NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS v PISTONS

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Two
May 23, 2007

Rasheed Wallace


Q. Talk a little bit about just the approach, what you expect from Cleveland this game. They've had some success, but you guys still find a way to win that Game 1.

Rasheed Wallace: We're not focused on them. We're focused on ourselves. They've got to do what they've got to do to try to get the win. We're focused on ourselves. We're not worried about them trying to make any adjustments. We're just going to go out there and just play, throw the ball up.



Q. Mike Brown talked a lot about just your presence defensively altering shots, and he also talked about how he wants his bigs to get into you a little bit more. Talk a little bit about your approach defensively against their bigs.

Rasheed Wallace: Same approach I took last game, you know, don't give them no easy shots, try to make things hard for them and block out. You know, simple basketball. It's nothing fancy, nothing new.



Q. You didn't have your best game in Game 1 and you still won, is that a positive or a negative because you can relax?

Rasheed Wallace: It's a positive that we won, but it's a negative because we didn't feel like we won, you know, so that's just the way that we feel, the aura that's in our locker room.



Q. Is it important to be aggressive with LeBron? Do you have some confidence that you had a game plan and shut that down and played --

Rasheed Wallace: No, it wasn't a matter of shutting it down. He still can get a shot up. Sometimes there's two people on him or three people on him depending on where he's at on the floor. If he wants he can still get a shot up, but he's just trying to play smart basketball and get his team involved.



Q. A lot has been made of the role that the bigs will play in this series. A couple of your bigs, McDyess and Webber, they haven't scored the ball as well as they used to. Talk about this team's ability to still win without two key guys not getting it going out there.

Rasheed Wallace: Well, we have a lot of guys. There's hired assassins on this team. We shoot well, concerning the bigs, myself.

Like you said, even though Dyess and Web, the last few games, they haven't been on, but we know they're capable of catching that hot streak, so I'm not worried about the way they've been shooting for the last few games because I know that at any given moment they can get out of their slump, it's just a matter of putting shots up.



Q. What do you think about being delayed a day for American Idol?

Rasheed Wallace: It's all money. Y'all know what it is. It's WWF out here. Y'all know what it is. I ain't got to say no more about it.



Q. Do you make guarantees anymore?

Rasheed Wallace: You wasn't here before. I'm going to tell you again, you only can do the guarantee once a year, so don't y'all look for it. If I say it, I'm going to say it. If not, don't even ask.

NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS v PISTONS

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Two
May 23, 2007

Tayshaun Prince


Q. Have you seen that team in the past and noticed personally that you could help that team win?

Tayshaun Prince: I mean, of course I watched some games last year and obviously in '04, I watched those games. And those guys did a great job. I think for the most part the other teams weren't stepping up their game another level, and obviously, like what they say, they play together a lot throughout the regular year. Most of those guys played together for a long time.

Our team, whatever we put together, it's for a short period of time, so obviously the thing is try to get a great group of guys, the best fit players around that can gel together as quickly as possible and see what happens that way. Obviously that's what they're trying to have accomplished right now.



Q. I'm assuming you weighed the possibility of getting worn down? What went into your thinking when it came to that?

Tayshaun Prince: Like I said, last year was the toughest I think of the three-year commitment as far as from my perspective because of what I had to do. There were so many things that I had already planned prior to being asked. Like I said, I thought the first year of the commitment was the most brutal out of all of it, especially what we've been through the past year here.



Q. How much does it help having a teammate like Chauncey, also, through this?

Tayshaun Prince: I mean, obviously it helps. But at the same time, the other players, it's going to take a while to gel for those guys and for them to gel to us. Like I said, it's only a couple weeks, three weeks that we're going to be together before games start to happen. You know, it's going to be a quick process, but we're hoping to gel as quickly as possible.



Q. When did you get the call asking you to reconsider?

Tayshaun Prince: I don't know, maybe a week ago.



Q. Tomorrow night are you expecting to get the full attack mode from LeBron in Game 2 for sure after what happened in Game 1?

Tayshaun Prince: He was in attack mode in Game 1, he just didn't shoot as much as he normally does. But a player is in attack mode when he's got 11 rebounds, nine assists. The guy is in attack mode. The fact that he didn't shoot 25 or 27 shots that he's normally been taking, I don't know what you're going to see as far as that because our defense is pretty much going to be the same, a couple adjustments here and there.

Obviously we're going to try to be aggressive and get the ball out of his hands and try to make other guys make plays.



Q. With them trapping so much on Chauncey, do you expect to be handling the ball more at the top of the key?

Tayshaun Prince: You know, we'll see how things go in Game 2. Chauncey, keep making the right decisions, keep being aggressive off the screens and we can start to do those things. I think we'll find of figure out the double-teams a little bit, but if I have to handle the ball a little bit more, obviously I'm willing to do that.



