'It feels definitely better beat Boston'

18/06/2010 14:18:00

"It's very sweet, or it feels amazing to win a championship. It definitely adds up when you beat Boston, especially the rivalry, the history of the franchises. Our individual and personal history, 2008. It feels definitely better. Again, we won the championship, and that's the ultimate goal, the ultimate satisfaction that we can accomplish as a team. So just truly, truly happy and thankful to be in this position again and to have experienced something like this.

We knew it was going to be a tough game.  We knew we had to do whatever it took out there and leave it all out there, just play with our hearts.  Obviously it wasn't the prettiest game as far as shooting the ball and stuff like that.  But we fought extremely hard.  We kept our minds and our hearts into the game at all times, and we hustled.  We hustled.  I think 53 rebounds, 23 offensive rebounds, just tells you how much this team fought to be able to become champions again.

 If you don't make shots, you've got to make sure you get your second‑chance opportunities, and that's pretty much what I figured early on in the game.  So we had to work extremely hard to get those boards, pursue them, to get opportunities, because we weren't shooting the ball well.  We were rushing a little bit.
It was a Game 7, there was a lot of pressure, a lot going on.  So we just continued to hustle, continued to work.

We've definitely grown.  We've grown as a team, we've grown as individuals, and obviously it shows.  It shows.  Back‑to‑back championships is something pretty tough to do, and we're definitely proud of that, and now we want to enjoy it, embrace it and have a beautiful summer.

We were just active. I guess they were shorthanded inside and they knew that.  But we were just active.  We knew we weren't shooting the ball well, so we had to be extra active and extra aggressive going to the boards and giving ourselves more opportunities to be able to score.  So obviously 32 percent shooting from the field, 66, 67 percent shooting from the free‑throw line is going to give you opportunities to get rebounds, and we did, and I mean, it was definitely a big number.  23 offensive rebounds, you don't see that very often, but it just tells how much we wanted this and how much will and determination we put into this.

I just wanted to go get it, and I saw ‑‑ I think you're talking about an offensive rebound that I caught with Rondo there, and I was able to box him out and hold him with one arm and get it with the other one and kick it out.  I was pretty proud of that play because those little plays, those little things make a huge difference, especially at that point of a game.
I'm glad things turned out the way they did, and we're enjoying this incredible victory.

Well, we thought that we had no other option to be honest.  We knew there was a long time left.  We knew we weren't playing our best.  And we knew that we still had a chance, it was just about getting a few stops in a row and getting a few plays on offense together and just get ourselves going and just shake off all that tension, excitement that Game 7 of the NBA Finals carries.  So that's what we were just keeping telling ourselves, just settle down, make sure we're poised, we're loose out there, we execute, we continue to play defense, we rebound, and we'll be all right.

I'm just so happy for Ron the way he played tonight, the way he played Game 6, very productive, very aggressive, very confident.  Defensively I think he did another great, great job on Paul Pierce tonight, so he's a huge part of our success.  I'm just happy that he was able to win his first championship, and you could see it in his face.  He's like a little kid right now that got his dream come true, like we all did, I think.  We all feel that way.

I think we did a good job giving ourselves more opportunities and staying in the game defensively and rebounding well, and at some point you expect Kobe to get going and me to hit a few more shots than I did in the first half.  So we just stayed with it pretty much, and we understood that we had to be more patient, just relax, breathe it out and just see what's out there, see what's going on.

For me it's incredible.  I mean, it's just like I'm living a different dimension.  I mean, it is what it is.  It's like really if I could get a genie and ask for a wish, this would be my wish as far as my basketball life and career.  So I'm so thankful, like I said, for having this opportunity, being here, and that's why I continue to work hard, and it's really paying off, and it's pretty unbelievable, right, the contrast from some situations.  That's why you've got to be so appreciative of life and the present.
And Ron's and Derek's huge shots down the stretch were able to counter the big threes that Boston made down the stretch, too.  It takes big guts, (laughter) right, to be able to hit those shots and be that confident at that particular time when it most matters.  I can't be any prouder of all my teammates, my coaching staff, the work that we've done tonight, what we've done throughout the playoffs, the season.  I think it's remarkable.

Obviously Kobe he didn't shoot the ball well, but we all understand ‑‑ we all had the desire to win tonight, badly, and sometimes that's dangerous because it's a double‑edged sword there.  Shots weren't going in for most of us.
I think we just continued to work as a team, as a group.  We stayed together, and obviously the rebounding says a lot.  But he also stuck with it and played excellent down the stretch, made huge free throws, made huge buckets, and you know, that's why he's the MVP and probably the best player in the world".