duncan228
03-05-2011, 02:05 AM
Post-Game Quotes (http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/110304.html).
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(On Tony Parker tonight) “He did a great job. It’s great to have him back. He ran the show well and got us started out by moving the ball and being active. He was great.”
(On all of the franchise record 17 three pointers tonight) “We had one of those nights. It doesn’t happen that often and I’m going to go ahead and guess we’re not going to have that many three’s… maybe next year we’ll do it once. That’s a ridiculous night as far as the three’s go. It’s very rare, we had it tonight and we’re thankful for it. It made for a wonderful night. I was more impressed with the defense. We showed a crowd and I think guys reacted defensively very well and that fueled the offense. That game is over and now we think about the Lakers.”
(On the start the Spurs had in the first quarter) “That was basically fueled by the three’s, but as I mentioned we were very active defensively. We made good decisions; people really communicated and when you have that kind of activity you’re going to create some turnovers and get some fast breaks and that’s what happened.”
(On George Hill’s defense on LeBron and Wade) “All you can do with those guys (LeBron and Wade) is try to make them work hard and George (Hill) is willing. He, Manu (Ginobili) and Richard (Jefferson) did the best job that they could. You can’t stop those guys. You saw in the second quarter when LeBron tried to start to get loose on us he got them back in the ball game. They got it down to 12 at halftime. Those guys are a hand full the entire time and all you can do is work hard on them.”
Manu Ginobili
(On the fast start) “We were really focused, started the game strong defensively and offensively. That gave us a 14 (point) lead pretty quick and that really got us going. We were feeling great, shots were really falling, and of course when that happens, everything becomes easier.”
(On if he was aware the Heat gave up so many three-point field goals last night) “No not really. I’m one of the many that was watching the game when they were up 24. I changed channels and when I came back, they were down three and I watched the end, so I didn’t really see how Orlando made the comeback. But we know they jump on pick-and-rolls hard and we were trying to move the ball, find the open teammate, and we did that great.”
(On if he was surprised Tony Parker was back playing tonight) “Yes, I was. I am. I kind of expected him to play on Sunday because I talked to him and he told me he was feeling pretty well that he was going to be quicker than expected, but I wasn’t expecting today to play and to play like this because he was really sharp and explosive and he really helped us. It was great news when this morning we found out.”
(On if Tony Parker controlled the first quarter even while only scoring four points) “Definitely because scoring four points, he gave us 12 with very sharp assists to open shooters. When Tony is that sharp, that aggressive, and he finds his teammates like that, we are really good and it’s really fun to watch. It was great to see him like that.”
Tim Duncan
(On Tony Parker controlling the first quarter) “Yeah, it was great. That’s what he’s been doing all season for us, running that point guard position, making the right passes and right plays and finishing when he has to. He was great tonight at that. We did a great job as a team moving the ball, getting it to wide open shooters, and obviously we shot the ball really well.”
(On if Tony Parker is the fastest healer in the NBA) “(Jokingly) I think he’s a faker honestly. I don’t think he wanted to go on that trip. He wanted someone to beg him to come back, ‘Oh Tony we miss you,’ so I did it and he came back.”
(On what he takes away from beating a team of that caliber by 30 points) “One game. One game, one night. We played well tonight. We outplayed them obviously and we shot the ball extremely well. A great win for us, we’ve been kind of going up and down over the last week or two weeks. It’s good to play a solid 48 minute game.”
(On what’s important with the Lakers coming on Sunday) “Sustain. This one means a lot less if we go out here and tank the next one, so we’ll be prepared, we’ll be focused. These are great games for us, great games to come in here and get everyone on the same page, get everyone in a playoff atmosphere and start getting some of that experience in our pockets.”
(On if the Spurs like playing the best teams in the league at this point of the season) “Yeah, we do. It’s great preparation; it’s time to really focus in. Not that you’re not focused every night, it’s just better when the best teams come in here and you can really lock in and see what we have.”
(On the importance of the first seed in the playoffs) “We’re here. We’ve gotten this far and obviously it’s very important. We want to keep that home court throughout and obviously every advantage we can get, we want to take.”
Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra
(Opening statement) “We basically got blitzed right from the beginning, we made a little bit of a run there at the end of the second quarter. But, they outplayed us, blitzed us, and there’s nothing really else to say.”
(On not being able to defend the three-point shot) “We were slow today. We were a step slow to virtually everything they were doing. There’s no excuse about it. It doesn’t matter about the back-to-back, we’ve done well in back-to-backs. They just played at a different speed, different level than us tonight.”
