Clutch20
02-27-2007, 04:21 PM
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game - “We had a really good defensive half in the first half. That fueled our offensive play along with our team defense in the first half. That got us the win tonight.”
On Tim Duncan’s play - “He started last summer. He worked hard, came in early and got in shape. He feels strong and he’s performing well consistently night in and night out. Plus the guys are getting used to each other. We’re turning a corner.”
On the defensive effort on Chris Bosh - “Francisco Elson was mainly responsible. He did a great job. He stayed in front of him and kept him off the free throw line. The team defense also aided (the effort), but the main emphasis fell on Francisco. He did a really fine job.”
On Tony Parker - “He’s 24. He’s not getting played over the limit minutes wise. We’re watching that. It’s more prevention wise. If he needs the rest, we’ll give it to him. He and Manu are the same way all the time. They’re fearless and not afraid of contact or getting banged up. We just hope they stay healthy.”
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Tim Duncan
On the game - “Yeah we really jumped on them early on and I thought we did an excellent job defensively. We didn’t let Chris (Bosh) get rolling; we pressured their shooters so we ran them off the line. They hit some shots later in the game that kind of got them back within striking distance, but all in all I thought we just did an excellent job defensively.”
It appears that you are getting a little more aggressive over the past few weeks - “Are you counting the six points I had last game or just this game? It’s the flow of the game. If people decide to let me play one on one or if they decide to double team, depending on what the defense gives is what I’m trying to say.”
Were you surprised they didn’t double-team you more? - “It’s Rasho (Nesterovic). Rasho’s awesome. I got lucky that’s all it was. He was wearing someone else out. He wasn’t wearing me out. We calculated and he scored two points on me and 14 on other people, not that I keep track, but that’s what I heard (laughing).”
On the decision to go back in midway through the fourth quarter - “It was just Pop (Gregg Popovich) putting us back in there. Just recognizing that the game wasn’t over and that they’re a very capable team. Those guys have been playing really good basketball over the last 10 or 15 games. So we came in here respecting them and I thought we did a good job of jumping on them and staying on them.”
On starting to win at home - “Yeah absolutely. That is an absolute something we came out after the break because we’ve lost way too many here at home. We’ve lost some really bad ones here and we just want to reestablish the fact that we need to be a good home team and this needs to be somewhere where people come in here and know they are going to lose games.”
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Bruce Bowen
On being able to establish the home court - “Well the first half of the season or I should say early on we didn’t do so well at home. There were a lot of times we had let downs in games where we might be up 10 or 12 points and the next thing you know in the beginning of the third quarter we’re down or beginning of the fourth quarter we’re down. It’s really hard to give away leads and then rely on your defense to bring you back into games and sometimes you come up short. We did that a lot in the first half of the season.”
On the defense the past few games - “I think guys just paying attention to detail. I think we understand that if you’re going to win on the road it’s very important that your defense is solid and what better place to start then at home because we haven’t played this well at home. So we’re trying to make adjustments as far as the mindset, being physical, paying attention to detail so we can have an opportunity come playoff time.”
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Raptors Head Coach Sam Mitchell
On the game - “We just got beat. They beat us in every facet of the game of basketball. We competed through the fourth but in the end we just got it handed to us. We lost to a good team on their home floor. Hubie Brown once said that there are going to be 2 or 3 games every year were you might as well just not have shown up and hopefully this is one of those for us.”
“It disappointing because we just didn’t execute some of the things that we talked about all week. I though Rasho played well and we need to keep him playing at that level, so there are some positives we can take out of this.”
“This can happen when you are playing great veteran players. The Spurs have a lot of guys like Horry and Berry. You don’t stay in this league for 12 or 13 years for no good reason. You guys write about veteran players like they are washed up or dead sometimes and I keep trying to tell you that experience and pride takes over and can overtake exuberance and youth. They understand what they are up against as veteran players in this league.”
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Rasho Nesterovic
On the game - “They are one of the best defensive teams in the league and so you have to beat them as a team. They have three all-stars and they really know who to execute a game plan. And it’s well know that turn it on after every all-star break. They really pick up their game.”
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T.J. Ford
On the game - “We just couldn’t stop them and that put a lot of pressure on our offense. It’s like we were a split second late all-night. They are one of the best teams in the league and they really showcased that tonight and at times our inexperience showed.”
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Chris Bosh
On the game - “From a team standpoint we just had a failure to execute in the 2nd quarter and didn’t play our brand of basketball. On the other hand, they played well. When they play well and we don’t, this is likely to happen. Now I just didn’t make shots. I missed some wide-open shots and a hook shot right in the middle. In the end I put a lot on myself because it’s up to me to make those shots.”
On Tim Duncan - “He looked fresh to me. He had a great 1st half. He doesn’t play a big up and down game but he will kill you with his post-up game. He’s real unselfish and he’s good at finding that open guy. But you are going to bring the double when he touches the ball or he’s going to score on you. You don’t know headed in if he’s going to have the kind of night where he’s going to drop 30 or just 12 but either way he is going to impose his will on a game.”
