Gregg Popovich | Tim Duncan | Manu Ginobili | Stephen Jackson | Tony Parker | David Robinson

Q: On TV they said that you kind of blistered your team at halftime and said four of your top five were playing a summer league game, can you give us an idea of what that was about and what the response was?
Popovich: You don't believe everything you hear, do you?

Q: I believe some of it.
Popovich: So you want me to respond to that?

Q: Please.
Popovich: Our halftime talks are our own business. Didn't have much to do with the game. Whether you stroke somebody or get on somebody, and I'll do a little bit of both from time to time and this halftime we got on them a little bit because I didn't think we played very well. But other than that, nothing different than the usual.

Q: The turnovers and the sloppy play, do you think that you had just the wrong mindset coming into this game, maybe a little bit too relaxed?
Popovich: I don't know how you quantify that. You hope you don't, when you play like that, you assume that's what you had, why did you have that? Well, I don't know. What I do know is the two weaknesses that we've had all years, turnovers and free throws, if we have 20 turnovers and we miss 11 free throws, that puts a lot of pressure on our defense. And both those things cropped up tonight. That's the ball game.

The third area I thought we were very sloppy, at times I was very disappointed when I was watching, I think that we showed a real lack of respect for the situation tonight for three quarters, and then finally when it got critical, it looked like the basketball team that I've watched play all year long. But you can't play like that in an NBA Finals series. We almost got lucky at the end, but they deserved to win the ballgame. They were focused all night long. They did a good job.

Q: Did they do anything schematically, or any adjustments they made that caused you to make turnovers or throw you off?
Popovich: No. We do that on our own quite often.

Q: You know you can't read the minds of your players, but the game started and you come off a good win and the first eight or nine possessions you're just going into the basket every time, do you think they relaxed a little bit?
Popovich: It could be. I don't know how to answer those questions. They obviously got sloppy, so they relaxed. They didn't take it seriously, I don't know. I won't spend a whole lot of time wondering about it. Just go and play the next one.

Q: Can you talk about the impact of Deke and if he's changed the complexion of the series at all now that he's playing?
Popovich: I thought did he a good job tonight. I thought he was active. I thought he took up some space in the middle. I thought he did a good all-around job. Whether it changes the series, I don't know, but I thought he did a fine job.

Back to top

Q: Was that their defense or were you just off tonight? Was that their defense or were you just struggling?
Duncan: A little bit of both. They did a great job of playing between guys and they just found a way to kind of cut off the lanes. I thought they were a very good defense.

Q: You and David after the game were saying you were surprised Dikembe did not play more, but he played 20 minutes tonight. Can you talk about his impact?
Duncan: I thought he played very well. I thought he does what he usually does. He affects shots around the basket. I thought he was solid on the offensive end and I thought it was a big boost for him. He came out and played with a lot of energy.

Q: Did you gays take them a little lightly for this Game 2?
Duncan: We didn't take anybody lightly. We didn't play a very good game and they played very well.

Q: Just on the free throw line, was there anything going on in your head tonight, and is that the weakness that the Nets exposed tonight?
Duncan: Yeah, our weakness is our free throws and our turnovers, and we did both of those tonight. When it came down to it, I missed seven free throws. I make a couple of those, it's a whole different ball game.

Q: What was the strategy after Jason misses the free throw, and is the 3 point the first option or is that just a shot?
Duncan: It was a shot. I thought it was a great read by Tony to get the ball to him. Jack says if he looked at the clock a little better he would have pumped it but I thought he made a quick decision, he made a very good shot, he just hit one in the corner and he had been going on a good run there, been feeling it, and I was happy with the shot.

Q: Do you think you need to be a little more aggressive earlier?
Duncan: It's easy to say that. It's easy to go out there and say, be aggressive. But when they are sagging in the lanes, four shots isn't being aggressive. I need to find a way to get to the middle, draw the defense a little bit more and get my teammates a little more open.

Q: Going to New Jersey, no team has ever won all three in a 2-3-2 format, what kind of confidence do you think the Nets have now gained and where are you guys headed to Jersey?
Duncan: I think they have some great confidence right now. They are on a high right now, just as we were after Game 1. But we are confident going on the road. We are a very good road team and we feel good on the road. So our focus is to get this first game here on Sunday and regain home court, or hypothetically and go from there.

Q: You said yesterday that you didn't expect Jason to play that way; you thought he would attack and also shoot better. Just talk about his night.
Duncan: He was huge tonight. He was just real aggressive. The ball went up in the air and I remember him getting a couple offensive rebounds, getting a couple second shots for him and he was all over the place. On the other end of things, I thought Tony went out very well. I thought he didn't neutralize him but I thought he attacked him well enough to kind of keep him on his heels.

Back to top

Q: What was the key for them tonight?
Ginobili: Their key was Jason Kidd being inspired. They hit a couple of big shots, when we were playing hard and coming back. We also weren’t as aggressive as we need to be.

Q: Why does this team do everything the hard way?
Ginobili: It’s always like that. Nothing is easy for us. I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again. If we won’t play our best games, especially as far as toughness, aggressiveness and all that, we aren’t going to win. We’re not the most athletic team in the league. We don’t have that instinct, that killer instinct that other teams have, so we have to work so much to get the victories. We were close, but we made a couple of bad decisions, rushed shots. I don’t think we deserved it tonight. They did a better job than us.

