duncan228
11-11-2010, 03:22 AM
Post Game Quotes (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/101110.html)
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(On how encouraged he is by the 6-1 start) “It doesn’t mean a whole lot. We don’t really look at the record. We’ve had very good records at this point in seasons and poor records at this point. The focus is the quality of the play; the record really doesn’t mean anything.”
(On if he’s satisfied with the defensive effort tonight) “I thought we had periods where we did real well. Like most teams early in the season we’re searching for consistency. It’s a 48 minute game and we’ll have good stops for a while, then we’ll get a little disjointed. It’s all about consistency at both ends of the court.”
(On the defense played on Blake Griffin tonight) “I thought the team defense on Blake (Griffin) was very good. That was probably the best part of our defense tonight. We took the ball out of his hands and we got him to take tough shots and we rotated well behind it. That was one of the bright spots I thought.”
(On Tony Parker’s play on both sides of the ball tonight) “Tony (Parker) has done the best job that he’s ever done here, as far as playing that role between scorer and passer. He came as a scoring guard and we’ve tried to move him another direction a little bit. Not too much, we don’t want to lose his scoring. He has shown great leadership with running the show, distributing the basketball and scoring when it’s appropriate for him. That’s nice to see.”
Manu Ginobili
(On if the team is gelling better now) “I don’t think we played that well today. We shot very well, 11-17 threes. I think we could have played much better against a team that was missing four of their best players. Of course they’re an NBA team and they have players that step up and do good, but we should have done much better.”
(On the Spurs’ 6-1 record) “Last year we were 4-5 or 4-6 and we knew it wasn’t real and we had a lot to improve on. We are in the same situation. Of course we want to go 7-1, but we haven’t played many teams with a lot of wins. It’s important to get some wins though because later in the season we will definitely need them. We’re going to have a good test this Saturday and Sunday with Oklahoma City back to back. It’s going to be an important game.”
(On if he could tell Tim Duncan wasn’t feeling his best tonight) “I really thought he wasn’t going to come. This morning he was feeling sick and we thought he wasn’t going to play, so it was very important for us to see him, knowing that he wasn’t close to 100%. But he gave everything he had and contributed. We weren’t expecting a huge game from him of course, but it was important for the team to see him on the court playing.”
Richard Jefferson
(On his shot) “I had some good looks the other night and the team has been off to a hot start shooting. Tonight I just wanted to come out and be aggressive and not let one game affect my mentality. I want to show that this is the way we’re going to play all season. We’re going to push the ball, attack, shoot open shots and be aggressive.”
(On if he could become the Spurs leading scorer) “I doubt it. You look at guys like Manu and Tony and they have the ball in their hand the majority of the game. My job is to knock down shots when given the opportunity. They’re typically the guys who have the ball and take the most shots. I think I might be third on the team in shot attempts and as the season goes on, that starts to weigh on trying to score. My job is to be aggressive when given the opportunity.”
(On the Spurs 6-1 record considering the schedule) “Pop wanted to have a very intense training camp because he looked at the early schedule and wanted us ready to go. We’re going to be a much better team down the stretch in the next 20 games and the following 20. If you look at the way we started out last year, we had a lot of new guys and everyone was trying to figure things out, but we were losing to teams that we probably shouldn’t have lost to. Then finally in the final 30 games of the season, we got it going. So here we’re giving ourselves a little bit more of a cushion to start the season because we’re ready and guys understand their roles a little bit better.”
(On how encouraging it is to see Tim Duncan play tonight) “It would take a whole lot to keep Tim off the court. I was surprised to not see him in shootaround, but I figured he would definitely be at the game and that if there was an opportunity for him to play, he would be out there.”
Head Coach Vinny Delnegro
(On how the young guys played) “I thought they battled. We made six turnovers in the third quarter, that hurt us, but I thought we battled. We changed up some things defensively, tried to throw them off a little bit, but the Spurs have great experience. They are going to manage that. We got them to the free throw line too much and we didn’t get to the free throw line enough, but I like the way our guys fought. We had some different match-ups in there with the injuries that we had. Nothing’s going to come easy for us right now, we just have to stay together and handle the adversity. We have to keep battling and growing. We’re getting a lot of young guys, a lot of quality men. Hopefully that will serve us well as the season moves on. ”
(On getting to the free throw line) “San Antonio does a good job. (Tim) Duncan’s back there zoning up, it’s hard to get it over the top of him. (DeJuan) Blair’s a physical guy, (Antonio) McDyess knows how to play, and (Manu) Ginobili and (Tony) Parker do a good job at penetration. They are a quality veteran team that knows how to play. They took some lanes away from us, but the ball handlers we have out, other than Eric (Bledsoe) and Willie (Warren) a little bit are the only guys that can break some guys off to dribble. Mostly Eric, but Willie did a good job. I thought Craig (Smith) did a good job. All in all, a good team and effort, not what we want with the final result, but I’m pleased with the way we battled. It’s a good growth process for us. It’s not easy. No one likes to lose, but we got to keep our head up and no one’s going to feel sorry for you. We have to keep grinding it out, and hopefully get some luck going in our favor with the injuries and the schedule and everything that goes on in the NBA season.”
