duncan228
12-09-2010, 12:21 AM
Post-Game Quotes (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/101208.html)
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(On DeJuan Blair tonight)
“I thought Dejuan (Blair) played a complete game tonight. He’s out there to play defense, rebound and run the floor and to go to the offensively board, I thought he did that very well. He also got comfortable offensively, he made a couple of great moves and he got to go to the line and score a little bit; that’s always good.”
(On Tiago Splitter tonight)
“Tiago (Splitter) is a tough customer. He really rebounds hard and he plays hard defense. He’s probably one of the most aware players, as far as taking charges and understanding what’s going on on the court. He does a good job.”
(On playing each starter no more than 30 minutes tonight)
“Well hopefully we’re putting something in the bank when we need guys to play 38 or 42 minutes. You also don’t want to get sloppy and lose execution, mental focus those kinds of things. You don’t want that to happen all the time.”
(On the ball movement on the offensive end tonight)
“I thought everyone did a really good job of finding the open man. Being aggressive but understanding that teammates were open and making the easy pass to the next guy. I thought everybody did that very well.”
Tony Parker
(Opening statement)
“I thought we did a great job defensively. DeJuan was great tonight, he creates a lot of easy baskets and a lot of easy offense, so I thought tonight was a great effort on defense.”
[B](On none of the starters playing 30 minutes)
“I’ll take it, especially early in the season. It’s some good rest. We have a lot of games coming up, so every time we can rest I think that’s a good thing. I saw some great stuff from everybody. It was a great team effort.”
(On scoring and assisting tonight)
“I was trying to do a little bit of both. When it was open, I went for my teardrop or my jumpshot, but when it was closing, my teammates made some shots, Richard [Jefferson], Manu [Ginobili], Matty , a lot of open shots.”
[B](On if he knew about Warriors Forward Reggie Williams)
“Yeah a little about from the first game. They were saying he’s a great scorer and we saw that tonight. He scored the ball very well tonight and shot the ball well.”
(On Coach Pop still calling timeouts even with a 17-point lead)
“I’m used to it after 10 years. I’m not surprised. He just wants to make sure we stay focused and we don’t take anything for granted. He’s always been like that.”
(On the 18-3 start)
“It’s great, we talked about it a lot before the season. We just try to play well at home and win as many games as we can because we know the second part of our schedule, there’s going to be a lot of games on the road.”
George Hill
(On if the win was generated by defense)
“Very much. It’s something we try to do a lot. We try to get everybody running. It’s good to see everybody running, especially the bigs. DB [DeJuan Blair] and TD [Tim Duncan] have done a great job running the floor, Tiago [Splitter] running the floor. When you see that, you always want to reward the bigs. I think they did a great job capitalizing and finishing.”
(On the ball movement)
“Great. Coach said it was going to be a penetrating and kick kind of game. If we do that, we’re going to have our open shots. Starting with TP [Tony Parker] and Manu [Ginobili], I think they started the game moving the ball great and finding open shots for everybody else and we just fed off that.”
(On DeJuan Blair’s performance)
“It’s always good to see him come out and play. It’s something we always talk about and joke about. When he plays like that, we can be a dangerous team because that’s more power to us, so hopefully he keeps it up and keeps doing what he’s doing.”
(On if DeJuan Blair is playing like he did last year)
“Not from last year, but from this year because he’s worked hard over the summer and gotten better, free throw wise and everything. He’s trimmed his body down, a lot stronger, more athletic, so it’s good to see him play his game and come into himself.”
(On Coach Pop still calling timeouts and yelling even with big lead)
“He just wants us to be better. Nothing is ever good for Coach Pop. You can be up 30 and make a turnover and he’ll get mad at you, but that’s Coach Pop. He wants you always to be perfect and keep pounding the rock because it’s not that game we’re worried about, it’s the game in May or June.”
DeJuan Blair
(On the activity of his game)
“I bring energy to the game every game, that’s why I start. My approach to the game is a lot more energy. I spark the defense off. I try to give them everything I can the first five, six, eight minutes and then just feed off that. My teammates feed off that, the energy and everything. I just feed off them on the offensive end. That’s how I’m approaching every game now on and just have to keep playing.”