Q. Why do you think you're slowing LeBron down better than last year?

Tayshaun Prince: Just for the other four players on our team to be in the right position at the right time because, you know, my job is to keep him in front of me at all times and their job is to help when I'm -- when he gets me off the dribble. Their job is harder than mine.



Q. We haven't heard your take of that last play. Did you expect him to go up for that lay-up?

Tayshaun Prince: Obviously from my angle, me guarding him, I couldn't see who was open. But looking at the replay, obviously it was the right play. Obviously I didn't know where Rasheed was until I saw the film. You know, he made the right play. A lot of people are obviously criticizing him, but he made the right play at the right time.



Q. Did he beat you? Did he have a step on you?

Tayshaun Prince: He had a step on me, but if he shot the ball and LeBron going that direction, obviously I'm long enough to make a challenging play. But still, of course he's athletic and strong enough to make a play.

But like I said, I don't know what they think, but if I'm a player on that team, I'd take a wide-open three more than a contested seven-, six-foot shot.



Q. How do you guys start out being aggressive, really getting out there and being aggressive right out of the box?

Tayshaun Prince: Just, you know, there is no excuse not to. You just have to -- obviously being at home, that's another important step. The crowd and atmosphere are behind you. You've got to come out with a lot of energy and aggressiveness. Cleveland did a good job early on of attacking the boards. I think when the other team attacked the rebounds and get pulled back and things like that, it kind of takes the air out of your defense a little bit and kind of gets you off to a start that you don't want.
You've just got to box out, be aggressive on both ends and see how things go from there.

NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS v PISTONS

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Two
May 23, 2007

Coach Flip Saunders


Q. Everything good today?

Coach Flip Saunders: Yeah, everybody is healthy, everyone is good.



Q. McDyess feeling better?

Coach Flip Saunders: Pretty much, yeah. I don't think he's as sick as he was. I think he feels better. He had a little bit more hop in his step.



Q. It hasn't hurt you desperately yet, but having Dyess and Webber both kind of be out for the game, is that something --

Coach Flip Saunders: It's always a concern. You want those guys always to play at a high level. The thing with Dyess, the positive is that he's been off offensively, but he's gotten offensive rebounds, he's rebounding, he's defending. You can't fault him.



Q. (Inaudible).

Coach Flip Saunders: As I said before when we talked about Cleveland's last play, I can't fault him because he's not making shots. He is doing other things. Just because his shots aren't falling, doesn't mean he's not doing things to help us win.



Q. What do you make of his shots, the way he finished the season?

Coach Flip Saunders: Shooters go through that. I mean, Chauncey goes through it, all shooters go through where they don't shoot the ball well and they might come out the next game and go 10-for-11. Sometimes you can get into a great rhythm and sometimes you can get out of the rhythm a little bit. That's why over the course of a season it all kind of balances itself out. He was shooting 70 percent the last two weeks, so he's made up for it the last week and a half.



Q. Are they getting the shots that you ideally like to see them getting?

Coach Flip Saunders: Our players?



Q. Your bigs in particular.

Coach Flip Saunders: Yeah, I think pretty much. They've gotten pretty good looks, just haven't knocked them down. Dyess, the same shots he was making at the end of the season, he's missed some of them. He's been sick a couple games, too, so that's a little bit of it.



Q. What do you expect to see from LeBron James in Game 2?

Coach Flip Saunders: I think definitely LeBron will just come out, and I think he'll do two things: I think he's going to try to make plays for himself to get going; I think he'll try to make plays for his teammates. I think the biggest thing is he's going to look to be aggressive.

I think he maybe did more where he reacted to the game a little bit last game. I think this game he's going to try to put the onus on us to try to make us react to what he does a little bit more.



Q. They're talking a lot about when they go into the basket, they go into the body. That's something you guys always -- that's part of going to the basket, right? That's not something you have to adjust to?

Coach Flip Saunders: No. The thing about it is sometimes that's easier said than done because sometimes you try to start changing the shots to make contact. In reality sometimes you end up avoiding contact. Basically they're talking about Sheed. Sheed is long. It's tough to go into guys, long guys, into their bodies sometimes.

Shot blockers, the thing that they normally do is that they block shots off the weak side, and so it's a tougher situation.

NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS v PISTONS

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Two
May 23, 2007

Antonio McDyess


Q. Is the plan to just keep shooting again?

Antonio McDyess: Yeah, basically that's what I've got to do. I can't let it get to me. Keep shooting. Eventually it'll come. It's not like I'm a bad shooter and had a couple good shooting nights. I think I'm a good shooter most nights, but I've had a bad shooting night a couple games.



Q. What's been the key to this team winning without guys like yourself and Webber really shooting the ball as well as you're used to doing?

Antonio McDyess: We've got a lot of scorers. We can't just depend on everyone to score; I think that's going to kind of get out of sync. But with everyone on this team, anyone can score on any given night. Me personally, I don't look to score. I know they don't need me to score, but when they pass me the ball, I look for myself to try to get my offense going, and that leads to the defense.



