duncan228
03-09-2010, 12:12 AM
Post Game Quotes (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/100308.html)
Gregg Popovich
(On the keys down the stretch with game tied at 85): "Turnovers. We didn't execute, we turned it over a couple of times down the stretch. We missed a couple of shots, it's a bad combination – missed shots and turning it over at the same time down the stretch. For us, that was the ballgame."
(On not having Tony Parker tonight): "The absence of people is irrelevant. We had some people missing, they had people missing, you have to go and play the game. "
(On the last 3-point attempt by Roger Mason, was that the shot?): "Yeah, he was wide open. He was the guy to go to. That's what he does."
(On first half problems): "Defensive transition was really poor in the first half. I thought we did a horrible job with that and we gave away 8, 10, 12 points just because they ran it right down our throat and our transition was God-awful. That was the worst part of the whole game."
(On Manu Ginobili's shot that was ruled a 2-point field goal): "There wasn't anything called there, that was just a lucky situation. Manu had a great game and he knocked down another one just out of his own competitiveness. It was not his fault that his foot was on the line, he was scrambling around and just tried to get a shot off. That doesn't bother me at all. He's a competitor that's just ridiculous."
Manu Ginobili
(On tonight): "We had a great opportunity, not many teams can come in here and win. LeBron wasn't playing, Shaq wasn't there and Jamison didn't play the second half, so we blew a big one, so we are kind of upset with that."
(On his performance): "I made shots. The first five minutes, I made three threes, so the rim started to look bigger and everything looks easier. I haven't had that many opportunities to make shots this year, so once it happened, it felt great."
(On his field goal that was ruled a 2-point basket): "That last one is a tough play. I thought I stepped back, I knew I was on the line, but that's why I stepped back. I was pretty sure it was a three, but then I saw (official) Joey Crawford asking for a review and he looked pretty sure. So sad, because it was a tough shot and the whole game changed because we had to start fouling and they made their free throws. The replay was pretty clear for only one inch, but I could tell that I steeped on it."
(On the last 3-point attempt by Mason, was it a called play): "Yep, it was a great play for our best shooter. They contested, but that's a shot that Roger usually makes. That was not a problem. He shoots 40 percent usually. We messed up way before. We had a five-point advantage with a few minutes to go and we blew it."
Roger Mason
(On his last 3-point attempt that would have tied the game): "I was hoping that I got a chance to make up for some easy shots for me that I missed throughout the game. It's one of those games where it didn't bounce my way. Like Pop told me, the percentages are kind of with me as far as threes go. He said that to me at some point in the game. There's games where it doesn't necessarily go your way, you have to have enough mental strength to fight through it."
(On Cavs defense in fourth quarter): "They kept playing and I think they were contesting shots well. They got a big offensive rebound and that was a big play for them. They made plays down the stretch and you have to give them credit. But, it's also a sour feeling, we know we could have played better."
Mike Brown
(On fighting through injuries): "It was a good win by our group. I thought that after Antawn went out, our guys could have dropped their heads and said ‘forget about it, let's just play these guys close and we will go on about our business'. But, they were pretty resilient throughout the rest of the game, even when Antawn went out, and that was good to see."
(On everyone contributing and scoring tonight): "I thought that offensively we had nice balance. Nobody really had a huge, huge game, but the balance was there. We had six different guys in double figures, which was big for us because we needed every point from everybody. We went to different guys at different times throughout the course of the game. For a stretch there, we went to Jawad in the post and he came through for us."
(On hitting big free throws down the stretch): "I thought that down the stretch, we had guys step up and knock down some big free throws. I thought that J.J.'s free throws with 1:05 (left in the game) and we're down one (were huge). For him to step up to the free throw line after making a strong move to the hole was very good. He knocked them both down with some great confidence and that was great to see. Mo knocked down two big free throws in the end and the same with Andy. It was great to see our guys step up to the free throw line and knock it down."
