What They Said!!! Grizzlies at Lakers 02-26-16

POST GAME QUOTES

GRIZZLIES 112, LAKERS 95

 

Grizzlies Head Coach Dave Joerger

(On tonight’s game)

“We were fouling too much and we want to be aggressive, I thought we were better defensively, which was a big emphasis. I wasn’t greatly pleased in the first half, as they scored 50 points and missed 10 free throws. In the second half, I thought we were much better defensively. I’m impressed with their team. The young guys they’ve got play with character and heart, they’re getting better. I love [Jordan] Clarkson, I love [D’Angelo] Russell, and Julius Randle, I thought he just outworked us at times with his athleticism, his length and his aggressiveness. I think they’re doing a great job.”

                                              

(On Vince Carter’s hot start and the team’s ball movement)

“I had him ready to sub out, and as the sub was sitting there waiting for a dead ball, he made two more, which put him at five [three-pointers made], but he was getting tired, he did a great job. What he does is he settles us. I think it was good for him to play with Mike Conley and a little bit of Lance [Stephenson]. What I liked about what we did tonight, we can be chuckers at times, but the ball moved and that made for easier looks. Those are the kinds of shots where you might pass up an open guy when you see someone open, and all of a sudden he gets it and we’re moving the basketball. When they grab on to those things and realize this is how we can be successful, it can be good for us.”

 

(On what a game like this does for the team)

“We need the time together. What we’re looking at, is I try to move guys around to different groups and it just takes time. It’s a whole new identity for us with different groups, different guys. I’m trying to play Lance at four different positions, Matt Barnes is playing two different positions, sometimes three. We can struggle defensively, but we’ll just keep working at it.”

 

Grizzlies Guard Mike Conley

(On if he was bummed to not play against Kobe)

“Well, yeah. You want to play against him, especially before he heads out. We have one more time to play against him, so hopefully he’s suiting up that game and we’ll be able to pay the respects.”

 

(On why tonight was an easier game)

“Well, I think what we did differently from the previous game is we did a much better job on defense. Getting the rebounds and pushing the ball, getting easy buckets. I thought that we gave them [the Lakers] too many second chance opportunities at home a few days ago, and tonight we were able to kind of clamp that down a little bit and do a little better job defensively.”

 

Grizzlies Forward/Guard Vince Carter

(On his three-point shooting in the first half)

“I don’t know, just locked in. Trying to do whatever I can do for the team. One thing that we’re doing a great job of is just moving around. We’re sharing the ball. We’re making the game easy for each other. We have a lot of guys who can score, a lot of guys who can shoot the ball, and of course we have Z-Bo [Zach Randolph] establishing himself down on the blocks. We have the potential, we just have to, first and foremost, believe that we’re good, and second of all, go out and execute, and we’ve done that.”

 

(On if he has one memory with Kobe that sticks out)

“No, not one. I’ve had a lot of battles against Kobe, for a lot of years. We’ve had 18 years’ worth of battles, and that’s a lot of time, so it’s kind of hard to pick one out of that. I knew each time we stepped on the floor it was going to be fireworks – good or bad. Sometimes we ended up face to face, getting in each other’s face. Other times it’s just straight up going at each other. It just made for great basketball, and always you look forward to playing against him because you know he’s not going to back down.”

 

 

Lakers Head Coach Byron Scott

(On having practice tomorrow morning)

“It was the plan anyways, to be honest with you, but I also thought if we played a whole lot better I might give them the day off. That went out the window. So we’ll be in practice tomorrow morning.”

                                              

(On the most disappointing part of the game)

“The same as it was the other day, I just didn’t think we competed like we’re capable. I thought also that obviously when 24 [Kobe Bryant] is not there, I really saw tonight the lack of leadership that we do have. Everybody’s holding their head down when things aren’t going right, and most of it is when we are missing shots. It’s not on the other end of the floor, so when we miss the shots we let that affect us on the other end. They had 16, 17 transition points in the first half, and they had 18 in the whole last game we played, so again we just didn’t do a good job of getting back on defense. I think a lot of that is because we’re so disappointed when we’re missing shots that we forget you still have to play on the other end of the floor.”