Q. What do you anticipate them trying to do a little differently as far as LeBron is concerned?

Antonio McDyess: He's going to attack us, definitely going to attack. I think he'll be a lot more aggressive. For us we've just got to keep our composure and just try to limit his shots and do what we did last game. I think overall we did a great job, just didn't have a good shooting night last game, but we're looking forward to this game.



Q. Him attacking isn't anything you don't expect; you came into this series expecting him to be aggressive?

Antonio McDyess: Of course.



Q. You don't change your defense?

Antonio McDyess: No, definitely. We know he's going to get a lot of calls this game. There have been a lot of complaints. We know he's going to be a lot more aggressive, but we're not going to change anything we do. We're still going to try to get the ball out of his hands and continue to do what we do on the offensive end.



Q. Are you getting to your spots offensively? Are you getting the shots that you normally do get?

Antonio McDyess: As far as if you asked me that in the Chicago series, I would have said no. But this game, this series, I did. I thought the ball was going to go in. I felt like when I released it, it felt good, but it just didn't go down.



Q. Confidence level, that never changed? With you it's just a matter of seeing it go through once or twice?

Antonio McDyess: Yeah, just getting that rhythm back, get a couple shots to go down, get a couple lay-ups, and then you get yourself going. For me personally, I just get my confidence back and start playing a lot better.



Q. You passed up shots that you'd normally be taking?

Antonio McDyess: Yeah, second half I did last game. I passed a lot of shots up I normally should shoot, but my teammates kept telling me to keep my head in and keep shooting, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to try to let this affect me, just go out there and keep playing.



Q. Why were you passing shots up?

Antonio McDyess: You know, when I'm off, I kind of let that take over me. I kind of get frustrated. Frustration just takes over and I want to see the ball, and I want to go in the paint so I can try to get easy tips and then try to work myself back out, but it didn't happen. Hopefully this game it'll get going.



Q. Do you feel better? Is all that worked out, being sick, that bug, whatever you had?

Antonio McDyess: Yeah, I don't know what it was. I had a little fever, but I just tried to fight through it. But now I feel great.

NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS v PISTONS

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Two
May 23, 2007

Chris Webber



Q. Is it any different from the regular season?

Chris Webber: It's a little bit different, but I mean, each series is different, so we really just play as the series comes. We're just trying to make sure that I do whatever I can when I'm in there to get a win.



Q. They did involve you more in the third quarter and there was some success there, do you expect that to be revisited?

Chris Webber: I don't know. I don't know. We got the win, and that's most important. I don't know. I'm really not concerned with that.



Q. Talk about being in foul trouble in Game 1.

Chris Webber: I've been in early foul trouble more. It was okay, I just wanted to be in the second half, third or fourth quarter. Still played pretty good besides that, so hopefully I don't get in foul trouble this game and stay in there a little longer.



Q. What did you do today to work on offensive rebounding?

Chris Webber: Really we just have to make an effort, watch film, and realize where our gaps are. We have to realize -- keep them off the glass. Big Z is really tough to keep off the glass, he's so tall and long, he can kick it in without really jumping. Just mentally prepare for it than anything physically, just looking at film and seeing what we can take advantage of it.



Q. Do you like the two-day layoff between games as opposed to playing every other day?

Chris Webber: Doesn't matter. You know, it's going to get to every other day pretty soon, so playing ball, you play two games in the same day in tournaments, so any day of rest is good. But it really doesn't matter, one or two days.



Q. Talk about how close you are to getting the Finals.

Chris Webber: You know, I'm really trying not to think about it. I've been to the Western Conference Finals before, and I know it doesn't help to think about the future. You've got to take care of now.

I know I'm close, but, you know, you've got to get there. Being close doesn't matter.



Q. Talk about the difference between the Eastern Conference Finals and the Western Conference Finals.

Chris Webber: The style of play -- I think the Western because you run a lot more, you really don't get tired in these games because of timeouts and the way we play our style.

So the Western Conference was a little faster paced. But here it's a lot more physical, so they both have disadvantages.

I've only read the Rasheed Wallace interview so far because I can't stop laughing.

__________________
Nov 13 LW Milan Lucic had an active night. He scored his first goal in eight games since his Oct. 25 hat trick and also pounded Michael Komisarek in a third-period fight. Lucic cut his hand in a fight with Michael Komisarek. "I'll be fine," he said. "(X-rays are) negative, but there's so many broken bones in there from before you can't really tell."

Leave it all to Sheed:

and more of the same:
You have to laugh.

Thanks Roscoe. I finally got a chance to read the whole thing. Great stuff!

"The Aura that's in our locker room".........
The stuff they write books about...........

"Y'all know what it is. It's WWF out here. Y'all know what it is. I ain't got to say no more about it."

You tell 'em Sheed.