March 21, 2022 • 34 mins
Hosted by Sarah Kustok, NBA Flashback is the podcast that takes you back to the best moments in NBA history through exclusive archival audio from the NBA vault, along with new interviews with the players and coaches who were in the building.
In this episode of NBA Flashback, we go back to April 30th, 2009 and relive Game 6 of what might be the best series in NBA history. It's the 2009 Eastern Conference First Round, and the 2-seed, defending champion Celtics, are trying to eliminate the 7-seed Bulls in the United Center. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo throw everything they have at the young Bulls team led by Rookie of the Year, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, but Chicago fights through three overtimes to force a Game 7. We talk with then Bulls Head Coach, Vinny Del Negro about the emotions of the series, when he first knew Derrick Rose was special, and where this game ranks among the greatest in his career.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
NBA Flashback is a production of iHeart Radio. In the NBA,
a shorthanded Boston squad, playing without their emotional leader Kevin Garnett,
found themselves in an epic first round struggle with Derrick
Rose and the upstarts Chicago Bulls. It evolved into what
is considered one of the greatest series of all time.
(00:23):
Left wing Tyrus Thomas got it. Oh my goodness, ball
game over, Bulls win, Bulls win, Rondo still Wintreal elevates three,
and the Celtic, by the skin off their teeth, have
even the series at a game of piece, back out
the cordon Cordon, looking Gordon to play up over time
(00:51):
the game. What a series, this is said, and it
still cames to go. Two thousand nine Eastern Conference First Round.
The Bulls and the Celtics are battling back and forth
and what turns out to be one of the greatest
series in NBA history. Four of the first five games
have been decided by three points or less, and they've
(01:13):
already played four overtime periods. But then comes games six
and the series jumps to another level. I'm Sarah Kusak
and you're listening to NBA Flashback the show that takes
you back to the greatest moments in NBA history, using
archival audio from the NBA as well as new interviews
with the players and coaches who were in the building.
(01:38):
On today's episode, we go back to April two thousand nine.
The Black Eyed Peas are the biggest band in the world,
and Avatar is the number one movie in America. It's
Game six in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
The defending champion two seed Celtics, playing without Kevin Garnett,
who is out with a knee injury, are going toe
(01:58):
to toe with the upstart seven seed Chicago Bulls, who
just happened to have the NBA's Rookie of the Year,
Derrick Rose. The veteran Celtics are trying to eliminate the
young Bulls team, but Chicago is not going down without
a fight and the United Center is ready to explode. Now,
(02:26):
I never saw Avatar, but I did see this series.
I had the pleasure of this being one of my
first full time jobs. I worked for Comcast Sports Net
in Chicago, and part of my responsibilities was covering the
Chicago Bulls during that season and during the playoffs into
this day, I have had a chance to cover some
extraordinary events, amazing games, special special moments, and nothing compares
(02:52):
to this one into this series. On top of the
fact that it was my first job covering a pro
team in Chica Ago, but also I was able to
cover Derrick Rose when he was in high school at
Simeon in Chicago, both of us having grown up there.
So there were so many aspects of this that made
it so very special and it was just extraordinary to
(03:13):
witness in person, and even better getting an opportunity to
flash back and remember some of these amazing moments as
we talk with then Bulls head coach of Vinny del Negro,
who was a first round pick and played eight years
in the NBA before becoming a coach. Vinny, is so
good to talk to you again and have an opportunity
for us to reminisce on just this incredible, incredible game
(03:37):
and also series as a whole. And this was your
first playoff experience as a head coach in the NBA.
What was it like going through the first five games
of this series? You know, getting getting the Chicago Bulls
head coaching job, obviously with a young team, you know
you're you're trying to develop the players, you know, get
your core together, um, you know, figure out your ent rotation.
(04:01):
But more importantly, kind of create an atmosphere of the
standards that are expected, the winning atmosphere that's expected. In
Chicago has such great sports fans and great Bulls fans
with the great tradition, you know, of all the championships
they won in the past. But really I was very
fortunate to have Derrick Rose be drafted that year, be
(04:21):
able to work with him for a couple of years,
watch his development, Watch Joe Kim Noah's development. Um, just
so many players, UM that I really enjoyed being around.
Lou All Dang and Kirk Heinrich was unbelievable, and you know,
just a lot of competitive guys that were, um, some
of the younger guys trying to find their way early
in their career, which is normal. So you know, my
(04:42):
job was to kind of help them learn the game,
help them understand how important was you know, we were
picked not even to make the playoffs my first year,
so to make the playoffs, which I thought was really
important for a young group because they, uh, you're eventually
going to get there with that core of talent with
Derek's abilities, with Joe Kim and the rest of the guys,
So getting them that experience, to me, was the most important.
(05:05):
And then obviously growing up in Massachusetts, growing up with
the Celtics, my father being a huge Bill Russell fan.
Bill Russell was the one that drafted me in the NBA.
Going back to Boston where I had seen so many
games growing up. You know, it was just kind of
having my family and friends there, but more so just
having the guys, the players enjoy the moment that understand
(05:26):
the hard work that they had put in throughout the
year was going to get rewarded in the biggest stage
in the NBA playoffs, And I was just so proud
of the way they performed. No matter we were up,
we were down, over times, whatever, we just kind of
stayed the course. And um, I was just really really
proud of the way the guy's battles competed and I
think they took a huge, you know, growth step in
(05:49):
that series, which was fantastic. Kevin Harlan and Doug Collins
had the call for t NT this should be a
fun game and I see a very confident Chicago Gools team.
I think they've come home. They've very well in Boston.
Like the key is here Kevin as it was in
game three, manageer energy and they did not do a
good job of managing their motions in Game three, got
(06:09):
blowing out team back in Game four gout it out
a tough, tough win. This should be very very in
here tonight. How the how both teams actually start this game.
Ray Allen was a big problem for you guys early
in this game. He got finals on the bench. Allen
again over the hold and that is a three Ray
allanist right on the money. Sixteen minutes, twenty two points,
(06:30):
twenty two points, got on twelve shots. Well again with
with Ray Allen in the game, they're going right at
Ben Gordon, so they're attacking him on the offensive and
as well trying to take away his legs. What were
you trying to do to slow him down? Well, I
mean Ray is a Hall of Famer for a reason.
I mean he hit some spectacular shots and by that
one to Ray Allen is exploded in this first half
(06:52):
of twenty four points. You know what you're trying to
do is contest every shot, try to get him off
his spot as much as you can. You know, he
was hitting fade awaits floaters, deep threes, getting to the basket.
It really kind of he had it all going that night. Three.
By reality, he's got twenty nine first half points, twenty
(07:13):
nine points and tip teen shots. He's got a twenty
point seven quarter and other guys perform off of the
Celtics as well. Paul Pierce, we know is is one
of the great scores in NBA history. He's always a problem.
You know. Rondo was, you know, a triple double guy,
controlling kind of the temple of the game. But really
Ray was spectacular. I mean, you have to give the
guy credit. You know, I played with Ray in my career,
(07:33):
then coached against him. We actually play a lot of
golf together, so you know, he's just a great guy,
great player. We're just trying to make it tough for him,
but he was making it incredibly tough on us with
the shots he was making in that in this spect
especially in game six, he was unbelievable. Rollers Rosen a
mismatch now with the Teacher is six of eight. He's
(07:55):
got sixteen points to tie the sixth team from Selman
and most of them jump shot. I think he has
maybe a couple of baskets in the lane and that's
where he did all of his work. They got first dame,
he had thirty six more taking that ball to the basket.
