duncan228
12-25-2008, 07:17 PM
Video here (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/081225.html).
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game - “It’s a great win for us in every way, shape and form. We started the game down 11-0 and the guys just hung in and played ball all night long. I thought Timmy down the stretch was absolutely spectacular. With five fouls, his defensive play down low when they were going at him and making a stop and getting the rebound himself and getting it out, I thought he was absolutely magnificent. I thought it was a great game for fans to watch and we’re thrilled we were able to get a victory against a hell of a team.”
On last shot - “It was designed to go to Tony with shooters in the corners and Tony makes the decision on what’s available. We don’t care if it’s a 2 or a 3, if you’ve got a three, take it and Tony made a great decision and hit the open man and he deserves a lot of credit.”
Tony Parker
On the game - “It was a tough game. The whole game we just tried to stay in it, stay in it. Up one, we had some great opportunities to take a little lead, and we missed a couple of layups and then it was down to that play with Grant Hill when we were trying to focus on Nash and should have switched it. We were scared Nash would pop out of the corner for a quick three. They made a great play and we came back and made a great play too. It’s just about details at the end of the game.”
On last shot - “Pop just told me to penetrate and it I had a clear layup or a tear drop, obviously I’m going to throw my tear drop up. As I beat Grant Hill, Jason Richardson came in and Roger was wide open and that’s his shot, he’s been knocking down all season long so I trusted him to make that shot. It was going to be a tough layup for me because Jason Richardson was coming”
Tim Duncan
On the game - “Huge win for us, huge finish for us, hard fought all the way through. They got a jump on us early and they did a really good job of sticking with it, ups and downs just like the game are between us all the time; just a huge shot from Rog so we’re fortunate. That was a specific line that he (Popovich) used, ‘it will probably come down to one play in this game’ and it did come down to that. Tony did an incredible job of getting to the middle, reading the defense and drawing somebody by just looking up at the rim, kicking it out and Rog made a big shot for us.”
On his defense with 5 fouls - ”It’s all you can do. I knew once they saw I had 5 they would come at me no matter who I was guarding, whether it was Shaq or Amar’e and the chose Amar’e. I was physical with him. I didn’t back down or change my defense in any way. I thought team wise we did a pretty good job of sticking with them and not getting that last foul.”
Roger Mason
On the game-winning shot - “Coach drew up a play for Tony to get the ball up top. We had shooters in the corner and the big fella down low. I think Tony penetrated and he might have had a look and found me in the corner."
"You’re always ready, that’s the biggest thing. You stay ready, that’s what this game is about. As a shooter, you’re always prepared and the coach put me in, in that situation and I knew if I had it I was going to shoot it and hopefully it would go in and thank god it did.”
Suns Head Coach Terry Porter
On the game - “Well not a good way to have Christmas end on us. Guys played hard, played well enough to win that game. Again just came up on the short end. I thought Grant did a great job and we just had a breakdown our last possession for those guys defensively.”
On breakdown of last play - “We just had a breakdown, I mean Grant did a good job on guarding the guy, the guy in the corner got suckered in to much and allowed Mason to get some space. Give Tony Parker some credit he found him and Mason hit a wide open shot in that corner, strong corner.”
Amare Stoudemire
On the game - “I think we played well enough to win. We played solid defensively, we rebounded the ball well, we played upside defense and did everything we could and had to, to win. Unfortunately, (Roger Mason) hit a three in the corner. It happens sometimes.”
On whether the loss will ruin his holiday - “I wouldn’t say ruin it – it definitely ruined the spirit we had about the game. But I still have a beautiful family to go home to and enjoy Christmas with. This game was a game we definitely wanted to win and should have won. We had control the whole game and played well enough to win, but they hit a three in the corner. We’ll figure it out and we just need to regroup and have a sense of urgency now and get these next wins. We have to play hard every night and not take any nights off regardless of who it is. We’re kind of behind the eight ball right now, but we just have to put our foot to the pedal and get moving.”
Steve Nash
On the game - “It was a good game. They just made one more play than we did – it’s pretty simple.”
On coming out strong despite the long break - “We did, we played well considering we had that much time off – it’s difficult sometimes, but overall we played pretty well. We had a few stretches where we didn’t play great or had a few breakdowns, but I think they did too. And at the end of the game you look up and anyone could have won that game.”
