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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v SPURSMay 21, 2014Scott BrooksSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Game Two San Antonio – 112 SCOTT BROOKS: Well, obviously we feel we're much better than how we played tonight. We understand San Antonio is a very good basketball team, but we also understand that we're a much better team than we played tonight. We got three or four days to figure it out. We will continue to figure things out as a group like we always have done and come back Sunday and play a much better basketball game. They did a great job. They held serve. We've been in this position before. We definitely don't want to be in this position, but we are. It's one loss. All we're focused on now is just getting one win in Game 3. We're not looking to hold serve at our court, we're looking to get one win, and that's Game 3. We're going to do it as a group, and we've always done it as a group, and this is another moment for our team to keep working together and figuring out answers going into the next game. Q.  Only five made free throws, only 10 attempted. What does that tell you? Is that part of the problem? SCOTT BROOKS: It tells me that we only took, I think, three free throws the last three quarters. We're a very high free‑throw shooting team. Our offense is good when we're attacking and getting to the free‑throw line. I don't know, we didn't get to the line. Obviously we were going to look at every play and see if we did get fouled on those, but no, we didn't. We only got 10 free throws, three in the last three quarters. Q. You were talking about your group being prideful and all that, but you haven't been blasted like this in the Playoffs since you've been in Oklahoma City. What was the mindset of the players? SCOTT BROOKS: Absolutely. We're disappointed. We're disappointed in how this game turned out. We had a really good quarter going, actually a good half, about 22 minutes, and then that 2:30 time‑out in the third quarter or the second quarter, they hit three threes, Green hit two, Ginobili hit one. We turned it over three times in the last 2:30 and we took a couple of tough shots, and we didn't do a good job responding after that run. It's something that we've taken pride in closing out quarters. That close‑out quarter wasn't good in that second quarter and then we started the third quarter missing shots, turned it over and got beat on a couple back door actions. It's not good enough. We're disappointed in our performance, and we have to make a few adjustments and come back better. Q. You said you've been in this situation before going home down 2‑0, but it doesn't feel the same because of the way you played. How do you get the guys back to where you got them two years ago? SCOTT BROOKS: Well, it definitely doesn't feel good, and it shouldn't. I hope our entire locker room doesn't feel good. You shouldn't feel good. We got our butts kicked. But we have a good opportunity to come back and win Game 3. We have to play a well‑balanced, multiple effort, 48‑minute game to beat this team, but it's very possible. It's not something that we have to play special, but we're going to have to play better. We definitely, all our focus is going to be on Game 3. Q. Is this a situation where you have to look at some different combinations or just guys didn't play well? SCOTT BROOKS: Well, guys didn't play well. I don't think anybody on our team played well, including myself. We have to do a better job collectively. We're going to have to‑‑ obviously we didn't hit shots, either. We shot under 40 percent, 2 for 20 from three and only got to the free‑throw line 10 times. So offensively we have to do some things much better. We have a good group of guys, and we have to figure out who's the best group to play. Q. You only get four points from Collison, Perkins and Sefolosha, similar to Game 1. With three of your starters not even combining for double figures, how can you win like that? How can you compete that way? SCOTT BROOKS: It doesn't look good on paper, but down the line, I don't think anybody feels good about how they played. We gave up a lot of points. We held them in the mid 30s up until that 2:30 minute mark, and then they shot 50 percent as a team for the game. As a group, we've got to play much better. It's obviously nobody on our team feels good about what happened tonight, and that's what I love about our group. We take a lot of pride in what we do and how we do it and who we do it with, and Game 3 is going to be a great moment for us to bounce back and play much better. Q. You talked about the shots KD and Russell, 13 of 40. Talk about or assess the looks and shot selection. SCOTT BROOKS: They didn't make shots tonight. Some of them were tough shots, but they didn't get to the free‑throw line. Russell shot zero free throws, Kevin shot five. That's part of their offensive package is to get to the line. They didn't shoot the ball well. They didn't shoot the ball well. As a group we shot 39 percent. We always do things as a group, and so as a team we didn't shoot the ball well. We didn't get to the line. We've got to play much better. I'm not harping on we didn't get to the line, we didn't play well. If we would have got to the line, it might have helped us, but I don't know if it would have made that big of a difference. They shot the ball extremely well. We helped them shoot the ball well. But you have to be on point at all five positions like I said before the game, and I thought we did a pretty good job in the first quarter and the first 10 minutes of the second quarter, then they went on that run with the three threes and we turned it over three times, and we didn't come out in the third quarter and give the defensive stance that we needed. Q. How did Danny Green get moving and how do you stop that moving forward? SCOTT BROOKS: He's a 40‑percent shooter and we gave him some good looks. You give a 40‑percent shooter good looks, he's going to make his share, and tonight we didn't do a good job on him. He shot 10 threes. That's too many threes for him to take, let alone make seven. Q. Frustration I think is understandable, but there seem to be some signs of composure being lost, Russ and Kevin going at it verbally a couple times. How concerning is stuff like that to you? SCOTT BROOKS: That was during the break. We got frustrated with one another because we gave up the three threes. Those are the type of frustrations that I like in a basketball team. It's on the defensive end. We gave up some threes, and we wanted to make sure that did not happen going forward. It happens with every team. Kevin and Russell obviously have a lot of respect for one another. But it was based off of defensive coverages. I like that. I like that they were frustrated that we gave up those threes. We have to do a better job of closing quarters. We talked about this going into the series. We have to play solid basketball every possession, every minute, and San Antonio, they always do a good job of closing out quarters. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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