duncan228
11-14-2010, 12:02 AM
Post Game Quotes (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/101113.html)
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(On the defensive effort tonight by the Spurs) “I thought for 48 minutes we played with a lot of energy. We played good team defense with a lot of good individual efforts defensively. We took care of the ball pretty well. Against them that was one of the key points for us; that worked out well.”
(On this being an optimal situation before the second game of a back-to-back) “Of course, if you get a chance to rest some people on a back-to-back that’s always a good thing.”
(On seeing the newer players on the court tonight) “Whenever you can play guys that haven’t gotten as many minutes you get a good look at them. They get to learn a little bit more about the system, because no matter how you slice it they need to play.”
(On Gary Neal tonight) “I like Gary (Neal) in every game, because he plays with toughness, he sticks his nose in and he’s aggressive at both ends of the floor.”
(On Tony Parker tonight) “I thought he had an excellent game. I thought it might have been his best game. When you combine the aggressiveness on the offensive and the attention to detail and the tenacity defensively against some good scoring guards, I thought he did a fine job.”
Manu Ginobili
(On sitting out in the fourth quarter) “It was good, especially considering we play tomorrow at a tough arena against a very athletic young team. I always prefer playing, but thinking ahead, this was important for us.”
(On if this was the game they wanted before playing Oklahoma City tomorrow) “Yeah, of course. We knew it was a possibility, but so far we haven’t been able to do it to anybody. First half was very good offensively, but defensively, we were not as sharp. The third quarter was great and that gave us a chance to sit many of our starters.”
(On if this is the best overall game so far this season) “Yeah, maybe. I think offensively we were very good. For three quarters, we moved the ball very well, shared, and made shots. Defensively, part of the first half wasn’t that good though.”
(On if it was good to see DeJuan Blair play better tonight) “Yeah, we need help from everybody. We need DB, we need Tiago, we need Gary Neal. These kind of games are important for the guys that don’t play much to get confident and to play our system.”
(On the play of Tony Parker tonight) “Today, he was unbelievable. He started the game finishing great, finding open teammates, and doing everything almost perfectly. The last few games, he did so too. It’s great to see him play like that. It’s one of the reasons that we have this kind of record. He attacked the rim very well, he used the pick and roll to take some jumpers, so it was a very good overall performance against a team that’s always been there against every opponent.”
DeJuan Blair
(On if it feels good to break out offensively tonight) “Yeah, it really does. I just have to be consistent now. I finally got my break and now I just have to keep going. Through the ups and downs, I’m going to keep playing and try to win.”
(On focusing on defense against Elton Brand to get into the game) “Elton’s a man. He’s amazing. That’s who I looked up to when I was coming up and right now he’s just amazing. It was good to get my groove against him. He made a couple shots and I started playing around a little bit and I got the edge there.”
(On only having one double-double this year) “This was the first one of the year, but knowing me, I’m still getting adapted to playing the four with Tim. Once me and him get the groove of grabbing rebounds together, instead of one getting 10 and one getting four, it’s going to be amazing. We’re just going to keep playing and however the game goes, it goes. I’m not worried about double-doubles, it’s just all about winning right now.”
76ers Head Coach Doug Collins
(On the game.) “Well, I said we got to keep those guards out of the paint. I think at the end of three quarters, they had 42 points… That is a championship level team. They really looked good. They had three days rest and they just jumped all over us. They were great.”
(On game plan when down by 30.) “Just let them play. I don’t put starters back into the game like that; let those other guys get out there and get some minutes, and that’s really our main thing. They could have beaten us by 60 tonight if Pop (Popovich) wanted to.”
(On Evan Turner’s struggles.) “He’s got to learn about traveling in the NBA, knowing how to stay on schedule, and it’s a new experience. You’re talking about two championship level guards those guys are playing against. It’s a big growth to step into the NBA and all of a sudden, you’re on a road trip and you’re playing in Oklahoma City Wednesday, and then you travel. You got Dallas and you fly and get in late and you got to learn how to handle how to tell the difference from college, where you play every four days. It’s a part of the growth experience and Evan (Turner) will be fine. Tonight playing against (Manu) Ginobili, he saw greatness.”
Andres Nocioni
(On his frustrations in the third quarter…) “We didn’t run the offense really well. The San Antonio Spurs are a great team and they played good defense on us and we just stopped playing. I think we need to learn. We need to try and play our game and run the floor. We need to try to run our plays, and we didn’t today so that’s why we lost the way we lost.”
“Usually as a team we fight until the end. We fight the whole game. In the third quarter it looked like we lost hope and control of the game. We need to work together and be together right now. It’s just one loss and we need to just think about the next game. We are on the road again in Cleveland and we need to win that game. Right now it’s just really important to try and stick together.”
Elton Brand
(On their effort tonight) “We just need to give a full team effort for a full 48 minutes.”
(On the Spurs hitting hard early on) “They hit us early by attacking that basket. Parker and Ginobili were wreaking havoc. It’s not just on the guards. It’s a team effort. If the guards can’t stop them, the big guys gotta step up and stop them. Our forwards gotta step up and make them do something else. They were just in our paint scoring all night. The second unit came in and did a good job and got us back in the game. Our starting unit…we didn’t play that well coming out in the third quarter.”
(On Nocioni’s frustration in the third) “We didn’t execute. You look at the Spurs and they executed, even in late in the game when they were up 20 and 25, they still executed. We certainly didn’t.”