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/quotes_081225.html
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game - “It’s a great win for us in every way, shape and form. We started the game down 11-0 and the guys just hung in and played ball all night long. I thought Timmy down the stretch was absolutely spectacular. With five fouls, his defensive play down low when they were going at him and making a stop and getting the rebound himself and getting it out, I thought he was absolutely magnificent. I thought it was a great game for fans to watch and we’re thrilled we were able to get a victory against a hell of a team.”
On last shot - “It was designed to go to Tony with shooters in the corners and Tony makes the decision on what’s available. We don’t care if it’s a 2 or a 3, if you’ve got a three, take it and Tony made a great decision and hit the open man and he deserves a lot of credit.”
Tony Parker
On the game - “It was a tough game. The whole game we just tried to stay in it, stay in it. Up one, we had some great opportunities to take a little lead, and we missed a couple of layups and then it was down to that play with Grant Hill when we were trying to focus on Nash and should have switched it. We were scared Nash would pop out of the corner for a quick three. They made a great play and we came back and made a great play too. It’s just about details at the end of the game.”
On last shot - “Pop just told me to penetrate and it I had a clear layup or a tear drop, obviously I’m going to throw my tear drop up. As I beat Grant Hill, Jason Richardson came in and Roger was wide open and that’s his shot, he’s been knocking down all season long so I trusted him to make that shot. It was going to be a tough layup for me because Jason Richardson was coming”
Tim Duncan
On the game - “Huge win for us, huge finish for us, hard fought all the way through. They got a jump on us early and they did a really good job of sticking with it, ups and downs just like the game are between us all the time; just a huge shot from Rog so we’re fortunate. That was a specific line that he (Popovich) used, ‘it will probably come down to one play in this game’ and it did come down to that. Tony did an incredible job of getting to the middle, reading the defense and drawing somebody by just looking up at the rim, kicking it out and Rog made a big shot for us.”
On his defense with 5 fouls - ”It’s all you can do. I knew once they saw I had 5 they would come at me no matter who I was guarding, whether it was Shaq or Amar’e and the chose Amar’e. I was physical with him. I didn’t back down or change my defense in any way. I thought team wise we did a pretty good job of sticking with them and not getting that last foul.”
Roger Mason
On the game-winning shot - “Coach drew up a play for Tony to get the ball up top. We had shooters in the corner and the big fella down low. I think Tony penetrated and he might have had a look and found me in the corner."
"You’re always ready, that’s the biggest thing. You stay ready, that’s what this game is about. As a shooter, you’re always prepared and the coach put me in, in that situation and I knew if I had it I was going to shoot it and hopefully it would go in and thank god it did.”
Suns Head Coach Terry Porter
On the game - “Well not a good way to have Christmas end on us. Guys played hard, played well enough to win that game. Again just came up on the short end. I thought Grant did a great job and we just had a breakdown our last possession for those guys defensively.”
On breakdown of last play - “We just had a breakdown, I mean Grant did a good job on guarding the guy, the guy in the corner got suckered in to much and allowed Mason to get some space. Give Tony Parker some credit he found him and Mason hit a wide open shot in that corner, strong corner.”
Amare Stoudemire
On the game - “I think we played well enough to win. We played solid defensively, we rebounded the ball well, we played upside defense and did everything we could and had to, to win. Unfortunately, (Roger Mason) hit a three in the corner. It happens sometimes.”
On whether the loss will ruin his holiday - “I wouldn’t say ruin it – it definitely ruined the spirit we had about the game. But I still have a beautiful family to go home to and enjoy Christmas with. This game was a game we definitely wanted to win and should have won. We had control the whole game and played well enough to win, but they hit a three in the corner. We’ll figure it out and we just need to regroup and have a sense of urgency now and get these next wins. We have to play hard every night and not take any nights off regardless of who it is. We’re kind of behind the eight ball right now, but we just have to put our foot to the pedal and get moving.”
Steve Nash
On the game - “It was a good game. They just made one more play than we did – it’s pretty simple.”
On coming out strong despite the long break - “We did, we played well considering we had that much time off – it’s difficult sometimes, but overall we played pretty well. We had a few stretches where we didn’t play great or had a few breakdowns, but I think they did too. And at the end of the game you look up and anyone could have won that game.”
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/quotes_081225.html