Head Coach Doc Rivers Media Conference Call April 28
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HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL APRIL 28, 2016 Q: KERRY EGGERS, PORTLAND TRIBUNE “Your guys gave a pretty good effort last night. What did you see that you can tweak or what gives you confidence that you can get more out of them tomorrow night?” CLIPPERS HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS “Well, I think we will play better tomorrow. I thought we played a great first half and then, honestly Kerry, I just thought our energy… we didn’t have a lot of juice in the first four or five minutes of the third quarter and I thought that gave Portland great confidence. I thought they played extremely hard in the second half or better focused, let’s say. But then, we caught back up at the end of the third [quarter]. I liked some of the things we did. I liked some of our spacing offensively. That was our first bad defensive night. So, I think there are things we have to do better there.” Q: DAN WOIKE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER “One of the games that your guys mentioned was Game 6 last year in San Antonio. What do you remember about the buildup to that game? What was your team’s focus and what really went well that night to help extend that series?” CLIPPERS HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS “Well, we just played well. That was a very well-played series in general, but San Antonio came in and beat us in a very close game. We had a couple of big turnovers down the stretch of Game 5 and felt like we had a chance to win that game. I think our guys felt like we had a chance to win last night’s game, we just let them spurt on us, which we can’t do. They are too good without our guys [Chris Paul & Blake Griffin], to allow them to create a cushion, because then all of the role players can get involved. Our guys have confidence in knowing that they have been in that situation before. Listen, that was last year and this is this year. We have to be ready this year. The memory helps us know that it can be done, but other than that, we have to go play better basketball.” Q: BRAD TURNER, L.A. TIMES “You guys have lost three in a row. You are down 3-2 in the series. You are playing in Portland without [Chris Paul and Blake Griffin]. How daunting is it? Is it daunting?” CLIPPERS HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS “It is daunting, as far as that we know it is a challenge. I tell my guys all the time, ‘If you want to do stuff that is great, it should be hard. Embrace hard. Embrace the difficulties of it.’ Obviously, we did not plan on any of this happening. We planned on being up, or whatever by now, but we had a bump in the road. I talk to them all the time. You’ve got to have great resolve. I think our guys have that. I think they showed that in spurts last night, but you can’t lose your will. I think that will be the key for us. We have to play a game tomorrow where we just play through the game. When things are going great, great. When things are going poorly, which they do at times on the road, you’ve got to play through that and have great resolve, and I think our guys do that.” Q: ROBERT MORALES, L.A. DAILY NEWS “I understand that every game is 48 minutes and you have kind of touched on this already, but any deficit that you might have to overcome in the game tomorrow is obviously going to be more difficult to overcome since you don’t have [Chris Paul and Blake Griffin]. Is guarding against them and getting a quick start, with all of their crazy fans, a little bit more important than usual?” CLIPPERS HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS “It is important, but it is hard to get off to a quick start on the road. Usually, the home team gets off to the quick start, you weather the storm and then you fight back. What we can’t do is get down 20… or 18 [points]. We have to keep the game in our reach. Obviously, if you can get out to a quick start on the road, it is huge because you get the crowd silenced right away and it gives your team confidence. And one thing a quick start does do for the road team is that it gives the role players great confidence. Since our role players right now are our starters, I don’t know if it matters or not.” Q: ROWAN KAVNER, CLIPPERS.COM “After watching [the game], are you happy with the looks that you guys were able to create offensively?” CLIPPERS HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS “Yeah, I still thought we were a little impatient offensively with our spacing. We attacked at times where we didn’t allow our guys to space properly. Other than that, I loved a lot of our looks. Some of those looks were rushed because of Portland’s defense, and some of our looks were because of us. We can get better looks. I am confident in that.” Q: LAW MURRAY, ESPN CLIPPERBLOG “Do you see a scenario where Luc Mbah a Moute can help the team in Game 6?” CLIPPERS HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS “Yeah, I do. That is one of the guys, that if I had a do-over, I would probably…I don’t know where we would have played him, but there were probably stretches where we could have gotten him in. I thought, even if it was just to give a couple of the guys….and we need to be more offensive minded, a [rest]. If you think about it, if you look at Jamal [Crawford] or J.J. [Redick], but more Austin [Rivers] guarding, but mostly when he is on the floor, he is either on [Damian] Lillard or [C.J.] McCollum for every second he is on the floor. Maybe you can use Luc [Mbah a Moute] in that [role] and give [Austin] a [rest]. I think that would have helped him a little bit offensively as well.” Q: BETH HARRIS, ASSOCIATED PRESS “What is the challenge in trying to close out a series at home for young teams such as Portland and Charlotte?” CLIPPERS HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS “I think, what is in front of you, right now. I think this is hard for veteran teams too, but especially younger teams. You start thinking ahead about where you are going, and that creates anxiety. It is hard to keep your focus in closeouts. That is typically why Game 7s are played so well, because no one is thinking about it anymore. When you get to that, it is just two teams playing to survive. When teams are trying to close it out early, it is a little different. I have always felt that.” Q: BRAD TURNER, L.A. TIMES How can you get some of your guys like J.J. [Redick] and Jamal [Crawford] and Austin [Rivers] rest in Game 6, knowing you don’t have [Chris Paul and Blake Griffin]? CLIPPERS HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS It is going to be hard. Listen, I think Wes [Johnson] probably should have played more. Jeff [Green] can play at three [small forward] and give one of them a [rest] and Luc [Mbah a Moute] can maybe give DJ [DeAndre Jordan] a [rest]. We are going to do what we have to, but if we can give them a [rest], we will try to. What I have to do is just ride them. If they are handling the minutes, let them play the minutes. If you feel like at any point [inaudible], you have to get them out. Q: DAN WOIKE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Is Portland better than people realize? How well have they played in this series? CLIPPERS HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS I think they have played wonderfully. I think they have played better defense than they did in the regular season, for sure. Offensively, they really haven’t played great, but they haven’t had to. We haven’t played great offense, but a lot of that is because of their defense, so you have to give them credit. I think they are very athletic. They are long. They are versatile. Any team with two scorers, I said that before the Playoff series, and it makes it a hard series. Two guys that can score [inaudible]. They have two guys that can create points after the play is over. That makes them a good team in the playoffs. Q: ROBERT MORALES, L.A. DAILY NEWS Was one reason that Luc [Mbah a Moute] did not play last night that you were simply trying to find as much offense as possible? CLIPPERS HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS Yeah, we needed more spacing on the floor. I honestly went into the game thinking I was going to play Luc [Mbah a Moute], but the way the game was going, it just didn’t lend its hand. I still think there is a place to put Luc on the floor and we will probably do it tomorrow. .