Stackhouse Interview (the aftermath)

[WraithXx]

Do you feel you got a raw deal from the NBA?

“Obviously, I’m angry with the whole situation. I just want to move forward. We’re trying to look at it as positive as we can. It was a hard foul. The game dictated that. It was a physical game. That play was just a hard play within that game. The game has changed over the last 10 years, but this is The Finals. You let the game dictate the game. The officials are used to dealing with it. The game was just flowing that way. We accept it for what it is. I know the guys are going to be motivated to go out and play hard and get this win. The way I look at it, I should have fresh legs on Tuesday night.”

Can something like this galvanize a team?

“It’s ironic. The last time we won here [Nov. 25], I was over there cheering on the sideline [with a knee injury]. It can happen again. We just have to turn this around a little bit. It’s about making shots. It’s about doing what we’ve done all year.”

So this can get the team going?

“All of those things sound good, but we’ve just to get back to doing what we do good. Maybe this is something to help to push us over the edge to jump start us, to get us going, but this team is better than what we’ve played the last two games. That’s more of our focus.”

Do you talk to your teammates about picking up the slack or do they say they’re going to win this for you?

“It’s understood. That’s the given part of it. Somebody is going to step up. That’s what we’ve done all year. We won 60 games and I missed the first 26 of them. It’s The Finals. We know that. It’s about us playing better. It’s not about who’s out. It’s not like we need a battle cry to ‘Pick it, pick it up.’ That’s going to be done. We’ve just got to get back to playing Maverick basketball.”

When Jason Williams slowed up to give the ball up to Shaq, how did you see the play from there?

“[Williams] pretty much dictated the play. When I saw him slowing up looking for someone to pass to, I knew I was almost even with Shaq. I just had to pick my speed up a bit to get going. And I’m going from previous contact that I’ve had with Shaq already in this series. I go to the ground and get crumbled like nothing, so I’m expecting the contact. He’s 400 pounds, almost twice my size. I’m almost bracing myself for impact. It just so happens I caught him as he was about to take off. It’s a hard play. I’m been on the other side of it quite a few times. You get up and knock your free throws down. They called a flagrant because of the way he fell. It wasn’t so much impact. It’s how he fell. Sort of like [Phoenix guard] Joe Johnson last year. They called a flagrant foul on me for that. My coach, my owner, my team would want me to make that play 10 out of 10 times. Again, I will make that play 10 out of 10 times if the exact same scenario happens.”

Does the play look worse than it was to you and can you understand the league’s logic?

“From my standpoint, it’s a hard foul. It’s the same foul I got one of the first times I went to the basket. [O’Neal] didn’t make a play on the ball when I got three stitches. He was just trying to stop my momentum going to the basket. If you look at it in slow motion like my play was looked at in slow motion. That’s neither here nor there for me. The fact of the matter is I made the play that was warranted for that situation in the third quarter. I hear people say it was out of frustration. Where is the frustration? It’s the third quarter. We’re making a run in the third quarter. It’s a 10-point game at the start of the fourth quarter. I don’t get it.”

So you weren’t trying to hurt Shaq?

“I’m going to foul him to make him take two shots. He’s a guy that stopped my progress three times on the dime. I know what it feels like to run into him, so I’m going at him with more than probably any other player on the court.”

How are you going to spend the game?

“I don’t know what to do. I came out here to play a game at The Finals. This is the worst. I’m going to be cheering these guys, pumping these guys up until the game tomorrow. Hopefully they come out and play our game, and leave here up 3-2.”

Can you even watch the game?

“I’m definitely going to watch it. I don’t know what the plan is yet. I still can’t believe it. Fielding questions about the foul [after Game 4], I said it was a hard foul. I didn’t field any questions about being suspended. It didn’t even come into my mind that there was any chance in the world that I was getting suspended. I’m watching TV that night and people saying I’m going to be suspended. I’m like ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’?”