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http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/quotes_042407.html
SAM MITC
Thoughts on the play of Anthony Parker?*
He was jus great, I mean defensively, offensively, getting to the corner scoring the basketball, we need AP to continue to play like that, he was just unbelievable. He competes, he shoots the ball well, he got into the paint tonight which is what we wanted him to do, and put the pressure on the defence. I thought Chris, he had 25 (points) and thirteen (rebounds), he had been sick, he didn’t have the energy, he was laboring a little bit but in that fourth quarter when we needed him he stepped up, made some baskets. I thought T.J. just getting into the paint, getting to the free throw line and defensively he was just all over the place.
Are you proud of the way your guys played and competed? *
Yeah, but this is the playoffs, you can’t quit, no matter what’s the score, no matter how you’re playing, you may get down a little bit but your not going to quit. I’ve been proud of this team all year. I have no complaints with our effort, never have I’ve never walked into the locker room after a practice or a game and said we didn’t play hard, we didn’t compete.
Is this your proudest day as a coach?
Yeah, I would say that but it’s a little bit embarrassing to make too much out of me, it’s more about these guys in the locker room because like I said this morning none of this could of happened without those fifteen guys in the locker room. The best part other than winning the basketball game was when the presentation and those guys came out because we really care about each other. I work them hard but they also know how much I care about them.
CHRIS BOSH
Thoughts on getting your first playoff win under your belt?
It’s really good, it feels really good. We came out and we did the things we were supposed to do. We relied on our defense today and I think we played great. We played great team defence, made them shoot a lot of contested jump shots, we got back in transition defence today and we got a lot of easy buckets.
Similarities on tonight’s win and the way Coach Sam Mitc played in his career…
I think so, we knew that these games are going to be hard to win, and to be willing to win you have to grind it out. We knew that Sam, he wasn’t the prettiest player but he got the job done and that’s kind of how the playoffs are, you just have to get the job done no matter what happens. Neither team shot the ball well but we had to continue to play good defence.
Thoughts on taking over in the fourth quarter…
Well, that is kind of my job. That is what everyone was telling me all the time to try to take over the game. I just wanted to be aggressive, I knew that I could get a jump shot at any time but I wanted to work on getting to the basket.
Does this win tonight show the team’s versatility?
You have to be versatile. We have to be able to play defence. You can’t just be all offence because this caliber isn’t going to allow you to just run and gun all game. We knew that we were going to have to come in and play tough defence, we didn’t shoot the ball as well as we wanted to but we didn’t let that affect us because we continued to play good team defence and we kept our guys in front of us.
ANTHONY PARKER
Thoughts on game…*
It’s win number one but It’s just one game. It’s a great feeling to get one, these fans deserve it and we played a hard battle and these fans were behind us one hundred percent both games and it’s a big one for us.
How hard was it to grind it out today?*
It’s tough you know, we weren’t making shots early, I think we played great defense we just weren’t getting those shots to go our way and they executed, they hit some big shots down the stretch, but you know we made some big plays ourselves and we were able to pull it out.
What does it mean to win and help Sam Mitc to get his first playoff win?
It’s big, it’s big for our coach, it’s big for our organization but it’s just one game. We got to go to Jersey with the mindset to get two more.
How hard was it to grind it out today?*
It’s tough you know, we weren’t making shots early, I think we played great defense we just weren’t getting those shots to go our way and they executed, they hit some big shots down the stretch, but you know we made some big plays ourselves and we were able to pull it out.
Thoughts on your play tonight…
Sometimes you don’t play as good and you don’t score as many points but you try and do the right things to win. Fortunately for me tonight I got good looks and got into a good rhythm and was able to knock some shots down.
Thoughts on your year in perspective…
I think that is definitely a question for me after the season, right now we are in playoffs and It’s just one game, we got two tough ones in New Jersey so that is what we are focused on. After the season we can look back as a team and think about those kind of things.
LAWRENCE FRANK
Thoughts on game…*
It was a heartfelt game. You’ve got to give Toronto a lot of credit. In the fourth quarter I think they scored nine of their last 11. The whole game offensively we just weren’t able to make shots. You’ve got to give Toronto a lot of credit. They played extremely hard, there is a reason why we missed shots, they affected them and so it’s unfortunate. We wanted to get both (games) but we got a split so now we have to continue to look at what we need to improve. We were right there, we had some great shots to tie it but we go back home to game three.
