duncan228
12-28-2008, 01:22 AM
Video here (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/081227.html).
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game - “It was a good win for us. Kurt Thomas and Bruce Bowen were fantastic. Bruce did a great job guarding, which no one probably noticed, but he was super. Kurt was really special, not just when he went in for Tim, but all his minutes. Tony (Parker) stepped up and knocked down a couple big shots. Those three guys brought it home for us. It was a good win.”
On Manu Ginobili - “Manu is always aggressive. He did a good job tonight. I think he just ran out of gas towards the end. He’s played a lot of minutes, especially with us having five games in eight days. I thought we focused really well in the second half. Memphis is a young, athletic, deep team. Coach Iavaroni has done a great job with them. They play everybody tough.”
Kurt Thomas
On the game - “You really have to give those young guys credit. They came out with a lot of energy and shot the ball extremely well especially O.J. Mayo. With solid teams like Memphis in the NBA you can’t afford to take nights off.”
On Double overtime - “We just wanted to play solid. Unfortunately Tim Duncan got into some foul trouble early in overtime. When Pop called my number I just wanted to contribute as much as I could and be solid on defense.”
On Personal play - “I just try to learn what I can from Tim Duncan. Tim is an unbelievable player who knows what it takes to win. Fortunately tonight I was given the opportunity to help the team with another win.”
On Team Play - “We have so many players who are stepping up off the bench. Roger Mason has been big for us lately. Now with Oberto out I am trying to come in and fill where I can and help the team.”
Tim Duncan
On the game - “It was huge for us to get this win tonight. We had a great game at home obviously Memphis played well. It took two overtimes to get the win and Memphis really turned it up in the second half. Tonight we just found a way to win.”
On Foul out - “The team was doing a great job during overtime. I really wanted to contribute but Kurt did an excellent job defending the ball and had some good offensive plays.”
On Time off - “Two days is a very long break especially with the type of schedule we have been holding lately. It will be great for us to get off our legs especially Tony and Manu who have played so many minutes lately. We have a lot of guys who have played a lot of minutes so a break will be great. We will use these days as best we can and hopefully we’ll get back on the court and play better basketball than we did tonight.”
Gizzlies Head Coach Marc Iavaroni
On the game - "I hope this game brings us closer as a team. I hope the pain draws us together and makes us appreciate how much hard work it takes to win in this league especially playing a good team like that on the road, especially playing back-to-back as we’ve played numerous games like that and learned from every one of them. I was very proud of the guys as we battled it out in two overtimes with them and we just came up a little bit short, but hopefully this game galvanizes us.”
On if tonight‘s performance was taking a step in the right direction - "No, because we lost the game, but we‘re getting there. We have a lot of guys who are trying to get experience in getting the winning shot out, we saw some good performances, but again, you have to get that confidence boost from the overall positive result.”
On O.J. Mayo‘s performance tonight - "O.J. has been great all year, I think he‘s had a couple of off games but he has ice water running through his veins. He shot a big three on the way coming down, we didn‘t even need the three but we made it. I think he‘s a tough cover for most people in this league.”
On Marc Gasol‘s discipline tonight including his fouls - “Yeah he did, he guarded a great player, Tim Duncan, and was asked to front him in the absence of Darko Milicic. I think he really grew tonight as a defender, he played smart, and hopefully he can play like that in our next game.”
Mike Conley
On the game - We gave a great effort, made plays down the stretch, and we learned another lesson and that is you have to make one more play than the other team as they made one more play down the stretch to beat us. I thought both teams fought hard and I‘m proud of our effort tonight.”
On the Grizzlies’ performance in the second quarter - "I think we got back to the basics, made easy plays, we started running pick-and-rolls. Kyle did a good job of finding people, getting the lane, finding people open, our guards were in the paint, and I think that really got them off-balance.”
On how team kept Duncan off-balance - "Well, we wanted to keep at least one to two guys paying attention to him all night. When he got the ball we would dig and discourage him shooting-wise and limit his touches. I think Darrell and Marc did a great job against him tonight but it just didn‘t work out at the end. ”
Greg Buckner
On the game - "There are no positives when you lose, no matter who you play, you still lost. You can‘t start getting satisfied with close victories.”
On how you come back after a game like this - "I mean this game is over with. We play too many games, so one games doesn‘t define a season. We work hard in all 82 games, so one game doesn‘t define you whether you lose or win.”
On the difference between other close games and tonight - "Experience, they’ve been together for a long time, this team is pretty young, such a change-over from last year’s team. Those guys have been through the wars, been through the battles of the playoffs so experience means a lot in this league.”
