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NBA FINALS: SPURS v HEATJune 20, 2013Shane BattierMIAMI, FLORIDA: Game Seven San Antonio Spurs - 88 SHANE BATTIER: Reports of my demise were premature. That's my opening statement. Q. Shane, did you feel like you were having a Mike Miller moment? SHANE BATTIER: (Laughing) I had that thought. Honestly, I felt good the last couple of games. And I made a couple of threes last game, and so I felt really confident tonight. I knew that our starters were going to be pretty tired after Game 6. It was an emotionally and physically draining game. I only played 12 minutes. So I felt great. Q. What's the first thing you're going to eat after you leave this arena? SHANE BATTIER: Well, tonight I'm going to‑‑ that's a sticky question. Tomorrow I hope my wife cooks me a nice rib eye. I'm looking forward to my rib eye tomorrow. Tonight we'll see. Q. I know you've never looked at numbers ever before, but did you know you were in one of the worst shooting slumps in postseason history? I think 20% at one point? And how good does it feel now that the numbers lie? SHANE BATTIER: Yeah, well, it feels really good. I've maintained‑‑ last year I had a horrific shooting slump to start the year last year. My mantra was I'll regress to the mean. And I believe in that. I knew that my shooting was not indicative of the numbers that I put up last year, and very similarly to the stretch right now. I know I'm a better shooter than my numbers put up. A lot goes into it. I thought I had some open looks the last two games. When I have open looks, I expect to make them. And I did. Q. Shane, two questions: One, did the bank shot you hit to start off the last game sort of feel like‑‑ make you feel like hey, my time is coming? SHANE BATTIER: The basketball gods ‑‑ I believe in basketball gods. I felt that they owed me big time. I had a bunch of shots in San Antonio that went in and out. So when that banker went in, I said you know what, they owe me. But it was the start of a pretty good streak there. Q. And if you could just take us through your defensive play there on Tim at the end there where he had a shot to tie and missed it and what you saw‑‑ what you think you did? SHANE BATTIER: I'm 215 pounds, 6'8", obviously I'm giving up major weight and height to Duncan. So I was just praying that he missed it. To be honest with you, I don't think I affected the shot that much. I was just trying to make him shoot over the top. And that's a shot Tim Duncan usually makes eight out of ten times. For whatever reason that shot didn't drop right then. I'm very thankful. It wasn't because of my defense. Just missed it. Q. Shane, two questions: First on LeBron in general. What does becoming a multiple title winner do for his legacy when he hits shots like that? SHANE BATTIER: Hopefully people will leave him alone a little more now. He takes a lot of heat, I think undeservedly. He's the best player on the planet. And hopefully now with two titles, he'll get more the benefit of the doubt. But, you know, he's the best. He's the best right now. Q. What can you say about the grit of Dwyane Wade going out there and playing the way he did? SHANE BATTIER: They tried to bury Dwyane, but he kept pushing open that coffin door. And that's Dwyane Wade. You really can't define him by stats. He's a competitor, a fighter. And when it counts most, he'll be there. Q. What does playing and being with LeBron James these past couple of years teach you about the nature of pressure? SHANE BATTIER: I've always thought that pressure is trying to feed your family, trying to make the mortgage. We play a game. We play basketball. I think LeBron would tell you the same thing. This is an amazing game. We've been blessed to be a part of the NBA, but this is a game. Something we feel very passionate about. Obviously it's our livelihood. We're going to do what we can do to make our fans happy and win games. That's the bottom line. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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