duncan228
12-14-2008, 10:56 PM
Video here (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/081214.html).
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game - “It wasn’t pretty down the stretch, but it’s a win and wins are always good. We’re thrilled to get out with a win. The block from Timmy down the stretch; then the play from Tim to Tony and from Tim to Manu. The block is what got it done for us. Now we move on to the next one.
On if being up by 20 points is not a good thing - “It’s always the worst gift a team can get. This is the NBA and there’s a 24 second clock. Rarely, rarely does it stay like that. It doesn’t matter what a team’s record is or who you’re playing.”
Tony Parker
On the game - "They’re a pretty good team. They played the Mavericks real tough last night, so we knew they were going to try and do the same thing with us. We got a big lead, but they played good in the second half. They made shots. Jeff Green and Kevin Durant…they played good. We just tried to hang in there, get the stops at the end and win the game.”
Is it tough to keep focus with such a big lead? - "Not really. You know that every NBA team is going to make a run, and they did in the second half. They played really well. They played good defense and we started missing a couple shots and they were right back in the game. You never want to be in that situation, because it’s always dangerous. You don’t want to end up losing the game. At the end it was kind of ugly, but we got the win, and that’s the most important thing.
Matt Bonner
On the game - "I’m still working on my defense. It’s a work in progress. The game plan, starting out, was to keep them in front and make them make jump shots. They did a pretty good job of that, so we had to switch to putting more pressure on them and relying on the weak-side. That was our strategy.”
Head Coach Scott Brooks
On the game - "We just started off this one a little sluggish. We gave them a 20 point lead in that first quarter and that’s always going to be tough to overcome. After that we came together and made some key stops and shared the basketball. The Spurs are just too good a team to hand a huge lead like that to.”
On the last three quarters - "The way we played in the last three, that’s how we need to play all the time. If we stay together, learn to trust each other, we are going to have a breakthrough. I know we will. I have been through things like this before. I have seen it happen and I see it in the future for this team”
On defending Duncan - "He is one of the best basketball players in the history of the game. We made him earn his points. I though the guys did as good a job as anyone as a team. We did everything we could to make all of his touches difficult.”
“People don’t always realize, till the Spurs have a first quarter like they did tonight, that they are on of the league leaders in three-pointers made and three point percentage. That’s what they do. I’ll give them credit for moving the ball so well in the first. It’s not just that we were bad. We were just a half step behind because they move the ball so well.”
Kevin Durant
On the game - "What hurt is us that we didn’t play with urgency in the first half and the Spurs made tough shots. We ended up missing a lot of shots and in the second half we stepped it up. After the loss tonight we have to move forward. Our team came within two points; we just needed to knock down some more shots."
On playing from behind - "You can’t let yourself get down; it’s a long game. Every team will make a run in games – all teams just play bad sometimes."
Jeff Green
On the game - "I have learned that I just need to keep being aggressive and not be afraid of getting my shot blocked. It shouldn’t matter whether a Tim Duncan or Dwight Howard is guarding you when playing; you have to go and try to get your shot."
On the large lead the Spurs built - "We battled and we didn’t back down and got it down to a small lead. If we had started the game with energy and aggressive when we started the first quarter, we would have been more in the game at the end of it."
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/quotes_081214.html
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game - “It wasn’t pretty down the stretch, but it’s a win and wins are always good. We’re thrilled to get out with a win. The block from Timmy down the stretch; then the play from Tim to Tony and from Tim to Manu. The block is what got it done for us. Now we move on to the next one.
On if being up by 20 points is not a good thing - “It’s always the worst gift a team can get. This is the NBA and there’s a 24 second clock. Rarely, rarely does it stay like that. It doesn’t matter what a team’s record is or who you’re playing.”
Tony Parker
On the game - "They’re a pretty good team. They played the Mavericks real tough last night, so we knew they were going to try and do the same thing with us. We got a big lead, but they played good in the second half. They made shots. Jeff Green and Kevin Durant…they played good. We just tried to hang in there, get the stops at the end and win the game.”
Is it tough to keep focus with such a big lead? - "Not really. You know that every NBA team is going to make a run, and they did in the second half. They played really well. They played good defense and we started missing a couple shots and they were right back in the game. You never want to be in that situation, because it’s always dangerous. You don’t want to end up losing the game. At the end it was kind of ugly, but we got the win, and that’s the most important thing.
Matt Bonner
On the game - "I’m still working on my defense. It’s a work in progress. The game plan, starting out, was to keep them in front and make them make jump shots. They did a pretty good job of that, so we had to switch to putting more pressure on them and relying on the weak-side. That was our strategy.”
Head Coach Scott Brooks
On the game - "We just started off this one a little sluggish. We gave them a 20 point lead in that first quarter and that’s always going to be tough to overcome. After that we came together and made some key stops and shared the basketball. The Spurs are just too good a team to hand a huge lead like that to.”
On the last three quarters - "The way we played in the last three, that’s how we need to play all the time. If we stay together, learn to trust each other, we are going to have a breakthrough. I know we will. I have been through things like this before. I have seen it happen and I see it in the future for this team”
On defending Duncan - "He is one of the best basketball players in the history of the game. We made him earn his points. I though the guys did as good a job as anyone as a team. We did everything we could to make all of his touches difficult.”
“People don’t always realize, till the Spurs have a first quarter like they did tonight, that they are on of the league leaders in three-pointers made and three point percentage. That’s what they do. I’ll give them credit for moving the ball so well in the first. It’s not just that we were bad. We were just a half step behind because they move the ball so well.”
Kevin Durant
On the game - "What hurt is us that we didn’t play with urgency in the first half and the Spurs made tough shots. We ended up missing a lot of shots and in the second half we stepped it up. After the loss tonight we have to move forward. Our team came within two points; we just needed to knock down some more shots."
On playing from behind - "You can’t let yourself get down; it’s a long game. Every team will make a run in games – all teams just play bad sometimes."
Jeff Green
On the game - "I have learned that I just need to keep being aggressive and not be afraid of getting my shot blocked. It shouldn’t matter whether a Tim Duncan or Dwight Howard is guarding you when playing; you have to go and try to get your shot."
On the large lead the Spurs built - "We battled and we didn’t back down and got it down to a small lead. If we had started the game with energy and aggressive when we started the first quarter, we would have been more in the game at the end of it."
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/quotes_081214.html