duncan228
11-07-2010, 12:11 AM
Post Game Quotes (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/101106.html)
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(Opening statement) “I thought we absolutely lost our focus and once you do that it’s tough to get it back. Teams are too good. Houston is a hungry team, they are winless and they are much better than that. They were down some guys, obviously from injury. They were fantastic. Their mental and physical toughness was really impressive in the second half to do what they did. Fortunately at one point, we got back to doing the competing that needs to be done in an NBA game and were fortunate enough to pull it out.”
(On being more aggressive) “We need to be in attack mode all the time. We don’t want to just walk it up the floor. We want to take advantage of some easy buckets here and there. Richard’s very good at that and that helps his game.”
(On the play of Tony Parker, particularly in overtime) “Tony did a wonderful job of making sure he stayed aggressive and didn’t just defer to anybody. When he had opportunities, he took advantage of them. He either made the pass or he scored himself and did a real fine job. Manu helped us hang in for awhile. Timmy helped us hang in for awhile and Tony was great in that situation in overtime.”
Tony Parker
(Opening statement) “We played well for most of the game and then we let them back in. We lost our focus a little bit in the third quarter and then it was hard to get it back. To give them credit, they played well. They played well in the fourth quarter, they made shots, played defense, and we had a hard time to put them away.”
(On his aggressiveness in overtime) “I was trying to be aggressive in the fourth quarter, but it didn’t work. They went on to the pick and rolls and I made a couple shots to stay in the game.”
(On if assists are easier when teammates are making shots) “Yeah, definitely. Richard has been shooting the ball very well with corner threes and he’s running the floor. It makes my job easy and most of my assists were to Richard. He’s playing great.”
(On playing better in overtime) “They went on to the pick and roll and so I was open. I had confidence to take the shot.”
(On if they lost focus with all the injuries to Houston) “We have no excuse. We didn’t play well enough. We let them back in the game and then we had to fight. I’m happy we ended up with a win. This would be tough loss because in March, you would be mad at yourself for losing. I’m happy we won and are learning from it and hopefully we play better next game.”
Manu Ginobili
(On Fabricio Oberto and Luis Scola being at the game) “[Fabricio] and Luis are two of my best friends, so it was a fun night.”
(On how Houston came back from being down) “We let our guard down. We were up 12, Brooks was out, who was giving us some trouble and their leading scorer went down too, so I think we kind of relaxed and their second unit just killed us. Once they went up three, it was a total different ball game. Scola came back in more confident, everybody was feeling good about themselves, and we gave them a great opportunity to beat us. We’re not going to be crying about a loss three months into the season, but we should have played better.”
(On how a loss would hurt late in the season) “We would talking about it in three months, tomorrow, next week, and in a month, so it’s good that we won it. Like we’ve said many times, it wasn’t pretty and we didn’t do a good job, especially defensively. But we hung tough and we won it.”
(On Tony Parker getting hot in overtime) “We needed him. I was getting tired, my shot was not feeling the same way as in the second half, and we needed someone to score. Tony stepped up and scored seven points in overtime, which was huge.”
Rockets Head Coach Rick Adelman
(Opening statement) “We came back in the fourth quarter and had our chance, but couldn’t finish the job.”
(On the status of Aaron Brooks) “No, I don’t know anything about Brooks.”
(On Kevin Martin’s playing status for tomorrow) “I have no information on those two guys at all.”
(On the importance of Ish Smith tonight for the coming games) “We don’t have any point guards, so he’s going to play a big role and he did a great job tonight. He made some good plays and had a great shot at the end of the day to win it. Like we’ve said all along, he’s played well all throughout camp. We’re going to need him. We’re going to need everybody. If we have people out now, we’re going to need everyone to step up. We have a quick turnaround tomorrow. That’s one thing about this league; you don’t get time to think about it, you have to play right away.”