(On Blake Griffin’s struggles) “I thought he had some shots he could have taken, but he was hesitant and backed down. Tim (Duncan) is so long and (DeJuan) Blair was so strong, but Blake was aggressive. We ran a lot of the offensive to him, especially in the first half and partially in the second half. He missed some shots he usually makes, but he’s young, he’s trying to feel his way out there. Our spacing has to be a little bit better to give him some outlets, which we work on all the time. The guy’s got to make shots. Blake’s going to have ups and downs. He’s a rookie, he’s young. We’re giving him the ball a lot, and he’s going to have some games like that. You never can fault his effort, his attitude, and his approach with things because he just wants to get better.”
(On the 3 minutes left in game and the time out) “The fourth quarter is when you have to impose your will defensively and execute offensively. You know the Spurs are going to do that. They’ve been through a lot of games and they’ve been together a long time. Our execution has to get smoother, but I like the way the guys battled. We made mistakes, but the effort was there, the hustle, the energy. I’m pleased with that. We’re giving young guys good time and experience which is great. We just have to clean some things up and stay together, not point fingers, not get down, handle the adversity in the NBA season. Like I always say, ‘If it was easy, everyone would do it, but it’s not.’ It’s hard and you’re playing against a team with great experience.”
Rasual Butler
(On what was the team thinking at the end of the game) “We felt like we were in the game. We wanted to try and make a push, but we couldn’t get the stops that we needed. We had a couple opportunities to score the ball, they played pretty good defense. We had our opportunities in the clutch, we just need to work on completing those plays.”
(On what it says about the team being able to hang in there) “We are starting to show how much toughness we have as a team, how much grit we have and that’s going to be our foundation that we build on.”
(On how the team tried to adjust to Tony Parker’s play tonight) “You got to try and keep him out the paint as much as possible. For the last few years he has been leading the league in paint scorers, so trying to contain as much as possible and making sure we try to guard him with five guys. He’s a handful.”
Blake Griffin
(On the reasons for his off shooting tonight) “I just missed shots tonight, wide open shots. It was just one of those nights I just couldn’t get it going.”
(On what the close game at the end says about the team) “We fought in almost every game we have played. We fought hard, we just need to do a better job of finishing it out. ”
(On what it was that the Spurs did in the final 3 minutes that caused them to pull away) “ It wasn’t a whole lot that they did. The game just kind of got away from us.”
(On why they called a technical foul on him at the end of the game)“He said I bounce-passed it too hard to the ref.”
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(On how encouraged he is by the 6-1 start) “It doesn’t mean a whole lot. We don’t really look at the record. We’ve had very good records at this point in seasons and poor records at this point. The focus is the quality of the play; the record really doesn’t mean anything.”
(On if he’s satisfied with the defensive effort tonight) “I thought we had periods where we did real well. Like most teams early in the season we’re searching for consistency. It’s a 48 minute game and we’ll have good stops for a while, then we’ll get a little disjointed. It’s all about consistency at both ends of the court.”
(On the defense played on Blake Griffin tonight) “I thought the team defense on Blake (Griffin) was very good. That was probably the best part of our defense tonight. We took the ball out of his hands and we got him to take tough shots and we rotated well behind it. That was one of the bright spots I thought.”
(On Tony Parker’s play on both sides of the ball tonight) “Tony (Parker) has done the best job that he’s ever done here, as far as playing that role between scorer and passer. He came as a scoring guard and we’ve tried to move him another direction a little bit. Not too much, we don’t want to lose his scoring. He has shown great leadership with running the show, distributing the basketball and scoring when it’s appropriate for him. That’s nice to see.”
Manu Ginobili
(On if the team is gelling better now) “I don’t think we played that well today. We shot very well, 11-17 threes. I think we could have played much better against a team that was missing four of their best players. Of course they’re an NBA team and they have players that step up and do good, but we should have done much better.”
(On the Spurs’ 6-1 record) “Last year we were 4-5 or 4-6 and we knew it wasn’t real and we had a lot to improve on. We are in the same situation. Of course we want to go 7-1, but we haven’t played many teams with a lot of wins. It’s important to get some wins though because later in the season we will definitely need them. We’re going to have a good test this Saturday and Sunday with Oklahoma City back to back. It’s going to be an important game.”
(On if he could tell Tim Duncan wasn’t feeling his best tonight) “I really thought he wasn’t going to come. This morning he was feeling sick and we thought he wasn’t going to play, so it was very important for us to see him, knowing that he wasn’t close to 100%. But he gave everything he had and contributed. We weren’t expecting a huge game from him of course, but it was important for the team to see him on the court playing.”
Richard Jefferson
(On his shot) “I had some good looks the other night and the team has been off to a hot start shooting. Tonight I just wanted to come out and be aggressive and not let one game affect my mentality. I want to show that this is the way we’re going to play all season. We’re going to push the ball, attack, shoot open shots and be aggressive.”
