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NBA FINALS: SPURS v HEATJune 7, 2013Tony ParkerMIAMI, FLORIDA: Practice Day Q.  Tony, I don't know if you got a chance toor how many times you watched the shot last night or this morning again. When you go through and you watch it, what surprised you more, that you didn't lose your pivot foot, you didn't lose the ball, or that you actually made the shot? TONY PARKER: It was a crazy play. I never panicked. I tried to recover the ball, because as soon as I tried to drive Chris Bosh, I was already losing the ball. And after that it was chaos, and I tried to recover the ball. When I was on the ground, I had time to look at the clock, and I knew it was 1.7. So I had time to pump‑fake and get a shot up. It was definitely a little bit of luck, and me not panicking. Q. You have had some pretty amazing shots during the entire playoff run this postseason. Where do you rank that shot in your career, actually? TONY PARKER: You have to put it in my top three, for sure. Maybe number one, because it's the NBA Finals. It will only mean something if we win the championship. And so that's why like all my friends, my family, they were going crazy. I'm like, you have to stop going crazy. We only won one game. It doesn't mean anything. It's just one game. But if we go all the way, yes, that shot you can put it No. 1. So you're going to have to ask me that question in ten days. Q. Despite the win when you're watching film, what frustrated you the most? What drove you nuts the most watching film? TONY PARKER: To be honest with you, we didn't really watch film. Coach Pop wanted us to rest today. So we're going to watch film tomorrow. The only thing I watched last night was the highlights, because I don't make a shot like that every day. So I definitely watched it. But beside that, tomorrow we're definitely going to watch film and try to see what we can do better and see what we can improve defensively. Because Miami, they are going to come back strong in Game 2, obviously. Q. Is that normal? Has he done that in your previous Finals trips that you don't watch film that day? TONY PARKER: Coach Pop believes a lot in mental rest. He just doesn't want us to watch basketball today. He did that plenty of times. It's nothing new for us. Q. Tony, everybody is talking about your shot and rightly so. Talk about turnovers. You guys only had four turnovers last night. Can you talk about how important that stat is. TONY PARKER: I think that's one of the biggest stats. That's one of the biggest keys in the series, because Miami feed on that. They get a lot of‑‑ they create a lot of turnovers, and that builds their confidence. They get dunks and stuff like that. We saw that in the first play. Timmy turned over and dunk by D‑Wade. We talked about turnovers ten days and the first play we had a turnover. After that we did good. We did good. We only had four. That's going to be a big key in this series. If we can keep it under ten, that will be pretty good. Because when you give them easy baskets, it's going to be a long night for us. So we need to control the ball. It starts with me controlling the tempo and not forcing on the pick‑and‑rolls. And when they trap me, make sure I make the right decision, and first easy pass. Q.  You had zero turnovers. TONY PARKER: Yeah. That's very rare, too. I will not count on that, because I want to be aggressive and create for my teammates. So I will have some turnovers. But if I can cut it down, obviously it will help the team. Q. Tony, how has your relationship evolved with Gregg Popovich over the years? And at what point did you feel you earned his trust that you could carry the team? TONY PARKER: I think it was a process. When I first arrived in San Antonio I was 19 years old. So I always been a leader in France, but it was hard to be the leader of the Spurs, because I had so much respect for Coach Pop, who is really strong‑minded. You have Tim Duncan and you have David Robinson. So I never wanted to step on their toe. For me they were the leaders. And I was just going to wait for my time. And three years ago when Coach Pop saw me playing in the national team in 2011 and we went all the way to the final against Spain, he saw that I was talking all the time and being very vocal, and I was screaming in time‑outs with my teammates and stuff like that. He told me after the summer, "I want you to play like that now. Timmy is getting older and Manu is getting older. You need to go to the next step to a new level with your game." And it was a big challenge for me. Obviously I thought I was ready for that challenge, and I felt more comfortable. And it just arrived naturally. I had Coach Pop's blessings and Timmy's blessings. So now I feel more comfortable to be vocal with the team. And Pop trusts me. So it helps a lot with my confidence. Q. Tony, there's so many great players in Tim's position. Did you worry at all that as he got older maybe he would be bypassed and couldn't keep up with some of these guys? Have you really seen any slippage? TONY PARKER: Timmy is unbelievable. At his age, 50, doing what he's doing is crazy. It's crazy. I don't know how he does it, seriously. It's unbelievable. It's a great example for me to follow. This will always be Timmy's franchise. Always. Should do a statue for him outside the AT&T Center. He means so much to the city and to the organization and the level that he's playing all those years. Only respect for that. Q. What would his statue look like? TONY PARKER: Looking mean. Something like that. Q. Tony, is it possible that the shot last night is not even your most amazing shot of this playoff run? Thinking of the shot against Golden State where you were‑‑ TONY PARKER: Oh, yeah. That shot was harder in Golden State. That's for sure. But because of the stage and because it's the NBA Finals and because we're playing Miami, that's why. Q. I guess one more on the shot: I know you just ranked it how important it is in your career, but how much does the fact that it was LeBron James that was hounding you raise the status of that shot? TONY PARKER: LeBron is unbelievable. He's one of the best defenders in our league. It's just an honor to play against him and competing against him. I just feel lucky that I got the shot over him, because he could have easily blocked it. I know he's going to be ready for the next game, and he's going to be very aggressive. And we're going to have to be ready for that. But I'm just happy to be out there and competing against the best team in the league, the NBA champs. I know they're going to come back strong next game. Q. Tony, two questions: Late in the game LeBron goes into the paint, he's got Tim in front of him, and he dishes it back to Chris Bosh for a three‑point attempt. Chris did not make a three‑point attempt all night. Do you want Chris Bosh taking that shot? And do you want him away from the basket all game long? TONY PARKER: Not really. Not really. Chris has been hitting that shot. I don't think we did it on purpose. I know Timmy, he always helps everybody. He's always going to have the tendency to go to the paint. He was helping Kawhi and Chris was wide open. Lucky enough he missed it. We didn't do it on purpose. We don't want to leave Chris Bosh open like that because he made a lot of big threes for them. Q. LeBron and Dwyane Wade after the game both said the Heat were tired in the fourth quarter. LeBron didn't really take it to the hole that much really all game. Was it more what you did or do you think maybe they were kind of running down at the end? TONY PARKER: I'm sure they were a little bit tired. Indiana is a very, very good basketball team. That had to take some energy to go seven games against them. So I'm sure they were a little bit tired. But they're young. They'll bounce back. I know they're going to be ready on Sunday. Q. Tony, in terms of your game plan on LeBron, what did you guys bring back from 2007? And what different wrinkles have you added? TONY PARKER: We didn't bring anything from 2007. LeBron is a different player. He's a four‑time MVP. He's playing unbelievable basketball. He had a triple‑double in Game 1. He still had a great game. I think the only thing you can do is try to contain him and try to force him to take outside shots. But you're not going to stop him. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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