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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: GRIZZLIES v SPURSMay 20, 2013Tony ParkerSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Practice Day TONY PARKER: You were here last year. You saw what happened. Everything can change real fast. Q. What did you guys do to really effectively take Z‑Bo out of the game yesterday? Was it a little bit of everything? TONY PARKER: Well, you know, he's the main focus. He's a great player, All‑Star, and the best scorer on their team. We have a lot of attention on him, double, triple teaming him. He's very hard to stop. Yesterday we did a good job, but I'm from the same draft as Zach, so I've known him a long time, and he's going to come back strong next game. We're going to have to be ready. Q. What made the offense hum last night particularly well? TONY PARKER: Well, we made shots, and when you make shots basketball is a little bit easier. We know we're not going to shoot like that every game, it was just one of those games everything clicked. Against Golden State we were shooting terrible, and yesterday it went in. Did we do anything different, no, we just moved the ball and tried to take good shots, and hopefully we can do the same thing tomorrow. Q. (Inaudible.) TONY PARKER: Yeah, with Golden State it was almost opposite. They played transition threes, they played fast, they had great scorers, and Memphis is more inside, in the paint, try to slow down Marc and Zach, but they're very effective, too. It's still going to be very hard. Q. Are you surprised that they're the best defense in the NBA and you guys were able to really put on a clinic for 48 minutes? TONY PARKER: Like I said, it's just one game. It's just one game. Memphis have a very, very good defense. We had a rough time against them during the regular season, so we know it's going to be tough. Q. You've been a handful of times in these Playoffs where Tim comes off the floor for an extended period and you guys go on a game‑changing run without him. Obviously you guys are better with Tim Duncan, but‑‑ TONY PARKER: What are you trying to say? Are you trying to make me say we're better without Tim Duncan? I think it's just coincidence. Obviously we're way better when Timmy is on the court, and when Timmy plays, he was an All‑Star this year, unbelievable this year, so I think it's just coincidence. Q. Does it mean something to you guys that you guys are able to have those kind of runs even with him on the bench? TONY PARKER: Well, I think a lot of stretches in the season they played without me, they played good. We played without Manu, without Timmy. The whole team is ‑‑ if somebody goes down, we have a lot of guys that are ready to step up. Q. Every couple of years you get a couple of new guys out of nowhere, and it seems to work. How does that happen? TONY PARKER: Well, I think the Spurs are one of the best at finding players, and they keep doing a great job in the draft. RC and Coach Pop, they've got great skills to bring in players that are going to adapt to our system. Q. Sometimes it's like who's this guy, who's that, and a week later it's like, wow. TONY PARKER: Yeah, they've been trying to do that a long time. They started with me and Manu, and Manu was like 57, 58 in the draft. They do a good job. Q. How if at all has Pop changed over the years? Tim just told me he thinks he's more fiery than he used to be. TONY PARKER: Yeah, I think because we know how rare it is, the opportunity to go to The Finals and to win a championship is very rare, so I think Pop is like more like, yeah, the fire, because the last time we went to The Finals was 2007. It was a long time ago. He realizes that and got the fire from last year, too. Last year we were really disappointed. Q. Does he coach any differently now than did he in the past? TONY PARKER: Not really, not really, just more fire. Q. Do you sense anything with Memphis in terms of how you guys used to be, how they're building a team? TONY PARKER: Yeah, I think they did a great job finding Michael Conley and Marc Gasol, and that was a big gamble, and obviously paid off big time, Tony Allen, Zach. The way they are built, they're a very complete team, one of the best NBA teams. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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