duncan228
01-20-2011, 12:17 AM
Post-Game Quotes (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/110119.html)
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game - “We had twelve turnovers for fifteen points in the first half. We were 0-15 on jump shots. Our defensive coverage was poor. Our mental and physical focus were both poor in the first half. I thought Coach Triano came out with a great game plan and they executed it with precision, with physicality and we were awful in all those regards and just took it to us. In the second half, we got back in the game because we played very, very good team defense. People started paying attention and taking some pride in individual and team “D” and those stops generated offense and that was the ball game.”
On the lift from DeJuan Blair in the third - “DeJuan, he was worrying too much about being perfect; about where to be on the court instead of just competing and playing. I thought in the third quarter, he just went out and had fun and played basketball and did a great job for us.”
DeJuan Blair
On relaxing in the second half - “I just came out with a lot of intensity, just playing. I wasn’t thinking about no mistakes, I was just coming out and playing.”
On if he was trying to be too perfect in the first half - “That’s what I always do. I always try to be too perfect. Once I get through my head that everybody’s not perfect, I’ll be okay. I just went out there in the second half and didn’t think. I think too much, that’s what I do, so it’s going to be hard to get that out, but at the same time, the less I do it, the better I’ll be.”
On the key to his play in the last two games - “Like I’ve been saying, consistency. I just got to keep playing, keep working hard every day and it’s paying off on the court. I feel great, my body feels great, my game feels great and I just got to keep it up at the end of the year.”
Manu Ginobili
On if it was the Raptors’ zone or a matter of missing shots in the first half - “I think it was a bit of both. We missed a lot of open shots and we’re a little passive. We didn’t attack as aggressively as we should have against that kind of zone, so we kind of helped them.”
On the adjustments the Spurs made defensively in the second half - “Aggressiveness I would say. We tried to create more movement like blitzing [DeMar] DeRozan or fronting [Andrea] Bargnani just to get everybody more involved or more aggressive and then we rebounded better, so it was a matter of intensity. I think we did a much better job in the second half, 53 in the first and 40 I think in the second is a big difference.”
On Antonio McDyess - “He’s a big part of what we do. Our starting power forward is DeJuan and he’s playing great, but he’s young and sometimes we need some experience and some years in the court. [Antonio McDyess] is playing great defense, very reliable in those 15 to 18-footers. He’s dunking again after a few years, so he’s giving us a big lift and we’re very happy with him.”
[B]George Hill
On making the first three pointer in the fourth quarter - “It was nice. Coach put the lid on the basket, he wants us to work on our rebounding. The whole first half I think we did a great job rebounding and then he finally took the lid off for us. It felt great when the first one went in and then after that, it started to drop and things started to change.”
On what changed defensively in the third quarter - “I think communication. We started to talk even more, everyone started to help each other out. When defending a pass, another one stepped up and we communicated. I think we didn’t communicate a lot in the first half and then we did in the second half.”
On if DeJuan Blair relaxed in the second half - “Yeah he just simply played basketball today the way he normally plays and anytime he does that, it can get scary because he can do so much. He’s quick for his size, he’s starting to get a nice little touch around the basket. I’ll do the same thing, every once in a while I’ll fall into that little lapse where I’ll try to be perfect and be too unselfish at times and sometimes you just have to play basketball.”
Raptors Head Coach Jay Triano
On the game - “I thought for the fist half; take away the 10-0 run to start the game. We battled back and we did a nice job and held the lead at halftime, but we knew they were going to come out. I don’t even know if it was our inability to stop them as mush as our inability to score as the game went on. We just had a hard time scoring. We became one dimensional. DeMar (DeRozan) was the only one to score for us. I think they (Spurs) recognized that no one else could score in this game. They locked him up and they showed him more bodies than one and trapped him. When they trapped him they moved all five guys; they’re a very good team that way and he ended up coughing it up a little bit.”
On how hurt Andrea Bargnani is right now, because for the past 3 games he’s been off his game - “I don’t know. He’s been hurt all year. He’s going through a little bit of a dry spell scoring wise right now. We need him right now; especially since we’re down so many guys.”
On if DeMar DeRozan is playing just to be a body out there - “I would say that’s probably the case right now. I had a good talk with DeMar the other day and Demar is being spoiled right now with the number of minutes he’s getting, because of our line-up. I told him you have to play every possession like you were on a team where you were only getting 18 minutes a game. I don’t want him to form bad habits. So when you have games where you don’t score points you’re still contributing in other facets.”
Andrea Bargnani
On his recent shooting struggles - “The last two games, I don’t really know, I was just shooting. It’s not a big deal. I was just a little upset because I was playing the last two games like I did the previous thirty-nine or forty games, but I definitely feel bad about it.”
On the health of his knees - “I’m alright. I mean, I practiced yesterday, so that’s not an excuse, right?”
On his play against the Spurs - “My teammates passed me the ball in the right moments. They gave me some great balls. It was just me not making the shots. I was just playing bad.”
DeMar DeRozan
On his play in the first half - “It’s just being aggressive. I just wanted to try to get us started, get to the free-throw line, and just get a point in.”
More on his offense in the game - “A little bit of everything. I felt the flow of the game. Things were going well, I felt good, Jose (Calderon) was getting me the ball, and I was feeling good.”
On the Spurs' comeback - “It’s definitely frustrating. It’s a killer. We were beating up on one of the best teams in the NBA, but we got to hold the lead. It’s definitely frustrating.”
On the Spurs' defense in the second half - “It was like back in high school. They were sending doubles and everything. It’s just tough. I had a few turnovers that really hurt us and that’s what made it even worse.”
On how to improve - “You’ve got to watch film. I’ll definitely watch and see what I’ve got to do better. I need to see who was open, and I need to get better for the next time that happens.”
