duncan228
12-16-2010, 12:17 AM
Post-Game Quotes (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/101215.html)
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(Opening Statement)
“Manu hit a hell of a shot to pull it out for us. We played a great half, but we didn’t play 48 minutes. I thought in the second half they were more aggressive. I thought our defense really let up and I thought mentality wise, we did a very poor job in the third and fourth quarters as far as making stops and let them back in the ballgame. We were just lucky. Just a lucky win.”
(On the defense on the last stop)
“We made two or three stops in the last couple of minutes that gave us an opportunity to win the game and that’s great, but you wouldn’t be in that position had you played the 24 minutes before that.”
(On why Manu didn’t start the second half)
“He played a lot of minutes in the first half. We wanted to try and get it back in gear so that he wouldn’t end up with too many minutes.”
(On Tiago Splitter’s injury)
“When he got kneed by Ilyasova, it just tightened up his groin. He got kicked pretty good right there and he couldn’t move.”
Tony Parker
(On chasing Brandon Jennings on the last defensive play)
“I was just trying to stay in front of him. I figured he would try to take the last shot. He likes to take big shots, so I was just trying to do my best and stay in front of him.
(On if it’s good to grind out a win)
“Yeah, we ended up with a win, big shot from Manu [Ginobili]. It’s tough, the NBA’s tough. We thought we had them in the first half and they came back, they played hard, they played better than us in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, we made the stops we needed and Manu finished it off.”
(On how the Spurs stay prepared going to Denver tomorrow)
“We’re going to have a tough time over there, but Pop did a great job managing our minutes tonight, so hopefully we’ll have enough energy to play against them tomorrow.”
Manu Ginobili
(On how it feels to hit the game winning shot)
“Of course pretty good, way better than missing it. I had the opportunity, the trust of my teammates and coaches that I could hit the shot. Most of the time, it doesn’t go in. It’s not a high percentage shot but glad that we won it because we were playing great for one half and then slowed down and let them get into us and our defense slowed down. It got tough, but we won it and now we go to Denver with a different feeling.”
(On the close win)
“We started making mistakes and we know that [the Bucks] are not going to slow down. They’re going to keep grinding it, keeping fighting and that’s what they did. They have the size, the strength and the talent to come back in games and they did it against Dallas.”
(On if it’s human nature to let down after things have come so easy the past week)
“Yeah, it happens to everybody. It’s not that we’re the first ones that ever saw that. But of course you get frustrated because we were in a great situation to close it a little earlier and we couldn’t compete with the same intensity for 48 minutes and that’s something we are trying to accomplish.”
(On Richard Jefferson’s defense on the last stop of the game)
“RJ and Tony [Parker]. Tony was unbelievable chasing Jennings. He’s not the type of player that’s easy to stop, so it was a great job defensively and TD got the rebound and called the timeout right away so we had time to design a play and do it with time.”
[B](On Tim Duncan’s blocks)
“It’s not something that can shock you. TD has been one of the league leaders in shot blocks forever, so once in a while he leaves the floor and gets a couple blocks. We know what he’s capable of. He’s long and he’s got great timing. He understands the game.”
(On why he didn’t start the second half)
“I think [Coach Popovich] thought he played me too long of a stretch in the first quarter. He wanted to give me more rest for the end of the game.”
Head Coach Scott Skiles
(On the last offensive play the Bucks had)
“We were trying to go inside to (Andrew) Bogut and he kind of got shoved under the basket; we just got to have a shot there. We can’t dribble down to nothing and just throw it to somebody. We had to get a good shot and we didn’t get one. After traveling, they (the Spurs) made a great shot. It was great defense on him (Manu Ginobili), it made him travel. As I said we have to get a shot, we can’t expect to beat a team of this quality. It was a great shot by Manu, but we have to get a good quality shot and we didn’t get one. There was a little bit of contact and it was an unbelievable shot. You have to give him credit, it was great defense and a great shot.”
