duncan228
02-28-2010, 05:13 PM
Post Game Quotes (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/100228.html)
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game - “It was a good win for us, obviously against a good team. We played hard for 48 minutes and found a way to make shots. It was also a little good fortune. There was the turnover and the missed dunk; but sometimes, that’s what it takes.”
On Antonio McDyess returning to the game - “I was shocked. I thought he was hurt badly. He had a hyper-extended knee from what I was told. When I put him back in, I couldn’t believe it. The Trainers and Doctors said he was okay and he was.”
When asked about consistency and if they were getting to that point - “Time will tell. We have to play and win games in a row to be consistent. Until then, we’re not.”
On Richard Jefferson - “He’s been aggressive. He’s driving the ball well. He’s driving with the shot and not thinking about things. His defense is better too.”
Richard Jefferson
On the dunk by Amare Stoudemire - “He got a good dunk. I was on the weak side as he‘s one of the best athletes in the league and he had a good play.”
On when he blocked Stoudemire - “I told him that was a good block and he came right back the next time.”
On if satisfied with the complete game he put on tonight - “Yeah, the last couple of games I‘ve played more at the 3-position as there was a good month and a half where I was playing more power forward when we were trying to go with a small lineup. I struggled quite a bit at that position but now that I‘m playing more small forward when we play teams like Houston and Oklahoma, sometimes you learn that to be on the court, you have to play small. I am getting more minutes at the 3-position as I‘m feeling a lot more comfortable.”
On when he played as the 5-position for a couple of possessions - “Yeah, that happens. When you get these fast paced teams like Oklahoma, Houston and Phoenix tonight, those teams know how to push that ball up pretty quick as they typically play small.”
Tim Duncan
On the game - “Yeah, a great victory. It‘s a game by game thing right now as we have to focus on the next game coming up, getting this win today, and forgetting about last game. Again, we‘re just trying to get back to victories, trying to build up on something as that‘s what we need to do.”
On Richardson's missed dunk - “It was good for us. All year long we feel the ball has been bouncing in the other direction as it feels good when one bounces our direction.”
On if the basketball gods were in the Spurs favor tonight - “They do as that was one time it did. Richardson makes a great play, goes for the breakaway wide open dunk and misses it. It gave us an opportunity, not because of that, but because that play made it easier for us.”
Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry
On the game - “I thought it was a great game. They made the plays down the stretch that got them over the hump. I thought we played well. We did everything that we needed to do. It was that fourth quarter when they went 11 for 16 that broke our backs. We were always playing catch up and we didn’t come up with stops. They (Spurs) played well. Richard Jefferson shot the ball well for them. Ginobili made a couple of plays for them. We were so close to coming up with plays and we didn’t quite get them. You have to give them all the credit. The Spurs did a good job.”
On Jason Richardson missing the game-tying dunk - “It happens. The thing that I say to all of the guys is, ‘That’s a tough play to swallow, but it’s not the play that determines the game.’ There were other plays that we should have made that play counted so much. It’s a glaring play because of when it happened, but you have to look at the entire body of work. For the most part I thought we worked hard. We just didn’t get over the hump.”
Amar’e Stoudemire
On the game - “We didn’t play well enough today. The Spurs came out and played great basket ball. We had a chance to win down the stretch but it was tough. Every time we’ve played the Spurs it’s been close games so sometimes small mistakes catch you in the end.”
On team and personal play - “This game is not a disappointment because I think we played particularly well. We play solid constantly and we were there the entire game. I think we match-up well against the Spurs. I also think as a team we played really well and we just fell a little short.”
On Antonio McDyess - “Antonio shot the ball well from the outside and when he went down with the injury I wasn’t sure he would be back. When he came back he played very well and took advantage of open shots. His rebound was superb and he did a really good job the entire game.”
Jason Richardson
On missing the dunk - “It happens. I went up and just missed the dunk. I don’t like to miss dunks especially during crunch time but sometimes it just happens. You can’t dwell on things like that. We battled back and as a team we did our best. We just came up a little short.”
On his team's play - “When Amar’e got hot we started going to him. He’s one of our key players and we wanted to keep him going. We played our best on that court tonight and to come up short like we did is very frustrating. However we played very good defense and did a lot of things well in this game now we need to re-evaluate and apply these same things to our next game."
