The San Antonio Spurs beat the Miami Heat 104-87 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to win the franchise’s fifth championship.
**** **** **** ****
NBA Live at the Finals Pregame
Matt Winer, Rick Fox, Grant Hill and Chris Webber
Hill on the San Antonio Spurs: “The ball finds energy. You see that in how they play on both ends of the court. It has been fun to watch. San Antonio fans have to be pleased about how they are playing.”
Hill on the Heat changing their approach for Game 5: “You can do the lineup change but it really has to be the mentality. They have certainly come out lackadaisical; looks like they don’t have a lot of energy out there on the court. Four straight Finals appearances has got to be difficult. San Antonio went through a tough road to get through the Western Conference Finals. They look fresh, they don’t look tired or fatigued at all. Miami, mentally, has to manufacture energy somehow, some way to come out here and deal with these Spurs.”
Webber on what drives San Antonio: “The motivation is here for San Antonio. The first day of training camp they watched the bad plays of their last loss. The story of perservance and sticking together is the one for San Antonio. It is harder to stick together two years with a loss than it is one.”
Fox on the Heat realizing who the better team is: “I think this is just the first game (out of the four) where this team realizes that San Antonio is the better team. It doesn’t mean that they can’t still be champions. When they got smacked around with the historical shooting percentage, I think they chalked that up to that was just one of those games. It wasn’t until Game 4 they realized ‘We are the underdog.’”
Webber on Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard: “When he is engaged, active and aggressively attacking the basket, not only is he a great scorer but he’s a pretty good passer that makes problems for the other team.”
Fox on Boris Diaw’s impact on the Spurs: “He has a willingness to create for his teammates. He is constantly a second or third point guard on that floor. He’s been a matchup nightmare. He’s a complete player and I love the versatility he’s giving the Spurs on both ends of the floor.”
Hill on Spurs guard Danny Green: “He really does fit into this system in San Antonio. They need him to score in the high teens for them to have a win…for a Carolina guy, he’s not that bad.”
Webber on Tim Duncan’s longevity: “I expect him to play one more year and then be done. I expect him to lead with dignity and keep playing until he can’t play anymore. Just being on this team, whether they win or lose championships, it just seems as if this team is a joy to be around and that they play ball the right way. When you are in those type of situations, it’s not just winning that keeps you around it’s the relationships.”
Hill on the value of Tim Duncan’s role on the Spurs: “Kudos to him for accepting less of a role and letting his teammates flourish around him.”
**** **** **** ****
NBA Live at The Finals Postgame
Winer, Fox, Hill and Webber
NBA MVP Kawhi Leonard joins GameTime
Leonard on improvements to his game: “When I first came in the league, I had to change my jump shot. I had to bring the ball down and that is what I was focused on. Year after year, I had to get comfortable with the players on the team and they just started believing in me. It’s just been a progression for me. I just believed in the hard work that I put in.”
Leonard on the difference between last year and this year’s series: “Last year was very tough. Losing that Game 6, up five with 20 seconds left, we felt like we lost the momentum. And then Miami came out and beat us in Game 7. My focus this year was that I have to do whatever it takes to win so that we don’t have to go back to Miami.”
Leonard on the unity of the Spurs: “Coming into the Spurs I was very excited. They just took me in as a family. Tim [Duncan], Tony [Parker] and Manu [Ginobili] and the rest of the guys believed in me. I took that to heart and started working hard. When I came in they were talking about championships and I was just a rookie so I had to step it up.”
Spurs guard Manu Ginobili joins GameTime
Ginobili on the growth of the Spurs: “We shifted the way we played in the last 10 years. When I got here it was every single possession in the post because that is what gave us the most. In the last two or three years it has been about ball movement and getting everyone involved. We had some pieces that made us shift.”
Spurs forward Tim Duncan joins GameTime
Duncan on his state of mind from last year’s Finals loss: “It was always in the back of my mind and the forefront of my mind when we played a game. You can’t address it until now. You had to get to the playoffs to start alleviating that. The focus the guys had from Game 1 to every series to playing through all of that…amazing team, amazing response, amazing to play with these guys.”
Duncan and his relationship with Coach Popovich: “He took last year’s loss harder than anyone else. He came back with a fire I hadn’t seen the entire time I’ve been with him. To come into another season and push us that hard just shows the passion and desire he had and it filtered down into all of us.”
Duncan on what this year’s championship means for him: “I appreciate this one more; it means more to me. The loss last year, coming to the end of my career…I appreciate it more for all those reasons.”
Tony Parker joins the GameTime crew
Parker on the team’s progression: “I think this is the best basketball – in the past five or six years – that we’ve been playing by far.”
Parker on playing a veteran role: “Timmy has been so unselfish since I’ve been here. He allowed me to grow up and become the player I became. He never took it for himself. Coming into this
series, I felt like it was my turn to be unselfish and Kawhi benefited from all of that. It’s my job as a veteran to let Kawhi grow and he played a great series.”
Parker on the Spurs: “The way we lost last year was cruel. We were lucky enough to put ourselves in that position and win a championship this year and it shows the character of the team.”
Parker on teammate Boris Diaw: “He’s the ultimate team player. All he cares about is how the team is doing as well as passing and getting a better shot for someone else. I’m so happy that everyone can see that on the big stage and can see what he can do. We dreamed about the NBA when we were 12/13 years old and to win with him is unbelievable.”
Hill on the Spurs: “They are the standard in the NBA and what they have done in this series proves that. What impressed me the most about this series and their season was their formula. They obviously have their Big Three – which are out of their prime – but, collectively as a team, it is not one or two guys carrying the load. It really goes against what the formula has been for the NBA having one or two All-Stars carrying the load. Everyone had a big moment throughout this series. You have to compliment [Gregg] Popovich and [R.C] Buford for establishing that culture.”
– 30 –
Recent Comments