(How do you want them to continue on from here?) “Got to make a stand. We go home, get out of here, and we got to make a stand on Sunday against a team that is gaining confidence. They got a big win tonight, but we’re playing at home. Things can change very quickly in this league, and we know that. Just 24 hours ago, if you take the first 36 minutes of the game you would think that we’re playing like one of the best teams in this league; right now you’d probably think we’re playing like one of the worst teams in this league. Neither one of those are true, it’s probably somewhere in between but Sunday is an opportunity for us to make a stand.”
(How much of a surprise was Tony Parker playing?) “It doesn’t matter, I don’t think it would have mattered one way or another. They were playing at a completely different speed than us. We found out before the game, but that doesn’t change the way they play.”
(On the tone of the team) “We understand that the only people that really matter to us are the people in the locker room. We’ve got to stay connected, which we are, and bounce back on Sunday. Like I said, things can change very quickly in this league as long as you stay the course and don’t let it turn into something bigger than it is.”
LeBron James
(On the play of the Spurs tonight) “They played extremely well. This is a team that’s clicking on all cylinders right now. Everyone on the team has confidence Tim Duncan all the way down to the last guy off the bench. We saw tonight why they are the best team in the league.”
(On who is the best in the West) “It’s some great competition. San Antonio is definitely up there. The main thing they’ve been able to do all year is stay away from injury. Even with Tony’s injury…he came back early. They’ve been blessed with that. The Lakers are extremely good also. We’ve played OKC and they’re talented. There’s are a lot of talented Western Conference teams. The Spurs just played great tonight.”
(On their energy level tonight) “The Spurs came out with a lot of energy tonight and we didn’t match it to start the game. I’ve figured out throughout my years that when you go down huge on the Spurs’ home court, it’s very rare that you’re going to come back and win the game. We have to figure out a different game plan when they come to Miami.”
(On the second quarter) “It was all out at that point. We were down 24 at the end of the first and we just tried to hit a button and give it all we could. We took it down to 11 and then we had a chance to cut it down into single digits and we missed the open three. It was a really good showing for their team today.”
(On the reason for all the Spurs’ open looks in the first) “They do a great job of forcing triggers. They know exactly what you’re going to do defensively. Whatever you do or whatever you try to take away, they have a counter for. You take away the roll on the pick-and-rolls and they’ll hit the guy in the corner for the three. If you try to take away the threes they hit the guy going to the rim. They’ve seen every situation and they’ve seen every defense and right now they’re just clicking on all cylinders. Everyone on their team has confidence. They all believe that when they get the ball they can make a play to help their team.”
(On the Heat’s confidence level) “We’re still confident. We know this is a tough stretch for us right now, losing three games in a row. I feel like all it takes is one win. We’ve got a really good Chicago team coming into our building on Sunday, so hopefully we bounce back.”
Dwyane Wade
(On not being able to comeback after getting down big) “It wasn’t a hangover. They came out early and hit a lot of threes and had a lot of energy. It started out with Ginobili hitting some threes. This team has been playing together for awhile. You can tell by the way they were moving the ball. They got some great looks at the basket and they got shooters and they knock them down. I thought we got behind the 8-ball early. We fell back, but they continued to pour it on. They did a good job of reacting to what we were doing defensively. They were zipping the ball on a string to their shooters because they knew what we were going to do.”
(On how they right this ship) “We just have to stick together. We’ve been through losing before, so it’s not anything new. We got to stick together and continue to try to learn from game to game. In this league you can turn it around fast or you can stay in it for awhile. You try not to get in a funk. You know the old saying…’You never get too high and you never get too low.’ That’s what we got to do.”
(On who is the best in the West) “The Spurs are the best team. They’re healthy. You’ve got guys that know the system and have been playing together for a long time. They’re good. They’ve been playing excellent basketball and they’re the best team.”
(On giving up so many threes in the last two games) “We played against Orlando and all they do is shoot threes. They can hit them and they can miss them, and they hit them against us. Tonight this team came out and they moved the ball excellent. In my eight years here we’ve only been close one time and that’s the time we won. They always come out and blitz us this way. Popovich is a great coach. He knows how to get his team the shots behind the three-point line. They shot them well. Their confidence got going and it just kept going. You just come out next game and try and do a better job. That’s all we can do. It’s frustrating, of course, when you are going through it, but you’ve got to move on.”