It was incredible what Derrick Rose was doing. And to
think about the fact that he was just twenty years
old at this point he was scoring and leading the
(08:16):
team in his first playoffs. Did you ever have a
moment And there's probably a lot of them looking at
rookie d Rose and thinking, oh man, this guy is
going to be something special. Oh there's a ton of them.
I mean, not just one. I mean seeing him workout
before the pre draft, before he even drafted him, I
mean you could just, you know, you could just see
(08:37):
his explosiveness, his power, his s floater, his work at
the kind of his mindset of wanting to be successful.
I mean you could see it every day in practice
and in games. And the thing is he never looked
at him as a rookie. I mean you know what
I mean. He won Rookie of the Year, which was incredible,
but he wasn't a rookie. I mean, he was one
of the most gifted, most dominant players you know, in
(09:00):
the league and everybody knew it. It It was just a
matter of him understanding the length of the season, how
many games you're gonna play, time and score the NBA
game versus the college game, figuring out, you know, the
offensive and defensive terminologies. And but you know, as a
young player, you never want to give young players too much.
You know, it's it's a reaction game. And Derek had
(09:23):
incredible closing speed, athleticism, explosiveness, So you just wanted to,
you know, kind of guide him as best you could.
But he had to, you know, let him go sometimes too,
because he could do some spectacular things, especially in the open.
Corp Rose reading through Boston defenders in the I A switch. Why,
(09:46):
I mean Towando was watching Nome. He's got the two,
He's got funny the first half points, quick, funny seconds.
The play of the first game. I don't know that
I've ever seen him ship the ball better. Let's kind
in a game with this kind of magnitude, I think
if his confidence done, My goodness for this rookie and
a ton ill taken by the Boston Celtics with have
(10:08):
sunnings to play here in the second warder. It's a
very humble star here remember when he got that Rookie
and Year trophy. He's really had a tough game three.
He has bounced back here and I had a great
first test. You know, he was always going to be
a superstar player in the league. His athleticism, his floaters.
Once he got consistently his jump shot down, he was
(10:29):
almost gonna be unguardable because you could get by with
his speed in the open court. With the basketball, it
was hard for guys to even keep up with them,
and around the basket, he was so explosive. So he
just had it all and he loved playing, he loved competing,
and in that particular series, I thought he just it
was kind of almost a coming out party form where
he was just basically unguardable at times, and it was
(10:51):
just great to see him be rewarded for all the
hard work I saw from day one, from the previous summer,
just working on his game and practice, competing, going the
highs and lows, handled the University of the basketball season
how long it is. But then when it was time
to perform at the highest level, he was spectacular and
we come back. It's halftime, but that isn't the half
(11:14):
of it. Get ready we are in for an overtime marathon.
This is where you have gotten to have to resolve
to fight through. Right now, the Bulls are going through
a struggle to have to fight through. But you've gotta
get a defensive stuff coming down the stretching regulation. You
(11:35):
guys are fighting through it. You had a ten point lead,
but the Celtics came back. Water Peers puts in a
tackle from outside once again. He's done with the touse.
It's a five point question lead four to half. To
play his first field legal since late first quarter. Paul
Piers four. Paul Pierce hits back to back shots. Good.
(12:01):
Here's Boston goes on in eighteen old run and you're
down eight points to the defending champs with just over
three minutes left. What are you thinking at that point?
Stay in the moment. You know, let's execute this play.
Let's let's get a basket, let's get a three pointer
and just make it hard. We're gonna have to make
it some stops, no second shots, and and you know,
(12:22):
get the ball to Derek as quick as possible, and
you know, let Derek attack in the open court. Guys,
get to the three point line. Spread the court Brad
Miller's trailing, so we know he can hit some threes trailing,
so just stay you know, stay the course right now,
m But at the end of day, it's all about execution.
It's all about not getting too high, too low, understand
the moment and execute um And sometimes you do that
(12:45):
and the ball just doesn't go in. Sometimes you execute
poorly and the ball goes in and it looks great.
But I thought our execution was very good in those
tense moments, and we had been in those games now,
you know, Game six, Every game was like that, you know,
and we had at the end of the season, we
had to win several games to get into the playoffs.
So we have been playing in that mode for a while,
which was great. Um, so I think it helped us.
(13:08):
But at the end of the day, it's about making plays.
And you know, Derek and Brad and Ben and you know,
John Solomon's was unbelievable in that game. He was attacking
mid range threes, whatever it was. You know, he was
spectacling that whole series. So John was was obviously a
big catalyst for us. You know, So execute, you know,
(13:28):
get some stops, get the ball to Derek and just
continue and make plays. We we knew what we want
to do at that point. It was a matter of
just making sure we were very connected and making sure
we were executing at a high level. You mentioned Brad Miller.
He came up huge for you down the stretch of
regulation in this game, HiT's a three and then ties
it with a layup with thirty seconds left. You alls
(13:48):
in there for defense. That is, it's a beautiful shots
put in by crap. Millery was untroubled. They couldn't say
that this heat. How big was a Miller in this one? Well,
he was big for us throughout the whole year and
especially in the whole series. I mean, he had a
lot of big plays for us. And the thing about
Brad is which was great, is especially down the stretch,
(14:09):
when you have a big guy that's that's a that's
a tremendous free throw shooter in close games is a
big thing. So we could run our offense to him
through the elbow, through the top of the key, whatever
we wanted to do. And then at the end, obviously
having him in the game where he you know, he's
a tremendous free throw shooter, was a huge advantage for us.
So he also spread the court, you know, because he
(14:30):
could hit that trail three, so he could spread the
court a little bit, so he gave Ben a little
bit more space to go to work John and especially Derek.
So having brought out there in certain situations was very
effective for us. And he played at a great level
the whole year, but especially in that series. I thought
everybody played well and and Brad was spectacular, especially in
Game six. Miller's performance stod out the Celtics coach Dot
(15:00):
Rivers too in the postgame pressor we stopped playing. We
tried to hold onto the game the last three minutes
of the game. Um, and that's not how we got
the lead. That's not how we ever played. I thought
that was to me the difference in the game. Uh,
you know the overtimes where the overtimes we had guys
falling out and and all that stuff. But you got
(15:21):
an eight point lead. I think we missed the lay
up going to the bucket for a ten point lead,
and um, nobody we just we just stopped playing. Um
we saw that score and we had a chance to
close it out, and it just looked like we just
stopped playing. And uh, that's Okay, UM, give them credit.
They made a lot of big shots. Bryan Miller was
(15:41):
the savior today for them. The three, the three point shot. Um,
we should have never given up, and we did that
with our breakdown and then the drive. I thought those
were the two biggest plays for them because it gave
him hope again and it was too quick, didn't lose
a lot of clocks, so I really thought he was
the hero of the game. Any How, wild Gordon misses
(16:01):
and you head to overtime. It was bloody like this
overtime attim What was the feeling like in the arena
and in the huddle as you guys prepare to play
yet another overtime. I think the biggest thing is is
is you have to focus in defensively and get defensive stops.
I mean, at that point everyone's gonna be a little
(16:23):
bit fatigued no matter what. But the energy and the
excitement of the moment obviously is going to get you
over our ore. You know, the Chicago Bulls fans are
you know, are incredible and the place was going crazy
and the atmosphere was an advantage for us, so we
wanted to take full advantage of that. Atmosphere. But at
the end of the day, it comes down to getting
a stance and getting defensive stops, no second shots, get
(16:46):
the ball to Derek and do what we've been doing.
