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NBA FINALS: HEAT v THUNDERJune 19, 2012Scott BrooksMIAMI, FLORIDA: Game Four Oklahoma City Thunder - 98 Q.  Are you sensing that experience has been the factor up until this point in Miami taking the 3‑1 series lead? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: No, I just think they made a few extra plays down the stretch. Sometimes it just comes down to a couple of plays. Experience has nothing to do with it. We're all pros and very good ones at that. We've never used that as an excuse, and it's not an excuse. I think our guys have played with great poise and composure all year. They made a few extra plays down the stretch. They made a big‑‑ LeBron came back in after his injury and made a great play, made a tough three, and they made some plays at the end. It has nothing to do with experience. Q. Russell obviously had a fantastic game offensively. The foul at the end, was the situation called out from the bench? Do you think he knew the situation? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: It was a tough play, you know. Could have been a communication thing. That play, I tell our guys, one play does not determine the outcome of a game. There's 200 plays involved in every basketball game, it doesn't come down to one play. It was a tough play, but we move on from it, but learn from it and move on from it. I thought Russell was terrific tonight. The guy played relentless, was aggressive. He kept us in this game, and he gave us a chance to win. Q. I know it's still fresh and all, but how disappointing was it that the last 17 minutes you couldn't get any offense by anybody other than Kevin or Russ? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: You know, it's not disappointing, it just happens that way. Russell had a great game. We were going. We were going with him, and he was making terrific plays at the basket. He was attacking, he was getting into their teeth of their defense and making basketball plays. Kevin got involved in it. That's how we play. We're an aggressive team. We're an attack team. Like I said before, unfortunately we didn't make a couple of plays down the stretch that we could have won the game, but give them credit. They made some big plays, and they earned this win tonight. It was a well fought game, and they earned the win. Q. Did you consider sitting Harden when he was struggling out there, and possibly even for the duration of the game? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: No. You know, one thing, I believe in all of our guys. James has put us in a position to be where we are. He had a tough shooting night, but he competed, he battled, he fought, he defended, he was guarding one of the best players in the game. I don't judge a guy's game on shots, on makes and misses. This game is about makes and misses. Some nights you're going to make those, some nights you're going to miss them, but your effort has to be there. I love James' effort and that's all I judge him on. If he wasn't playing hard, yes, I would have taken him out earlier and sat him and put somebody else in. We have a standard of play, and effort‑wise I think everybody lived up to it tonight. Q. Two games where it came down to final decision making. I mean, do you feel like your team is still in this? Do you feel like there's still fight left? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: Absolutely. One of the things I know, I can guarantee this, is that we have fight in us. That's what we do. We play every game as if it's the most important game. Obviously our back is up against the wall. It's win or go home. We have a challenge ahead of us. We understand that. We're playing a great basketball team, some of the best players in the game, and we're going to compete for 48 minutes. We're going to compete for 48 minutes one more night. Hopefully we can come back with the win, take one more game to Oklahoma City. Q. Did it kind of symbolize your frustration, you were down three, a missed shot, and it ended up being a jump ball with Harden, and you weren't able to get it, and ended up losing. Was that sort of the frustration you had tonight? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: I don't think frustration is the proper word, no. If you're frustrated you're disappointed in the guys' effort, you're disappointed in the guys' play, and that's not the case. I thought we had a chance to win the game. They made some plays down the stretch, and we didn't, and it's not because we didn't execute, it's not because we didn't play with great effort. Sometimes the game comes down to making a shot, missing a shot. LeBron hit an amazing shot coming back from his injury, made a tough three, and sometimes you've got to just pat the guy on the back and say, great shot, and move on. The game doesn't come down to the jump ball situation. Sure, we would have loved to have that play back, but we still were down three at that time. We've still got to make a couple of good plays to win the game. Q. You couldn't have matched the running style game of Miami for the last two games, yet you still didn't play a lot with your big guys. Both Perk and Ibaka played little minutes and little contribution. Why is that? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: You have to make decisions. I think our bigs have done a great job. You've got to pick the big‑‑ I thought Nick was giving us good minutes, Serge was giving us good minutes, and Perk was giving us good minutes. You've got to pick one of them. There's only so many minutes you can throw out to the team. What I'm more concerned with our quality of minutes is how they're played, and I thought everybody went in there and played great minutes with great effort, and that's what you love. Sometimes it comes down to making some shots, sometimes it comes down to if you miss some shots. Like I said, they made some shots down the stretch, we missed some tough ones. Q. What kind of leadership ability or strength did Russell show in that second half to continue attack and keep you guys in the game? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: Well, Russell got off to a great start, and he finished the game with the same type of tenacity. I tell you guys all the time this, some of you want to listen to it, some of you guys don't, but Russell is a winner. That guy competes every time. He's all about the team, he cares about his teammates. He gives everything he has. Never misses a practice, never missed a game in four years, and I'm proud of the way he played. Quite frankly I'm proud of the way our team played. We're playing against a very good team. We've got one more crack at it. We're going to give everything we have going into this next game. I can never complain about our guys' effort all year, especially tonight. Q. What do you have to say about Mario Chalmers after tonight? COACH SCOTT BROOKS: I thought he made some shots. I thought he stepped up and made some shots. Give him credit. He hasn't been hitting a lot of shots lately, but I thought he had a great game, played very well. Good player. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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