duncan228
01-11-2010, 02:50 AM
Post Game Quotes (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/100110.html)
Gregg Popovich
“We played a good second half. We were able to separate good energy and good defense. Ian (Mahinmi) had good energy out there. Now that’s done and we have another game Tuesday.”
On Ian Mahinmi and what made him decide to play him - “You feel it when you feel it. He’s worked hard for two years and had some bad breaks with injuries. It was good to give Tim a little rest. You don’t want to look past anybody and I knew Ian wouldn’t do that. He did a good job.”
On Tim Duncan’s play - “Tim comes to play every night. There are no players or teams that he takes in a light manner. He’s serious about everything. He’s a good example for guys like DeJuan and Ian to see.”
George Hill
On the third quarter defense - We gave up a lot of points in the first half and we try to give teams 44 at the most. Going into halftime, Coach Pop wanted us to buckle down on defense and make everything tougher. Our team embraced it and came out in the third quarter with some urgency. We have a big game on Tuesday that we have been preparing for and we need to have some carry over from tonight. Hopefully we can take the defense from the third quarter of this game and carry it over to the next game.
On Ian Mahinmi - Ian was smiling from the moment he walked in the locker room and saw the jersey hanging up in his locker. You can tell he had been wanting to play for the longest time. He did a great job of coming in and stepping in for one of our hurt players and filling their role. I think that’s really what the Spurs were looking for out of Ian.
On playing defense - Having a year under my belt and playing in some big games and at key moments have prepared me for this year. If they want me to guard a four or a five, I’ll guard Shaq if they ask me to. I don’t know how good of a job I’d do, but I would try my hardest. My last memory was Kobe hitting a game winner in my face. I think it’s going to be a great battle and a great test for us to get ready for June.
Tony Parker
On Ian Mahinmi - He was great tonight. I was very happy for him because he has worked hard to be in the NBA but to never play and to wear a suit. It’s been three years, he played well. He got hurt in the first game for the national team so I didn’t get to see him play that much in the European championship. This year he has been healthy the whole season but hasn’t gotten an opportunity yet. He stayed ready and Pop gave him his chance and he was great tonight. I am very happy for him.
On if he knew what to expect from Ian - Not at all. Practice isn’t the same as a game. In practice, we can see that he is athletic, he can jump and block shots but you want to see it in a real game. That’s what he did tonight. He played with a lot of energy and I think that blocked shot gave him a lot of confidence because he finished that play with a dunk.
On defense in the second half - We played a lot better in the second half. First half was a little bit flat and we didn’t have a lot of opportunities for fast break or transition because they were scoring all the time. Once our defense was better and we got rebounds, were able to fast break, transition and get a lot of easy stuff.
On playing the Lakers on Tuesday - They are the champions; they are the team we have to catch. They are five or six games ahead of us – they are playing really well right now. I think we have a long way to go to get at their level. But with one game, you never know what might happen.
Kiki Vandeweghe
“We played a very good first half and in the third quarter we had a stretch on offense. Give the Spurs credit. They are a very good defensive team. We didn’t do the same things we were doing; which was pushing the ball and screening to the opposite side. At that same time we didn’t play as good defensively as we have been playing. They got some offensive rebounds and that’s when the game broke open a little bit. But we kept it at a 10 to 12 point game and that little stretch was the difference.”
When asked about the Nets bench scoring vs the Spurs bench - “We did play the starters a lot of minutes. So the bench, except for Jarvis didn’t get a lot of minutes. That’s a little bit by design and perhaps we could have gotten a little tired in the third quarter and we may have substituted a little too early. For the most part I was pleased with the effort.”
Brook Lopez
On the third quarter - “I think I just forced it a bit too much. We were playing great team ball in the first half and I think that wasn’t the case in the second half for the majority of it. There were certain plays that I know, I myself, forced it a bit. I think a few other guys forced it a bit too and it just kinda killed our flow. I was definitely a culprit and it hurt us.”
On matching up with Tim Duncan - “He’s definitely one of the best to ever play. It’s definitely a tough matchup for me. It’s a very cerebral battle. There are so many different things he can do. You just have to be patient because you know that’s what he’s doing down on the block. He’s being patient and reading everything and then making the read off of it.”
On what point in the game he felt it started to get away from them - “When we started going away from what we were doing in the first half. I think late in the third and early in the fourth. I think it was more of what we were doing [offensively] rather than what they were doing [defensively].”
Chris Douglas-Roberts
On the game - “Both teams played pretty hard. Good effort. Good effort from us against one of the best teams in the league.”
On tonight being a game of runs - “Yeah…a little. In the second half I felt like we got away from what we were doing in the first half and that pretty much told the story in the second half. Our offense got a little stagnant and they capitalized on that.”
On bench point for the Spurs and a guy like Manu coming off the bench -“Everybody knows he’s a star. He’s a starter. He’s definitely not a guy who comes off the bench. That’s a big plus for them when you have a guy like Manu coming off the bench…when you have a guy like McDyess coming off the bench. That’s why they’re who they are.”
On when he felt like the game started to get away from them - “I know exactly when it started happening. Early in the second half we were up. Then we started doing some other things and that’s when we got stagnant. That’s when they started really going on a run and that’s when they got up big on us. We were just keeping the ball on one side of the floor.”
On Brook Lopez - “That’s Brook. Brook is great. What makes Brook really is that he’s so young and he doesn’t know how good he’s gonna be. In the post he thinks he’s not patient, but he’s really patient. He’s a willing passer…you can cut off Brook. That is going to make him a great five-man in this league for years to come.”
