duncan228
01-23-2011, 12:56 AM
Post-Game Quotes (http://www.nba.com/hornets/news/012211_pgq_NOHSAS.html)
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game: “New Orleans played fantastic defense: physical, physical, well-executed defense. When you combine that with fine shooting, you’re in for a hell of a night. They were wonderful.”
On if the Hornets have been building on their defense: “Sure, sure. Monty (Williams) and his staff know exactly what kind of system they want to instill. It does not happen instantaneously. They have worked at it all year long through ups and downs and every team has ups and downs. It’s a credit to their character and their players and their staff. They stuck with it and now they are a fantastic defense team. When you shoot like that on top of it, you are a big time team who can play every night with everybody and that’s what they have become.”
On Emeka Okafor: “He did not allow anything inside. He did a great job.”
Spurs Forward Tim Duncan
On the Hornets defense: “You have to give credit to them for their defense. They were very good tonight and they did not give us a lot of stuff. On top of that, we missed a lot of shots. So bottom line, they did the right thing and we (Spurs) did not make them pay for it when we did.”
On if the Hornets are a serious contender in the West: “I imagine so. They are playing the best basketball of anyone in this league for the last 15 to 20 games. They are right in the mix and obviously, they played well tonight.”
On the third quarter: “It just got away from us. At the first half, we stuck with it and when we were not making shots defensively, we were silent. It was a break for somebody and someone needed to make some shots and pull a lead and obviously, it was not us. We got the shots that we wanted and when we were not making shots, they were.”
Head Coach Monty Williams
On the Spurs having 44 missed shots and the Hornets only allowing six offensive rebounds: “We talked about that just now, and I didn’t realize that until after the game. I just think that is a testament to the guards getting in there and sticking their nose in the paint and trying to get rebounds; they don’t get them all the time. Emeka (Okafor) has been a beast on the boards for awhile. David (West), tonight, he goes with a double-double. Chris (Paul) is always sticking his nose in there. For him (Paul) to get six rebounds in 30 minutes is big for us. That’s what we talked about in the preseason; we can’t leave it up to Emeka (Okafor) to get all the boards, he and David (West). The fact that we made them miss a lot of shots says a lot about our defense. I thought they were off tonight, they didn’t hit shots that they normally hit, but when you put that kind of pressure on them it makes it hard for them to hit shots.”
On defensive rebounding: “It’s something that we weren’t that great at earlier in the year and we drilled it, talked about it and showed the guys on film where they were trying to sneak out and get layups on the other end and put it on David (West) and Emeka (Okafor) to get all the boards. Now I think our guys understand when we hold teams to one contested shot layups come a lot easier. Emeka (Okafor) has been like that on the boards all year long. He and David (West) have been a force down there because I think they understand. And we changed some things on defense to keep those guys in the paint. Our guards have done an exceptional job sticking their nose in there and trying to get rebounds.”
On keeping the Spurs off balance defensively: “We changed our pick-and-roll coverages. We were trying to keep Tony (Parker) and Ginobili out of the middle. It worked for us because our bigs were clogging up the paint, but I thought when they did get to the paint Emeka (Okafor) had three or four blocked shots tonight that just sent a message that it wasn’t going to be easy to get in there tonight. We switched in that somewhat of a zone, and when you can switch and keep guys in front of you; you can force a contested shot. I guess with a team like that you have to mix up your defenses because if you show Tim (Duncan) the same thing he is going to pick you apart; if you show Ginobili the same pick-and-roll defense he surely will pick you apart. He didn’t have his best stuff tonight but I thought we had a lot to do with that.”
Hornets Forward Trevor Ariza
On the Hornets defense: "We are paying more attention to details. I think we know what we need to do, and we know who we are as a team. Emeka (Okafor) was big for us early in the game protecting the rim, and he was sending their shots the other way. The run 21-0 run we had in the third quarter is what we can do when we play our defense. When we play our type of defense, that helps ignite our offense."
Hornets Guard Willie Green
On staying focused on the big picture: "We still have over 40 more games to play and you can’t get all excited over one game. We have another tough opponent coming in here on Monday. We’ll enjoy this one tonight, but we’ll have to get back to work tomorrow and prepare for OKC. Our guys our committed to doing what the coaches ask us to do, and we’ll prepare hard and get ready for Monday. As long as we play defense we’ll be in every game."
Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game: “New Orleans played fantastic defense: physical, physical, well-executed defense. When you combine that with fine shooting, you’re in for a hell of a night. They were wonderful.”
On if the Hornets have been building on their defense: “Sure, sure. Monty (Williams) and his staff know exactly what kind of system they want to instill. It does not happen instantaneously. They have worked at it all year long through ups and downs and every team has ups and downs. It’s a credit to their character and their players and their staff. They stuck with it and now they are a fantastic defense team. When you shoot like that on top of it, you are a big time team who can play every night with everybody and that’s what they have become.”
On Emeka Okafor: “He did not allow anything inside. He did a great job.”
Spurs Forward Tim Duncan
On the Hornets defense: “You have to give credit to them for their defense. They were very good tonight and they did not give us a lot of stuff. On top of that, we missed a lot of shots. So bottom line, they did the right thing and we (Spurs) did not make them pay for it when we did.”
On if the Hornets are a serious contender in the West: “I imagine so. They are playing the best basketball of anyone in this league for the last 15 to 20 games. They are right in the mix and obviously, they played well tonight.”
On the third quarter: “It just got away from us. At the first half, we stuck with it and when we were not making shots defensively, we were silent. It was a break for somebody and someone needed to make some shots and pull a lead and obviously, it was not us. We got the shots that we wanted and when we were not making shots, they were.”
Head Coach Monty Williams
On the Spurs having 44 missed shots and the Hornets only allowing six offensive rebounds: “We talked about that just now, and I didn’t realize that until after the game. I just think that is a testament to the guards getting in there and sticking their nose in the paint and trying to get rebounds; they don’t get them all the time. Emeka (Okafor) has been a beast on the boards for awhile. David (West), tonight, he goes with a double-double. Chris (Paul) is always sticking his nose in there. For him (Paul) to get six rebounds in 30 minutes is big for us. That’s what we talked about in the preseason; we can’t leave it up to Emeka (Okafor) to get all the boards, he and David (West). The fact that we made them miss a lot of shots says a lot about our defense. I thought they were off tonight, they didn’t hit shots that they normally hit, but when you put that kind of pressure on them it makes it hard for them to hit shots.”
On defensive rebounding: “It’s something that we weren’t that great at earlier in the year and we drilled it, talked about it and showed the guys on film where they were trying to sneak out and get layups on the other end and put it on David (West) and Emeka (Okafor) to get all the boards. Now I think our guys understand when we hold teams to one contested shot layups come a lot easier. Emeka (Okafor) has been like that on the boards all year long. He and David (West) have been a force down there because I think they understand. And we changed some things on defense to keep those guys in the paint. Our guards have done an exceptional job sticking their nose in there and trying to get rebounds.”
On keeping the Spurs off balance defensively: “We changed our pick-and-roll coverages. We were trying to keep Tony (Parker) and Ginobili out of the middle. It worked for us because our bigs were clogging up the paint, but I thought when they did get to the paint Emeka (Okafor) had three or four blocked shots tonight that just sent a message that it wasn’t going to be easy to get in there tonight. We switched in that somewhat of a zone, and when you can switch and keep guys in front of you; you can force a contested shot. I guess with a team like that you have to mix up your defenses because if you show Tim (Duncan) the same thing he is going to pick you apart; if you show Ginobili the same pick-and-roll defense he surely will pick you apart. He didn’t have his best stuff tonight but I thought we had a lot to do with that.”
Hornets Forward Trevor Ariza
On the Hornets defense: "We are paying more attention to details. I think we know what we need to do, and we know who we are as a team. Emeka (Okafor) was big for us early in the game protecting the rim, and he was sending their shots the other way. The run 21-0 run we had in the third quarter is what we can do when we play our defense. When we play our type of defense, that helps ignite our offense."
Hornets Guard Willie Green
On staying focused on the big picture: "We still have over 40 more games to play and you can’t get all excited over one game. We have another tough opponent coming in here on Monday. We’ll enjoy this one tonight, but we’ll have to get back to work tomorrow and prepare for OKC. Our guys our committed to doing what the coaches ask us to do, and we’ll prepare hard and get ready for Monday. As long as we play defense we’ll be in every game."