 

(On who stepped into leadership roles)

“Lou [Williams] does a good job. He tries to talk to the young guys as much as possible. Like I said, there was one point in time in the game when I told our coaches, you can just look at us right now and see that there’s no leadership out there. It’s a bunch of young guys so it’s understandable, but somebody has to take control.”

 

(On the Lakers only having nine turnovers)

“Is that a silver lining, is that the one positive thing? Yes. The reason why, is I thought we did a pretty good job of trying to move the ball. We didn’t take unnecessary risks, so if there’s a silver lining I guess that is it.”

 

(On whether the Grizzlies were playing well or the Lakers were playing poorly)

“It was both. You have to give them credit, they made shots. They were hot, but we also helped them by not closing out the way we are capable of closing out and getting to guys the way we should have gotten to them.”

 

(On D’Angelo Russell)

“I thought from an offensive standpoint he continues to grow. That is another one of those silver linings, but again he has a ways to go. I love where he is right now and I love what I’m seeing. Earlier in the season he was settling on just threes, now he’s getting his threes but he’s able to get to the basket a little bit more and he’s getting his midrange game a little bit more. I think he’s mixing it up much more now than he did earlier in the season.”

 

Lakers Guard D’Angelo Russell

(On what is going on defensively with the team)

“Just not on the same page. It’s obvious we’re not on the same page. It’s obvious. You could say it or I could say it, it’s just obvious we’re not on the same page.”

 

(On if the team can get better by playing non-playoff contenders)

“Sure, at this point you want to win, but you want to try to develop stuff that can help you win earlier next year. If it’s the offense, if it’s the defense. The mistakes that we’re making now, we have to get it together now so next year we don’t have the same mistakes.”

 

Lakers Forward Tarik Black

(On what is going on with the team’s defense)

“We have to get on one accord on the defensive end, communicate with each other. That’s very important. Put in that work. Get on a string with one another, that chemistry is so important. When you talk about team chemistry, it’s probably most important on that end. Being on the same page on that end. Knowing your personnel, knowing each other on the defensive end of the floor.”

 

(On if it makes a difference being a young team when they play against veteran teams)

“That’s definitely a factor. I would be telling a lie if I didn’t say that was a factor. At the same time, communication solves a lot. Working hard and communicating solves a lot. There’s a lot of faults that  people make on the defensive end. You look at teams, they do a lot of things wrong or mess up, but when you’re communicating and working hard, it seems to work its way out nine times out of 10.”

 

(On if he will still think about basketball with no games this weekend)

“Well, basketball is a livelihood so I don’t think we ever really take our minds off of basketball honestly. But you just get away for a minute and relax and just rest your body. That’s the benefit of having a long weekend. You get a chance to relax, but this is our livelihood, we always think about the game.”

 

(On what he is focused on when he gets in the game)

“When I get in the game, just working hard, rebound the ball well and just getting better. Honestly, progressing, getting more comfortable out there on the floor because that’s what’s most important. Your comfort level. I don’t want to go out there and be too sporadic and just be everywhere because that’s not beneficial to the team.”

 

Lakers Forward Julius Randle

(On if tonight’s performance was more of an issue of effort or execution)

“A little bit of both, but they outplayed us on both areas.”

 

(On if he feels as though both he and the team are still developing)

“Yeah. I feel like I am developing. I am trying to get better every day and every game and take it to a new level. It’s just frustrating to not win.”

 

(On his matchup with Zach Randolph)

“I just kind of cross-matched a lot but he is obviously one of the great power forwards who has played this game. He’s a great player so it is always fun to match up against him.”

 

Lakers Forward Larry Nance Jr.

(On what he feels the team needs to work on defensively)

“A lot. We are not getting back, we are not guarding our man, we are not rotating, we are not rebounding. It’s a lot. It’s on everybody.”

 

(On if he expects the team to improve by the end of the year)

“I am going to do all in my power to make it better. Whether it does or not, I don’t know, but I will do my best to make sure it does get better.”