Kori Ellis
12-27-2006, 01:23 AM
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game - “Milwaukee did a great job tonight. They scored enough points to win three games. We never stopped their offense and that’s the name of the game.”
On Milwaukee’s perimeter players - “We’ve not done a good job all year on defense. This is our worst defensive team in the last seven or eight years. Our players need to make up their minds if they want to continue to understand that is what wins games for us (defense) or if they want to make summer plans. This is the worst club defensively in the last seven or eight years and that’s the bottom line.”
Bruce Bowen
On the game - “It’s disappointing with our effort from our team. Defensively it’s something the coaching staff has prepared us for, talked to us and told us this is something we can’t continue to do. The message isn’t being received by us from the practice site to the game or here at the AT&T Center. It’s very disappointing. You can’t take anything away from Milwaukee because they play that style of play. They are a high octane team, but at the same time if we want to achieve the goals we have set it’s going to have to change as far as our defensive play right now.”
“It’s a matter of guys accepting the challenge now. It’s about playing the game that you love to play and the challenge of, hey I need to do better. If you make mistakes doing it the right way we can live with that. I don’t think the coaches would have a problem with that, but when we create different things along the way that we haven’t worked on in practice then that’s frustrating for the coaches and we as players have to understand we can’t keep giving them the amount of points we’re giving up.”
On missing three guys in the rotation - “That’s not an excuse. It’s an opportunity for others. Eric (Williams) stepped up tonight and did a great job. I think everybody who played tonight did a great job being that we were shorthanded. Defensively we need to do a better job and it starts with myself and guys who have been here. When we go over drills in practice there is a reason we are going over those drills. So we can have carry over into the game, but at some spots it gets lost. So it’s important for us to understand this can be a wake up call or a beginning of a long season.”
Tim Duncan
On On giving up 76 points in the paint - “It’s never happened. Not since I’ve been here. Defense is obviously a concern of ours right now. We gave up over a 100 points and we don’t win games like that. To keep it simple – we have to do a better job.”
On them keeping Tony out of the paint in the second half - “Yeah, I don’t know what their adjustment was. I think they packed it in a little more. I think he did a good job kind of getting there and then finding some shooters. The game is about adjustments and they did a great one in the second half and it worked.”
On Milwaukee - “They execute their plays very well and we didn’t react very well to them. They also made some tough shots. (Andrew)Bogut, Michael Redd and Mo Williams made some tough shots. Just a bad effort in the second half, to give up 59 and a 10-point lead.”
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/quotes_061226.html
On the game - “Milwaukee did a great job tonight. They scored enough points to win three games. We never stopped their offense and that’s the name of the game.”
On Milwaukee’s perimeter players - “We’ve not done a good job all year on defense. This is our worst defensive team in the last seven or eight years. Our players need to make up their minds if they want to continue to understand that is what wins games for us (defense) or if they want to make summer plans. This is the worst club defensively in the last seven or eight years and that’s the bottom line.”
Bruce Bowen
On the game - “It’s disappointing with our effort from our team. Defensively it’s something the coaching staff has prepared us for, talked to us and told us this is something we can’t continue to do. The message isn’t being received by us from the practice site to the game or here at the AT&T Center. It’s very disappointing. You can’t take anything away from Milwaukee because they play that style of play. They are a high octane team, but at the same time if we want to achieve the goals we have set it’s going to have to change as far as our defensive play right now.”
“It’s a matter of guys accepting the challenge now. It’s about playing the game that you love to play and the challenge of, hey I need to do better. If you make mistakes doing it the right way we can live with that. I don’t think the coaches would have a problem with that, but when we create different things along the way that we haven’t worked on in practice then that’s frustrating for the coaches and we as players have to understand we can’t keep giving them the amount of points we’re giving up.”
On missing three guys in the rotation - “That’s not an excuse. It’s an opportunity for others. Eric (Williams) stepped up tonight and did a great job. I think everybody who played tonight did a great job being that we were shorthanded. Defensively we need to do a better job and it starts with myself and guys who have been here. When we go over drills in practice there is a reason we are going over those drills. So we can have carry over into the game, but at some spots it gets lost. So it’s important for us to understand this can be a wake up call or a beginning of a long season.”
Tim Duncan
On On giving up 76 points in the paint - “It’s never happened. Not since I’ve been here. Defense is obviously a concern of ours right now. We gave up over a 100 points and we don’t win games like that. To keep it simple – we have to do a better job.”
On them keeping Tony out of the paint in the second half - “Yeah, I don’t know what their adjustment was. I think they packed it in a little more. I think he did a good job kind of getting there and then finding some shooters. The game is about adjustments and they did a great one in the second half and it worked.”
On Milwaukee - “They execute their plays very well and we didn’t react very well to them. They also made some tough shots. (Andrew)Bogut, Michael Redd and Mo Williams made some tough shots. Just a bad effort in the second half, to give up 59 and a 10-point lead.”
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/quotes_061226.html