John Salmon's was your go to guy in overtime. Really,
how did he become your offensive playmaker? You know, he
was like he was around thirty points, and he was hot,
and he was hitting a lot of tough shots, and
you know, he had kind of a an off balance
kind of stutter steps, step back shot that he could
get off um kind of that mid range game. And
(17:08):
then we ran some place for Ben over the top,
and then we ran some plays obviously from Derek in
the high picking the road to open up the court
where he could attack and get to his floater game
or get to the rim. So it was just kind
of don't give him a steady diet of anything. If
something's going well, stay with it. And at particular times
it was John's time to be aggressive offensively, or it
was Ben's or Derek's, depending, but the catalyst at all
(17:31):
that obviously was Derek, and then the rest of the
guys kind of fed off that. You know, John was
great in that game. The stay of someone high in
saw with pens fuck John Summons, what's funny three? We
needed obviously all the points we could get to withstand
(17:52):
you know, raised performance and and Paul and things that
was out on Summons with the shot sny side. It's
the Sellmans dog with the trial right, you win and
lose as a team, like I said earlier, and our
guys believed in that sharing the basketball was key, making
(18:12):
them rotate defensively and and and close out Sellmans times.
That's a great read. Got the switch, did not settle
for the three, but really just came down to who
wanted more in that particular moment. We were able to
make some defensive plays like I said earlier, with Derek
and Joe kim Um that really gave us a huge
(18:34):
energy boost. Salmon's also had that great defensive play guarding
Paul Pierce on the Celtics last possession of the first overtime.
He totally shuts them down. Yeah, exactly, fade away, Yeah
that fade away. What was your strategy on defense with
Pierce on that last shot? You're just trying to make
it hard, you know, Paul step back game, his size,
he's you know, one of the great scorers in league history. Um,
(18:57):
you know, make them fade away, get your hand up,
stay down on the pump, fake you know, get some
help if you can't off rondo, if if there's time
running down. And we made him take a fade away
and John got a nice hand on it. So all
of those things matter. You know what's coming, and you
stop by seven, we've got on a second overtime. And
(19:23):
no question, you know, is great at players, Paul was.
I mean, there's no question you could have made the shot.
But you know, there's ebbs and flows in the games.
There's things that happened, um, and you just have to,
you know, try to work through them. And we got
fortune in some areas, and they got fortune some areas
and that's part of the game. And we just battled
through it and we got like I said, um, that
(19:43):
play Darrek, Joe Kim's defensive plays. Those are things that
I think really stealed the win for us. The summer's
depended by all great recognition by Ray Allen. Looked like
Salmon's had an open three. This is a great run
on top. John set to the twenty points in fifty
two minutes. The shouting late in the second o t
(20:09):
you're up three points with seventeen seconds left, Well, what
do you think Boston is gonna get brought down by
three and under seventeen seconds to play at set it overdone?
Well with no time out, it changes what you could do.
I mean, obviously, if you can get something quickly going
to the basket probably gone, you can take it, and
then you make it a foul game because if there's
(20:30):
still ten seconds to go or whatever in the game,
that's still plenty of time to foul, get a rebound
and go lenk before because they're gonna have to doing
something quickly. The longer dispossession takes them to have to
settle for three. You said after the game that you
tried to foul Ray Allen before he can get a
shot off. You know, we wanted to follow there. We
had three point lead, you know, put him on the
(20:50):
line with two and then getting a free throw contest
there and the way Ray was shooting it, we definitely
wanted to follow. Um, we just didn't execute it well.
And Ray hit it, you know, a great shot with
a hand in his face, and um, you know that's
what great players do. But it wasn't called right. Well,
I was just worried because I knew if Ray or
Paul got it there. You know, especially Ray was so hot.
I mean he was hitting like fade away three's falling
(21:12):
into the stands. So I was like, you know, if
he gets the basketball, don't let him take a three.
SEMs On Allen screened back theres over hid let us
three for the time he got what a degger thrown
in five Yen his ties the game at seven point six.
(21:35):
Chicago a time out, they'll get a playoff. I am
utterly at all, you know when I'm stunned that a
little bit. Why Chicago didn't foul him on the dribble
looked like they were going to foul h but right there,
I mean he got a free look at that shot.
There was a miscommunication between Heinrich. He's slow on that switch.
(21:57):
This might be like a survivor and that's a who's
the last man standing. I mean, let's make it. Make
some free throws. We'd be up one. Uh you know,
we have Brad Miller, we can take the ball. We
got Ben Gordon, we got John we got we got
good free throw shooters. But you know, it doesn't always
work out like that, so, you know, trying to make
it as difficult, trying to not extend the game, but
(22:19):
extend the game because Ray was so hot at that point,
the Celtics had really good end of game stuff experience
where they could execute well. Um, so we're just trying
to play it smart. Throughout the defining play of the game.
Joakim Noah in Triple Ot guests the steal. It's just
Simon's folks to screen going after tell a thing with
(22:41):
this goes coast to coast and dunks it on Paul
Pierce and Paul killers Hs just falled out of the
game and jo Kim Noah has just hiven. Let's put
of holes up two point leader. Look there's eight point
(23:02):
Tonight's that first. That's a pull. With the other hand,
how about the speed of the big man, Paul Pierce.
You see Joe Kim Noah get a passing way. Paul
Pierce should have let this go. I mean, he knows
he's got five fouls. You cannot defend that play. He
is now out of the game and he has say,
Paul Pierce has gotta let that got the speed though
(23:23):
a Jokim Noah, the concentration or a play, know, all
of those first points on the page in overtime and
finish it up with this free throw, big big boy,
he makes the foul shot puts you up three with
thirty five seconds left. The United Center explodes. What was
(23:48):
the feeling like on the bench as you saw that happen? Well,
obviously was at an unbelievable play by Joe Kim. Um,
you know, getting that Steve getting his hand out and
then being able to you know, dribble pretty much the
three quarter court and and finished the play, get fouled,
get pierced out of the game. You know, the place
was excited. Joe no huge stage in front of a
(24:11):
national audience with the steel, the delop and the slitchhammer.
But at that point, obviously the the excitement is great,
but you know, you gotta keep your composure depending on
how much times left on the clock. You know, the Celtics,
you know, still have the ability to to make shots
at any particular time, especially the way Ray was going. Um,
(24:32):
but all of those things are momentum changers, you know,
and you gotta take advantage of them. So you know,
Joe Kim was obviously excited. We were all all excited.
But we gotta stay in the moment, understand time and
score what the Celtics, you know, have the ability to do. Um,
And I thought we did a really good job of that.
Post game, we heard from Joakim Noah on anticipating that
(24:54):
pass for that amazing play. It was. It was more
of a reaction. Um, He'd rolls to my side and
I just I stunted at him. Um, try to make
him pick up his dribble, and I tried to. And
then when I did that, I tried to recover to
my man. And I knew that my man was gonna
(25:14):
be open for for a quick second, but I could
UM recover pretty quickly on Scalabrini uh, and he threw
the pass. I got the steel, and I felt like
it took forever to get to that basket, but I'm happy,
happy I got there. When we come back, the Bulls
try to close it out, but the drama isn't over
(25:43):
well inside Heinrich snipping inside Mr Shot, Mr Latter who
time on Boston and pass their last sixteen point seven
to play Heinrich from point blank range, missing lay up.