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/quotes_081227.html
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game - “It was a good win for us. Kurt Thomas and Bruce Bowen were fantastic. Bruce did a great job guarding, which no one probably noticed, but he was super. Kurt was really special, not just when he went in for Tim, but all his minutes. Tony (Parker) stepped up and knocked down a couple big shots. Those three guys brought it home for us. It was a good win.”
On Manu Ginobili - “Manu is always aggressive. He did a good job tonight. I think he just ran out of gas towards the end. He’s played a lot of minutes, especially with us having five games in eight days. I thought we focused really well in the second half. Memphis is a young, athletic, deep team. Coach Iavaroni has done a great job with them. They play everybody tough.”
Kurt Thomas
On the game - “You really have to give those young guys credit. They came out with a lot of energy and shot the ball extremely well especially O.J. Mayo. With solid teams like Memphis in the NBA you can’t afford to take nights off.”
On Double overtime - “We just wanted to play solid. Unfortunately Tim Duncan got into some foul trouble early in overtime. When Pop called my number I just wanted to contribute as much as I could and be solid on defense.”
On Personal play - “I just try to learn what I can from Tim Duncan. Tim is an unbelievable player who knows what it takes to win. Fortunately tonight I was given the opportunity to help the team with another win.”
On Team Play - “We have so many players who are stepping up off the bench. Roger Mason has been big for us lately. Now with Oberto out I am trying to come in and fill where I can and help the team.”
Tim Duncan
On the game - “It was huge for us to get this win tonight. We had a great game at home obviously Memphis played well. It took two overtimes to get the win and Memphis really turned it up in the second half. Tonight we just found a way to win.”
On Foul out - “The team was doing a great job during overtime. I really wanted to contribute but Kurt did an excellent job defending the ball and had some good offensive plays.”
On Time off - “Two days is a very long break especially with the type of schedule we have been holding lately. It will be great for us to get off our legs especially Tony and Manu who have played so many minutes lately. We have a lot of guys who have played a lot of minutes so a break will be great. We will use these days as best we can and hopefully we’ll get back on the court and play better basketball than we did tonight.”
Gizzlies Head Coach Marc Iavaroni
On the game - "I hope this game brings us closer as a team. I hope the pain draws us together and makes us appreciate how much hard work it takes to win in this league especially playing a good team like that on the road, especially playing back-to-back as we’ve played numerous games like that and learned from every one of them. I was very proud of the guys as we battled it out in two overtimes with them and we just came up a little bit short, but hopefully this game galvanizes us.”
On if tonight‘s performance was taking a step in the right direction - "No, because we lost the game, but we‘re getting there. We have a lot of guys who are trying to get experience in getting the winning shot out, we saw some good performances, but again, you have to get that confidence boost from the overall positive result.”
On O.J. Mayo‘s performance tonight - "O.J. has been great all year, I think he‘s had a couple of off games but he has ice water running through his veins. He shot a big three on the way coming down, we didn‘t even need the three but we made it. I think he‘s a tough cover for most people in this league.”
On Marc Gasol‘s discipline tonight including his fouls - “Yeah he did, he guarded a great player, Tim Duncan, and was asked to front him in the absence of Darko Milicic. I think he really grew tonight as a defender, he played smart, and hopefully he can play like that in our next game.”
Mike Conley
On the game - We gave a great effort, made plays down the stretch, and we learned another lesson and that is you have to make one more play than the other team as they made one more play down the stretch to beat us. I thought both teams fought hard and I‘m proud of our effort tonight.”
On the Grizzlies’ performance in the second quarter - "I think we got back to the basics, made easy plays, we started running pick-and-rolls. Kyle did a good job of finding people, getting the lane, finding people open, our guards were in the paint, and I think that really got them off-balance.”
On how team kept Duncan off-balance - "Well, we wanted to keep at least one to two guys paying attention to him all night. When he got the ball we would dig and discourage him shooting-wise and limit his touches. I think Darrell and Marc did a great job against him tonight but it just didn‘t work out at the end. ”
Greg Buckner
On the game - "There are no positives when you lose, no matter who you play, you still lost. You can‘t start getting satisfied with close victories.”
On how you come back after a game like this - "I mean this game is over with. We play too many games, so one games doesn‘t define a season. We work hard in all 82 games, so one game doesn‘t define you whether you lose or win.”
On the difference between other close games and tonight - "Experience, they’ve been together for a long time, this team is pretty young, such a change-over from last year’s team. Those guys have been through the wars, been through the battles of the playoffs so experience means a lot in this league.”
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/quotes_081227.html