By Various Media

New Jersey Nets coach Byron Scott spoke with the media on Tuesday. The Spurs currently have a 2-1 lead in the NBA finals. Game 4 is Wednesday night.

Q: You guys don't have a single alley-oop dunk in this series yet, where did they go?

Byron Scott: You know what, I hadn't noticed that. I don't think they have had one, either, have they?

I don't think it's something that's just disappeared from our repetoire. It's just something that we haven't gotten. Obviously, like I said before, you have to give them a lot of credit. Defensively, they are doing a heck of a job of getting four guys back. We are doing a better job, at least in the third quarter I thought of being aggressive and trying to force the issue, and we are not doing it the whole game; we are doing it in spurts right now.

Q: Can you characterize your big man rotation currently, and also, tell us how Aaron Williams has responded?

Byron Scott: Well, I'll answer the second part first. Aaron has responded extremely well. Aaron Williams is a true professional. He's the type of guy if you're playing 20 minutes, he's going to be the same way as if he is playing five minutes. If you don't play Aaron at all, he's the same. He is a joy to have on this team because of the fact that he's very reliable. And again, like I said, just because of his professionalism.

As far as our rotation with the bigs right now, it's really going to go on how they play. I think if San Antonio plays zone again as much as they did in Game 3, then Aaron's role will be bigger because he's probably our best zone center because he's able to finish around the basket a little bit better than Deke. It depends how they play us. If they play us more man-to-man like in Game 2, then Deke will probably still play his normal 18, 20 minutes a game. Again, it depends on how they play us. If they play more zone, expect to see Aaron Williams more.

Q: When you see these jobs getting filled by mostly coaches that have been in the league before, what is your take on the fact that a lot of assistants that have paid their dues don't get a chance for these jobs and they are just bringing in people from the past?

Byron Scott: You know, I guess the first question is why? You try to figure out why some of the prominent assistants in this league are not getting their chances. And then the other question is, why are you recycling guys that were coaches somewhere else two or three years ago or last year or five years ago. It's a question I think we all ask each other.

I don't have a clue, to be honest with you, and I don't have an answer as far as why it happens and why assistant coaches -- Eddie Jordan, my assistant, I know he was up for jobs last year and decided not to take it. And I'm sure he'll be getting some calls this summer, also. It just depends. The owners can pick who they want. That's the bottom line and they are going to take the guys they feel comfortable taking.

Q: Do you think it's a flavor of the month thing?

Byron Scott: I don't know. Owners are fickle people at times, so you can never kind of speculate on what they are thinking about or what's going on with that organization. So I have really no answer for it.

Q: Yesterday you talked about perhaps needing to get more rest for Jason. How can he get rest during the flow of the game without actually coming out of the game, and do you feel comfortable with him out and A.J. (Johnson) in?

Byron Scott: No. 1, it's hard to get rest during the flow of the game. I think what helps when you're in the playoffs or in the Finals is the fact that you're on ABC and TV time-outs are longer. That's one way of trying to get more rest.

Obviously, the game -- and I am comfortable with A.J. I think A.J. does a good job. At times when he's in there with a second unit, he gets a bad rap if the other team is outscoring our second unit when he's in the game. It's not all A.J.'s fault by no means. The last couple of games he's played, he's played pretty well in the minutes that he's been given. And I have to find a little bit more time for A.J. so I can keep him fresh, especially the last five or six minutes of the game, and that's something we have already discussed.

Q: From what you know of Jason, what you've seen of him the last couple of years, what do you think has gone through his mind over the last couple of days, just the way his matchup with Tony has gone? What do you think he's thinking and how do you think his outlook is?

Byron Scott: I think he's thinking we are down two games to one, period. I don't think he's thinking that he's not playing his best or Tony is playing real well. I think he's thinking the New Jersey Nets have one win and the San Antonio Spurs have two and it's the first of four. I think that's the main thing that's on his mind right now.

Q: You guys have said that your offense has a counter for everything. Are the Spurs doing anything in particular to stop you guys from the back doors, alley-oops and running in, is this the best defense you've faced all year?