(On what he wanted to see out of the team while LeBron was out of the lineup): "The one thing that you always look for is effort. You look for effort on both ends of the floor and I thought that we got that tonight, and I thought that we got it for the most part in the Milwaukee game too. The second thing that you look for is you want to make sure that the guys keep trusting one another. On both ends of the floor, you don't have anybody go solo and try to take the game over themselves. You want to try and get whatever you can out of the flow and if you're rolling, great. If not, then you have got some capable teammates. That trust factor was a big thing for me and I thought we got it in both games."
Maurice Williams
(On the importance of this win): "Without LeBron, Shaq and Antawn for the second half, that's three main guys. I think a lot of guys stepped up, starting with Jawad. J.J. did a terrific job and Andy did a terrific job on Tim down the stretch. I thought collectively we made plays down the stretch. We so often get the ball to LeBron and play through him. We did a good job today of finding a way…Guys came through and made plays. Defensively we got stops down the stretch. Even though Manu (Ginobili) got it going, I thought when we needed to get a big stop, we got it."
(On bouncing back from the Milwaukee game): "After the game in Milwaukee, you just have to put that game behind you. Mentally you have to get prepared. It's not really a physical thing at that point. Mentally I just had to put it behind me and go forward. I'm not going to have too many games like that…The younger you are, the harder it is to put it behind you. I learned from John Stockton. When I first got in the league he had just retired. When he use to come back to Utah, one thing he use to say is ‘whatever you do, forget the last play. Play forward and play for the next play', and that is what I try and do. If I miss a shot, I just play for the next play just as if I was three for three. That's how you can be successful in this league and the older you get, the better you are able to understand that. I think I'm at a point in my career where I'm crossing that bridge where I can put a game like that behind me and can come out and be successful the next game."
Antawn Jamison
(On the injury): "It got to the point where it wasn't painful, but I couldn't get into the motion I needed in order to push off the way I need to. I could of played through it if it was that type of game, but needed to take precautions and begin to rehab it. It's not (something I've had a lot before). I had it slightly a month into when the season got started, but was able to play through it. It just took treatment, ice, stem and things of that nature. It's not anything to really be worried about. It just really tightened up on me in the third quarter and I wasn't able to get the range of motion."
Gregg Popovich
(On the keys down the stretch with game tied at 85): "Turnovers. We didn't execute, we turned it over a couple of times down the stretch. We missed a couple of shots, it's a bad combination – missed shots and turning it over at the same time down the stretch. For us, that was the ballgame."
(On not having Tony Parker tonight): "The absence of people is irrelevant. We had some people missing, they had people missing, you have to go and play the game. "
(On the last 3-point attempt by Roger Mason, was that the shot?): "Yeah, he was wide open. He was the guy to go to. That's what he does."
(On first half problems): "Defensive transition was really poor in the first half. I thought we did a horrible job with that and we gave away 8, 10, 12 points just because they ran it right down our throat and our transition was God-awful. That was the worst part of the whole game."
(On Manu Ginobili's shot that was ruled a 2-point field goal): "There wasn't anything called there, that was just a lucky situation. Manu had a great game and he knocked down another one just out of his own competitiveness. It was not his fault that his foot was on the line, he was scrambling around and just tried to get a shot off. That doesn't bother me at all. He's a competitor that's just ridiculous."
Manu Ginobili
(On tonight): "We had a great opportunity, not many teams can come in here and win. LeBron wasn't playing, Shaq wasn't there and Jamison didn't play the second half, so we blew a big one, so we are kind of upset with that."
(On his performance): "I made shots. The first five minutes, I made three threes, so the rim started to look bigger and everything looks easier. I haven't had that many opportunities to make shots this year, so once it happened, it felt great."
(On his field goal that was ruled a 2-point basket): "That last one is a tough play. I thought I stepped back, I knew I was on the line, but that's why I stepped back. I was pretty sure it was a three, but then I saw (official) Joey Crawford asking for a review and he looked pretty sure. So sad, because it was a tough shot and the whole game changed because we had to start fouling and they made their free throws. The replay was pretty clear for only one inch, but I could tell that I steeped on it."