(On if he’s finding himself)
“Every game feels a lot better. Tim [Duncan] has been a wonderful mentor and [Antonio] McDyess. There were a couple games where I didn’t play and a couple games where I didn’t make shots. I believe you better yourself by keep going. A lot of people would stop and get mad, but as long as I’ve got these two guys on me every day, something’s great is going to happen and it’s getting there. My field goal percentage is going up, I’m shooting great at the free throw line and my defense is getting better every game. They keep believing in me and that’s just giving me more confidence to believe in myself.”
Head Coach Keith Smart
(On the Injury of Stephen Curry)
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to the trainer yet but we will see what he says.”
(On (Stephen) Curry’s injuries prior to this in season thus far)
“Every time there is a limp I hold my breath and once you sprain something for the first time. Coaches have to be on alert that it can happen at any given moment, then you think you get over the hump and it comes out of nowhere. So unfortunately when you are playing back to back games, and back to back minutes, those things are always going to be lurking there. We just have to hope. He is pretty resilient about his treatment and doing his spring training and getting it back to function. Some of the first times he sprained it, he managed to have a couple days to take it rest it, rehab it and train it, but now we have games where it’s day on- day off- day on- day off so we will see how it goes and evaluate it.”
(On the effect of loosing (Stephen) Curry’s play tonight)
“Well any time you lose a talent, you drop down three or four levels so he is definitely a talent so not having him on the floor was definitely difficult because we had to move a lot of players around to positions and bring some of the younger guys off the bench to play. You have very little room for error against a team like this team. ”
(On Reggie (Williams) performance tonight)
“I thought Reggie (Williams) was good. I had a film session with him today and I shared with him that I thought that he didn’t look ready to play and that he is afraid to make a mistake on the floor. And he saw that on the film. But I think he came out tonight and played the way we are envisioning him (the team, coaching staff, organization) and he has to continue to play like he did tonight. He has to know that when he is open, he has the ability. He is probably one guy on our bench that you can say can put up 31 points on a consistent basis. That is what we are expecting of him. Now he just has to understand that we want that from him and we believe that he can do that. As long as he can think like that and continue to take this game here against a really good team and play that way. He didn’t force a lot of things. He did the right thing with open shots. You have to make open shots when you can. ”
(On the Fast break points first quarter for spurs)
“It was 21 points off of our turnovers. When you turn the ball over at the top of the floor, you can’t get back and transition, because all of your help is down below the foul line. I think we stood around a little bit, watching the action, and by the time that there was a deflection or loose ball, they were already into the play but that’s what good teams will do. Good teams will come out and capitalize on your mistakes early. We made a lot of mistakes early, right at the foul line or right above the foul line and they react to the ball too quickly. Any team is going to react to a turnover at the top of the foul line and bring it down for the break. ”
(On the rebounding of the team)
“I think a strength of our team still is rebounding the basketball. Dorell (Wright) can keep coming in at small forward and keep getting 8-10 rebounds a night to help those big guys, (Andris) Biedrins and (David) Lee. So that’s always going to be a plus and we thought it was going to be a strength for us this year and it’s going to work out that way for us.”
Reggie Williams
(On the biggest reasons for your performance tonight)
“I just think I got into a rhythm, I got into a groove. Lately I haven’t been shooting the ball as much, so tonight I just came in and got it in my mind like, “hey, go ahead shoot, get some shots up, and just play basketball.” So that’s what I tried to go out and do tonight.”
(On if there was anything the coach told you in particular that impacted your game tonight)
“He watched film with me earlier in the day and told me, “just play, have fun” so I just took his advice and did that.”
(On if we can expect this type of performance every night)
“I’m a try my best to be aggressive and help my team out every night. So, from here on forward I just got to stay with an aggressive mind state and try to continue to play the way I play, carrying on this momentum for myself on to the next game.”
David Lee
(On how he feels about the team’s performance tonight)
“We played a very good team on the road here, we made our runs and we never stopped playing hard. But overall, too many turnovers and not enough good defense.”
(On if he thinks Stephen Curry’s injury played a huge part in the loss)
“No, I think that it was the first quarter that got us. That’s when Stephen was playing, it would of helped to have him in the second half because he’s a great player, but overall we just didn’t play well enough to start the game.”
(On if they are holding their breath at all when Stephen turns and twist at all at any point)
“It’s tough, because It didn’t even cross my mind that it would be anything more than just a sprain. I don’t think it is after they x-rayed it, but its just tough anytime you have something that you continually keep rolling it like that. It might be something he has to sit out for a while and get it back strengthened. I’m no doctor, but I don’t think it’s very good for you when you keep rolling it over and over. He’s a tough competitor and I’m sure he’ll want to be in there on Friday. ”
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(On DeJuan Blair tonight)
“I thought Dejuan (Blair) played a complete game tonight. He’s out there to play defense, rebound and run the floor and to go to the offensively board, I thought he did that very well. He also got comfortable offensively, he made a couple of great moves and he got to go to the line and score a little bit; that’s always good.”