(On the comeback) “I’m proud of the guys the way they played and battled back and had the chance to win. They’re big players; they make big shots. You know Ginobili made shot after shot, Parker made a couple jumpers. We made two crucial mistakes in the overtime and it cost us. There’s no satisfaction losing the game. We need to get a win. It would have been great for those guys to get rewarded, but we didn’t. Like I said, we got to turn around tomorrow.”
(On the dribble hand off to Courtney) “I thought he was open on the back pick and we didn’t throw it. And then Luis got the ball and was dribbling the handoff and they just miscommunicated. Luis started to dribble at him, Courtney stopped and Luis needs to keep the ball at that hand. But you know, it’s a bang, bang play. Chuck needs to make sure he takes care of the ball there, and they took advantage of it.
Ish Smith
(On the end of the game) “We learned a lot. You know, one thing about me, I hate losing. I’m probably going to be thinking about that floater all night long. I just can’t count how many times I practiced it. I feel like I let my teammates down, but if I get put in that situation again, I hope I’m going to make that shot.”
(On preparation for the second half) “The first half I came out knowing that the Spurs have championships upon championships. I’ve been sitting out the last couple of games, and I’ve been feeling a little bit rushed, and I’ve got to make some plays. In the second half, I settled down, coach kept encouraging me, telling me to stay with it and do what you need to do. They noticed I was rushing in the first half, and when I settled down in the second half, I got some better results.”
Shane Battier
(On the results of the game) “You gotta live with the results. It really felt like the first time we’ve got to lay it on the line and put our full spirit into the game. We fall back when things are tough and we’ve got to do our best to be a contender on the road. It was tough making up plays, but we put in our best effort.”
(On the team’s 0-5 record) “We don’t really look at the standings; you could see what out record is. We come to play basketball and feel better about ourselves, and when we do that, wins will come.”
(On the Rockets’ defense) “[Opponents’] offensive rebounding has been a problem. We rebound the ball really well, but that’s been a problem for us these first five games. The second chance points and fast break points have been a problem for us and we need to shore-up in those categories.”
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(Opening statement) “I thought we absolutely lost our focus and once you do that it’s tough to get it back. Teams are too good. Houston is a hungry team, they are winless and they are much better than that. They were down some guys, obviously from injury. They were fantastic. Their mental and physical toughness was really impressive in the second half to do what they did. Fortunately at one point, we got back to doing the competing that needs to be done in an NBA game and were fortunate enough to pull it out.”
(On being more aggressive) “We need to be in attack mode all the time. We don’t want to just walk it up the floor. We want to take advantage of some easy buckets here and there. Richard’s very good at that and that helps his game.”
(On the play of Tony Parker, particularly in overtime) “Tony did a wonderful job of making sure he stayed aggressive and didn’t just defer to anybody. When he had opportunities, he took advantage of them. He either made the pass or he scored himself and did a real fine job. Manu helped us hang in for awhile. Timmy helped us hang in for awhile and Tony was great in that situation in overtime.”
Tony Parker
(Opening statement) “We played well for most of the game and then we let them back in. We lost our focus a little bit in the third quarter and then it was hard to get it back. To give them credit, they played well. They played well in the fourth quarter, they made shots, played defense, and we had a hard time to put them away.”
(On his aggressiveness in overtime) “I was trying to be aggressive in the fourth quarter, but it didn’t work. They went on to the pick and rolls and I made a couple shots to stay in the game.”
(On if assists are easier when teammates are making shots) “Yeah, definitely. Richard has been shooting the ball very well with corner threes and he’s running the floor. It makes my job easy and most of my assists were to Richard. He’s playing great.”
(On playing better in overtime) “They went on to the pick and roll and so I was open. I had confidence to take the shot.”
(On if they lost focus with all the injuries to Houston) “We have no excuse. We didn’t play well enough. We let them back in the game and then we had to fight. I’m happy we ended up with a win. This would be tough loss because in March, you would be mad at yourself for losing. I’m happy we won and are learning from it and hopefully we play better next game.”
