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NBA FINALS: SPURS v HEATJune 15, 2013Erik SpoelstraSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Practice Day Q. As much as this is a nine‑month grind and the preparation and game planning, is it sometimes you think about it how amazing it can be coming down to a hamstring or a knee or an ankle and that can be the difference for a champion? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Look, when you've been in this long enough, you realize how fragile it actually is. And so we've been there, through every scenario. It's one of the reasons why we try to build up our roster with the depth that we had. Two years ago we were limping and stumbling into The Finals. Q. Coach, when was the last time you can recall your star trio playing as well as they did in the last game? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: It depends on how you judge it. If you're only judging it by scoring, I'm not sure. But the last time we won the three of them had our three highest defensive grades, the way we chart it. We don't see it as a coincidence. They have to lead us on that side of the floor. Game 7 in Indiana (series) was the other time they led us, all three of them, in our defensive chart. So they did it on both ends of the court. They have to be two‑way players for us to win. Q. Erik, this is the last two‑day break obviously until it's over. Can the body recharge with two days even now or is there a whole lot of recharging left, I guess, in the body after nine months of this? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Our guys aren't even thinking about recharging right now. If we had it our way, we would have liked to have played this game today. Nobody is going to feel 100% at this time of year. A lot of it will be adrenaline, but that's what it's about when you're playing in late June. Q. Is there any real practicing going on? I'm sure you're not pads up and all that. COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: A little bit. Yeah, we're going to try to get something accomplished like we did the other day. It's important to continue to try to get better. And so yeah, we'll do something today. Q. Coach, in the third quarter Dwyane Wade got his third and fourth foul with eight minutes left. You left him in for two minutes. He came back at about the three‑minute mark. What was that thought process? Was that a roll of the dice and say we're going to win‑‑ COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: You noticed? Q. I noticed. COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: It's one of those situations obviously you can look like an idiot for doing it. But he was in such a great rhythm, we didn't want to break up that rhythm. So we took him out when he needed a little bit of a rest, and also just to kind of take the attention away from him and put him back in. And so it worked out. It easily could not have worked out. But look, the bottom line is we need our best players on the court. He's a veteran experienced enough player that hopefully he won't get himself into too much trouble at that point. Q. What goes into that thought process with your assistants and stuff? Is it just gut feeling and just do it‑‑ COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: A little bit of both. Depends on who you ask. Sometimes I just close my ears depending on what their opinion is. At that point, look, we had to have our best players out on the court as much as possible. It's easily something that could go the wrong way. I'm quite aware of that. Q. Coach, the last game you were very successful with your smaller lineup. Are you anticipating or previewing adjustments coming from the San Antonio Spurs? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Who knows? The most important thing is we're trying to do the things that are most important for us. And whether we have to make our own adjustments, but if we're not playing our type of game, we don't have a chance to win. And so we'll see what they do. But we have a pretty good idea of what we'll do. Q. Erik, the smaller lineup, A, what did you think was the biggest impact of it on everybody? I'll tell you B later. COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: It remains to be seen. We just think it important for us right now with this series and this matchup. That's why we did it. The score did not indicate the impact that we thought it had on how we want to play. We went down 10, but the most important thing is getting to our game in this matchup. We felt that was the best decision for it. Q.  What impact do you think it had on players like Chris and even LeBron and Dwyane to have Mike out there spacing it? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Certainly it allows us to get to a game we're more familiar with and confident with. It just depends. We're think it's important for this matchup, especially as the series went on. That could be highly debatable. We understand on the outside, we don't really care. But three guys took the responsibility, knowing that they would have to shoulder probably some more. Q. Erik, the team has won and lost games now for ten in a row. You call it the human element. Popovich calls it kind of the fear when your back's against the wall. How do you account for that and how do you channel that emotion now that you have to win two in a row to win the thing? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: It's not as if we have never won two in a row. So our guys understand what's at hand and what's at stake right now. Look, there's been so much talk about it, but you do have to give credit to the competition both ways. When you get to this level, it's tough to win two games in a row against an equal opponent. We want to make sure that we're continuing to get better, and hopefully tomorrow we can have our best game of the series. That's what our focus is for the next 24 hours. It's not about anything else. It's not about trying to win the next two out of three, getting ahead of ourselves or anything else. It's can we play our best game of the series tomorrow. Q. Erik, now that you have had a couple of days to look at the tape, what's been the difference you've seen in Chris' approach on the defensive end? His rebounding is up, he's blocking shots‑‑ COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: We need it. We need it. Every single bit of it. And none of it is easy. He has to probably cover the most ground for us defensively, even though Dwyane and LeBron do cover a lot of ground. CB probably has the most responsibility. They ran 70 pick‑and‑rolls where he has to be up containing that. He has to be the help defender, he has to be the protector, he has to be the rim protector on a second situation. And then, yes, Chris, you have to rebound for us as well. So it has to be all of it. None of it is easy. And he's taking on that responsibility, understanding how important it is for our team. Q. Has that been reinforced to him? Because we're seeing it now in consecutive games where he's had spots during the playoffs where he's had big rebounding numbers. COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Well, they have something to say about it, too. He's playing against a very good player. They're not going to make it easy. Tony Parker, Ginobili, they do not make it easy on pick‑and‑rolls. He's going to have to cover ground, take away splits, sweeps, sprint back. Other guys get beat off the dribble, he's going to have to be there to help. And yes, rebound against one of the best rebounders this game has ever seen. Q. Coach, Chalmers seemed to have a tough time at the beginning of Game 4 against Parker. Do you expect any specific defensive adjustments for him? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: I think Tony Parker had a lot to say about that. He came out with full aggression in that first quarter. So we try to keep our bodies in front of him as much as possible. That's a whole lot easier said than done. Q. Coach, the emphasis on getting the ball up the floor quickly in Game 4, is that specific to this matchup, too? Obviously you want to do that all the time. But is there something special about this matchup where that's required? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Whenever we get sidetracked, we reel in ‑‑ the most important thing is to get to our game. And that's one of the elements of our game. That's one of the big elements of their game as well. So who can get to whose game longer, more consistent. That's the deal. We were able to get some stops that allowed us to get into the open court. And that's obviously a strength of our game. Q. Is there a number on the shot clock that you're looking at as far as getting into your actions? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Not on‑‑ well, there's certain things that we want to do in terms of our pace, yes. But in terms of racing it up on all makes, that's not necessarily our game as well. But there's a particular pace and how we initiate and when we initiate, yes. Q. Erik, all these questions about adjustments, what I'm curious about, do you enjoy that chess match? Is that something that's fun for you as a coach, especially against someone like Pop on the other side? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: That's just part of playoff basketball for teams. The most important thing is to understand that you're not playing chess; it's a basketball game. Can you win the competitive skirmishes in the game. That's the most important thing for us. Yes, you do have to make adjustments, as any playoff series goes on. If you play against the same team, doing the same things, that's not always going to work both ways. But the competitive part of it, that's been the tale of this series. But every series we've been in it seems to be the tale of it. Q. You mentioned getting into your game. And I'm just wondering, is that what you consider most as opposed to what they might be doing or what they have in mind? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Absolutely. Those who have followed us all year, they would know I've said that all year long. It's about what we do, the process of what we do. Certainly as you get into a playoff series, both sides continue to make adjustments all the way to the end. But that's not the biggest factor. Not even close. The way we competed in Game 4 compared to Game 3, there's a reason why every single one of us were disgusted and embarrassed about our performance in Game 3. It was disgusting compared to Game 4. We don't see it as a coincidence. Q. Coach, is the challenge of coaching your star trio about what you expected or more? Is there much ego that you have to deal with as well? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Theirs or mine (laughing)? Q. Theirs. COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: I can't even remember. That feels like 15 years ago, July of 2010. We've been through so many battles. And we've been through everything. The trust level is there now. We've been through enough losses. We've been through enough pain. Been through success that we're able to manage each other much better than initially the first few weeks together. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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