Q: Are the referees giving you a hard time personally because you’re a rookie?
Ginobili: It’s kind of normal. When you’re new, you have to get adjusted to everything. It’s normal that you don’t get the same respect as Jason Kidd, Tim Duncan, the All-Stars of the league. I accept it. Once you’re on the court, you’d like to get more calls. I have to accept it, keep working hard and move on.

Back to top

Q: What happened on that last play?
Jackson: I think I could have pump-faked, and Tony (Parker) gave me a great pass, but Jason Kidd did a great job of contesting it, and he kind of got a finger or two on it. Tony made a great pass and I could have knocked it down.

Q: How big was Kidd in the fourth quarter?
Jackson: He was big the whole game. He took this game over from start to finish. He did what he needed to do. We kind of knew he wasn’t going to play like he did in Game 1. He wanted to win this game and did what he needed to do. He’s a competitor. He won this game for them today.

Q: Is this the type of game you expect from New Jersey?
Jackson: We expect it to be like this. We’re upset with ourselves for not coming to play for three quarters in the Finals. Coach (Popovich) is real upset at that fact. How many teams get a chance to play in the Finals, and then we don’t come to play. That’s just uncalled for. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and come to play Sunday.

Q: What changes do you make for Game 3?
Jackson: None. Just be ready to play. You have to be ready to play them from the start. They run and their transition game is even better at home, so we got to be ready to play defense and be on our toes.

Back to top

Q: How do you explain the overall team sloppiness tonight, do you think it was the wrong mindset coming in or was it their adjustments that through you off?
Parker: I don't know. We're professional and we need to play better, especially in the beginning. Coach talked to us this morning in practice, and in the fourth quarter, we started playing in the fourth quarter when we was down ten.

Q: Was it frustrating putting together those runs,?
Parker: Definitely. You know, when we're down and we try to make runs and try to come back on New Jersey, you know, they are a solid team and when they make some big baskets, some guys get down the clock, two seconds left and so those shots hurt. If you leave New Jersey to hang around, they can hurt us and we lost the game.

Q: What happened on the last play, you were down by 2 and the play before that you took it to the rim and you scored the basket and then Stephen Jackson takes the 3. Was it something Popovich wanted?
Parker: He just asked me to attack. Stephen Jackson just scored a 3 just before, so Jason tried to stall the ball so I was coming and I saw Stephen Jackson wide open and he just made one just before so I thought it was a good pass and it was wide open and we went for the win.

Q: What did Pop say this morning about fear and what was he talking about?
Parker: He was a little bit scared that we don't respect New Jersey. He said that they are going to come out very strong and Jason, they are going to go after me, Kenyon Martin, everybody. He was right, in the beginning of the game, we were not ready.

Q: What did Pop tell you at halftime, the team?
Parker: What did he say at halftime? He was mad. He was mad at us, screaming, just to get more aggressive. In the first game he did the same thing, we played poorly in the first half and then we wake up until the second half and it's not going to always work like that. New Jersey played very good in the second half.

Q: How is it going with playing against Jason? I noticed at one point in the game you fouled him and he turned around and said something and you looked at him and wondered what he said to you. Is he talking to you during the game?
Parker: It was a hard foul, that's it. It's San Antonio Spurs against New Jersey Nets, that's the main thing; it's not just Tony Parker against Jason Kidd, it's the San Antonio Spurs against the New Jersey Nets.

Q: Standing on the sidelines a little bit, what's going through your mind as the other guys are going to the free throw line and you missed a few down the stretch?
Parker: I don't know, it's just like I think we wasted a game. We did that a lot in the playoffs, against Phoenix, against the Lakers, against Dallas. Every time we lose a game it's because of free throws and tonight we missed some key free throws at the end of the game.

Back to top

Q: Seemed like the turnovers and the missed free throws really did you guys in tonight?
Robinson: Yeah. It was a one of those games where we didn’t have a lot of guys play well. We normally count on about five or six guys to play well and for our team to play well together, but we didn’t do that tonight. We did a decent job the first five minutes, but during the meat of the game we really didn’t play our basketball. I’m a little bit disappointed with that, and like I said, the free throws, you don’t always have control over that stuff. But there are a lot of things you do have control over, like turnovers, playing a little bit smarter, those are the things we have to do to win games.

Q: Did Dikembe Mutombo disrupt you guys a little bit?
Robinson: You kind of have to expect it. Tonight they switched up a bit, trying to go a little bigger, but I don’t think it affected us all that much. Us turning that ball over, we just didn’t play smart. You look at that first half, we drive, we try to throw it through three guys. We were just giving the ball away. It was just stupid stuff. That’s not the way we play basketball. It’s a little frustrating to come to this point and kind of revert back to some of the stuff we did at the beginning of the year. That’s stupid basketball. We don’t have to push the ball three guys. We can move the ball around, and once it gets into Tim Duncan’s hands or our hands, we’re gonna score with it.

Q: Why do so many turnovers and missed free throws happen at this point?
Robinson: I don’t know. It shouldn’t. We should be a lot smarter by now. The one thing we should understand about ourselves is that we have to play 48 minutes. We’ve been talking about this for four series now. You can’t go out there for five minutes and think the other team is going to lay down. Go play. We’re a little frustrated with that. Our concentration level has to stay solid.

Q: Were they more physical with you guys tonight?
Robinson: They were definitely more aggressive. They did a lot of things they wanted to do and they made shots. That was probably the number one thing. They made shots. They made a lot of big shots, and that helped them kind of hang in there. We made some runs at them, but they had answers.

Back to top