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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v SPURSMay 26, 2014Serge IbakaOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: Practice Day SERGE IBAKA: The good news is I'm not feeling worse, so that's good. Q. So the same you think for tomorrow in terms of what you'll be able to do out there? SERGE IBAKA: Yes, probably yes. Q. What did you do today as far as treatment? SERGE IBAKA: Oh, nothing really, just icing. Did the treatment, icing, that's it. Q. Do you think that's how it'll be for the rest of the Playoffs? You play the games but not do much in practice? SERGE IBAKA: I don't know yet. We're going to see how I feel day by day. If I feel better after tomorrow's game, I'm going to try to do something with my teammates. Q. When you got up this morning, any surprise about what you were able to accomplish last night? SERGE IBAKA: No surprise because like I said, people may think I'm crazy or I'm funny, and I've said that before, I believe in God. With God, anything is possible. To me it's no surprise because I'm a son of God. Q. Where does your faith come from, growing up? SERGE IBAKA: Yes. Q. Is it different in the Republic of Congo than it would be here? SERGE IBAKA: Yes. That's where I come from. That's where I come from, my family and the Christian family, and also, that's my mom's side, the Christian family. My dad's side is the Catholic family. I always grow up in church and God stuff, so that's where it comes from. Q. I asked Manu Ginobili about your background and everything you went through growing up and just the concept of international players that have a different perspective on the NBA, and he agreed, and he said, listen, for Serge Ibaka to be down 0‑2 in a series is not tough compared to what you've been through growing up. Does that give you a different kind of strength? SERGE IBAKA: Yep, since I was young, I've been through a lot of stuff in my life, good and bad. Always near God. For me it's just kind of like another challenge because I've been there before, and maybe just a different style, but I've been there before. Q. Some professional athletes may not have come back, they may have been afraid they would risk their career. Was that a concern for you, and why did you want to come back so bad? SERGE IBAKA: Well, first of all, when we sign here in the NBA, we sign on everything, man. At the end of the day, no matter what happened last night after the game or get hurt badly, I signed for this. I signed for this. The military, when they go out there to fight, when they sign, they sign for everything. No matter what happened last night, I signed for this. That's what I get paid for. Q. You were obviously a big difference maker defensively. How do you see Russ's defense on Tony in terms of using his size and speed to try to contain him? SERGE IBAKA: Oh, he did a great job. I'm sure not everybody is going to say, oh, they win because of Serge Ibaka. He came in and did a great job. Like I said, it's something we're going to need for them to keep doing everything game. Q. What are you guys going to need to do at a higher level as a team? SERGE IBAKA: We can be a little more aggressive. When we go big on big, we can be a little more aggressive, try and make sure those guys that can shoot threes, we force them to put the ball on the floor, and then we're going to figure out the points in the paint, me and all the guys, Perk, Steve, Nick, Hasheem, but the most important thing is to make them put the ball on the floor, do not let them play their comfort basketball. Q. Coach said you were riding the elliptical during the breaks or the timeouts. Is that something that helped you throughout the game? SERGE IBAKA: Yes, it's something that helped me because if I sit down, then the bruises is getting tight. When I stand up it's kind of hard to walk.  That's why I was doing some movement, to keep my legs keep going. Q. Are you expecting your calf to feel better tomorrow than it did in Game 3, and as the series goes it'll feel better? SERGE IBAKA: Well, I'm sure every day I'm going to feel better every day, but I'm not expecting to feel much better yet tomorrow. One thing I know, I expect to do a better job. Q. Do better tomorrow? SERGE IBAKA: Yep. Q. You did pretty good. SERGE IBAKA: (Laughing). Q. What do you want to improve? Are you in a lot of pain today? SERGE IBAKA: No, no pain, no pain. No worse, actually. I can say same as yesterday, but no worse. That's good news. Q. What areas do you want to improve from last night's game? SERGE IBAKA: Oh, you know, it was kind of hard a little bit with my feet. I was using more my right foot than left foot. I could not do too much last night because after we saw the video, I felt like I was slow, and I'm sure my legs, my coaches, they understand, and I'm going to try to do‑‑ tomorrow I'm going to try to do better than last game. Q. You're already a very well‑known guy, but the Playoffs have a tendency of a guy's profile, of his celebrity status go through the roof when you have a story like yours. Do you sense that at all when you're competing day‑to‑day? SERGE IBAKA: Say one more time? Q. When you woke up this morning, a lot more people know who Serge Ibaka is today, the last couple days because of what's going on. Do you pay attention to any of that? SERGE IBAKA: No. I'll tell you what I've heard. I don't watch ESPN, CNN, nothing, because one day they're going to talk about you, the next day they're going to forget everything about you. One day they're going to talk about you and everybody is going to know about you. But some people, they can take you down, too. Like I said, I owe it to God, I always trust God, and I keep doing what I do best. I control what I can control and everything else come naturally. Q. Have you been surprised by all the attention? SERGE IBAKA: Absolutely, yes. Yes, of course. You know that. Q. One Thunder fan called you the MVP? SERGE IBAKA: Really? No, Kevin is the real MVP. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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