duncan228
12-23-2010, 02:24 AM
Post-Game Quotes (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/101222.html)
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(On going to the zone defense at the end of the fourth quarter) “I thought that they (Nuggets) were very physical the entire game; they drove it right down our throats. Our defense was so awful on an individual basis and we weren’t getting anywhere, so I was tried of begging, then we went to zone.”
(On the play of the Spurs deep bench tonight) “There weren’t that many bodies out there without George (Hill) and James (Anderson), so it’s not as deep as I would like it to be. The guys that played shot well off the bench.”
(On if this was Tiago Splitter’s most meaningful minutes of the season) “He’s had some other moments where he’s done well, but he played longer tonight. He played one stretch for ten minutes; it looked like he got fairly comfortable out there. He did a good job on the boards and rolling to the bucket for us.”
(On Gary Neal’s game tonight) “I think that he (Gary Neal) has been magnificent. Not just because he’s making shots, he rebounds, he sticks his nose in, he’s trying to play good defense, he’s learning more everyday and he’s a coachable kid, he has really been a joy.”
Manu Ginobili
(On Gary Neal) “Huge. It was a very tight game, nothing was easy, and he made a few buckets that really got us going. Then defensively, we improved on a lot and they stopped scoring at the rate they were scoring. They had 89 in three quarters and 14 in the last, so it was a great fourth quarter and Gary was amazing.”
(On the zone defense they played tonight) “It was probably not the full fourth quarter, but most, and it worked. Sometimes the zone is hard to stop the threes. They were making a lot of them, but we contested well, they missed a couple, and we got the rebounds. It was a huge fourth quarter. I’m still kind of in shock by the way we won it.”
(On Tiago Splitter’s contribution) “Tiago was big too. He was important in the low post when we had nothing going on and he went at Andersen and scored. He got nine boards too. Big contribution for him, I bet he’s happy and we’re happy for him.”
Tiago Splitter
(On if tonight was one of his more meaningful contributions of the season) “I think Pop has confidence in me that I can do a good job and help the team get a win.”
(On the key to the zone defense) “We didn’t use it very much, but it helps. They didn’t know what we were doing and it helped.”
(On if he is figuring out his timing) “Of course. I think everything needs time. I’m getting used to the system and my teammates are getting used to me and knowing each other everyday. It’s about time.”
Gary Neal
(On working on his two-point and three-point game) “That’s something that I do everyday. I get shots in with the coaching staff and I watch some film because the last three games, I’ve been 6-for-22 or something like that. I had to gauge the difference between a good shot and a feel-good shot and today I eliminated all the feel-good shots and took all good shots and it worked out for me.”
(On his confidence level) “My confidence level is pretty high. Tomorrow morning when we watch film, I’m pretty sure Coach Pop will bust that bubble. Right now I’m feeling good and I just have to continue to work and hopefully I can consistently play like this.”
(On if he has solidified a spot in the rotation) “No, I don’t think so. I still feel like I have to prove myself night in and night out. George [Hill] is a key part of the team and there’s only so many minutes and George has been doing it way longer than me. When George comes back and when James [Anderson] comes back, whatever my role or minutes are, I’ll accept it and try to do my best.”
(On if he feels like a rookie) “Not now. I’m 28 games in and I don’t really feel like a rookie. In training camp, I felt like a rookie. It felt like the game was going 100 miles an hour, but now it’s slowed down. I feel like I belong out there and the game is manageable for me now.”
Head Coach George Karl
(On the zone offense) “I’ll take the blame for the zone offense. The zone just froze us; we let Bonner get loose in the fourth. Instead of them taking taking three or four minutes to catch up, not having a lot of practice they caught us by surprise. They shot the hell out of the ball. I’m not sure the shots were defended, he didn’t give up and we didn’t get out there quick enough. First game we lost cause Parker got to the rim; this game we lost because we didn’t cover the ball.”
(On what he would have done differently in the fourth quarter) “Ball movement, the zone slowed our movement down too long and they took our rthym away from the game. The only thing was the momentum in the fourth quarter, this is their team, their building they know how to win and not beat themselves. In a lot of ways they stole the game tonight.”
(On if too much of the focus was on Manu Ginobili) “The first two plays they ran for Manu, he made his shots. In one play we didn’t offend very well, their bench played great and won them the game.”
(On Tiago Splitter) “I was talking to some guys last night that knew the Spurs and they thought that Pop would be playing him towards the end of the year because there’s a couple teams that you need big guys to play against. He hurt us around the basket and he played around the tip of the rim a lot and his size gave us problems because we don’t have a lot of big bodies out there. He definitely played great tonight. As I said Bonner and he won the game for them tonight. I enjoyed the game I feel bad because I couldn’t help my team as much as I could.”
Chauncey Billups
(On the Spurs going to the zone in the fourth quarter) “The zone hurt us. We had a rhythm going and they went zone and it made us a little passive out there. I thought that we should have done a better job of running some screen-and-rolls at the zone. We were still penetrating and kicking; playing the way that we play, but it took us too long to make the adjustment. They had some guys step up and make some big shots at the end.”
(On their own fourth quarter defense) “They just had some guys step up and make shots. Gary Neal is a shooter; we knew that, but at the same time we have to stick to our principles. Sometimes when a guy is driving you have to help him out. They got some kick-outs and those guys made some tough shots. That’s what a good team is about.”
(On the surprise of the Spurs going zone) “I was a little shocked. I’ve never known them to play zone. I’ve had a lot of battles against them and have never really known them to play zone. Pop is a great coach and he knew that man-to-man wasn’t working tonight. We were just kind of having our way.”
(On Gary Neal) “I don’t know that much about him other than he’s a good shooter. He shoots the shots that their offense allows for him. For a rookie I’ve been impressed with him.”