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
(On Tony Parker tonight) “He did a great job. It’s great to have him back. He ran the show well and got us started out by moving the ball and being active. He was great.”
(On all of the franchise record 17 three pointers tonight) “We had one of those nights. It doesn’t happen that often and I’m going to go ahead and guess we’re not going to have that many three’s… maybe next year we’ll do it once. That’s a ridiculous night as far as the three’s go. It’s very rare, we had it tonight and we’re thankful for it. It made for a wonderful night. I was more impressed with the defense. We showed a crowd and I think guys reacted defensively very well and that fueled the offense. That game is over and now we think about the Lakers.”
(On the start the Spurs had in the first quarter) “That was basically fueled by the three’s, but as I mentioned we were very active defensively. We made good decisions; people really communicated and when you have that kind of activity you’re going to create some turnovers and get some fast breaks and that’s what happened.”
(On George Hill’s defense on LeBron and Wade) “All you can do with those guys (LeBron and Wade) is try to make them work hard and George (Hill) is willing. He, Manu (Ginobili) and Richard (Jefferson) did the best job that they could. You can’t stop those guys. You saw in the second quarter when LeBron tried to start to get loose on us he got them back in the ball game. They got it down to 12 at halftime. Those guys are a hand full the entire time and all you can do is work hard on them.”
Manu Ginobili
(On the fast start) “We were really focused, started the game strong defensively and offensively. That gave us a 14 (point) lead pretty quick and that really got us going. We were feeling great, shots were really falling, and of course when that happens, everything becomes easier.”
(On if he was aware the Heat gave up so many three-point field goals last night) “No not really. I’m one of the many that was watching the game when they were up 24. I changed channels and when I came back, they were down three and I watched the end, so I didn’t really see how Orlando made the comeback. But we know they jump on pick-and-rolls hard and we were trying to move the ball, find the open teammate, and we did that great.”
(On if he was surprised Tony Parker was back playing tonight) “Yes, I was. I am. I kind of expected him to play on Sunday because I talked to him and he told me he was feeling pretty well that he was going to be quicker than expected, but I wasn’t expecting today to play and to play like this because he was really sharp and explosive and he really helped us. It was great news when this morning we found out.”
(On if Tony Parker controlled the first quarter even while only scoring four points) “Definitely because scoring four points, he gave us 12 with very sharp assists to open shooters. When Tony is that sharp, that aggressive, and he finds his teammates like that, we are really good and it’s really fun to watch. It was great to see him like that.”
Tim Duncan
(On Tony Parker controlling the first quarter) “Yeah, it was great. That’s what he’s been doing all season for us, running that point guard position, making the right passes and right plays and finishing when he has to. He was great tonight at that. We did a great job as a team moving the ball, getting it to wide open shooters, and obviously we shot the ball really well.”
(On if Tony Parker is the fastest healer in the NBA) “(Jokingly) I think he’s a faker honestly. I don’t think he wanted to go on that trip. He wanted someone to beg him to come back, ‘Oh Tony we miss you,’ so I did it and he came back.”
(On what he takes away from beating a team of that caliber by 30 points) “One game. One game, one night. We played well tonight. We outplayed them obviously and we shot the ball extremely well. A great win for us, we’ve been kind of going up and down over the last week or two weeks. It’s good to play a solid 48 minute game.”
(On what’s important with the Lakers coming on Sunday) “Sustain. This one means a lot less if we go out here and tank the next one, so we’ll be prepared, we’ll be focused. These are great games for us, great games to come in here and get everyone on the same page, get everyone in a playoff atmosphere and start getting some of that experience in our pockets.”
(On if the Spurs like playing the best teams in the league at this point of the season) “Yeah, we do. It’s great preparation; it’s time to really focus in. Not that you’re not focused every night, it’s just better when the best teams come in here and you can really lock in and see what we have.”
(On the importance of the first seed in the playoffs) “We’re here. We’ve gotten this far and obviously it’s very important. We want to keep that home court throughout and obviously every advantage we can get, we want to take.”
Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra
(Opening statement) “We basically got blitzed right from the beginning, we made a little bit of a run there at the end of the second quarter. But, they outplayed us, blitzed us, and there’s nothing really else to say.”
(On not being able to defend the three-point shot) “We were slow today. We were a step slow to virtually everything they were doing. There’s no excuse about it. It doesn’t matter about the back-to-back, we’ve done well in back-to-backs. They just played at a different speed, different level than us tonight.”