(On Tiago Splitter tonight)
“Tiago (Splitter) is a tough customer. He really rebounds hard and he plays hard defense. He’s probably one of the most aware players, as far as taking charges and understanding what’s going on on the court. He does a good job.”
(On playing each starter no more than 30 minutes tonight)
“Well hopefully we’re putting something in the bank when we need guys to play 38 or 42 minutes. You also don’t want to get sloppy and lose execution, mental focus those kinds of things. You don’t want that to happen all the time.”
(On the ball movement on the offensive end tonight)
“I thought everyone did a really good job of finding the open man. Being aggressive but understanding that teammates were open and making the easy pass to the next guy. I thought everybody did that very well.”
Tony Parker
(Opening statement)
“I thought we did a great job defensively. DeJuan was great tonight, he creates a lot of easy baskets and a lot of easy offense, so I thought tonight was a great effort on defense.”
[B](On none of the starters playing 30 minutes)
“I’ll take it, especially early in the season. It’s some good rest. We have a lot of games coming up, so every time we can rest I think that’s a good thing. I saw some great stuff from everybody. It was a great team effort.”
(On scoring and assisting tonight)
“I was trying to do a little bit of both. When it was open, I went for my teardrop or my jumpshot, but when it was closing, my teammates made some shots, Richard [Jefferson], Manu [Ginobili], Matty , a lot of open shots.”
[B](On if he knew about Warriors Forward Reggie Williams)
“Yeah a little about from the first game. They were saying he’s a great scorer and we saw that tonight. He scored the ball very well tonight and shot the ball well.”
(On Coach Pop still calling timeouts even with a 17-point lead)
“I’m used to it after 10 years. I’m not surprised. He just wants to make sure we stay focused and we don’t take anything for granted. He’s always been like that.”
(On the 18-3 start)
“It’s great, we talked about it a lot before the season. We just try to play well at home and win as many games as we can because we know the second part of our schedule, there’s going to be a lot of games on the road.”
George Hill
(On if the win was generated by defense)
“Very much. It’s something we try to do a lot. We try to get everybody running. It’s good to see everybody running, especially the bigs. DB [DeJuan Blair] and TD [Tim Duncan] have done a great job running the floor, Tiago [Splitter] running the floor. When you see that, you always want to reward the bigs. I think they did a great job capitalizing and finishing.”
(On the ball movement)
“Great. Coach said it was going to be a penetrating and kick kind of game. If we do that, we’re going to have our open shots. Starting with TP [Tony Parker] and Manu [Ginobili], I think they started the game moving the ball great and finding open shots for everybody else and we just fed off that.”
(On DeJuan Blair’s performance)
“It’s always good to see him come out and play. It’s something we always talk about and joke about. When he plays like that, we can be a dangerous team because that’s more power to us, so hopefully he keeps it up and keeps doing what he’s doing.”
(On if DeJuan Blair is playing like he did last year)
“Not from last year, but from this year because he’s worked hard over the summer and gotten better, free throw wise and everything. He’s trimmed his body down, a lot stronger, more athletic, so it’s good to see him play his game and come into himself.”
(On Coach Pop still calling timeouts and yelling even with big lead)
“He just wants us to be better. Nothing is ever good for Coach Pop. You can be up 30 and make a turnover and he’ll get mad at you, but that’s Coach Pop. He wants you always to be perfect and keep pounding the rock because it’s not that game we’re worried about, it’s the game in May or June.”
DeJuan Blair
(On the activity of his game)
“I bring energy to the game every game, that’s why I start. My approach to the game is a lot more energy. I spark the defense off. I try to give them everything I can the first five, six, eight minutes and then just feed off that. My teammates feed off that, the energy and everything. I just feed off them on the offensive end. That’s how I’m approaching every game now on and just have to keep playing.”
(On if he’s finding himself)
“Every game feels a lot better. Tim [Duncan] has been a wonderful mentor and [Antonio] McDyess. There were a couple games where I didn’t play and a couple games where I didn’t make shots. I believe you better yourself by keep going. A lot of people would stop and get mad, but as long as I’ve got these two guys on me every day, something’s great is going to happen and it’s getting there. My field goal percentage is going up, I’m shooting great at the free throw line and my defense is getting better every game. They keep believing in me and that’s just giving me more confidence to believe in myself.”