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(On the defensive effort tonight by the Spurs) “I thought for 48 minutes we played with a lot of energy. We played good team defense with a lot of good individual efforts defensively. We took care of the ball pretty well. Against them that was one of the key points for us; that worked out well.”
(On this being an optimal situation before the second game of a back-to-back) “Of course, if you get a chance to rest some people on a back-to-back that’s always a good thing.”
(On seeing the newer players on the court tonight) “Whenever you can play guys that haven’t gotten as many minutes you get a good look at them. They get to learn a little bit more about the system, because no matter how you slice it they need to play.”
(On Gary Neal tonight) “I like Gary (Neal) in every game, because he plays with toughness, he sticks his nose in and he’s aggressive at both ends of the floor.”
(On Tony Parker tonight) “I thought he had an excellent game. I thought it might have been his best game. When you combine the aggressiveness on the offensive and the attention to detail and the tenacity defensively against some good scoring guards, I thought he did a fine job.”
Manu Ginobili
(On sitting out in the fourth quarter) “It was good, especially considering we play tomorrow at a tough arena against a very athletic young team. I always prefer playing, but thinking ahead, this was important for us.”
(On if this was the game they wanted before playing Oklahoma City tomorrow) “Yeah, of course. We knew it was a possibility, but so far we haven’t been able to do it to anybody. First half was very good offensively, but defensively, we were not as sharp. The third quarter was great and that gave us a chance to sit many of our starters.”
(On if this is the best overall game so far this season) “Yeah, maybe. I think offensively we were very good. For three quarters, we moved the ball very well, shared, and made shots. Defensively, part of the first half wasn’t that good though.”
(On if it was good to see DeJuan Blair play better tonight) “Yeah, we need help from everybody. We need DB, we need Tiago, we need Gary Neal. These kind of games are important for the guys that don’t play much to get confident and to play our system.”
(On the play of Tony Parker tonight) “Today, he was unbelievable. He started the game finishing great, finding open teammates, and doing everything almost perfectly. The last few games, he did so too. It’s great to see him play like that. It’s one of the reasons that we have this kind of record. He attacked the rim very well, he used the pick and roll to take some jumpers, so it was a very good overall performance against a team that’s always been there against every opponent.”
DeJuan Blair
(On if it feels good to break out offensively tonight) “Yeah, it really does. I just have to be consistent now. I finally got my break and now I just have to keep going. Through the ups and downs, I’m going to keep playing and try to win.”
(On focusing on defense against Elton Brand to get into the game) “Elton’s a man. He’s amazing. That’s who I looked up to when I was coming up and right now he’s just amazing. It was good to get my groove against him. He made a couple shots and I started playing around a little bit and I got the edge there.”
(On only having one double-double this year) “This was the first one of the year, but knowing me, I’m still getting adapted to playing the four with Tim. Once me and him get the groove of grabbing rebounds together, instead of one getting 10 and one getting four, it’s going to be amazing. We’re just going to keep playing and however the game goes, it goes. I’m not worried about double-doubles, it’s just all about winning right now.”
76ers Head Coach Doug Collins
(On the game.) “Well, I said we got to keep those guards out of the paint. I think at the end of three quarters, they had 42 points… That is a championship level team. They really looked good. They had three days rest and they just jumped all over us. They were great.”
(On game plan when down by 30.) “Just let them play. I don’t put starters back into the game like that; let those other guys get out there and get some minutes, and that’s really our main thing. They could have beaten us by 60 tonight if Pop (Popovich) wanted to.”
(On Evan Turner’s struggles.) “He’s got to learn about traveling in the NBA, knowing how to stay on schedule, and it’s a new experience. You’re talking about two championship level guards those guys are playing against. It’s a big growth to step into the NBA and all of a sudden, you’re on a road trip and you’re playing in Oklahoma City Wednesday, and then you travel. You got Dallas and you fly and get in late and you got to learn how to handle how to tell the difference from college, where you play every four days. It’s a part of the growth experience and Evan (Turner) will be fine. Tonight playing against (Manu) Ginobili, he saw greatness.”
Andres Nocioni
(On his frustrations in the third quarter…) “We didn’t run the offense really well. The San Antonio Spurs are a great team and they played good defense on us and we just stopped playing. I think we need to learn. We need to try and play our game and run the floor. We need to try to run our plays, and we didn’t today so that’s why we lost the way we lost.”
“Usually as a team we fight until the end. We fight the whole game. In the third quarter it looked like we lost hope and control of the game. We need to work together and be together right now. It’s just one loss and we need to just think about the next game. We are on the road again in Cleveland and we need to win that game. Right now it’s just really important to try and stick together.”
Elton Brand
(On their effort tonight) “We just need to give a full team effort for a full 48 minutes.”
(On the Spurs hitting hard early on) “They hit us early by attacking that basket. Parker and Ginobili were wreaking havoc. It’s not just on the guards. It’s a team effort. If the guards can’t stop them, the big guys gotta step up and stop them. Our forwards gotta step up and make them do something else. They were just in our paint scoring all night. The second unit came in and did a good job and got us back in the game. Our starting unit…we didn’t play that well coming out in the third quarter.”
(On Nocioni’s frustration in the third) “We didn’t execute. You look at the Spurs and they executed, even in late in the game when they were up 20 and 25, they still executed. We certainly didn’t.”