Media Day Quotes
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On how Tim Duncan ranks against Shaquille O’Neal – “I think (Duncan) is right behind him. Shaq is so dominant because of his size. Tim is just as dominant because of his footwork on this post, which is probably unmatched. He has a great touch. From 15 feet in, he’s almost unstoppable. Without a doubt right now he is the best player in the NBA.”
On Aaron Williams – “A-Train has just been fantastic. He just goes about his business. We ask him to do certain things on both ends of the court. He never complains, he just gets the job done. He’s the guy after Kenyon Martin and Jason Collins that probably guard Tim Duncan also. He’s just a real quiet guy. You ask him to guard somebody, you ask him to score, you ask him to rebound. He’s a coach’s dream.”
On if he has talked to Kidd about what it takes to win a championship – “I think Jason knows. He just has to keep playing like Jason Kidd. If Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins continue playing like they’ve been playing, we think we’re in good shape. We haven’t talked specifically about what (Kidd) has to do.”
On hacking Bruce Bowen intentionally – “Well, (Mavericks Coach) Don Nelson is an innovator; he’s one of the best coaches in the league. So when you see that as a coach, it does make you wonder if it’s a strategy that you should write down. We have a list of things that we have written down that we have to do, and maybe at the bottom of that list is fouling Bruce Bowen and getting him on the free throw line. We play defense a certain way, and I’ve never deviated from that. We’re not going to outright just double-team Tim Duncan, even as good as he is. We’re just going to do the things we normally do. We’re not going to change just because we’re in the Finals because if we change now, then what does that say about our confidence? We’re going to do the things that have gotten us to this point.”
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On Tony Parker - "Tony’s playing at a high level. He’s young but he plays as an older player physically and mentally and I’m going to have my hands full."
On the transition game - "We try to play defense to create turnovers to get out in the transition game. We’ve got to take full advantage of that if we want to have a chance to try to win any game in this series. They (the Spurs) are so good when they set up their half court defense because you are always looking at not just one seven footer, but two seven footers when you are trying to get to the basket."
On the one thing the Nets have to do to win – "Relax. Play our game. Don’t try to do anything out of the ordinary, don’t force anything and just relax. Because of all the excitement, all of the media, and this just being the finals you’re going to be a little bit more excited than you normally would be. You just have to relax and go out there and have fun and let the game come to you."
