|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v SPURSMay 27, 2014Scott BrooksOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: Game Four Q. Coach, obviously Manu gave the team a little tough time in Game 3. What do you need to do to be able to slow him down a little bit and keep him from having such a big effect? SCOTT BROOKS: It's hard to do. That guy, he seems to make so many tough shots and winning basketball plays. A lot of his threes were contested and in the face. One time he even bobbled the ball before he caught it and threw one up and it went in. Only way you can really stop him is really keeping him from getting the ball, but he's so relentless in his pursuit, and he's just one of the‑‑ he's going to go down as one of the great performers. He definitely has big‑time moments. He's able to make plays when you don't think plays are there. Defensively he's just as amazing. Q. Does it depend whether he's on or off? SCOTT BROOKS: No, you have to make him take tough shots, and like I said, he can make those tough shots, but you have to do the best you can to keep him from getting the ball, and then when he gets the ball, challenge yourself to stay in front of him. He has great footwork, he has great determination to get to the basket. There on pick‑and‑rolls we have to have two guys on the basketball, and it's tough to do, but we have to do it in order to stop him from scoring. Q. I know you don't like to have injuries during the regular season, but you've got a couple of guys that are playing bigger roles how in Adams and Jackson. How helpful is it now that those guys had to go through that late in the regular season and you were able to make the changes you need to make? SCOTT BROOKS: Well, Reggie has been improving since the day we drafted him. He sat patiently there his rookie year and learned a lot by sitting and practicing against all of our guys. And at that position, that takes time. It's a position that you don't really master. You have to keep on getting better. I thought his experiences last year when Russell was out allowed him to have the year he's had this year. We put him in the starting lineup, and I thought he did a great job, not only on the offensive end at attacking on the weak side, but his defense. He let Green get open on that first shot, but I thought he did a good job of really staying in front of his man and making them take tough shots. And Steven is improving all year. That's another thing that we take pride in, developing our guys, every month getting them better, and he's having a lot of success. But like we always say, he's a developing player. He has a lot to learn, but he's learning things that he's picked up things that I didn't think or we didn't think that he could pick up as quickly as he has. He's doing a great job with his feet and his body. He's not fouling as much, and I think that goes with the experience that he has had throughout the year. I think everybody kind of knows what he does now, and that also has helped him. Q. Overall team defense obviously in Game 3 was much more effective than in Games 1 and 2. Having Serge back obviously helped, but all in all what is it you saw that sort of gave you the idea that this team obviously could play defense that way, and what is it that you think you can do to duplicate that from game to game? SCOTT BROOKS: Well, we still have to have that mindset we have to play better, and that's what we‑‑ when we went over the film yesterday, we picked it apart. We have to get better going into this game. You have to play with great effort. This team that we're playing is very good. They have a lot of offensive players, and I've said that from day one in the series, and I'm going to continue to say that. But Serge, what he did for us on the defensive end is not only protecting the basket but his rebounding and his pick‑and‑roll coverage but his offense. We have a knock‑down shooter in our offense. We have a guy that can pick‑and‑pop and a guy that can pick‑and‑roll and catch around the basket. He's done a better job over the last couple years of catching and finishing around the paint. What he brings to our team is obviously a big part of what we do. Q. With your new lineup came a new rotation. How much of that was on the fly, and is that still a work in progress, or do you feel pretty good about what you want to do after the starters? SCOTT BROOKS: Well, I mean, the starting lineup is going to remain the same. The guys off the bench have to be ready. It's a game‑time, game‑flow decision. I thought guys have to be ready to step up and make plays and make shots and continue to run the offense and continue to defend the way we have to defend. We can't have four guys defending, one guy not. So whoever is in the game, they have to understand what defenses and pick‑and‑roll coverages are we in, what post coverages are we in, and so we can all be on the same page. But I think all guys have to be ready. I thought the guys did a good job of coming in and stepping in, playing well. Q. Was it because Fish got hurt? SCOTT BROOKS: No, I mean, he was going to play. When Fish went out, obviously they were going to play together. There's room for him to play. There's opportunities. I didn't play Thabo last game. Who knows, we might need Thabo this game. But that's what good teams have to sacrifice, and we're just like the remaining teams in the Playoffs. All guys have to sacrifice, and it's just not about your minutes, it's about the team doing the best that they can to put the best team on the floor to win the game. I think Jeremy had good minutes. He made a couple of shots that gave him some confidence to keep playing, keep being aggressive, but his defense is obviously something that we have to continue to work on, and I thought that was pretty good last game. Q. A lot of folks look at Serge Ibaka and they look at him as an athletic guy. That's the first thing they notice. He didn't have quite as much spring the other day but yet was able to impact the game. What does that say about the mental part of his game defensively, that he was able to do that without all of his athleticism? SCOTT BROOKS: I think that says a lot to what he's done the last five years with us. His basketball IQ has developed each and every year. Five years ago we couldn't communicate with him just from the language barrier, but he's done a good job of understanding what we do and understanding what his teammates do, and I think that's helped us over the years. Our offense has gotten better because Serge has improved on the basketball IQ side of things. He's a talented young man. He works extremely hard. But there's so many little things that you learn from the days of your‑‑ growing up playing the game here that he never had the luxury to do that as a basketball player. But I think he's done a great job of picking up the little things. He still has some things that we have to get better in the years to come. Q. I don't remember Serge ever taking a bad shot. Does he ever take a bad shot? SCOTT BROOKS: Yeah, I would say so. Not many. I mean, he's always‑‑ on his pick‑and‑pops they have to make tough decisions. They either have to not help off on Reggie, Russell or KD. If they put two guys on the ball, Serge is going to be open. He's done a good job with his footwork and getting spacings and getting set and being able to make that shot. He makes that shot as well as anybody in the league from 17 feet, and that's a big part of our offense. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|