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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HEAT v PACERSMay 25, 2014Erik SpoelstraMIAMI, FLORIDA: Practice Day Q. L.J. talked last night about how there's got to be a certain level of desperation from the get go, and you know that Indiana's going to bring it tonight. You guys have been through the drill before, but how do you match desperation when it's coming from the other side? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Well, we have to understand that that's critical for our game. That's to play with a big sense of urgency, particularly on the defensive end, to be able to dictate tempo of the game. It takes a great commitment to energy, effort, activity, disposition, all of that. And, obviously, getting off to a better start is important. Q. Is there a rhyme or reason to why the fourth quarters have been‑‑ I mean, the closing hasn't been an issue at all really throughout the playoffs, just starts have kind of been this nagging trend. COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Well, ultimately, you just have to find a way. Our guys, the last two games, it's been very competitive, very close. Our better basketball has been at the end. What we're looking for is more consistency. Q. Kind of a situation [ No microphone ]. COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: His minutes have been productive. It was productive on the scoreboard, the speed, quickness, that's been solid. It might be different the next game. Q. Along those same lines, how do you determine who's going to play in the fourth quarter? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: How the game is going. Obviously, we don't predetermine going in. We've had two different fourth quarter lineups the last two games, whatever it takes. Q. Is that something you've always done, or is it something that you developed with this team knowing that it doesn't really matter? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: That's been a little bit more with this group. Q. What are the elements that you preach as being the most important when a team is trying to close out a game? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: In the fourth quarter? Well, just getting to who we are. It's always about our disposition defensively, and that creates a lot of offense for us. But it takes a great energy and commitment to be able to do that. Q. Rashard had obviously been in the league for a long time before he got here, but is he better defender now, do you think, than when he arrived? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: I'm certain. Sure, he was, when he was a young player. Q. But from what he arrived here? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: No, just a different understanding. He's been coached well. That's obviously why we liked him. He played under a very good defensive system in Orlando. So he'd already developed great habits before he got here. He just had to learn how it was a little bit different in how we do it. Q. What do you think about the way the team has defended Paul George throughout the series? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: I don't know. You just have to try to keep a body in front of him as much as possible. He's a great player. He's going to put pressure on your defense. He's going to be aggressive. You have to try to constantly make it tough, which that's a lot easier said than done. Q. The second half of the series [ No microphone ]. COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Well, they've been very good in this series. They've been consistent. They've been giving us that energy. That's been a real boost for us. What we're looking for is more consistency throughout our rotations. It might be different each game, and different guys have stepped up. I think that's a great example of the way this team is built is last night when we had to go deeper into our bench because of foul trouble, and guys have kept themselves ready, and we're able to produce effective minutes. You're happy when guys have a contribution like Rashard. He just keeps on plugging away. Q. People realize Dwyane Wade doesn't shoot from three very often. Why doesn't he? Do you like to see him shoot from out there? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Both of those were end of clock situations. The end of the third quarter, if that's The Open shot you're going to get, I definitely like that. Tough to get an open shot as time is winding down. But Dwyane understands his game and where he's effective as much as anybody in this league. That's why you're seeing a shooting guard shooting an incredibly efficient field goal percentage that he does, and it's gone up the last two years. He knows how to get to his spots. Q. Just to follow up on what you said about that energy toward the end of the fourth quarter. Is it a physical thing toward the end of the fourth quarter? Is it a mental thing? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: All of the above, yeah. The physical toughness you have to bring, particularly against this opponent, but a mental stability through the ups and downs and the emotions. Q. Looking back at the tape, what was it that Rashard brought to the game defensively? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: He just brought energy. There wasn't anything necessarily out of the box. It was just we went deeper into the rotation. Maybe that's a function of having a fresh body at that point in the game. It was a spark. It wasn't necessarily planned. It just happened. We had to go deeper. He produced, and we'll have to see what happens next game. The next game will dictate what our rotations will be. Q. What have you guys done [indiscernible]? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: You have two contrasting styles. We're a pressure team that likes to play with pace and space. They like to beat you up in the paint. Who's going to dictate whose style more consistently? Q. How have you guys been able to deal with it the last two games? LeBRON JAMES: Pressure. Q. Erik, is there any update on Chris Andersen? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: He's the human bruise right now. Q. What is it specifically? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: He got hit by Dwyane on a collision toward the end. He has some various things going on right now, but he's tough. And he's been dealing with minor stuff, it seems like, for the last three months. Q. Is there a balance going into the fourth quarter that you like to find? I know it's a feel, but in terms of like Norris Cole on the perimeter, Chris Andersen? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: I'm not predetermining. The minutes that those guys were playing were effective. I decided to go with it. They might be different next game. Q. If that's the case, as you said the other night, it's the how and what, how do you convince players to buy into that as to who will follow? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Well, that starts at training camp. We're way past that. We've already been through the process with this team for three years. Q. But still to the point where you just said that you can't predetermine. COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: It's dictated on the game, how's the flow of the game? When Norris is out there with his minutes, it was effective. It wasn't an indictment on Rio, just happened to be going well. So we wanted to see if it could continue to go well. Q. Looking back when you guys drafted Norris, what were some of the things that you saw that you were going to find in that? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Looking back on the season we had and going against Dallas in the finals, that was an element that we were missing with that team‑‑ speed, quickness, youth, defensive disposition on the ball at the point guard position. Those were the qualities we really liked about him when we started to get to know him in the draft process. And he jumped off the screen with his energy. I remember that distinctly even know, just watching film on him. He played with a great motor. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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