Byron Scott: They have done a real good job of packing it in on the defensive end. I think the first quarter we were getting up and down the floor and running the offense pretty much like all season and then they went to the zone and the zone just slows your flow down a little bit. And we were passive a little bit, for whatever reason. Is this the best defense we've seen? I would say it's in the top two or three. They are very good, very long and very athletic. They rebound the ball extremely well. So they would not be here if they did not play good D. That's the reason both teams are here.

Q: The discrepancy on free throw attempts, is that you guys not being aggressive or something you see with the officiating?

Byron Scott: My personal opinion is something that I see with the officiating, to be honest with you. I mean, we've been a team all season long that's gone to the free throw line a ton of times. In this series, for some reason, it's two to one, it seems like. And to me, I think a lot of that has to do with the officiating. I think that -- I'm not trying to take anything away from San Antonio. I think that Tim Duncan gets away with a whole lot of things on the defensive end that Kenyon Martin does not get away with, and Kenyon Martin is one of the best defensive players in this league.

So in my opinion, the officiating in this series has been a little one-sided.

Q: You mentioned the big man rotation for this series and also the officiating, what do you need from Jason Collins in the series in this particular matchup, and what has he become as a starting center since Dikembe got hurt?

Byron Scott: I think Twin has had his moments in the playoffs, he's had some great moments. He's had some games where he's had some double-doubles. We don't rely on him to score just like we don't rely on Deke to score a lot of offensive points. If he gets six to ten points, for us that's a bonus. What we rely on him to do is defend, rebound on the offensive end. He makes it go pretty smoothly.

As far as offensive-wise, we are not asking him to score a lot of points. We are asking him to do exactly what's doing. He's played great all season long. He does a lot of the little things that a lot of people don't see. He sets great picks, his doubling is fantastic, he takes up a lot of space, he boxes out every single time and he's fundamentally sound.

Q: Is his role bigger going up against guys of this caliber that he does not see on a regular basis?

Byron Scott: It's tougher, no doubt about that. You have two seven-footers in there with himself, it makes his job a lot tougher. Even in this series, Game 2, he did a heck of a job on Tim. Last game he did a great job of rebounding the ball. He got into some foul trouble, fouling out. Of course, I would love for him to get that six to ten points every game. If we could get him to do that for us, we'll be in better shape.

Q: Kenyon Martin has been in foul trouble in the three games of the series, are you worried about that? Is it something that he can control?

Byron Scott: Any time you get one of your best players in foul trouble, you're going to be a little worried about that. The one thing that I noticed in Kenyon, and I haven't talked about, just looking at tape is he's getting maybe two fouls per game on just reach-ins that they are calling. That's something that we could discuss that maybe he can keep his hand out of the cookie jar a little bit, so to speak. But we need him on the floor. There's no doubt about that, so we need him to stay his aggressive self but just not get those cheap fouls, because that's what he's doing every game, at least two fouls a game is getting those cheap ones and we want too make sure we get him away from those.

Q: There are people saying this series sort of has no sizzle, there's no Kobe, no Shaq, no Michael Jordan, the big stars are softer spoken; do you agree with that and does it matter?

Byron Scott: I don't agree with it and I don't think it does matter. I think it's two very, very balanced basketball teams. I think that's the thing that should matter. We don't have -- and neither team has, a Tracy McGrady-type player on here. We have two teams that have a certain system, and they play basketball the way the game should be played. We don't have guys that's trying to score 40, 50 points a game. We are trying to make sure, especially us that we share the ball and get everybody involved, and I think San Antonio is similar in that fashion, but they just have a big guy that they go through. We go through a point guard.

To me, I think it makes for dramatic basketball and I think all three games have shown something different each and every game, and I think that's the beauty of basketball.

Q: Any time Jason doesn't have a big game, as far as his ankle, do you see anything lingering from that, the injury from the Detroit series? Do you see that bothering him in any way?

Byron Scott: Not really. I haven't seen that. I think every player on this team and probably San Antonio has some type of minor injury right now that they are going through. When you play this many games during the season, you're going to be bumped up and beat up a little bit.

All of these guys, after the 18th, you get all of the rest you want, but for right now, everybody's playing with something. You have to just continue to play through it.


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