Oh my goodness, what else did we see here? They
run a beautiful play. Boston gets confused. At the last second,
(26:05):
Rondo comes over. Great defense play Roy Genrerondo look at
this just at the last second to distract him, Heinrich
quick shoots at Oh my, look at Betty's going. I
don't believe this. What else can happen in this series?
You're up one with seventeen seconds left, Kirk Heinrich misses
a layup and the Celtics get the ball back with
(26:27):
another chance. What was going through your mind when Kirk
misses that layup? We executed well, we weren't able to
convert on the shot, so now we have to get
a stop. I mean, that was kind of the mentality.
It wasn't you know anything other than you know, we've
done it before, let's do it again. This is what
it's all about, you know, in order to win the game.
Let's let's get a stop. That was kind of it.
(26:47):
I mean, it was guys make good plays, they make
bad plays, you know, Uh, coaches dropped good plays, they
dropped It's just part of the game. You just gotta
keep battling through it and working through everything thing and
not let it speed up so much. Understand time and score.
And we had gotten some big defensive stops, so why
couldn't we get another one kind of mentality, and the
(27:09):
guys were able to do it. Rondo victor Bondo's jet shot.
Then Rose gets the block, but mrs both free throws
(27:29):
and the Celtics have a final shot at the buzzer.
Take us through that emotional roller coaster. You know, we
weren't able to convert on some pre throws, but at
the end of the day, you know, we had the
confidence that we had gotten some big stops. Paul was
out of the game, so we knew we could. You know,
obviously you want to get body to body as much
as you can with Ray and now let him get
any easy looks, make somebody else, um attack the basket,
(27:53):
get a three, whatever. But yeah, those moments are are
great when you're able to get those defensive stops. I
think we had done that to get to that point,
and the and the guys were kind of really locked
in at that moment, like, hey, it's our time to
get one more stop and in seal the win. Getting
those defensive stops, to me really is is kind of
what we hung our hat on. Rondo brought it rolls
(28:23):
will see you stay Night four game s Rondo misses
at the buzzer, you hang on for the win, and
we see Joakim Noah go nuts on the court after
the game. How are you feeling after that final buzzer?
You know, for a coach, you know, when you win, um,
it's kind of a relief, and when you lose it,
it's it's gut wrenching. So really, my mindset at that
(28:46):
point was probably like, let's enjoy this for a minute,
and let's let's let's lock in on game seven. And
we've had success in Boston in this series. Every game
has been uh tight, this one will be no different.
Let's make sure we're prepared in the way. So as
a coach, you moved to that, enjoyed the moment for
a minute, UM, congratulate the players on their effort, um
(29:08):
in the coaching staff, and then and then kind of,
uh move forward from there. Let's hear from an emotional
postgame Vinnie back in two thousand nine, Well, this doesn't
this definitely doesn't feel like my first year coaching. After
this series going on, I'll tell you what, I'm just unbelievable. UM,
so many things to talk about, so many great plays, Um,
(29:29):
I mean, ray Allen was just I mean he was
hitting shot. I was unbelievable. I mean, just guys sitting
shots and Derek making plays and Joe. I mean, it's
just there's so much to talk about. I don't know
where to start, but just so happy where our guys fought.
You know, Uh, it looked good for us. It didn't
look good for us. It looked good for us. It
was just going back and forth. You know, just so
(29:49):
many great plays out there. Um, so just start asking
questions because I don't know where to start. When you
think back at this game, what's your lasting memory? How
do you think about it now? It was a building
block in terms of where we had started at the
beginning of the year. How proud I was of the
growth of the players and the adversity throughout the season
(30:11):
we dealt with UM and then being able to be
in that moment and the players have that opportunity in
the NBA playoffs to compete at such a high level
and to compete incredibly hard together as a group. Um,
it was just great to see the growth and the
commitment and the competitiveness of the of the team, not
(30:33):
individually but competitively as a group, and I thought everybody
at that point was really at the end of the season,
in the playoffs and in Game six, really everyone pulling
in the same direction, no matter you know, who was hot,
who was not. Let's get stops, let's lock in defensively,
and if we do that, we have enough offensive power
to put a lot of pressure on them, which which
(30:53):
is really what happened. And um, it couldn't have been
prouder of the kind of the mindset and the guys
be able to enjoy that moment after a big, you know,
a huge winning Game six to force the game seven.
Back at the garden post game, you said, this was
definitely the best series you coached. It was definitely the
best series of her coached. Um. But you know, playing
(31:16):
is different than coaching obviously. Um, but you know I
had a lot of great series, uh, you know when
I was playing with San Antonio and things, but you know,
nothing with these overtimes and guys making the shots they're making,
in the plays they're making. And how does that game
rank now in terms of the best ever coach or
played in Well, it's up there. It's not just because
we won the game. Like I said to me, as
(31:37):
a coach, you know, you have to trust your eyes. Um,
it's not always gonna be perfect. Um, you're not always
gonna um you know, it's not always gonna you know,
you're always gonna drop a play and you missed the
shot another play. It's not run as well you make it.
It's not about that. You have to trust tries are
yours your? Are your players playing together? Are they playing hard?
(31:58):
Are they playing unselfish? Are are they doing the right
things to give them the highest opportunity to win? Um?
You know, individually, do guys understand time and score? Do
they understand this guy's hot, let's get him the ball
or Okay, you're not as hot, let's get it to
this guy and and share. And UM, I just think
though that series dictated in game six, immanator, you know,
(32:22):
kind of dictated what that team was about. It was
about being unselfish, letting the growth of Derek. Everyone knew
he was the star player, his growth. Ben Gordon was
a veteran score Kirk Heinrich was incredible, Brad was a
veteran guy. But Joe Kim was kind of starting, uh,
you know, finally coming into his own a little bit.
So watching Joe Kim play at that level and Derek
(32:43):
and John Salman's play at an incredible level. So seeing
all of that come to fruition in that game and
especially in that series, I couldn't have been more proud
of those guys, Um. And that's what I'm most proud of,
is that impact of their career in a pose it
of way. It impacted the NBA obviously in a positive way,
because we're talking about it still, and and that's what
(33:06):
it's about, you know, UM, seeing those guys play at
that level and enjoy that moment before we go. You
mentioned playing golf with Ray Allen earlier. I heard you've
got a golf tournament coming up. Can you tell us
about that? I do, Yeah, that'll I'll be defending in
uh right after July four. I think it's the fifth
or the eleventh as the tournament in Lake Tahoe with
American Century So Edgewood Golf Club and Americans sent you
(33:28):
do a fantastic job. So I'm looking forward to that,
and I'm gonna play in another golf tournament at the
end of April Club Corps Classic in Dallas with the
Senior PGA Tour guys and I think they have about
fifty athletes um coming in, so we'll play in that tournament.
Should be fun. So just enjoying, uh, playing with a
lot of the guys. And Annika soren Stand, who's fantastic,
(33:51):
plays in some of these tournaments and playing with her
is incredible, one of the one of the great women's
players and great players of all times. So Tonyo be in,
Dallas Olmo and John Smolts and Marty Fish, all the
top players and a lot of great athletes and entertainers.