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game - “It was a good win for us, obviously against a good team. We played hard for 48 minutes and found a way to make shots. It was also a little good fortune. There was the turnover and the missed dunk; but sometimes, that’s what it takes.”
On Antonio McDyess returning to the game - “I was shocked. I thought he was hurt badly. He had a hyper-extended knee from what I was told. When I put him back in, I couldn’t believe it. The Trainers and Doctors said he was okay and he was.”
When asked about consistency and if they were getting to that point - “Time will tell. We have to play and win games in a row to be consistent. Until then, we’re not.”
On Richard Jefferson - “He’s been aggressive. He’s driving the ball well. He’s driving with the shot and not thinking about things. His defense is better too.”
Richard Jefferson
On the dunk by Amare Stoudemire - “He got a good dunk. I was on the weak side as he‘s one of the best athletes in the league and he had a good play.”
On when he blocked Stoudemire - “I told him that was a good block and he came right back the next time.”
On if satisfied with the complete game he put on tonight - “Yeah, the last couple of games I‘ve played more at the 3-position as there was a good month and a half where I was playing more power forward when we were trying to go with a small lineup. I struggled quite a bit at that position but now that I‘m playing more small forward when we play teams like Houston and Oklahoma, sometimes you learn that to be on the court, you have to play small. I am getting more minutes at the 3-position as I‘m feeling a lot more comfortable.”
On when he played as the 5-position for a couple of possessions - “Yeah, that happens. When you get these fast paced teams like Oklahoma, Houston and Phoenix tonight, those teams know how to push that ball up pretty quick as they typically play small.”
Tim Duncan
On the game - “Yeah, a great victory. It‘s a game by game thing right now as we have to focus on the next game coming up, getting this win today, and forgetting about last game. Again, we‘re just trying to get back to victories, trying to build up on something as that‘s what we need to do.”
On Richardson's missed dunk - “It was good for us. All year long we feel the ball has been bouncing in the other direction as it feels good when one bounces our direction.”
On if the basketball gods were in the Spurs favor tonight - “They do as that was one time it did. Richardson makes a great play, goes for the breakaway wide open dunk and misses it. It gave us an opportunity, not because of that, but because that play made it easier for us.”
Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry
On the game - “I thought it was a great game. They made the plays down the stretch that got them over the hump. I thought we played well. We did everything that we needed to do. It was that fourth quarter when they went 11 for 16 that broke our backs. We were always playing catch up and we didn’t come up with stops. They (Spurs) played well. Richard Jefferson shot the ball well for them. Ginobili made a couple of plays for them. We were so close to coming up with plays and we didn’t quite get them. You have to give them all the credit. The Spurs did a good job.”
On Jason Richardson missing the game-tying dunk - “It happens. The thing that I say to all of the guys is, ‘That’s a tough play to swallow, but it’s not the play that determines the game.’ There were other plays that we should have made that play counted so much. It’s a glaring play because of when it happened, but you have to look at the entire body of work. For the most part I thought we worked hard. We just didn’t get over the hump.”
Amar’e Stoudemire
On the game - “We didn’t play well enough today. The Spurs came out and played great basket ball. We had a chance to win down the stretch but it was tough. Every time we’ve played the Spurs it’s been close games so sometimes small mistakes catch you in the end.”
On team and personal play - “This game is not a disappointment because I think we played particularly well. We play solid constantly and we were there the entire game. I think we match-up well against the Spurs. I also think as a team we played really well and we just fell a little short.”
On Antonio McDyess - “Antonio shot the ball well from the outside and when he went down with the injury I wasn’t sure he would be back. When he came back he played very well and took advantage of open shots. His rebound was superb and he did a really good job the entire game.”
Jason Richardson
On missing the dunk - “It happens. I went up and just missed the dunk. I don’t like to miss dunks especially during crunch time but sometimes it just happens. You can’t dwell on things like that. We battled back and as a team we did our best. We just came up a little short.”
On his team's play - “When Amar’e got hot we started going to him. He’s one of our key players and we wanted to keep him going. We played our best on that court tonight and to come up short like we did is very frustrating. However we played very good defense and did a lot of things well in this game now we need to re-evaluate and apply these same things to our next game."