Thoughts on Nets missing shots…
Well, that’s what happens and that’s why, especially in playoff basketball, your shooting percentage typically goes down. So, that is why defensively, you have to be rock solid. So, us in that fourth quarter, to give up not really 31 points, but let’s just say in the end, in the high twenties, it’s hard. When we had an option to get the top scorers out they hit a huge dagger three…the things we evaluate are the good shots. If they are good shots and you miss them then it’s hard to complain about them, but then defensively is where you have to build your margin for error.
Did you get what you wanted from this road trip?
Well, I mean we came here to get two wins and we got one. At the same time we have to give Toronto a lot of credit and we’re going to go back home and Toronto is going their going to try and get game three and we have to be able to protect home court and just be able to just get back and be able to find a way to win. Like I said, they are the Atlantic Division champs and a great team and they played like that tonight.
VINCE CARTER
Did you feel you let this game slip away?
Definitely. I think in the end we had a wonderful opportunity. We had a lot of good shots that just didn’t fall down for us. Bostjan Nachbar, had a wonderful look at a three but they (Toronto) just kept playing, kept coming, and they got the job done.
Thoughts on the shots you got tonight…
Clean looks. The one thing about it that I feel good about is that my shots were long so you can adjust to that. I just know that I was shooting the right shot, shooting them correctly, but they just didn’t fall.
Thoughts on the Raptors playing with more intensity tonight…
They are supposed to. They lost game one and they didn’t want to go down 2-0, they understood that so they stepped their level of play up and intencity was a little higher so they made it fun basketball game. So we had to match their energy, not only just because its playoffs game two, but because their coach just received an award so we knew they were going to be juiced up a little bit. So we had to first and foremost maintain the early energy in the run and then make it basketball game which we did, gave us chance to win the game but we just couldn’t pull it off.
JASON KIDD
Thoughts on game…
I think coming down the end they made plays, made the free throws when they had to. I think they were a little more relaxed, but again we came out here trying to win game two. We put ourselves in a great position to do that. Bostjan (Nachbar) has the same look that he had in game one, if that goes in (Nachbar’s shot) then it’s tied up and it's anybody’s ball game at that point. We had a lot of great looks, but it didn’t go in for us. But we knew they (Toronto) were going to come out and give us their best shot. And I thought we did a pretty good job, but you know, they were the better team and they won tonight.
Thoughts on Anthony Parker…
It was big. He's always on the offence end and puts pressure on you because he can catch and shoot, but he isn’t afraid to put the ball on floor and take it to the basket. He had a great game and he can also find the open guy, so he puts a lot of pressure on the defense and he has helped that team in a big way from the outside, but also on the defensive end.
Do you think Vince Carter needs to change his game in this building?
Well again, he had a lot of great looks. We’re going to ride him until they hopefully start falling in this building. But the good thing is we have two games in our place, so we don’t have to worry about this building until game five. So right now for him to keep being aggressive and keep taking those shots when they present themselves. As a teammate, I feel very confident with the decision making that he making out there.
RICHARD JEFFERSON
Thoughts on the game…
Tonight the ball didn’t bounce our way, we led at halftime, we led the game into the fourth. We had a couple open looks, our best three-point shooter had an open look in the corner and it just didn’t fall.
Thoughts on splitting the games in Toronto…
It is big, you look at the way we played and if you look at both games combined we probably dominated 80 per-cent of the two games. We were fortunate to come up here and get one, now we have to go home and protect our home court.
Thoughts on the Raptors run to end the game…
Primarily they hit their free throws. T.J. Ford hit a three, Chris Bosh hit some very, very tough shots and after that it was free throws. We had some good looks, Nachbar, I can’t stress enough how great of a shot that was, and we would take that from him every single night.
Vince Carter and Jason Kidd struggled from the field again tonight did that hurt you?
No, I wouldn’t say so, we had our chances. We all had our chances to win that game. We were up by one with a minute to go, that is what you are asking for, we just couldn’t get the stops we needed.