(On the last 3-point attempt by Mason, was it a called play): "Yep, it was a great play for our best shooter. They contested, but that's a shot that Roger usually makes. That was not a problem. He shoots 40 percent usually. We messed up way before. We had a five-point advantage with a few minutes to go and we blew it."
Roger Mason
(On his last 3-point attempt that would have tied the game): "I was hoping that I got a chance to make up for some easy shots for me that I missed throughout the game. It's one of those games where it didn't bounce my way. Like Pop told me, the percentages are kind of with me as far as threes go. He said that to me at some point in the game. There's games where it doesn't necessarily go your way, you have to have enough mental strength to fight through it."
(On Cavs defense in fourth quarter): "They kept playing and I think they were contesting shots well. They got a big offensive rebound and that was a big play for them. They made plays down the stretch and you have to give them credit. But, it's also a sour feeling, we know we could have played better."
Mike Brown
(On fighting through injuries): "It was a good win by our group. I thought that after Antawn went out, our guys could have dropped their heads and said ‘forget about it, let's just play these guys close and we will go on about our business'. But, they were pretty resilient throughout the rest of the game, even when Antawn went out, and that was good to see."
(On everyone contributing and scoring tonight): "I thought that offensively we had nice balance. Nobody really had a huge, huge game, but the balance was there. We had six different guys in double figures, which was big for us because we needed every point from everybody. We went to different guys at different times throughout the course of the game. For a stretch there, we went to Jawad in the post and he came through for us."
(On hitting big free throws down the stretch): "I thought that down the stretch, we had guys step up and knock down some big free throws. I thought that J.J.'s free throws with 1:05 (left in the game) and we're down one (were huge). For him to step up to the free throw line after making a strong move to the hole was very good. He knocked them both down with some great confidence and that was great to see. Mo knocked down two big free throws in the end and the same with Andy. It was great to see our guys step up to the free throw line and knock it down."
(On what he wanted to see out of the team while LeBron was out of the lineup): "The one thing that you always look for is effort. You look for effort on both ends of the floor and I thought that we got that tonight, and I thought that we got it for the most part in the Milwaukee game too. The second thing that you look for is you want to make sure that the guys keep trusting one another. On both ends of the floor, you don't have anybody go solo and try to take the game over themselves. You want to try and get whatever you can out of the flow and if you're rolling, great. If not, then you have got some capable teammates. That trust factor was a big thing for me and I thought we got it in both games."
Maurice Williams
(On the importance of this win): "Without LeBron, Shaq and Antawn for the second half, that's three main guys. I think a lot of guys stepped up, starting with Jawad. J.J. did a terrific job and Andy did a terrific job on Tim down the stretch. I thought collectively we made plays down the stretch. We so often get the ball to LeBron and play through him. We did a good job today of finding a way…Guys came through and made plays. Defensively we got stops down the stretch. Even though Manu (Ginobili) got it going, I thought when we needed to get a big stop, we got it."
(On bouncing back from the Milwaukee game): "After the game in Milwaukee, you just have to put that game behind you. Mentally you have to get prepared. It's not really a physical thing at that point. Mentally I just had to put it behind me and go forward. I'm not going to have too many games like that…The younger you are, the harder it is to put it behind you. I learned from John Stockton. When I first got in the league he had just retired. When he use to come back to Utah, one thing he use to say is ‘whatever you do, forget the last play. Play forward and play for the next play', and that is what I try and do. If I miss a shot, I just play for the next play just as if I was three for three. That's how you can be successful in this league and the older you get, the better you are able to understand that. I think I'm at a point in my career where I'm crossing that bridge where I can put a game like that behind me and can come out and be successful the next game."
Antawn Jamison
(On the injury): "It got to the point where it wasn't painful, but I couldn't get into the motion I needed in order to push off the way I need to. I could of played through it if it was that type of game, but needed to take precautions and begin to rehab it. It's not (something I've had a lot before). I had it slightly a month into when the season got started, but was able to play through it. It just took treatment, ice, stem and things of that nature. It's not anything to really be worried about. It just really tightened up on me in the third quarter and I wasn't able to get the range of motion."