So it's gonna be a fun of Ben and Dallas
looking forward to it. Let's let Joakim Noah take us
out with his postgame presser. This series is there's a
(34:15):
lot of fun for for the fans of the people
of Chicago, the people of Boston, but it's a lot
of fun for us to just playing in an environments
like this on the big stage and and putting on
a great performance almost every game. It's special to be
a part of this and I know this is a
series that people will be talking about for a long time,
at least thirteen years. Jokim NBA Flashback is a production
(34:40):
of I Heart Radio and the NBA For more podcasts
from I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast
NBA Flashback is a production of iHeart Radio. In the NBA,
a shorthanded Boston squad, playing without their emotional leader Kevin Garnett,
found themselves in an epic first round struggle with Derrick
Rose and the upstarts Chicago Bulls. It evolved into what
is considered one of the greatest series of all time.
(00:23):
Left wing Tyrus Thomas got it. Oh my goodness, ball
game over, Bulls win, Bulls win, Rondo still Wintreal elevates three,
and the Celtic, by the skin off their teeth, have
even the series at a game of piece, back out
the cordon Cordon, looking Gordon to play up over time
(00:51):
the game. What a series, this is said, and it
still cames to go. Two thousand nine Eastern Conference First Round.
The Bulls and the Celtics are battling back and forth
and what turns out to be one of the greatest
series in NBA history. Four of the first five games
have been decided by three points or less, and they've
(01:13):
already played four overtime periods. But then comes games six
and the series jumps to another level. I'm Sarah Kusak
and you're listening to NBA Flashback the show that takes
you back to the greatest moments in NBA history, using
archival audio from the NBA as well as new interviews
with the players and coaches who were in the building.
(01:38):
On today's episode, we go back to April two thousand nine.
The Black Eyed Peas are the biggest band in the world,
and Avatar is the number one movie in America. It's
Game six in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
The defending champion two seed Celtics, playing without Kevin Garnett,
who is out with a knee injury, are going toe
(01:58):
to toe with the upstart seven seed Chicago Bulls, who
just happened to have the NBA's Rookie of the Year,
Derrick Rose. The veteran Celtics are trying to eliminate the
young Bulls team, but Chicago is not going down without
a fight and the United Center is ready to explode. Now,
(02:26):
I never saw Avatar, but I did see this series.
I had the pleasure of this being one of my
first full time jobs. I worked for Comcast Sports Net
in Chicago, and part of my responsibilities was covering the
Chicago Bulls during that season and during the playoffs into
this day, I have had a chance to cover some
extraordinary events, amazing games, special special moments, and nothing compares
(02:52):
to this one into this series. On top of the
fact that it was my first job covering a pro
team in Chica Ago, but also I was able to
cover Derrick Rose when he was in high school at
Simeon in Chicago, both of us having grown up there.
So there were so many aspects of this that made
it so very special and it was just extraordinary to
(03:13):
witness in person, and even better getting an opportunity to
flash back and remember some of these amazing moments as
we talk with then Bulls head coach of Vinny del Negro,
who was a first round pick and played eight years
in the NBA before becoming a coach. Vinny, is so
good to talk to you again and have an opportunity
for us to reminisce on just this incredible, incredible game
(03:37):
and also series as a whole. And this was your
first playoff experience as a head coach in the NBA.
What was it like going through the first five games
of this series? You know, getting getting the Chicago Bulls
head coaching job, obviously with a young team, you know
you're you're trying to develop the players, you know, get
your core together, um, you know, figure out your ent rotation.
(04:01):
But more importantly, kind of create an atmosphere of the
standards that are expected, the winning atmosphere that's expected. In
Chicago has such great sports fans and great Bulls fans
with the great tradition, you know, of all the championships
they won in the past. But really I was very
fortunate to have Derrick Rose be drafted that year, be
(04:21):
able to work with him for a couple of years,
watch his development, Watch Joe Kim Noah's development. Um, just
so many players, UM that I really enjoyed being around.
Lou All Dang and Kirk Heinrich was unbelievable, and you know,
just a lot of competitive guys that were, um, some
of the younger guys trying to find their way early
in their career, which is normal. So you know, my
(04:42):
job was to kind of help them learn the game,
help them understand how important was you know, we were
picked not even to make the playoffs my first year,
so to make the playoffs, which I thought was really
important for a young group because they, uh, you're eventually
going to get there with that core of talent with
Derek's abilities, with Joe Kim and the rest of the guys,
So getting them that experience, to me, was the most important.
(05:05):
And then obviously growing up in Massachusetts, growing up with
the Celtics, my father being a huge Bill Russell fan.
Bill Russell was the one that drafted me in the NBA.
Going back to Boston where I had seen so many
games growing up. You know, it was just kind of
having my family and friends there, but more so just
having the guys, the players enjoy the moment that understand
(05:26):
the hard work that they had put in throughout the
year was going to get rewarded in the biggest stage
in the NBA playoffs, And I was just so proud
of the way they performed. No matter we were up,
we were down, over times, whatever, we just kind of
stayed the course. And um, I was just really really
proud of the way the guy's battles competed and I
think they took a huge, you know, growth step in
(05:49):
that series, which was fantastic. Kevin Harlan and Doug Collins
had the call for t NT this should be a
fun game and I see a very confident Chicago Gools team.
I think they've come home. They've very well in Boston.
Like the key is here Kevin as it was in
game three, manageer energy and they did not do a
good job of managing their motions in Game three, got
(06:09):
blowing out team back in Game four gout it out
a tough, tough win. This should be very very in
here tonight. How the how both teams actually start this game.
Ray Allen was a big problem for you guys early
in this game. He got finals on the bench. Allen
again over the hold and that is a three Ray
allanist right on the money. Sixteen minutes, twenty two points,
(06:30):
twenty two points, got on twelve shots. Well again with
with Ray Allen in the game, they're going right at
Ben Gordon, so they're attacking him on the offensive and
as well trying to take away his legs. What were
you trying to do to slow him down? Well, I
mean Ray is a Hall of Famer for a reason.
I mean he hit some spectacular shots and by that
one to Ray Allen is exploded in this first half
(06:52):
of twenty four points. You know what you're trying to
do is contest every shot, try to get him off
his spot as much as you can. You know, he
was hitting fade awaits floaters, deep threes, getting to the basket.
It really kind of he had it all going that night. Three.
By reality, he's got twenty nine first half points, twenty
(07:13):
nine points and tip teen shots. He's got a twenty
point seven quarter and other guys perform off of the
Celtics as well. Paul Pierce, we know is is one
of the great scores in NBA history. He's always a problem.
You know. Rondo was, you know, a triple double guy,
controlling kind of the temple of the game. But really
Ray was spectacular. I mean, you have to give the
guy credit. You know, I played with Ray in my career,
(07:33):
then coached against him. We actually play a lot of
golf together, so you know, he's just a great guy,
great player. We're just trying to make it tough for him,
but he was making it incredibly tough on us with
the shots he was making in that in this spect
especially in game six, he was unbelievable. Rollers Rosen a
mismatch now with the Teacher is six of eight. He's
(07:55):
got sixteen points to tie the sixth team from Selman
and most of them jump shot. I think he has
maybe a couple of baskets in the lane and that's
where he did all of his work. They got first dame,
he had thirty six more taking that ball to the basket.
It was incredible what Derrick Rose was doing. And to
think about the fact that he was just twenty years
old at this point he was scoring and leading the
(08:16):
team in his first playoffs. Did you ever have a
moment And there's probably a lot of them looking at
rookie d Rose and thinking, oh man, this guy is
going to be something special. Oh there's a ton of them.