On the game - “We had a really good defensive half in the first half. That fueled our offensive play along with our team defense in the first half. That got us the win tonight.”
On Tim Duncan’s play - “He started last summer. He worked hard, came in early and got in shape. He feels strong and he’s performing well consistently night in and night out. Plus the guys are getting used to each other. We’re turning a corner.”
On the defensive effort on Chris Bosh - “Francisco Elson was mainly responsible. He did a great job. He stayed in front of him and kept him off the free throw line. The team defense also aided (the effort), but the main emphasis fell on Francisco. He did a really fine job.”
On Tony Parker - “He’s 24. He’s not getting played over the limit minutes wise. We’re watching that. It’s more prevention wise. If he needs the rest, we’ll give it to him. He and Manu are the same way all the time. They’re fearless and not afraid of contact or getting banged up. We just hope they stay healthy.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Duncan
On the game - “Yeah we really jumped on them early on and I thought we did an excellent job defensively. We didn’t let Chris (Bosh) get rolling; we pressured their shooters so we ran them off the line. They hit some shots later in the game that kind of got them back within striking distance, but all in all I thought we just did an excellent job defensively.”
It appears that you are getting a little more aggressive over the past few weeks - “Are you counting the six points I had last game or just this game? It’s the flow of the game. If people decide to let me play one on one or if they decide to double team, depending on what the defense gives is what I’m trying to say.”
Were you surprised they didn’t double-team you more? - “It’s Rasho (Nesterovic). Rasho’s awesome. I got lucky that’s all it was. He was wearing someone else out. He wasn’t wearing me out. We calculated and he scored two points on me and 14 on other people, not that I keep track, but that’s what I heard (laughing).”
On the decision to go back in midway through the fourth quarter - “It was just Pop (Gregg Popovich) putting us back in there. Just recognizing that the game wasn’t over and that they’re a very capable team. Those guys have been playing really good basketball over the last 10 or 15 games. So we came in here respecting them and I thought we did a good job of jumping on them and staying on them.”
On starting to win at home - “Yeah absolutely. That is an absolute something we came out after the break because we’ve lost way too many here at home. We’ve lost some really bad ones here and we just want to reestablish the fact that we need to be a good home team and this needs to be somewhere where people come in here and know they are going to lose games.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bruce Bowen
On being able to establish the home court - “Well the first half of the season or I should say early on we didn’t do so well at home. There were a lot of times we had let downs in games where we might be up 10 or 12 points and the next thing you know in the beginning of the third quarter we’re down or beginning of the fourth quarter we’re down. It’s really hard to give away leads and then rely on your defense to bring you back into games and sometimes you come up short. We did that a lot in the first half of the season.”
On the defense the past few games - “I think guys just paying attention to detail. I think we understand that if you’re going to win on the road it’s very important that your defense is solid and what better place to start then at home because we haven’t played this well at home. So we’re trying to make adjustments as far as the mindset, being physical, paying attention to detail so we can have an opportunity come playoff time.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Raptors Head Coach Sam Mitchell
On the game - “We just got beat. They beat us in every facet of the game of basketball. We competed through the fourth but in the end we just got it handed to us. We lost to a good team on their home floor. Hubie Brown once said that there are going to be 2 or 3 games every year were you might as well just not have shown up and hopefully this is one of those for us.”
“It disappointing because we just didn’t execute some of the things that we talked about all week. I though Rasho played well and we need to keep him playing at that level, so there are some positives we can take out of this.”
“This can happen when you are playing great veteran players. The Spurs have a lot of guys like Horry and Berry. You don’t stay in this league for 12 or 13 years for no good reason. You guys write about veteran players like they are washed up or dead sometimes and I keep trying to tell you that experience and pride takes over and can overtake exuberance and youth. They understand what they are up against as veteran players in this league.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rasho Nesterovic
On the game - “They are one of the best defensive teams in the league and so you have to beat them as a team. They have three all-stars and they really know who to execute a game plan. And it’s well know that turn it on after every all-star break. They really pick up their game.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
T.J. Ford
On the game - “We just couldn’t stop them and that put a lot of pressure on our offense. It’s like we were a split second late all-night. They are one of the best teams in the league and they really showcased that tonight and at times our inexperience showed.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Bosh
On the game - “From a team standpoint we just had a failure to execute in the 2nd quarter and didn’t play our brand of basketball. On the other hand, they played well. When they play well and we don’t, this is likely to happen. Now I just didn’t make shots. I missed some wide-open shots and a hook shot right in the middle. In the end I put a lot on myself because it’s up to me to make those shots.”
On Tim Duncan - “He looked fresh to me. He had a great 1st half. He doesn’t play a big up and down game but he will kill you with his post-up game. He’s real unselfish and he’s good at finding that open guy. But you are going to bring the double when he touches the ball or he’s going to score on you. You don’t know headed in if he’s going to have the kind of night where he’s going to drop 30 or just 12 but either way he is going to impose his will on a game.”