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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND TWO: CLIPPERS v THUNDERMay 9, 2014Scott BrooksLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Three Thunder – 118 THE MODERATOR: Coach Brooks. COACH BROOKS: It was a difficult challenge to guard tonight. I thought we did a good job of staying together. In the fourth quarter, our defense went up another level. Then we made some big shots. I thought CB, Caron, came in and did a good job on some of their defensive actions. Russell was finding guys. Reggie came in and played like we knew he was capable of playing. He had a couple of rough shooting games, but he bounced back with the right frame of mind and gave himself a chance to have a good game. I think everybody chipped in to help us win this game. Q. I know you feel this team had heart and played with grit. The way they were challenged in the first and second round, are they showing you anything you didn't know was there before? COACH BROOKS: Well, one of the things I always say about our group is we're very competitive. We're competitive every game of the year. We have a mentality that every game is a big game. Our job is to play for each other, play hard for 82 games, and practice is the same way. Only way you get better as a team is you compete on the practice floor. We knew going into the Memphis series it was going to be a tough series. Seems like every time we play that team it's a physical series down to the last minutes. The Clippers are a deep team, a lot of offensive firepower. We knew going into the series they're very good. Like I say to our guys, It's the first of four, not the first of two. We have to stay focused and come back Sunday afternoon and play better. Q. What does it say about your team that despite the physical play, theatrics going on, they were able to keep composed and win it in the end? COACH BROOKS: You have to be able to do that to win playoff games. You have to overcome the ups and downs of the game. I thought we did a good job of staying focused. A couple of times we had a few breakdowns. When you have two competitive teams going at each other, you can't expect perfect execution, but you can expect effort. I thought our guys gave us great effort. Russell was really good. He had control and command of the game, nearly a triple‑double. Kevin obviously had an offensive rhythm. We got to the free‑throw line. Both teams made their free throws tonight. That's something we always want to get into our game. Q. When you picked up Caron, what did you think you were getting? What did you envision him adding to your team? COACH BROOKS: Well, a guy with high character, a guy that has been there before, a guy that knows how to play, makes big shots. Hasn't shot the ball well. You're going to have that as a player, as a team. But you have to have a foundation to know that, You know what, I've been there, it's going to turn for me, and it did for him tonight. One thing I love about our guys, we never lose confidence in each other. When Caron was open, we found him on time, on target immediately. Good basketball decisions we made tonight with him. Q. Serge had a rough playoff last year. Have you seen anything change this time around? COACH BROOKS: No. I think I had the rough playoff last year. I thought Serge has gotten better every year. He still has a few more levels that he will get to. He's a developing player. He competes. That's what I love about Serge Ibaka. He competes. He plays with every ounce of fiber he has for his team. He's really developed a nice midrange shot. He stepped it out from three. He's rebounding better. That's what we want to do as an organization, is develop our guys from year to year. I don't worry about what happened last year. We're focused on this year. Now our attention is we turn the page, we're focused on Game4. Q. Can't go unnoticed, other guys played well. But Kevin throughout the game was great. Constant throughout the entire game tonight. COACH BROOKS: Yeah, it's hard to not talk about. I don't know if I even mentioned him yet. He's a guy that can impact the game on the defensive end, impact with the rebound. Eight defensive rebounds. Impacted on making plays for each other. Six assists. He had a block. Obviously he's a scorer. He can make shots. I thought tonight he did a great job of cutting hard and setting himself to get better looks than he's had. Great player. Great teammate. I love the way he played tonight. You can talk about many parts of his game. That's what he does, he fills the stats sheet up, and did it again tonight. Q. Five minutes left in this game, it's still anybody's game. You're down a point. What did you see in the final five minutes? How much of that was experience? COACH BROOKS: Well, we have experience. You still have to be able to execute and you have to make some shots. We made some shots. We stayed small. They have some tough decisions to make with who they put their big on. I thought Caron did a great job of being disciplined in our offense and being ready to step up and make the shots. Kevin hit obviously a tough shot over the top on the right wing. I thought we did a good job of executing down the stretch. That's what you have to do. There's going to be many playoff games that will come down to the last five minutes. Q. Scott, your guys could have lost poise a couple of times. In other years, emotion may have gotten involved. Also you've put together four or five really good games together. Talk about your overall confidence, where you are. COACH BROOKS: You can't worry about calls. That's part of the game. We all have a job to do. I have a job, the players, the crew. I thought we did a good job of staying focused, staying on the task at hand, and that is to win the basketball game. We've had a lot of years of experience. We added a few players along the way. But I thought our guys did a good job of maintaining. Defensively in the fourth quarter, we stepped up and made them take a lot of tough shots. Q. Can you talk about Westbrook's performance tonight. COACH BROOKS: It was vintage Russell. He's another guy that fills up the stats sheet. He plays the game the right way, and that's hard. He plays with a lot of effort. To me, a lot of times that gets not talked about with Russell. He plays hard. You can go around the league and you want all your players to play that way. Russell plays hard. His setups, his attacks, his rebounding, his defense. He's guarding one of the best point guards in the league. That's not an easy job. He rebounds, competes, and plays for his team. That's all I care about. Russell, you play for your team, and he does. Q. It seemed like in the second half you got a lot more physical. Was that something you spoke about to them at halftime in the locker room? COACH BROOKS: I think both teams play a physical, demanding style of play. Both teams can score and can score in transition, score in halfcourt. It's not only a physical demand, but the mental stress each team puts on each other. We have a team full of scorers so you have to make tough decisions. I don't think one team played more physical than the other. Q. Talk about the fact that Serge was in foul trouble? How concerned were you? COACH BROOKS: That's a good point. I will say this: I'm proud of Serge. A couple years ago, if you would have got two quick fouls, his game would have been dicey coming back in. He competed. He wasn't worried about his fouls. It's a handful to guard Griffin down low. He backs you in and powers through you. I thought he did a good job of playing when he had the fouls. That's a sign of growth with Serge Ibaka, that he continued to play through and not worry about his foul situations. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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