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(On going to the zone defense at the end of the fourth quarter) “I thought that they (Nuggets) were very physical the entire game; they drove it right down our throats. Our defense was so awful on an individual basis and we weren’t getting anywhere, so I was tried of begging, then we went to zone.”
(On the play of the Spurs deep bench tonight) “There weren’t that many bodies out there without George (Hill) and James (Anderson), so it’s not as deep as I would like it to be. The guys that played shot well off the bench.”
(On if this was Tiago Splitter’s most meaningful minutes of the season) “He’s had some other moments where he’s done well, but he played longer tonight. He played one stretch for ten minutes; it looked like he got fairly comfortable out there. He did a good job on the boards and rolling to the bucket for us.”
(On Gary Neal’s game tonight) “I think that he (Gary Neal) has been magnificent. Not just because he’s making shots, he rebounds, he sticks his nose in, he’s trying to play good defense, he’s learning more everyday and he’s a coachable kid, he has really been a joy.”
Manu Ginobili
(On Gary Neal) “Huge. It was a very tight game, nothing was easy, and he made a few buckets that really got us going. Then defensively, we improved on a lot and they stopped scoring at the rate they were scoring. They had 89 in three quarters and 14 in the last, so it was a great fourth quarter and Gary was amazing.”
(On the zone defense they played tonight) “It was probably not the full fourth quarter, but most, and it worked. Sometimes the zone is hard to stop the threes. They were making a lot of them, but we contested well, they missed a couple, and we got the rebounds. It was a huge fourth quarter. I’m still kind of in shock by the way we won it.”
(On Tiago Splitter’s contribution) “Tiago was big too. He was important in the low post when we had nothing going on and he went at Andersen and scored. He got nine boards too. Big contribution for him, I bet he’s happy and we’re happy for him.”
Tiago Splitter
(On if tonight was one of his more meaningful contributions of the season) “I think Pop has confidence in me that I can do a good job and help the team get a win.”
(On the key to the zone defense) “We didn’t use it very much, but it helps. They didn’t know what we were doing and it helped.”
(On if he is figuring out his timing) “Of course. I think everything needs time. I’m getting used to the system and my teammates are getting used to me and knowing each other everyday. It’s about time.”
Gary Neal
(On working on his two-point and three-point game) “That’s something that I do everyday. I get shots in with the coaching staff and I watch some film because the last three games, I’ve been 6-for-22 or something like that. I had to gauge the difference between a good shot and a feel-good shot and today I eliminated all the feel-good shots and took all good shots and it worked out for me.”
(On his confidence level) “My confidence level is pretty high. Tomorrow morning when we watch film, I’m pretty sure Coach Pop will bust that bubble. Right now I’m feeling good and I just have to continue to work and hopefully I can consistently play like this.”
(On if he has solidified a spot in the rotation) “No, I don’t think so. I still feel like I have to prove myself night in and night out. George [Hill] is a key part of the team and there’s only so many minutes and George has been doing it way longer than me. When George comes back and when James [Anderson] comes back, whatever my role or minutes are, I’ll accept it and try to do my best.”
(On if he feels like a rookie) “Not now. I’m 28 games in and I don’t really feel like a rookie. In training camp, I felt like a rookie. It felt like the game was going 100 miles an hour, but now it’s slowed down. I feel like I belong out there and the game is manageable for me now.”
Head Coach George Karl
(On the zone offense) “I’ll take the blame for the zone offense. The zone just froze us; we let Bonner get loose in the fourth. Instead of them taking taking three or four minutes to catch up, not having a lot of practice they caught us by surprise. They shot the hell out of the ball. I’m not sure the shots were defended, he didn’t give up and we didn’t get out there quick enough. First game we lost cause Parker got to the rim; this game we lost because we didn’t cover the ball.”
(On what he would have done differently in the fourth quarter) “Ball movement, the zone slowed our movement down too long and they took our rthym away from the game. The only thing was the momentum in the fourth quarter, this is their team, their building they know how to win and not beat themselves. In a lot of ways they stole the game tonight.”
(On if too much of the focus was on Manu Ginobili) “The first two plays they ran for Manu, he made his shots. In one play we didn’t offend very well, their bench played great and won them the game.”
(On Tiago Splitter) “I was talking to some guys last night that knew the Spurs and they thought that Pop would be playing him towards the end of the year because there’s a couple teams that you need big guys to play against. He hurt us around the basket and he played around the tip of the rim a lot and his size gave us problems because we don’t have a lot of big bodies out there. He definitely played great tonight. As I said Bonner and he won the game for them tonight. I enjoyed the game I feel bad because I couldn’t help my team as much as I could.”
Chauncey Billups
(On the Spurs going to the zone in the fourth quarter) “The zone hurt us. We had a rhythm going and they went zone and it made us a little passive out there. I thought that we should have done a better job of running some screen-and-rolls at the zone. We were still penetrating and kicking; playing the way that we play, but it took us too long to make the adjustment. They had some guys step up and make some big shots at the end.”
(On their own fourth quarter defense) “They just had some guys step up and make shots. Gary Neal is a shooter; we knew that, but at the same time we have to stick to our principles. Sometimes when a guy is driving you have to help him out. They got some kick-outs and those guys made some tough shots. That’s what a good team is about.”
(On the surprise of the Spurs going zone) “I was a little shocked. I’ve never known them to play zone. I’ve had a lot of battles against them and have never really known them to play zone. Pop is a great coach and he knew that man-to-man wasn’t working tonight. We were just kind of having our way.”
(On Gary Neal) “I don’t know that much about him other than he’s a good shooter. He shoots the shots that their offense allows for him. For a rookie I’ve been impressed with him.”