Manu Ginobili
(On Fabricio Oberto and Luis Scola being at the game) “[Fabricio] and Luis are two of my best friends, so it was a fun night.”
(On how Houston came back from being down) “We let our guard down. We were up 12, Brooks was out, who was giving us some trouble and their leading scorer went down too, so I think we kind of relaxed and their second unit just killed us. Once they went up three, it was a total different ball game. Scola came back in more confident, everybody was feeling good about themselves, and we gave them a great opportunity to beat us. We’re not going to be crying about a loss three months into the season, but we should have played better.”
(On how a loss would hurt late in the season) “We would talking about it in three months, tomorrow, next week, and in a month, so it’s good that we won it. Like we’ve said many times, it wasn’t pretty and we didn’t do a good job, especially defensively. But we hung tough and we won it.”
(On Tony Parker getting hot in overtime) “We needed him. I was getting tired, my shot was not feeling the same way as in the second half, and we needed someone to score. Tony stepped up and scored seven points in overtime, which was huge.”
Rockets Head Coach Rick Adelman
(Opening statement) “We came back in the fourth quarter and had our chance, but couldn’t finish the job.”
(On the status of Aaron Brooks) “No, I don’t know anything about Brooks.”
(On Kevin Martin’s playing status for tomorrow) “I have no information on those two guys at all.”
(On the importance of Ish Smith tonight for the coming games) “We don’t have any point guards, so he’s going to play a big role and he did a great job tonight. He made some good plays and had a great shot at the end of the day to win it. Like we’ve said all along, he’s played well all throughout camp. We’re going to need him. We’re going to need everybody. If we have people out now, we’re going to need everyone to step up. We have a quick turnaround tomorrow. That’s one thing about this league; you don’t get time to think about it, you have to play right away.”
(On the comeback) “I’m proud of the guys the way they played and battled back and had the chance to win. They’re big players; they make big shots. You know Ginobili made shot after shot, Parker made a couple jumpers. We made two crucial mistakes in the overtime and it cost us. There’s no satisfaction losing the game. We need to get a win. It would have been great for those guys to get rewarded, but we didn’t. Like I said, we got to turn around tomorrow.”
(On the dribble hand off to Courtney) “I thought he was open on the back pick and we didn’t throw it. And then Luis got the ball and was dribbling the handoff and they just miscommunicated. Luis started to dribble at him, Courtney stopped and Luis needs to keep the ball at that hand. But you know, it’s a bang, bang play. Chuck needs to make sure he takes care of the ball there, and they took advantage of it.
Ish Smith
(On the end of the game) “We learned a lot. You know, one thing about me, I hate losing. I’m probably going to be thinking about that floater all night long. I just can’t count how many times I practiced it. I feel like I let my teammates down, but if I get put in that situation again, I hope I’m going to make that shot.”
(On preparation for the second half) “The first half I came out knowing that the Spurs have championships upon championships. I’ve been sitting out the last couple of games, and I’ve been feeling a little bit rushed, and I’ve got to make some plays. In the second half, I settled down, coach kept encouraging me, telling me to stay with it and do what you need to do. They noticed I was rushing in the first half, and when I settled down in the second half, I got some better results.”
Shane Battier
(On the results of the game) “You gotta live with the results. It really felt like the first time we’ve got to lay it on the line and put our full spirit into the game. We fall back when things are tough and we’ve got to do our best to be a contender on the road. It was tough making up plays, but we put in our best effort.”
(On the team’s 0-5 record) “We don’t really look at the standings; you could see what out record is. We come to play basketball and feel better about ourselves, and when we do that, wins will come.”
(On the Rockets’ defense) “[Opponents’] offensive rebounding has been a problem. We rebound the ball really well, but that’s been a problem for us these first five games. The second chance points and fast break points have been a problem for us and we need to shore-up in those categories.”