I mean, not just one. I mean seeing him workout
before the pre draft, before he even drafted him, I
mean you could just, you know, you could just see
(08:37):
his explosiveness, his power, his s floater, his work at
the kind of his mindset of wanting to be successful.
I mean you could see it every day in practice
and in games. And the thing is he never looked
at him as a rookie. I mean you know what
I mean. He won Rookie of the Year, which was incredible,
but he wasn't a rookie. I mean, he was one
of the most gifted, most dominant players you know, in
(09:00):
the league and everybody knew it. It It was just a
matter of him understanding the length of the season, how
many games you're gonna play, time and score the NBA
game versus the college game, figuring out, you know, the
offensive and defensive terminologies. And but you know, as a
young player, you never want to give young players too much.
You know, it's it's a reaction game. And Derek had
(09:23):
incredible closing speed, athleticism, explosiveness, So you just wanted to,
you know, kind of guide him as best you could.
But he had to, you know, let him go sometimes too,
because he could do some spectacular things, especially in the open.
Corp Rose reading through Boston defenders in the I A switch. Why,
(09:46):
I mean Towando was watching Nome. He's got the two,
He's got funny the first half points, quick, funny seconds.
The play of the first game. I don't know that
I've ever seen him ship the ball better. Let's kind
in a game with this kind of magnitude, I think
if his confidence done, My goodness for this rookie and
a ton ill taken by the Boston Celtics with have
(10:08):
sunnings to play here in the second warder. It's a
very humble star here remember when he got that Rookie
and Year trophy. He's really had a tough game three.
He has bounced back here and I had a great
first test. You know, he was always going to be
a superstar player in the league. His athleticism, his floaters.
Once he got consistently his jump shot down, he was
(10:29):
almost gonna be unguardable because you could get by with
his speed in the open court. With the basketball, it
was hard for guys to even keep up with them,
and around the basket, he was so explosive. So he
just had it all and he loved playing, he loved competing,
and in that particular series, I thought he just it
was kind of almost a coming out party form where
he was just basically unguardable at times, and it was
(10:51):
just great to see him be rewarded for all the
hard work I saw from day one, from the previous summer,
just working on his game and practice, competing, going the
highs and lows, handled the University of the basketball season
how long it is. But then when it was time
to perform at the highest level, he was spectacular and
we come back. It's halftime, but that isn't the half
(11:14):
of it. Get ready we are in for an overtime marathon.
This is where you have gotten to have to resolve
to fight through. Right now, the Bulls are going through
a struggle to have to fight through. But you've gotta
get a defensive stuff coming down the stretching regulation. You
(11:35):
guys are fighting through it. You had a ten point lead,
but the Celtics came back. Water Peers puts in a
tackle from outside once again. He's done with the touse.
It's a five point question lead four to half. To
play his first field legal since late first quarter. Paul
Piers four. Paul Pierce hits back to back shots. Good.
(12:01):
Here's Boston goes on in eighteen old run and you're
down eight points to the defending champs with just over
three minutes left. What are you thinking at that point?
Stay in the moment. You know, let's execute this play.
Let's let's get a basket, let's get a three pointer
and just make it hard. We're gonna have to make
it some stops, no second shots, and and you know,
(12:22):
get the ball to Derek as quick as possible, and
you know, let Derek attack in the open court. Guys,
get to the three point line. Spread the court Brad
Miller's trailing, so we know he can hit some threes trailing,
so just stay you know, stay the course right now,
m But at the end of day, it's all about execution.
It's all about not getting too high, too low, understand
the moment and execute um And sometimes you do that
(12:45):
and the ball just doesn't go in. Sometimes you execute
poorly and the ball goes in and it looks great.
But I thought our execution was very good in those
tense moments, and we had been in those games now,
you know, Game six, Every game was like that, you know,
and we had at the end of the season, we
had to win several games to get into the playoffs.
So we have been playing in that mode for a while,
which was great. Um, so I think it helped us.
(13:08):
But at the end of the day, it's about making plays.
And you know, Derek and Brad and Ben and you know,
John Solomon's was unbelievable in that game. He was attacking
mid range threes, whatever it was. You know, he was
spectacling that whole series. So John was was obviously a
big catalyst for us. You know, So execute, you know,
(13:28):
get some stops, get the ball to Derek and just
continue and make plays. We we knew what we want
to do at that point. It was a matter of
just making sure we were very connected and making sure
we were executing at a high level. You mentioned Brad Miller.
He came up huge for you down the stretch of
regulation in this game, HiT's a three and then ties
it with a layup with thirty seconds left. You alls
(13:48):
in there for defense. That is, it's a beautiful shots
put in by crap. Millery was untroubled. They couldn't say
that this heat. How big was a Miller in this one? Well,
he was big for us throughout the whole year and
especially in the whole series. I mean, he had a
lot of big plays for us. And the thing about
Brad is which was great, is especially down the stretch,
(14:09):
when you have a big guy that's that's a that's
a tremendous free throw shooter in close games is a
big thing. So we could run our offense to him
through the elbow, through the top of the key, whatever
we wanted to do. And then at the end, obviously
having him in the game where he you know, he's
a tremendous free throw shooter, was a huge advantage for us.
So he also spread the court, you know, because he
(14:30):
could hit that trail three, so he could spread the
court a little bit, so he gave Ben a little
bit more space to go to work John and especially Derek.
So having brought out there in certain situations was very
effective for us. And he played at a great level
the whole year, but especially in that series. I thought
everybody played well and and Brad was spectacular, especially in
Game six. Miller's performance stod out the Celtics coach Dot
(15:00):
Rivers too in the postgame pressor we stopped playing. We
tried to hold onto the game the last three minutes
of the game. Um, and that's not how we got
the lead. That's not how we ever played. I thought
that was to me the difference in the game. Uh,
you know the overtimes where the overtimes we had guys
falling out and and all that stuff. But you got
(15:21):
an eight point lead. I think we missed the lay
up going to the bucket for a ten point lead,
and um, nobody we just we just stopped playing. Um
we saw that score and we had a chance to
close it out, and it just looked like we just
stopped playing. And uh, that's Okay, UM, give them credit.
They made a lot of big shots. Bryan Miller was
(15:41):
the savior today for them. The three, the three point shot. Um,
we should have never given up, and we did that
with our breakdown and then the drive. I thought those
were the two biggest plays for them because it gave
him hope again and it was too quick, didn't lose
a lot of clocks, so I really thought he was
the hero of the game. Any How, wild Gordon misses
(16:01):
and you head to overtime. It was bloody like this
overtime attim What was the feeling like in the arena
and in the huddle as you guys prepare to play
yet another overtime. I think the biggest thing is is
is you have to focus in defensively and get defensive stops.
I mean, at that point everyone's gonna be a little
(16:23):
bit fatigued no matter what. But the energy and the
excitement of the moment obviously is going to get you
over our ore. You know, the Chicago Bulls fans are
you know, are incredible and the place was going crazy
and the atmosphere was an advantage for us, so we
wanted to take full advantage of that. Atmosphere. But at
the end of the day, it comes down to getting
a stance and getting defensive stops, no second shots, get
(16:46):
the ball to Derek and do what we've been doing.
