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NBA FINALS: SPURS v HEATJune 19, 2013Tony ParkerMIAMI, FLORIDA: Practice Day Q.  No team has won a road Game 7 Finals game for 35 years. How much of a challenge do you look at that for you guys? And being through a Game 7 in '05 when you won at home, does that at least help you guys a little bit? TONY PARKER: Yeah, it will definitely help. The experience of Game 7 in The Finals, it's a great memory. I think we should be happy about that opportunity to try to make history. It's a great challenge. We know we can beat them here. We just have to do it again. If you told me before the season that we'll be 3‑3 in The Finals against Miami, I think everybody on the team will sign up for it. We just have to be positive and forget Game 6. It was a great opportunity, but that's life. It's basketball, and everybody will be ready for tomorrow. Q. Tony, Tim came in and talked about how you guys went to dinner as a team last night. Did you participate in that? And how did that come about? TONY PARKER: It was a great dinner. We shared histories and what happened in different games, and sharing stuff like when I was with the national team, when we were up 7 and lost in 35 seconds, the European Championship. You just share those moments and try to see what you can do better and prepare for Game 7. So it was definitely a great dinner, and I think everybody understands that we have a great opportunity. Q. Tony, was the dinner therapeutic? Did it help you guys get over the disappointment of last night? TONY PARKER: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It definitely helped, because obviously in the locker room everybody was very disappointed. We knew that we blew a big opportunity to get it done, to win the championship. So it was great to just talk to everybody and make sure everybody doesn't stay sad too long. It's very important that we bounce back and that we forget last night. Q. Let's say you guys went out last night and lost by 10 or 12, just a quote, unquote, normal game. Is that easier to come back from in a Game 7 or does it matter at this point? TONY PARKER: I think it doesn't matter at that point. You want to win, and it's just one more game. You lose by 10, you lose in overtime, you're still going to be disappointed. Q. Tony, Tim Duncan is a very consistent player and person and personality. How much of an advantage is it to have that as your team leader, a guy that probably will be the least affected as possible when you're dealing with the range of emotions that you're talking about right here? TONY PARKER: I think everybody on the team is like that. We don't get affected by big losses. Between the Big Three, it's a long career, a lot of up and downs and different stuff. So I'm not really worried about our team bouncing back tomorrow. Q. Tony, a lot of folks in San Antonio are comparing this to 0.4 as far as a kick in the gut. You guys obviously didn't bounce back in that situation. It was such an emotional hit. Has there ever been a time when you felt something like this where you didn't bounce back‑‑ TONY PARKER: It's a little bit different than 0.4; it's The Finals. You have a chance to win the championship. So obviously it's a little bit different. I think everybody wants to be ready for tomorrow because if you're not ready for tomorrow, you're going to regret it for the next ten, 15 years. So a little bit different. But emotionally it was definitely a tough loss in the locker room. But I felt like after last night and at dinner we are going to bounce back. Q. Has there ever been a time in your career, not necessarily the NBA, where you suffered something like this and were able to bounce back? And do you draw on that experience? TONY PARKER: Yeah. In the national team in '05 we were in the semifinals against Greece. We were up seven with 35 seconds and we lose at the buzzer on a three from halfcourt, and the next game we had to bounce back to win the bronze medal against Spain. We bounced back and won that game. With Boris we talked about that last night. We were sharing our stories. How tough it was after the game, because we had a chance to win the European Championship, and we had to bounce back and go get that bronze medal. Q. Even though he has had two triple‑doubles in the series, you guys have done a pretty consistent job defensively on LeBron. Just because it's a Game 7 and because you know what he's capable of in a Game 7, does the approach change at all? TONY PARKER: No, I think we just have to have the same strategy. It's been working pretty well for us. And we had a good opportunity to win the game last night. We'll see how it goes, but so far we'll do the same thing. Q. Tony, following up on that, in a Game 7 you've played a hard series against these guys. Does strategy like that kind of go out the window? Is it more who wants it more in that situation? TONY PARKER: That too. That's for sure. I think the way we're going to bounce back and forget about Game 6 is going to be huge for us in Game 7. And you know they use a lot of energy, too. It's not because you lost the game that Miami is not tired. They're tired, too. It was a tough game. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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