Media Conference after 2003 NBA Finals Game 1

New Jersey Nets coach Byron Scott spoke with the media after game 1 of the 2003 NBA finals. The game was in San Antonio, and the Spurs won.

Q: You guys had two halves of basketball that did not resemble each other. What happened in the first half and what faltered in the second?

Byron Scott: I don't think anything really went well in the first half. I thought we did a better job defensively. Offensively we didn't make shots. We knew we were going to be a little rusty, but the second half, I really thought they picked up the intensity. They got all of the lone rebounds, all the loose balls. They outworked us, basically in the second half. One bad quarter, especially in the Finals can kill you, and the third quarter for us was the killer.

Q: As much as you want to stick with your base defensive scheme, are you going to have to make some adjustments on defending Tim?

Byron Scott: We didn't really do the things that we talked about doing, to be honest with you. We were not very aggressive, as far as our digging back and going back there, trying to discourage Tim. I don't know if the game plan worked or not. I want to give it a shot. Defensively, we have to be a little bit better, to be a little more active. In the first half we did a much better job. In the second half, we didn't do it at all.

We are just going to try to go to practice tomorrow, work on it a little bit more.

Q: In a way were you surprised that Tim only had eight points in the first half? Were you thinking that somewhere along the line he's going to get those 30 points?

Byron Scott: Well, you know the guy is going to score. He's such a great offensive weapon. When he starts hitting jump shots from 17 feet, then you're in trouble. But I thought the first half defensively we did a good job. When they came up in the third quarter, they picked it up a level. We never matched that level. We never got up there till the fourth quarter and we were 15, 16 down, then it's almost desperate time and you start picking up the intensity. I thought the third quarter they came out like they were down 10-points and we were like we were up 10-points.

Q: Dikembe, is he healthy and if so, why not play him more?

Byron Scott: He's healthy.

Q: Why not play him more?

Byron Scott: Like I said, we'll stick with the rotation. We got in foul trouble. I thought he came in and did a real good job but in the second half, I wanted to play him up long but I thought it might change. I thought he did a good job but the game plan is still the same.

Q: In hindsight was the layoff at all a factor?

Byron Scott: I think any time you have that level of time off, you're going to be a little rusty. I think we all expected that. But that still has nothing to do with being outworked. Like I said, they beat us to loose balls, long rebounds. They were just more -- much more aggressive in the second half than we were. We never matched that intensity and that's something that we have to bring every single night.

Q: I know that your team is not in awe of being in your second straight trip back to the NBA Finals. Are you in awe of Tony Parker in the third quarter?

Byron Scott: Not necessarily. He's a good player and has been playing well all season long, especially in the playoffs. He did a good job on the pick-and-roll trying to attack our bigs. Basically same scheme that Detroit had when we played them. Our bigs have to understand, against Tony, you're going to have to be in a different defensive stance and you're going to have to try to contain him as much as possible. Defensively, the things we wanted to do we did, a pretty good job of it in the first half and we did an awful lob of it in the second half.

Q: The game Jason has had, was that a matter of defense or was it just missed shots?

Byron Scott: Just missed shots. I think the same with Kerry and most of the guys tonight, just missed shots. I think that had a lot to do with the layoff. You're going to be a little rusty. Your timing is going to be a little bit off. These situations you cannot simulate those in practice. As much as you try as a coach, you cannot simulate that in practice.

Ten days is too long. That's how we felt before the series started, but now that we have a game under our belt, we'll go practice tomorrow, work on some things and be ready for Friday.


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