‑year All Star. He had a terrific game. He rebounded the ball better than we would have liked. I think he got his hands on so many loose balls and seven or eight offensive rebounds and he was making his shots. We have to guard all three of them as best we can, and all three guys are some of the best players in the game. Q. Even your guys who haven't been in this round before already have two Finals game under their belt, do you worry less about there being an awe factor in a Finals environment on the road? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: No, the first game I think there was a little bit of that. I think we were all like that because it was our first time in the NBA Finals. Any time it's your first time there's not familiar surroundings or a setting. But I think after the second game we were fine. We just had a bad start. I don't see our guys being in awe of the moment. I think we're going to play our way that we play, aggressive, attack basketball, and hopefully we can make some shots along the way. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|