(On what was the difference in the second half)
“We have to play a full game. We need to get past the point where we’re searching, mixing and matching, trying to find out how we’re coming back into a game. We have to come into a game and understand what we need to do and get out there and execute on both ends of the court. We battled back, we had great effort and we hung in there, but we put a lot of pressure on ourselves when we play like that.”
(On what were the breakdowns in the first half that lead to the double digit lead by the Spurs)
“We weren’t sharp on either end of the court. We weren’t able to get back on defense and that plagued us all night long. We gave up too much penetration, but Bogut erased a few of those later in the game with a couple of key blocks. We did a nice job of keeping them off the three point line and that was probably the main reason we stayed in the game; given the fact they shot over 50%. They weren’t able to get the three going and the guys did a real good job of that.”
Drew Gooden
(On their second-half comeback)
“It’s a very tough loss because I feel like it’s a mirror image of that Dallas game. We started off slow; started off in the hole. Then we started to come back; fighting all the way until the last possession and then to lose like that is just a heart-breaker. But it shouldn’t have come down to that one shot. We know we had our opportunities to capitalize and it didn’t go our way. They ended up with the better game towards the end. Manu knocked down a huge shot for them.”
(On their last offensive possession)
“We were trying to duck in Bogut in the post; he had his guy sealed down low and I was trying to feed him the ball, but then Manu came off his guy and took away the passing angle, then I had to go back to Brandon. Basically it was one-on-one with Andrew trying to set a ball-screen and I was looking for the offensive rebound. It got to a Moute at the end and he tried to draw contact. He shot it and it came off to me. I tried to tip it. I should have just grabbed it, but I tried to tip it and we lost the possession. They came out of the timeout and drew up a play for Manu. It was great defense by Luc, but he just hit a great shot.”
(On Bogut’s defense down the stretch)
“That was huge. That just tells you how good San Antonio is. We had 10 blocks as a team tonight and they still shot over 50% from the field. That shows you how well they’re executing offensively.”
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(Opening Statement)
“Manu hit a hell of a shot to pull it out for us. We played a great half, but we didn’t play 48 minutes. I thought in the second half they were more aggressive. I thought our defense really let up and I thought mentality wise, we did a very poor job in the third and fourth quarters as far as making stops and let them back in the ballgame. We were just lucky. Just a lucky win.”
(On the defense on the last stop)
“We made two or three stops in the last couple of minutes that gave us an opportunity to win the game and that’s great, but you wouldn’t be in that position had you played the 24 minutes before that.”
(On why Manu didn’t start the second half)
“He played a lot of minutes in the first half. We wanted to try and get it back in gear so that he wouldn’t end up with too many minutes.”
(On Tiago Splitter’s injury)
“When he got kneed by Ilyasova, it just tightened up his groin. He got kicked pretty good right there and he couldn’t move.”
Tony Parker
(On chasing Brandon Jennings on the last defensive play)
“I was just trying to stay in front of him. I figured he would try to take the last shot. He likes to take big shots, so I was just trying to do my best and stay in front of him.
(On if it’s good to grind out a win)
“Yeah, we ended up with a win, big shot from Manu [Ginobili]. It’s tough, the NBA’s tough. We thought we had them in the first half and they came back, they played hard, they played better than us in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, we made the stops we needed and Manu finished it off.”
(On how the Spurs stay prepared going to Denver tomorrow)
“We’re going to have a tough time over there, but Pop did a great job managing our minutes tonight, so hopefully we’ll have enough energy to play against them tomorrow.”
Manu Ginobili
(On how it feels to hit the game winning shot)
“Of course pretty good, way better than missing it. I had the opportunity, the trust of my teammates and coaches that I could hit the shot. Most of the time, it doesn’t go in. It’s not a high percentage shot but glad that we won it because we were playing great for one half and then slowed down and let them get into us and our defense slowed down. It got tough, but we won it and now we go to Denver with a different feeling.”
