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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v SPURSMay 19, 2014Gregg PopovichSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Game One San Antonio – 122 Q. Can you just discuss Tim Duncan's ability to get the team off to a good start with the post stuff? GREGG POPOVICH: He did a good job. He shot the ball well and moved well, found the open spaces where he either scored or kicked it to somebody else who had an opportunity. I thought he executed offensively really well to start the game. Q. And also Tony Parker looked like he was fit physically and certainly able to distribute and get the offense going. GREGG POPOVICH: Yeah, I think he feels pretty good. A little winded probably, but he didn't seem to have a problem with his leg. Q. Given you won the battle in the paint 66‑32 tonight, was that something you guys focused on with Ibaka being out tonight? GREGG POPOVICH: No, sometimes it's hard to focus on something like that and decide you're going to do that or you're going to shoot threes tonight or you're going to go in the paint tonight or you are going to do this. You take what's given, play the game, just respect the game and whatever's there, try to take advantage of that. It just worked out that way. Q. Before the game you referenced making Kevin work for his shots, and 10 of 19, a good field goal percentage, but three free throws the first quarter, only one the rest of the way, a product of Kawhi's defense, team defense on him? GREGG POPOVICH: Well, that's the key with Kevin. You're obviously not going to stop him, but making him work hard is certainly the plan. It's everybody's plan, no matter who he plays against they're going to make him work hard. I thought Kawhi was good, didn't foul, but I think the team did a nice job behind him helping him, Danny Green and Marco and Manu, they all ended up on him at some point, and I thought they did a pretty good job. Q. Before the game you talked about playing the way you play. How much do you feel like you stayed with that and how much did you get away from that just because of that inside advantage you mentioned earlier? GREGG POPOVICH: We played‑‑ we did what we always do. Sometimes it worked to our advantage, sometimes it didn't, but all in all, at this point in the season you've got to be who you are. You can't really change your stripes. Q. After all these years, have you come to just sort of expect that Manu Ginobili after struggling for several games, when sort of the chips are down in the third all of a sudden he explodes and scores 18 points the rest of the way? GREGG POPOVICH: Well, he's a fine player and very competitive, and he's somebody that even if he's not having the greatest game or whatever, he's going to get the ball in certain situations because he comes through so often. Q. The Thunder went with a three point guard lineup with two small forwards at a time and had to do some things without Serge. Did they surprise you with anything that they did? GREGG POPOVICH: No, no. I mean, they're going to have to do some different things probably, play different people, but I think no matter what either team does, we've each seen it before. Just a matter of who's going to play well, who's going to execute for 48 minutes, who's going to make the fewest mistakes. Sometimes it comes down to just making shots. It's not really about one individual. It's about how a team performs. Q. You dominated most of the first half, third quarter they get hot, suddenly take a lead. From that point you dominated the rest of the way. What happened in the third quarter that got you back in command? GREGG POPOVICH: I didn't think we reacted very well to their physicality. I thought we got back on our heels, people held the ball, people didn't make quick decisions with the ball. The clock winds down and you end up with a end‑of‑shot‑clock shot or in somebody's hands that isn't able to do anything with it with two seconds on the clock. The ball stopped moving, changing sides, the attack stopped, and at the same time Russell attacked us, and our transition D was not good coming out of the bad shots at the other end. It was a culmination of both those things, I think, when they made their run. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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