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game - “We had twelve turnovers for fifteen points in the first half. We were 0-15 on jump shots. Our defensive coverage was poor. Our mental and physical focus were both poor in the first half. I thought Coach Triano came out with a great game plan and they executed it with precision, with physicality and we were awful in all those regards and just took it to us. In the second half, we got back in the game because we played very, very good team defense. People started paying attention and taking some pride in individual and team “D” and those stops generated offense and that was the ball game.”
On the lift from DeJuan Blair in the third - “DeJuan, he was worrying too much about being perfect; about where to be on the court instead of just competing and playing. I thought in the third quarter, he just went out and had fun and played basketball and did a great job for us.”
DeJuan Blair
On relaxing in the second half - “I just came out with a lot of intensity, just playing. I wasn’t thinking about no mistakes, I was just coming out and playing.”
On if he was trying to be too perfect in the first half - “That’s what I always do. I always try to be too perfect. Once I get through my head that everybody’s not perfect, I’ll be okay. I just went out there in the second half and didn’t think. I think too much, that’s what I do, so it’s going to be hard to get that out, but at the same time, the less I do it, the better I’ll be.”
On the key to his play in the last two games - “Like I’ve been saying, consistency. I just got to keep playing, keep working hard every day and it’s paying off on the court. I feel great, my body feels great, my game feels great and I just got to keep it up at the end of the year.”
Manu Ginobili
On if it was the Raptors’ zone or a matter of missing shots in the first half - “I think it was a bit of both. We missed a lot of open shots and we’re a little passive. We didn’t attack as aggressively as we should have against that kind of zone, so we kind of helped them.”
On the adjustments the Spurs made defensively in the second half - “Aggressiveness I would say. We tried to create more movement like blitzing [DeMar] DeRozan or fronting [Andrea] Bargnani just to get everybody more involved or more aggressive and then we rebounded better, so it was a matter of intensity. I think we did a much better job in the second half, 53 in the first and 40 I think in the second is a big difference.”
On Antonio McDyess - “He’s a big part of what we do. Our starting power forward is DeJuan and he’s playing great, but he’s young and sometimes we need some experience and some years in the court. [Antonio McDyess] is playing great defense, very reliable in those 15 to 18-footers. He’s dunking again after a few years, so he’s giving us a big lift and we’re very happy with him.”
[B]George Hill
On making the first three pointer in the fourth quarter - “It was nice. Coach put the lid on the basket, he wants us to work on our rebounding. The whole first half I think we did a great job rebounding and then he finally took the lid off for us. It felt great when the first one went in and then after that, it started to drop and things started to change.”
On what changed defensively in the third quarter - “I think communication. We started to talk even more, everyone started to help each other out. When defending a pass, another one stepped up and we communicated. I think we didn’t communicate a lot in the first half and then we did in the second half.”
On if DeJuan Blair relaxed in the second half - “Yeah he just simply played basketball today the way he normally plays and anytime he does that, it can get scary because he can do so much. He’s quick for his size, he’s starting to get a nice little touch around the basket. I’ll do the same thing, every once in a while I’ll fall into that little lapse where I’ll try to be perfect and be too unselfish at times and sometimes you just have to play basketball.”
Raptors Head Coach Jay Triano
On the game - “I thought for the fist half; take away the 10-0 run to start the game. We battled back and we did a nice job and held the lead at halftime, but we knew they were going to come out. I don’t even know if it was our inability to stop them as mush as our inability to score as the game went on. We just had a hard time scoring. We became one dimensional. DeMar (DeRozan) was the only one to score for us. I think they (Spurs) recognized that no one else could score in this game. They locked him up and they showed him more bodies than one and trapped him. When they trapped him they moved all five guys; they’re a very good team that way and he ended up coughing it up a little bit.”
On how hurt Andrea Bargnani is right now, because for the past 3 games he’s been off his game - “I don’t know. He’s been hurt all year. He’s going through a little bit of a dry spell scoring wise right now. We need him right now; especially since we’re down so many guys.”
On if DeMar DeRozan is playing just to be a body out there - “I would say that’s probably the case right now. I had a good talk with DeMar the other day and Demar is being spoiled right now with the number of minutes he’s getting, because of our line-up. I told him you have to play every possession like you were on a team where you were only getting 18 minutes a game. I don’t want him to form bad habits. So when you have games where you don’t score points you’re still contributing in other facets.”
Andrea Bargnani
On his recent shooting struggles - “The last two games, I don’t really know, I was just shooting. It’s not a big deal. I was just a little upset because I was playing the last two games like I did the previous thirty-nine or forty games, but I definitely feel bad about it.”
On the health of his knees - “I’m alright. I mean, I practiced yesterday, so that’s not an excuse, right?”
On his play against the Spurs - “My teammates passed me the ball in the right moments. They gave me some great balls. It was just me not making the shots. I was just playing bad.”
DeMar DeRozan
On his play in the first half - “It’s just being aggressive. I just wanted to try to get us started, get to the free-throw line, and just get a point in.”
More on his offense in the game - “A little bit of everything. I felt the flow of the game. Things were going well, I felt good, Jose (Calderon) was getting me the ball, and I was feeling good.”
On the Spurs' comeback - “It’s definitely frustrating. It’s a killer. We were beating up on one of the best teams in the NBA, but we got to hold the lead. It’s definitely frustrating.”
On the Spurs' defense in the second half - “It was like back in high school. They were sending doubles and everything. It’s just tough. I had a few turnovers that really hurt us and that’s what made it even worse.”
On how to improve - “You’ve got to watch film. I’ll definitely watch and see what I’ve got to do better. I need to see who was open, and I need to get better for the next time that happens.”