(On the close win)
“We started making mistakes and we know that [the Bucks] are not going to slow down. They’re going to keep grinding it, keeping fighting and that’s what they did. They have the size, the strength and the talent to come back in games and they did it against Dallas.”
(On if it’s human nature to let down after things have come so easy the past week)
“Yeah, it happens to everybody. It’s not that we’re the first ones that ever saw that. But of course you get frustrated because we were in a great situation to close it a little earlier and we couldn’t compete with the same intensity for 48 minutes and that’s something we are trying to accomplish.”
(On Richard Jefferson’s defense on the last stop of the game)
“RJ and Tony [Parker]. Tony was unbelievable chasing Jennings. He’s not the type of player that’s easy to stop, so it was a great job defensively and TD got the rebound and called the timeout right away so we had time to design a play and do it with time.”
[B](On Tim Duncan’s blocks)
“It’s not something that can shock you. TD has been one of the league leaders in shot blocks forever, so once in a while he leaves the floor and gets a couple blocks. We know what he’s capable of. He’s long and he’s got great timing. He understands the game.”
(On why he didn’t start the second half)
“I think [Coach Popovich] thought he played me too long of a stretch in the first quarter. He wanted to give me more rest for the end of the game.”
Head Coach Scott Skiles
(On the last offensive play the Bucks had)
“We were trying to go inside to (Andrew) Bogut and he kind of got shoved under the basket; we just got to have a shot there. We can’t dribble down to nothing and just throw it to somebody. We had to get a good shot and we didn’t get one. After traveling, they (the Spurs) made a great shot. It was great defense on him (Manu Ginobili), it made him travel. As I said we have to get a shot, we can’t expect to beat a team of this quality. It was a great shot by Manu, but we have to get a good quality shot and we didn’t get one. There was a little bit of contact and it was an unbelievable shot. You have to give him credit, it was great defense and a great shot.”
(On what was the difference in the second half)
“We have to play a full game. We need to get past the point where we’re searching, mixing and matching, trying to find out how we’re coming back into a game. We have to come into a game and understand what we need to do and get out there and execute on both ends of the court. We battled back, we had great effort and we hung in there, but we put a lot of pressure on ourselves when we play like that.”
(On what were the breakdowns in the first half that lead to the double digit lead by the Spurs)
“We weren’t sharp on either end of the court. We weren’t able to get back on defense and that plagued us all night long. We gave up too much penetration, but Bogut erased a few of those later in the game with a couple of key blocks. We did a nice job of keeping them off the three point line and that was probably the main reason we stayed in the game; given the fact they shot over 50%. They weren’t able to get the three going and the guys did a real good job of that.”
Drew Gooden
(On their second-half comeback)
“It’s a very tough loss because I feel like it’s a mirror image of that Dallas game. We started off slow; started off in the hole. Then we started to come back; fighting all the way until the last possession and then to lose like that is just a heart-breaker. But it shouldn’t have come down to that one shot. We know we had our opportunities to capitalize and it didn’t go our way. They ended up with the better game towards the end. Manu knocked down a huge shot for them.”
(On their last offensive possession)
“We were trying to duck in Bogut in the post; he had his guy sealed down low and I was trying to feed him the ball, but then Manu came off his guy and took away the passing angle, then I had to go back to Brandon. Basically it was one-on-one with Andrew trying to set a ball-screen and I was looking for the offensive rebound. It got to a Moute at the end and he tried to draw contact. He shot it and it came off to me. I tried to tip it. I should have just grabbed it, but I tried to tip it and we lost the possession. They came out of the timeout and drew up a play for Manu. It was great defense by Luc, but he just hit a great shot.”
(On Bogut’s defense down the stretch)
“That was huge. That just tells you how good San Antonio is. We had 10 blocks as a team tonight and they still shot over 50% from the field. That shows you how well they’re executing offensively.”