Gregg Popovich
“We played a good second half. We were able to separate good energy and good defense. Ian (Mahinmi) had good energy out there. Now that’s done and we have another game Tuesday.”
On Ian Mahinmi and what made him decide to play him - “You feel it when you feel it. He’s worked hard for two years and had some bad breaks with injuries. It was good to give Tim a little rest. You don’t want to look past anybody and I knew Ian wouldn’t do that. He did a good job.”
On Tim Duncan’s play - “Tim comes to play every night. There are no players or teams that he takes in a light manner. He’s serious about everything. He’s a good example for guys like DeJuan and Ian to see.”
George Hill
On the third quarter defense - We gave up a lot of points in the first half and we try to give teams 44 at the most. Going into halftime, Coach Pop wanted us to buckle down on defense and make everything tougher. Our team embraced it and came out in the third quarter with some urgency. We have a big game on Tuesday that we have been preparing for and we need to have some carry over from tonight. Hopefully we can take the defense from the third quarter of this game and carry it over to the next game.
On Ian Mahinmi - Ian was smiling from the moment he walked in the locker room and saw the jersey hanging up in his locker. You can tell he had been wanting to play for the longest time. He did a great job of coming in and stepping in for one of our hurt players and filling their role. I think that’s really what the Spurs were looking for out of Ian.
On playing defense - Having a year under my belt and playing in some big games and at key moments have prepared me for this year. If they want me to guard a four or a five, I’ll guard Shaq if they ask me to. I don’t know how good of a job I’d do, but I would try my hardest. My last memory was Kobe hitting a game winner in my face. I think it’s going to be a great battle and a great test for us to get ready for June.
Tony Parker
On Ian Mahinmi - He was great tonight. I was very happy for him because he has worked hard to be in the NBA but to never play and to wear a suit. It’s been three years, he played well. He got hurt in the first game for the national team so I didn’t get to see him play that much in the European championship. This year he has been healthy the whole season but hasn’t gotten an opportunity yet. He stayed ready and Pop gave him his chance and he was great tonight. I am very happy for him.
On if he knew what to expect from Ian - Not at all. Practice isn’t the same as a game. In practice, we can see that he is athletic, he can jump and block shots but you want to see it in a real game. That’s what he did tonight. He played with a lot of energy and I think that blocked shot gave him a lot of confidence because he finished that play with a dunk.
On defense in the second half - We played a lot better in the second half. First half was a little bit flat and we didn’t have a lot of opportunities for fast break or transition because they were scoring all the time. Once our defense was better and we got rebounds, were able to fast break, transition and get a lot of easy stuff.
On playing the Lakers on Tuesday - They are the champions; they are the team we have to catch. They are five or six games ahead of us – they are playing really well right now. I think we have a long way to go to get at their level. But with one game, you never know what might happen.
Kiki Vandeweghe
“We played a very good first half and in the third quarter we had a stretch on offense. Give the Spurs credit. They are a very good defensive team. We didn’t do the same things we were doing; which was pushing the ball and screening to the opposite side. At that same time we didn’t play as good defensively as we have been playing. They got some offensive rebounds and that’s when the game broke open a little bit. But we kept it at a 10 to 12 point game and that little stretch was the difference.”
When asked about the Nets bench scoring vs the Spurs bench - “We did play the starters a lot of minutes. So the bench, except for Jarvis didn’t get a lot of minutes. That’s a little bit by design and perhaps we could have gotten a little tired in the third quarter and we may have substituted a little too early. For the most part I was pleased with the effort.”
Brook Lopez
On the third quarter - “I think I just forced it a bit too much. We were playing great team ball in the first half and I think that wasn’t the case in the second half for the majority of it. There were certain plays that I know, I myself, forced it a bit. I think a few other guys forced it a bit too and it just kinda killed our flow. I was definitely a culprit and it hurt us.”
On matching up with Tim Duncan - “He’s definitely one of the best to ever play. It’s definitely a tough matchup for me. It’s a very cerebral battle. There are so many different things he can do. You just have to be patient because you know that’s what he’s doing down on the block. He’s being patient and reading everything and then making the read off of it.”
On what point in the game he felt it started to get away from them - “When we started going away from what we were doing in the first half. I think late in the third and early in the fourth. I think it was more of what we were doing [offensively] rather than what they were doing [defensively].”
Chris Douglas-Roberts
On the game - “Both teams played pretty hard. Good effort. Good effort from us against one of the best teams in the league.”
On tonight being a game of runs - “Yeah…a little. In the second half I felt like we got away from what we were doing in the first half and that pretty much told the story in the second half. Our offense got a little stagnant and they capitalized on that.”
On bench point for the Spurs and a guy like Manu coming off the bench -“Everybody knows he’s a star. He’s a starter. He’s definitely not a guy who comes off the bench. That’s a big plus for them when you have a guy like Manu coming off the bench…when you have a guy like McDyess coming off the bench. That’s why they’re who they are.”
On when he felt like the game started to get away from them - “I know exactly when it started happening. Early in the second half we were up. Then we started doing some other things and that’s when we got stagnant. That’s when they started really going on a run and that’s when they got up big on us. We were just keeping the ball on one side of the floor.”
On Brook Lopez - “That’s Brook. Brook is great. What makes Brook really is that he’s so young and he doesn’t know how good he’s gonna be. In the post he thinks he’s not patient, but he’s really patient. He’s a willing passer…you can cut off Brook. That is going to make him a great five-man in this league for years to come.”