Head Coach Keith Smart
(On the Injury of Stephen Curry)
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to the trainer yet but we will see what he says.”
(On (Stephen) Curry’s injuries prior to this in season thus far)
“Every time there is a limp I hold my breath and once you sprain something for the first time. Coaches have to be on alert that it can happen at any given moment, then you think you get over the hump and it comes out of nowhere. So unfortunately when you are playing back to back games, and back to back minutes, those things are always going to be lurking there. We just have to hope. He is pretty resilient about his treatment and doing his spring training and getting it back to function. Some of the first times he sprained it, he managed to have a couple days to take it rest it, rehab it and train it, but now we have games where it’s day on- day off- day on- day off so we will see how it goes and evaluate it.”
(On the effect of loosing (Stephen) Curry’s play tonight)
“Well any time you lose a talent, you drop down three or four levels so he is definitely a talent so not having him on the floor was definitely difficult because we had to move a lot of players around to positions and bring some of the younger guys off the bench to play. You have very little room for error against a team like this team. ”
(On Reggie (Williams) performance tonight)
“I thought Reggie (Williams) was good. I had a film session with him today and I shared with him that I thought that he didn’t look ready to play and that he is afraid to make a mistake on the floor. And he saw that on the film. But I think he came out tonight and played the way we are envisioning him (the team, coaching staff, organization) and he has to continue to play like he did tonight. He has to know that when he is open, he has the ability. He is probably one guy on our bench that you can say can put up 31 points on a consistent basis. That is what we are expecting of him. Now he just has to understand that we want that from him and we believe that he can do that. As long as he can think like that and continue to take this game here against a really good team and play that way. He didn’t force a lot of things. He did the right thing with open shots. You have to make open shots when you can. ”
(On the Fast break points first quarter for spurs)
“It was 21 points off of our turnovers. When you turn the ball over at the top of the floor, you can’t get back and transition, because all of your help is down below the foul line. I think we stood around a little bit, watching the action, and by the time that there was a deflection or loose ball, they were already into the play but that’s what good teams will do. Good teams will come out and capitalize on your mistakes early. We made a lot of mistakes early, right at the foul line or right above the foul line and they react to the ball too quickly. Any team is going to react to a turnover at the top of the foul line and bring it down for the break. ”
(On the rebounding of the team)
“I think a strength of our team still is rebounding the basketball. Dorell (Wright) can keep coming in at small forward and keep getting 8-10 rebounds a night to help those big guys, (Andris) Biedrins and (David) Lee. So that’s always going to be a plus and we thought it was going to be a strength for us this year and it’s going to work out that way for us.”
Reggie Williams
(On the biggest reasons for your performance tonight)
“I just think I got into a rhythm, I got into a groove. Lately I haven’t been shooting the ball as much, so tonight I just came in and got it in my mind like, “hey, go ahead shoot, get some shots up, and just play basketball.” So that’s what I tried to go out and do tonight.”
(On if there was anything the coach told you in particular that impacted your game tonight)
“He watched film with me earlier in the day and told me, “just play, have fun” so I just took his advice and did that.”
(On if we can expect this type of performance every night)
“I’m a try my best to be aggressive and help my team out every night. So, from here on forward I just got to stay with an aggressive mind state and try to continue to play the way I play, carrying on this momentum for myself on to the next game.”
David Lee
(On how he feels about the team’s performance tonight)
“We played a very good team on the road here, we made our runs and we never stopped playing hard. But overall, too many turnovers and not enough good defense.”
(On if he thinks Stephen Curry’s injury played a huge part in the loss)
“No, I think that it was the first quarter that got us. That’s when Stephen was playing, it would of helped to have him in the second half because he’s a great player, but overall we just didn’t play well enough to start the game.”
(On if they are holding their breath at all when Stephen turns and twist at all at any point)
“It’s tough, because It didn’t even cross my mind that it would be anything more than just a sprain. I don’t think it is after they x-rayed it, but its just tough anytime you have something that you continually keep rolling it like that. It might be something he has to sit out for a while and get it back strengthened. I’m no doctor, but I don’t think it’s very good for you when you keep rolling it over and over. He’s a tough competitor and I’m sure he’ll want to be in there on Friday. ”