Video here.
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
On the game - “We’ll take that any day. Tony hit a big shot and got it done for us. It was great effort on the back to back, even though they had a back to back to. For us it was a little bit of a different story. That’s a of an athletic team (76’ers); they score more fast break points than anyone in the league. So, that athleticism is really tough for us and we hung in one second long enough to get it done. We’re thrilled to get the victory.”
On Andre Miller and the 76ers - “He’s a heck of a compe or and they are just a talented and a really athletic group. They’re probably the most physically aggressive team in the league. They steal it, they block shots, they attack the rim, and they’re really tough that way.”
On the 8 three’s and the big lead in the first quarter - “That happens to every team every now and again. A lead like that in the beginning, not always, but sometimes is a nightmare, because you know that shots like that are not going to fall like that for the entire game. The game isn’t that long, if the game was a 24 minute game it would be great. In the NBA teams always come back and it’s a dog fight.”
On Tim Duncan and coming off a game where he banged his knee - “Timmy plays hurt, tired every which way. He competes defensively, rebounding wise every night. Some nights he defers offensively, some nights he’s the key, but it all starts with him.”
Roger Mason, Jr.
On the game - “To win in this league is always special. Sometimes it’s ugly, like tonight, but we’ll take it. They’re a very athletic and talented team. On any given night they can give anybody problems. For us to get the win is huge.”
On getting the big lead early in the game - “You know, no matter what, they’re going to keep coming. They’re probably the most athletic team in the league…one of the top athletic teams. They get a lot of fast-break points. They keep coming…keep coming…keep coming. Our thing was to just stay with it. We knew they’d make their run, but we made more plays at the end and Tony hit a great shot at the end.”
On his performance tonight after a tough shooting night last night - “It’s always a challenge. You had a rough night. It tests your character. It tests you will. For me, I take it as a challenge. Last night wasn’t my best night, but you have another opportunity and I wanted to come out and have a better outing tonight, and I was able to do that.”
I noticed Tony ran right over to you after he made that shot... - “We’ve gotten closer as teammates. We’re both happy for each other. He made that pass to me [in Phoenix] and he was happy I made the game-winner. I was glad he got one tonight.”
Tony Parker
On the game - “It’s always hard when you a great start. We shot the ball very well and we were up 20 really fast. It’s always hard to keep a lead like that, especially early in the game, because you know they are going to make a run. They’re a very tough team. They played physical the whole game. They never let go.”
“It was tough at the end. They made shots and we made shots, and we made the last one.”
On the final sequence in the game - “We got the steal and I was going kinda fast. I didn’t know if Pop wanted the timeout, so I just looked at him and he told me ‘Go, go!’ I just made sure we got a pick and roll and I got a shot for Manu. He missed it and I got the rebound and just tried to put it up there because I knew there were not a lot of seconds left on the clock. It was just a good shot and I was happy it went in.”
On not calling the timeout at the end of the game - “Since my rookie year Pop likes to do that. He’s always called it the ‘Utah’ play where I get it and go all the way to the basket for the game-winner. That’s what he told me late in the game…if it happens again just do the Utah play. It’s better than getting a timeout and letting the defense and it’s a little bit harder to get a shot.”
76ers Head Coach Tony DiLeo
On the game - “This is a heartbreaking loss after a great comeback from us. I was really proud of the team as I told them that not many teams could come into this arena and be down 21 and come back and have a tie game in the last minute with the Spurs and have a chance to win. It just shows the resiliency of this team, their compe iveness, their toughness, and I‘m really proud of the team. It‘s unfortunate on this trip we‘ve played some pretty good basketball but we have only one win to show for it, but the team is coming together and the team is playing better.”
On if this game was more painful than their last game - “Yes, because it was today. They played hard, we came back and never gave up as we did some good things defensively and we had a shot as the ball was in our hands but someone deflected it, we lost the ball and Tony Parker made his circus shot to win it.”
On if today‘s performance has been the best the Sixers have played - “Well, not in the first quarter. Coming in, our game plan was either to take away the threes or take away Duncan and Duncan got his points and they got their threes so it really didn’t do much in the first quarter. But after that, our defense picked up as it was almost impossible for them to shoot the ball the exact same way in the second half so that was a positive at halftime. They started missing some shots, we started contesting a little better as we did pretty good job with running. ”
On the defensive pressure of the Sixers - “We went small, we had almost four guards out there so we were scrambling a lot. They did a great job, everyone adjusted as we had a couple of opportunities at the end.”
Andre Iguodala
On the last play by Tony Parker - “Ginobili got the shot in the corner contested as the ball had a high bounce so it was like the ball was up for grabs and he just came up and grabbed it. I think I might have had a chance to grab it but that’s one of those situations to where when the ball goes up you can’t just look at the ball you got to go after it until that shot clock goes off.”
On after seeing Ginobili miss if he thought the Sixers were going into overtime - “I didn‘t think they had that much time on the clock, he had pretty good timing on the shot so they had good timing on when to shoot the ball and [Parker] got the ball and made it.”
On the Sixers attacking the basket in the second half - “Well I think our offense is working on that a lot, we really just spread the floor, letting the guys work to their strengths, whether it be myself, Lou Williams, Andre Miller coming off pick-and-rolls, so we were trying to find a way to get back into the game.”
Andre Miller
On the game - “We fought back in the game both offensively and defensively, we just couldn‘t finish it off.”
On the last drive of the game - “On the last drive I saw a double-team coming and I kicked it out as [Spurs] got a tip on it and at the end Tony Parker came up with the rebound and shot it.”
On what led to their comeback in the second half - “Well, it‘s tough to do that, especially to come back in this building. Normally, it takes maybe 2-3 quarters to get back in the game like that, but we had some energy for a second, but we just couldn‘t finish it off.”
Last edited by duncan228; 01-04-2009 at 01:17 AM.
I noticed Tony ran right over to you after he made that shot... - “We’ve gotten closer as teammates. We’re both happy for each other. He made that pass to me [in Phoenix] and he was happy I made the game-winner. I was glad he got one tonight.
OH OH
MASON AND TP LIKE EACH OTHER
SO ALL THE TP BASHERS CAN QUIT BASHING HIM FOR NOT LIKING MASON
one of tim duncan's lay ups for the winning wall.
I noticed Tony ran right over to you after he made that shot... - “We’ve gotten closer as teammates. We’re both happy for each other. He made that pass to me [in Phoenix] and he was happy I made the game-winner. I was glad he got one tonight.”
Nice call.
yup. he just wanted to let ya'll to know he can make that layup ninety-nine out of a hundred tries.Nice call.
Green :" Eeeew...I don't want to touch him "
Miller: " Sh...! What am I supposed to do now? "
Young: " I'm so stoned....... where am I? "
It is truly awesome to see how well Mason has gelled with the team. Hope Hill can start that again soon, he has been in a slump for quite a few games now. Wish Pop could guarantee 15 minutes for him, so he actually gets a chance.
This team is in desperate need of a center. If we had a real center, we wouldnt be hearing our players and coaches saying how much talent the other team has. Even if the other teams record is opposite of ours.
The Spurs were very complimentary towards other teams during the David Robinson era.
The ecstasy on the face of the guy left of Duncan.....Nice call.
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