(On if he could become the Spurs leading scorer) “I doubt it. You look at guys like Manu and Tony and they have the ball in their hand the majority of the game. My job is to knock down shots when given the opportunity. They’re typically the guys who have the ball and take the most shots. I think I might be third on the team in shot attempts and as the season goes on, that starts to weigh on trying to score. My job is to be aggressive when given the opportunity.”
(On the Spurs 6-1 record considering the schedule) “Pop wanted to have a very intense training camp because he looked at the early schedule and wanted us ready to go. We’re going to be a much better team down the stretch in the next 20 games and the following 20. If you look at the way we started out last year, we had a lot of new guys and everyone was trying to figure things out, but we were losing to teams that we probably shouldn’t have lost to. Then finally in the final 30 games of the season, we got it going. So here we’re giving ourselves a little bit more of a cushion to start the season because we’re ready and guys understand their roles a little bit better.”
(On how encouraging it is to see Tim Duncan play tonight) “It would take a whole lot to keep Tim off the court. I was surprised to not see him in shootaround, but I figured he would definitely be at the game and that if there was an opportunity for him to play, he would be out there.”
Head Coach Vinny Delnegro
(On how the young guys played) “I thought they battled. We made six turnovers in the third quarter, that hurt us, but I thought we battled. We changed up some things defensively, tried to throw them off a little bit, but the Spurs have great experience. They are going to manage that. We got them to the free throw line too much and we didn’t get to the free throw line enough, but I like the way our guys fought. We had some different match-ups in there with the injuries that we had. Nothing’s going to come easy for us right now, we just have to stay together and handle the adversity. We have to keep battling and growing. We’re getting a lot of young guys, a lot of quality men. Hopefully that will serve us well as the season moves on. ”
(On getting to the free throw line) “San Antonio does a good job. (Tim) Duncan’s back there zoning up, it’s hard to get it over the top of him. (DeJuan) Blair’s a physical guy, (Antonio) McDyess knows how to play, and (Manu) Ginobili and (Tony) Parker do a good job at penetration. They are a quality veteran team that knows how to play. They took some lanes away from us, but the ball handlers we have out, other than Eric (Bledsoe) and Willie (Warren) a little bit are the only guys that can break some guys off to dribble. Mostly Eric, but Willie did a good job. I thought Craig (Smith) did a good job. All in all, a good team and effort, not what we want with the final result, but I’m pleased with the way we battled. It’s a good growth process for us. It’s not easy. No one likes to lose, but we got to keep our head up and no one’s going to feel sorry for you. We have to keep grinding it out, and hopefully get some luck going in our favor with the injuries and the schedule and everything that goes on in the NBA season.”
(On Blake Griffin’s struggles) “I thought he had some shots he could have taken, but he was hesitant and backed down. Tim (Duncan) is so long and (DeJuan) Blair was so strong, but Blake was aggressive. We ran a lot of the offensive to him, especially in the first half and partially in the second half. He missed some shots he usually makes, but he’s young, he’s trying to feel his way out there. Our spacing has to be a little bit better to give him some outlets, which we work on all the time. The guy’s got to make shots. Blake’s going to have ups and downs. He’s a rookie, he’s young. We’re giving him the ball a lot, and he’s going to have some games like that. You never can fault his effort, his attitude, and his approach with things because he just wants to get better.”
(On the 3 minutes left in game and the time out) “The fourth quarter is when you have to impose your will defensively and execute offensively. You know the Spurs are going to do that. They’ve been through a lot of games and they’ve been together a long time. Our execution has to get smoother, but I like the way the guys battled. We made mistakes, but the effort was there, the hustle, the energy. I’m pleased with that. We’re giving young guys good time and experience which is great. We just have to clean some things up and stay together, not point fingers, not get down, handle the adversity in the NBA season. Like I always say, ‘If it was easy, everyone would do it, but it’s not.’ It’s hard and you’re playing against a team with great experience.”
Rasual Butler
(On what was the team thinking at the end of the game) “We felt like we were in the game. We wanted to try and make a push, but we couldn’t get the stops that we needed. We had a couple opportunities to score the ball, they played pretty good defense. We had our opportunities in the clutch, we just need to work on completing those plays.”
(On what it says about the team being able to hang in there) “We are starting to show how much toughness we have as a team, how much grit we have and that’s going to be our foundation that we build on.”
(On how the team tried to adjust to Tony Parker’s play tonight) “You got to try and keep him out the paint as much as possible. For the last few years he has been leading the league in paint scorers, so trying to contain as much as possible and making sure we try to guard him with five guys. He’s a handful.”
Blake Griffin
(On the reasons for his off shooting tonight) “I just missed shots tonight, wide open shots. It was just one of those nights I just couldn’t get it going.”
(On what the close game at the end says about the team) “We fought in almost every game we have played. We fought hard, we just need to do a better job of finishing it out. ”
(On what it was that the Spurs did in the final 3 minutes that caused them to pull away) “ It wasn’t a whole lot that they did. The game just kind of got away from us.”
(On why they called a technical foul on him at the end of the game)“He said I bounce-passed it too hard to the ref.”