(How do you want them to continue on from here?) “Got to make a stand. We go home, get out of here, and we got to make a stand on Sunday against a team that is gaining confidence. They got a big win tonight, but we’re playing at home. Things can change very quickly in this league, and we know that. Just 24 hours ago, if you take the first 36 minutes of the game you would think that we’re playing like one of the best teams in this league; right now you’d probably think we’re playing like one of the worst teams in this league. Neither one of those are true, it’s probably somewhere in between but Sunday is an opportunity for us to make a stand.”
(How much of a surprise was Tony Parker playing?) “It doesn’t matter, I don’t think it would have mattered one way or another. They were playing at a completely different speed than us. We found out before the game, but that doesn’t change the way they play.”
(On the tone of the team) “We understand that the only people that really matter to us are the people in the locker room. We’ve got to stay connected, which we are, and bounce back on Sunday. Like I said, things can change very quickly in this league as long as you stay the course and don’t let it turn into something bigger than it is.”
LeBron James
(On the play of the Spurs tonight) “They played extremely well. This is a team that’s clicking on all cylinders right now. Everyone on the team has confidence Tim Duncan all the way down to the last guy off the bench. We saw tonight why they are the best team in the league.”
(On who is the best in the West) “It’s some great competition. San Antonio is definitely up there. The main thing they’ve been able to do all year is stay away from injury. Even with Tony’s injury…he came back early. They’ve been blessed with that. The Lakers are extremely good also. We’ve played OKC and they’re talented. There’s are a lot of talented Western Conference teams. The Spurs just played great tonight.”
(On their energy level tonight) “The Spurs came out with a lot of energy tonight and we didn’t match it to start the game. I’ve figured out throughout my years that when you go down huge on the Spurs’ home court, it’s very rare that you’re going to come back and win the game. We have to figure out a different game plan when they come to Miami.”
(On the second quarter) “It was all out at that point. We were down 24 at the end of the first and we just tried to hit a button and give it all we could. We took it down to 11 and then we had a chance to cut it down into single digits and we missed the open three. It was a really good showing for their team today.”
(On the reason for all the Spurs’ open looks in the first) “They do a great job of forcing triggers. They know exactly what you’re going to do defensively. Whatever you do or whatever you try to take away, they have a counter for. You take away the roll on the pick-and-rolls and they’ll hit the guy in the corner for the three. If you try to take away the threes they hit the guy going to the rim. They’ve seen every situation and they’ve seen every defense and right now they’re just clicking on all cylinders. Everyone on their team has confidence. They all believe that when they get the ball they can make a play to help their team.”
(On the Heat’s confidence level) “We’re still confident. We know this is a tough stretch for us right now, losing three games in a row. I feel like all it takes is one win. We’ve got a really good Chicago team coming into our building on Sunday, so hopefully we bounce back.”
Dwyane Wade
(On not being able to comeback after getting down big) “It wasn’t a hangover. They came out early and hit a lot of threes and had a lot of energy. It started out with Ginobili hitting some threes. This team has been playing together for awhile. You can tell by the way they were moving the ball. They got some great looks at the basket and they got shooters and they knock them down. I thought we got behind the 8-ball early. We fell back, but they continued to pour it on. They did a good job of reacting to what we were doing defensively. They were zipping the ball on a string to their shooters because they knew what we were going to do.”
(On how they right this ship) “We just have to stick together. We’ve been through losing before, so it’s not anything new. We got to stick together and continue to try to learn from game to game. In this league you can turn it around fast or you can stay in it for awhile. You try not to get in a funk. You know the old saying…’You never get too high and you never get too low.’ That’s what we got to do.”
(On who is the best in the West) “The Spurs are the best team. They’re healthy. You’ve got guys that know the system and have been playing together for a long time. They’re good. They’ve been playing excellent basketball and they’re the best team.”
(On giving up so many threes in the last two games) “We played against Orlando and all they do is shoot threes. They can hit them and they can miss them, and they hit them against us. Tonight this team came out and they moved the ball excellent. In my eight years here we’ve only been close one time and that’s the time we won. They always come out and blitz us this way. Popovich is a great coach. He knows how to get his team the shots behind the three-point line. They shot them well. Their confidence got going and it just kept going. You just come out next game and try and do a better job. That’s all we can do. It’s frustrating, of course, when you are going through it, but you’ve got to move on.”