What They Said!! Grizzlies at Hawks 03-12-16

POST GAME QUOTES

GRIZZLIES 83, HAWKS 95

 

 

HEAD COACH DAVID JOERGER:

(On the game)

“This was a hard game. We played our tails off. Sometimes it’s not pretty, but we’re going out there and competing. We gave ourselves a real chance, playing against a really good team that’s well-coached and won 60 games last year. It was one of those nights. We kind of ran out of gas a little bit. We’re challenged offensively right now. It was just one of those nights. Part of it is fatigue, but most of it is that (the Hawks) are a really good team. We just struggled to get the ball in the hole. But like I said, I’m just really proud of our guys.” “I thought we were ready to play early. We got after them. They missed some shots off some good looks. Some balls went in and out. We were able to push it up and get some looks in transition. (But) I’ve never seen a box sore where we have 55 attempts by halftime. We got in the lane 52 times. It was just one of those nights where we shoot 21-52 from the painted area. That’s a little tough for us.”

 

(On how they are running and learning plays right now with so many new players)

“I tell one guy to go over there, and then you pick, and you pop, and you throw it to him. Guys are learning on the fly. They’re watching video and we’re running through offense and defense. I’m trying to take timeouts when I can and trying to give them two or three different looks and keep it really simple.”

 

(On how well they have still been playing with all of the injuries)

“We have good veteran leadership. We’ve got guys who have been here awhile, like Tony Allen and Mike Conley, and Vince Carter has been a tremendous leader for us.”

 

Grizzlies Forward JaMychal Green

(On the game)

“We couldn’t knock down a shot and couldn’t buy a basket. We had one of those nights. We just have to leave it here and move on to the next game.”

 

(On team still playing with energy)

“We are a team without a lot of big names. The thing about us is we’re going to come out and compete every night. We did (again) tonight, but we just didn’t make any shots.”

 

(On playing last night while the Hawks didn’t)

“We were a little tired, but you can’t use that as an excuse. We came out tonight to fight, but they got the best of us.”

 

(On what positives can be taken from this game)

“We fought hard. We have some nights where our shots won’t fall, but the effort was there. So as long as we can continue to bring that energy and effort, we give ourselves a chance to win.”

 

 

 

 

HEAD COACH MIKE BUDENHOLZER:

(On the game)

“It was a little bit of a strange game. We got down early, going into the second quarter. Just proud of the group for getting themselves right. Defensively, I thought (we were) pretty good for most of the game. Offensively, the ball movement…especially in the second half, the ball movement was good. Different guys stepped up and played well. It’s a good win coming off the road trip.”

 

(On playing Kirk Hinrich)

“We were up 18-14 at the three-minute timeout. We had a poor finish to the quarter. I just put Jeff back in to kind of change the mix a little bit. Kirk has been working hard in practice. Kirk is a pro. We feel like Kirk is going to help us. Tonight was just one of those opportunities. At the end of the day, you’re going to need your whole roster, you’re going to need everybody confident and ready to play. We went with Kirk to give Jeff a break. Then we went with him again in the second half.”

 

(On the tempo of the game)

“Credit to Memphis for how well they’ve been playing for what seems like a long time, with a lot of (injuries) starting with Marc Gasol and a few more since then, and especially lately. Dave Joerger and his staff and his players, the way they’re competing and fighting every night…they had an overtime game last night. I don’t know if they wore down or not, but I think at some point, we were able to get a little bit of separation. On both ends of the court, we played well enough.”

 

(On Kent Bazemore’s game)

“I thought Baze had a good game, despite what you said, (him) not making a shot. He had a big impact different places. The chase-down block in the first half, which he’s done for us. Those were big plays that changed momentum. I think he had five assists and no turnovers. That’s a great game. We want him to do it with his defense. We want him to play unselfishly. He’ll make shots.”

 

Hawks Forward Kris Humphries

(On tonight’s win)

“It was a good victory. You look at a team like that, they have a bunch of guys who haven’t been playing, guys that got waived, guys that were in the D-League who we didn’t know. Sometimes it’s hard to break a game open against a team (that’s) not really running a system too much. It’s kind of just out there playing. I think we broke it open in the second half, and we did a good job finishing off that team.”

 

(On playing in front of the home crowd for the first time, and playing as a team)

“(They gave us) a lot of support. Great crowd. It’s about winning games and this is about the playoffs, being a part of something special. I don’t really think anyone in this locker room is focused on themselves. It’s more ‘let’s move the ball, let’s have fun playing the right way’.”

 

Hawks Forward Thabo Sefolosha

(On Kent Bazemore’s contributions)

“He does so many different things besides scoring. He always comes in, brings the energy and comes in with the right mindset. He helps the team in many different ways.”

 

(On returning home after the long road trip)

“It’s great. The fans were great tonight. It’s good to play in front of this crowd and on this court. It was a good night.”

 

(On his double-double)

“I think it was just the defense, and feeding off of the defense. We were playing with good hands and everything, and we were able to get some steals and then fast breaks.”

 

(On the key to the win)

“It comes down to us doing everything defensively that we can to not give them any baskets. Protecting the key is a big part of that. We did that tonight. Al was huge protecting the rim.”