John Salmon's was your go to guy in overtime. Really,
how did he become your offensive playmaker? You know, he
was like he was around thirty points, and he was hot,
and he was hitting a lot of tough shots, and
you know, he had kind of a an off balance
kind of stutter steps, step back shot that he could
get off um kind of that mid range game. And
(17:08):
then we ran some place for Ben over the top,
and then we ran some plays obviously from Derek in
the high picking the road to open up the court
where he could attack and get to his floater game
or get to the rim. So it was just kind
of don't give him a steady diet of anything. If
something's going well, stay with it. And at particular times
it was John's time to be aggressive offensively, or it
was Ben's or Derek's, depending, but the catalyst at all
(17:31):
that obviously was Derek, and then the rest of the
guys kind of fed off that. You know, John was
great in that game. The stay of someone high in
saw with pens fuck John Summons, what's funny three? We
needed obviously all the points we could get to withstand
(17:52):
you know, raised performance and and Paul and things that
was out on Summons with the shot sny side. It's
the Sellmans dog with the trial right, you win and
lose as a team, like I said earlier, and our
guys believed in that sharing the basketball was key, making
(18:12):
them rotate defensively and and and close out Sellmans times.
That's a great read. Got the switch, did not settle
for the three, but really just came down to who
wanted more in that particular moment. We were able to
make some defensive plays like I said earlier, with Derek
and Joe kim Um that really gave us a huge
(18:34):
energy boost. Salmon's also had that great defensive play guarding
Paul Pierce on the Celtics last possession of the first overtime.
He totally shuts them down. Yeah, exactly, fade away, Yeah
that fade away. What was your strategy on defense with
Pierce on that last shot? You're just trying to make
it hard, you know, Paul step back game, his size,
he's you know, one of the great scorers in league history. Um,
(18:57):
you know, make them fade away, get your hand up,
stay down on the pump, fake you know, get some
help if you can't off rondo, if if there's time
running down. And we made him take a fade away
and John got a nice hand on it. So all
of those things matter. You know what's coming, and you
stop by seven, we've got on a second overtime. And
(19:23):
no question, you know, is great at players, Paul was.
I mean, there's no question you could have made the shot.
But you know, there's ebbs and flows in the games.
There's things that happened, um, and you just have to,
you know, try to work through them. And we got
fortune in some areas, and they got fortune some areas
and that's part of the game. And we just battled
through it and we got like I said, um, that
(19:43):
play Darrek, Joe Kim's defensive plays. Those are things that
I think really stealed the win for us. The summer's
depended by all great recognition by Ray Allen. Looked like
Salmon's had an open three. This is a great run
on top. John set to the twenty points in fifty
two minutes. The shouting late in the second o t
(20:09):
you're up three points with seventeen seconds left, Well, what
do you think Boston is gonna get brought down by
three and under seventeen seconds to play at set it overdone?
Well with no time out, it changes what you could do.
I mean, obviously, if you can get something quickly going
to the basket probably gone, you can take it, and
then you make it a foul game because if there's
(20:30):
still ten seconds to go or whatever in the game,
that's still plenty of time to foul, get a rebound
and go lenk before because they're gonna have to doing
something quickly. The longer dispossession takes them to have to
settle for three. You said after the game that you
tried to foul Ray Allen before he can get a
shot off. You know, we wanted to follow there. We
had three point lead, you know, put him on the
(20:50):
line with two and then getting a free throw contest
there and the way Ray was shooting it, we definitely
wanted to follow. Um, we just didn't execute it well.
And Ray hit it, you know, a great shot with
a hand in his face, and um, you know that's
what great players do. But it wasn't called right. Well,
I was just worried because I knew if Ray or
Paul got it there. You know, especially Ray was so hot.
I mean he was hitting like fade away three's falling
(21:12):
into the stands. So I was like, you know, if
he gets the basketball, don't let him take a three.
SEMs On Allen screened back theres over hid let us
three for the time he got what a degger thrown
in five Yen his ties the game at seven point six.
(21:35):
Chicago a time out, they'll get a playoff. I am
utterly at all, you know when I'm stunned that a
little bit. Why Chicago didn't foul him on the dribble
looked like they were going to foul h but right there,
I mean he got a free look at that shot.
There was a miscommunication between Heinrich. He's slow on that switch.
(21:57):
This might be like a survivor and that's a who's
the last man standing. I mean, let's make it. Make
some free throws. We'd be up one. Uh you know,
we have Brad Miller, we can take the ball. We
got Ben Gordon, we got John we got we got
good free throw shooters. But you know, it doesn't always
work out like that, so, you know, trying to make
it as difficult, trying to not extend the game, but
(22:19):
extend the game because Ray was so hot at that point,
the Celtics had really good end of game stuff experience
where they could execute well. Um, so we're just trying
to play it smart. Throughout the defining play of the game.
Joakim Noah in Triple Ot guests the steal. It's just
Simon's folks to screen going after tell a thing with
(22:41):
this goes coast to coast and dunks it on Paul
Pierce and Paul killers Hs just falled out of the
game and jo Kim Noah has just hiven. Let's put
of holes up two point leader. Look there's eight point
(23:02):
Tonight's that first. That's a pull. With the other hand,
how about the speed of the big man, Paul Pierce.
You see Joe Kim Noah get a passing way. Paul
Pierce should have let this go. I mean, he knows
he's got five fouls. You cannot defend that play. He
is now out of the game and he has say,
Paul Pierce has gotta let that got the speed though
(23:23):
a Jokim Noah, the concentration or a play, know, all
of those first points on the page in overtime and
finish it up with this free throw, big big boy,
he makes the foul shot puts you up three with
thirty five seconds left. The United Center explodes. What was
(23:48):
the feeling like on the bench as you saw that happen? Well,
obviously was at an unbelievable play by Joe Kim. Um,
you know, getting that Steve getting his hand out and
then being able to you know, dribble pretty much the
three quarter court and and finished the play, get fouled,
get pierced out of the game. You know, the place
was excited. Joe no huge stage in front of a
(24:11):
national audience with the steel, the delop and the slitchhammer.
But at that point, obviously the the excitement is great,
but you know, you gotta keep your composure depending on
how much times left on the clock. You know, the Celtics,
you know, still have the ability to to make shots
at any particular time, especially the way Ray was going. Um,
(24:32):
but all of those things are momentum changers, you know,
and you gotta take advantage of them. So you know,
Joe Kim was obviously excited. We were all all excited.
But we gotta stay in the moment, understand time and
score what the Celtics, you know, have the ability to do. Um,
And I thought we did a really good job of that.
Post game, we heard from Joakim Noah on anticipating that
(24:54):
pass for that amazing play. It was. It was more
of a reaction. Um, He'd rolls to my side and
I just I stunted at him. Um, try to make
him pick up his dribble, and I tried to. And
then when I did that, I tried to recover to
my man. And I knew that my man was gonna
(25:14):
be open for for a quick second, but I could
UM recover pretty quickly on Scalabrini uh, and he threw
the pass. I got the steel, and I felt like
it took forever to get to that basket, but I'm happy,
happy I got there. When we come back, the Bulls
try to close it out, but the drama isn't over
(25:43):
well inside Heinrich snipping inside Mr Shot, Mr Latter who
time on Boston and pass their last sixteen point seven
to play Heinrich from point blank range, missing lay up.
Oh my goodness, what else did we see here? They
run a beautiful play. Boston gets confused. At the last second,
(26:05):
Rondo comes over. Great defense play Roy Genrerondo look at
this just at the last second to distract him, Heinrich
quick shoots at Oh my, look at Betty's going. I
don't believe this. What else can happen in this series?
