Solid D
11-18-2004, 11:40 PM
http://www.nba.com/sixers/news/0405_postgame_report_041118.html
Thursday, Nov. 18, 2004
Wachovia Center
76ers Head Coach Jim O'Brien
On tonight’s game
“We did some good things, but got off to a slow start obviously. We had great looks at the basket early and dug ourselves a hole that we climbed out of, but we just didn’t have what it took in the fourth quarter. I thought our defense was solid, but we missed 22 great looks where we had open shots that we normally would make 50 percent of them. We just didn’t knock down shots that were available to us. We got the ball to the rim the whole first half against one of the better defensive teams. We just didn’t make the shots that were made available to us.”
On the depth of the Spurs
“They are a potential World Champion. Against a team that has (Tim) Duncan in the low post, you can’t cover every event and you have to give them something. Unfortunately, (Rasho) Nesterovic hit a couple of shots.”
On the development of Kyle Korver
“I know he was a second round draft pick, but Kyle was the MVP of his league for two straight years because he can do other things than shoot the basketball. He plays, he defends, and is one of our leaders in deflections with aggressive hands. He is going to play a lot of minutes for us. It is very difficult for me to have Kyle on the bench. It just doesn’t seem like it’s the best way to win unless he’s out there on the court.”
On the progress of the 76ers…
“I think it starts with attitude and work ethic and we have both of those. I think that any basketball team that I’ve been associated with that has had those two ingredients will have a good basketball season. Our goal is to make the playoffs and I think we have what it takes to make the playoffs. I think we have the work ethic that will see our team improve. I’ve seen improvement from our basketball team and that is what I need to see this early in the season.”
76ers Guard Kyle Korver
On watching the Sixers miss their first 16 shot attempts in the first quarter
“It’s tough. You always want to be out there helping them out. You guys watched it - it was kind of hard to watch. They were all good shots - it’s not that we were shooting bad shots - those were the same shots we were shooting in the second, third and fourth quarter, but, for some reason, the ball didn’t want to fall in the basket that first quarter.”
On whether he would rather start or come off the bench
“I am fine with either role. I like coming off the bench. You always want to play as many minutes as possible and be starting, but I really kind of relish this role of coming off and providing a spark and kind of seeing the way things are going. I like doing that, too. I am ready to help the team in whatever way.”
76ers Center Marc Jackson
On Tim Duncan
“The best part of Tim’s game is how he’s so patient. [He] and his coaches have an understanding. It is really evident that they have a lot of chemistry - not just the players on the court, but with the coaching staff and the way they run their team and the way their offense is run. That’s great when you have a player that can do those things and coaches and other players around him that have that chemistry and know what they need to do to get him the ball - that’s great.”
“When you go against Shaq you know they are going to just run him down to the block and turn and that’s it. When you go against KG [Kevin Garnett] you know he is going to get a lot of his stuff from the outside. San Antonio runs so many things to get [Tim Duncan] the ball in certain spots at any given time - it is just great the way they do it.”
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On his team’s fourth quarter performance
“We showed great heart in the fourth quarter. I thought that Philadelphia picked up their defense, and did a great job physically and defensively getting back in the game and going ahead. In the fourth quarter I thought we handled it very well, and came back against that and played even better defense. (We) played with a lot of heart, played physically, and went and took the game. I think that was the best part of what happened for us tonight. I thought we were sloppy in some ways, (but) I thought in the fourth quarter we were very tough physically and mentally.”
On Tim Duncan’s performance
“It’s almost like you take it for granted like David (Robinson’s) games used to be. He’s going to get points, he rebounds, he blocks shots, he changes shots, (and) he plays defense on people. He just played a great all-around game in that sense. He really put it on his shoulders, showed some great leadership and brought his team around.”
On the Sixers’ slow start
“That’s a coaches worst nightmare, jumping off to a lead in the NBA. It’s the only thing every one of us thinks every single time. You just sit there and wait for the score to get even again. It’s pretty rare that you keep it and just move along. If we could find answers to that, then there’d be a whole lot more blowouts in the league.”
Spurs Guard Tony Parker
On defending Allen Iverson
“He’s very aggressive. He’s going to take a lot of shots, so you try to contain him the best you can.”
On only attempting two shots tonight
“It was just the flow of the game. I didn’t have a lot of opportunities. There was hard hedging. I was trying to move the ball and trying to get it inside.”
Spurs Forward Tim Duncan
On tonight’s win
“It was a great game for us. They fought back into the game, (and) I thought we played pretty good defense. They missed some shots in the first quarter (and we) gave ourselves a lead there. They did a hell of a job to get back into the game. Kyle (Korver) came in a made some big shots for them, and really opened up the floor for them. But we fought straight through though.”