You're up one with seventeen seconds left, Kirk Heinrich misses
a layup and the Celtics get the ball back with
(26:27):
another chance. What was going through your mind when Kirk
misses that layup? We executed well, we weren't able to
convert on the shot, so now we have to get
a stop. I mean, that was kind of the mentality.
It wasn't you know anything other than you know, we've
done it before, let's do it again. This is what
it's all about, you know, in order to win the game.
Let's let's get a stop. That was kind of it.
(26:47):
I mean, it was guys make good plays, they make
bad plays, you know, Uh, coaches dropped good plays, they
dropped It's just part of the game. You just gotta
keep battling through it and working through everything thing and
not let it speed up so much. Understand time and score.
And we had gotten some big defensive stops, so why
couldn't we get another one kind of mentality, and the
(27:09):
guys were able to do it. Rondo victor Bondo's jet shot.
Then Rose gets the block, but mrs both free throws
(27:29):
and the Celtics have a final shot at the buzzer.
Take us through that emotional roller coaster. You know, we
weren't able to convert on some pre throws, but at
the end of the day, you know, we had the
confidence that we had gotten some big stops. Paul was
out of the game, so we knew we could. You know,
obviously you want to get body to body as much
as you can with Ray and now let him get
any easy looks, make somebody else, um attack the basket,
(27:53):
get a three, whatever. But yeah, those moments are are
great when you're able to get those defensive stops. I
think we had done that to get to that point,
and the and the guys were kind of really locked
in at that moment, like, hey, it's our time to
get one more stop and in seal the win. Getting
those defensive stops, to me really is is kind of
what we hung our hat on. Rondo brought it rolls
(28:23):
will see you stay Night four game s Rondo misses
at the buzzer, you hang on for the win, and
we see Joakim Noah go nuts on the court after
the game. How are you feeling after that final buzzer?
You know, for a coach, you know, when you win, um,
it's kind of a relief, and when you lose it,
it's it's gut wrenching. So really, my mindset at that
(28:46):
point was probably like, let's enjoy this for a minute,
and let's let's let's lock in on game seven. And
we've had success in Boston in this series. Every game
has been uh tight, this one will be no different.
Let's make sure we're prepared in the way. So as
a coach, you moved to that, enjoyed the moment for
a minute, UM, congratulate the players on their effort, um
(29:08):
in the coaching staff, and then and then kind of,
uh move forward from there. Let's hear from an emotional
postgame Vinnie back in two thousand nine, Well, this doesn't
this definitely doesn't feel like my first year coaching. After
this series going on, I'll tell you what, I'm just unbelievable. UM,
so many things to talk about, so many great plays, Um,
(29:29):
I mean, ray Allen was just I mean he was
hitting shot. I was unbelievable. I mean, just guys sitting
shots and Derek making plays and Joe. I mean, it's
just there's so much to talk about. I don't know
where to start, but just so happy where our guys fought.
You know, Uh, it looked good for us. It didn't
look good for us. It looked good for us. It
was just going back and forth. You know, just so
(29:49):
many great plays out there. Um, so just start asking
questions because I don't know where to start. When you
think back at this game, what's your lasting memory? How
do you think about it now? It was a building
block in terms of where we had started at the
beginning of the year. How proud I was of the
growth of the players and the adversity throughout the season
(30:11):
we dealt with UM and then being able to be
in that moment and the players have that opportunity in
the NBA playoffs to compete at such a high level
and to compete incredibly hard together as a group. Um,
it was just great to see the growth and the
commitment and the competitiveness of the of the team, not
(30:33):
individually but competitively as a group, and I thought everybody
at that point was really at the end of the season,
in the playoffs and in Game six, really everyone pulling
in the same direction, no matter you know, who was hot,
who was not. Let's get stops, let's lock in defensively,
and if we do that, we have enough offensive power
to put a lot of pressure on them, which which
(30:53):
is really what happened. And um, it couldn't have been
prouder of the kind of the mindset and the guys
be able to enjoy that moment after a big, you know,
a huge winning Game six to force the game seven.
Back at the garden post game, you said, this was
definitely the best series you coached. It was definitely the
best series of her coached. Um. But you know, playing
(31:16):
is different than coaching obviously. Um, but you know I
had a lot of great series, uh, you know when
I was playing with San Antonio and things, but you know,
nothing with these overtimes and guys making the shots they're making,
in the plays they're making. And how does that game
rank now in terms of the best ever coach or
played in Well, it's up there. It's not just because
we won the game. Like I said to me, as
(31:37):
a coach, you know, you have to trust your eyes. Um,
it's not always gonna be perfect. Um, you're not always
gonna um you know, it's not always gonna you know,
you're always gonna drop a play and you missed the
shot another play. It's not run as well you make it.
It's not about that. You have to trust tries are
yours your? Are your players playing together? Are they playing hard?
(31:58):
Are they playing unselfish? Are are they doing the right
things to give them the highest opportunity to win? Um?
You know, individually, do guys understand time and score? Do
they understand this guy's hot, let's get him the ball
or Okay, you're not as hot, let's get it to
this guy and and share. And UM, I just think
though that series dictated in game six, immanator, you know,
(32:22):
kind of dictated what that team was about. It was
about being unselfish, letting the growth of Derek. Everyone knew
he was the star player, his growth. Ben Gordon was
a veteran score Kirk Heinrich was incredible, Brad was a
veteran guy. But Joe Kim was kind of starting, uh,
you know, finally coming into his own a little bit.
So watching Joe Kim play at that level and Derek
(32:43):
and John Salman's play at an incredible level. So seeing
all of that come to fruition in that game and
especially in that series, I couldn't have been more proud
of those guys, Um. And that's what I'm most proud of,
is that impact of their career in a pose it
of way. It impacted the NBA obviously in a positive way,
because we're talking about it still, and and that's what
(33:06):
it's about, you know, UM, seeing those guys play at
that level and enjoy that moment before we go. You
mentioned playing golf with Ray Allen earlier. I heard you've
got a golf tournament coming up. Can you tell us
about that? I do, Yeah, that'll I'll be defending in
uh right after July four. I think it's the fifth
or the eleventh as the tournament in Lake Tahoe with
American Century So Edgewood Golf Club and Americans sent you
(33:28):
do a fantastic job. So I'm looking forward to that,
and I'm gonna play in another golf tournament at the
end of April Club Corps Classic in Dallas with the
Senior PGA Tour guys and I think they have about
fifty athletes um coming in, so we'll play in that tournament.
Should be fun. So just enjoying, uh, playing with a
lot of the guys. And Annika soren Stand, who's fantastic,
(33:51):
plays in some of these tournaments and playing with her
is incredible, one of the one of the great women's
players and great players of all times. So Tonyo be in,
Dallas Olmo and John Smolts and Marty Fish, all the
top players and a lot of great athletes and entertainers.
So it's gonna be a fun of Ben and Dallas
looking forward to it. Let's let Joakim Noah take us
out with his postgame presser. This series is there's a
(34:15):
lot of fun for for the fans of the people
of Chicago, the people of Boston, but it's a lot
of fun for us to just playing in an environments
like this on the big stage and and putting on
a great performance almost every game. It's special to be
a part of this and I know this is a
series that people will be talking about for a long time,
at least thirteen years. Jokim NBA Flashback is a production
(34:40):
of I Heart Radio and the NBA For more podcasts
from I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast
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