Thursday, Nov. 18, 2004
Wachovia Center
76ers Head Coach Jim O'Brien
On tonight’s game
“We did some good things, but got off to a slow start obviously. We had great looks at the basket early and dug ourselves a hole that we climbed out of, but we just didn’t have what it took in the fourth quarter. I thought our defense was solid, but we missed 22 great looks where we had open shots that we normally would make 50 percent of them. We just didn’t knock down shots that were available to us. We got the ball to the rim the whole first half against one of the better defensive teams. We just didn’t make the shots that were made available to us.”
On the depth of the Spurs
“They are a potential World Champion. Against a team that has (Tim) Duncan in the low post, you can’t cover every event and you have to give them something. Unfortunately, (Rasho) Nesterovic hit a couple of shots.”
On the development of Kyle Korver
“I know he was a second round draft pick, but Kyle was the MVP of his league for two straight years because he can do other things than shoot the basketball. He plays, he defends, and is one of our leaders in deflections with aggressive hands. He is going to play a lot of minutes for us. It is very difficult for me to have Kyle on the bench. It just doesn’t seem like it’s the best way to win unless he’s out there on the court.”
On the progress of the 76ers…
“I think it starts with attitude and work ethic and we have both of those. I think that any basketball team that I’ve been associated with that has had those two ingredients will have a good basketball season. Our goal is to make the playoffs and I think we have what it takes to make the playoffs. I think we have the work ethic that will see our team improve. I’ve seen improvement from our basketball team and that is what I need to see this early in the season.”
76ers Guard Kyle Korver
On watching the Sixers miss their first 16 shot attempts in the first quarter
“It’s tough. You always want to be out there helping them out. You guys watched it - it was kind of hard to watch. They were all good shots - it’s not that we were shooting bad shots - those were the same shots we were shooting in the second, third and fourth quarter, but, for some reason, the ball didn’t want to fall in the basket that first quarter.”
On whether he would rather start or come off the bench
“I am fine with either role. I like coming off the bench. You always want to play as many minutes as possible and be starting, but I really kind of relish this role of coming off and providing a spark and kind of seeing the way things are going. I like doing that, too. I am ready to help the team in whatever way.”
76ers Center Marc Jackson
On Tim Duncan
“The best part of Tim’s game is how he’s so patient. [He] and his coaches have an understanding. It is really evident that they have a lot of chemistry - not just the players on the court, but with the coaching staff and the way they run their team and the way their offense is run. That’s great when you have a player that can do those things and coaches and other players around him that have that chemistry and know what they need to do to get him the ball - that’s great.”
“When you go against Shaq you know they are going to just run him down to the block and turn and that’s it. When you go against KG [Kevin Garnett] you know he is going to get a lot of his stuff from the outside. San Antonio runs so many things to get [Tim Duncan] the ball in certain spots at any given time - it is just great the way they do it.”
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On his team’s fourth quarter performance
“We showed great heart in the fourth quarter. I thought that Philadelphia picked up their defense, and did a great job physically and defensively getting back in the game and going ahead. In the fourth quarter I thought we handled it very well, and came back against that and played even better defense. (We) played with a lot of heart, played physically, and went and took the game. I think that was the best part of what happened for us tonight. I thought we were sloppy in some ways, (but) I thought in the fourth quarter we were very tough physically and mentally.”
On Tim Duncan’s performance
“It’s almost like you take it for granted like David (Robinson’s) games used to be. He’s going to get points, he rebounds, he blocks shots, he changes shots, (and) he plays defense on people. He just played a great all-around game in that sense. He really put it on his shoulders, showed some great leadership and brought his team around.”
On the Sixers’ slow start
“That’s a coaches worst nightmare, jumping off to a lead in the NBA. It’s the only thing every one of us thinks every single time. You just sit there and wait for the score to get even again. It’s pretty rare that you keep it and just move along. If we could find answers to that, then there’d be a whole lot more blowouts in the league.”
Spurs Guard Tony Parker
On defending Allen Iverson
“He’s very aggressive. He’s going to take a lot of shots, so you try to contain him the best you can.”
On only attempting two shots tonight
“It was just the flow of the game. I didn’t have a lot of opportunities. There was hard hedging. I was trying to move the ball and trying to get it inside.”
Spurs Forward Tim Duncan
On tonight’s win
“It was a great game for us. They fought back into the game, (and) I thought we played pretty good defense. They missed some shots in the first quarter (and we) gave ourselves a lead there. They did a hell of a job to get back into the game. Kyle (Korver) came in a made some big shots for them, and really opened up the floor for them. But we fought straight through though.”