What They Said!!! Grizzlies at Nuggets 02-29-16

POST GAME QUOTES

GRIZZLIES 103, NUGGETS 96

 

Memphis Grizzlies Head Coach David Joerger:

On having some support from the fans for tonight’s game:

“We had a big crowd out there tonight actually. That was pretty cool to have support of friends, family and the support of some people locally that were Grizzly fans. We really appreciated that and that helped us a bit on the court I believe. It’s a happy locker room and we go 2-1 on the road trip and we felt good about our performance.”

 

On tonight’s performance:

“We played hard and we played with a focus. We made some mistakes defensively but once we get comfortable playing together more, we will clean that up and play better. I thought when we played with the pass we were much better. When we played with the dribble that caused the defense to shrink up. I think Matt Barnes had two or three cuts for layups and Mike Conley had a huge one also. It was a great win for us.”

 

On executing down the stretch:

“Zach [Randolph] steps into space and gets us a couple big buckets. Mike Conley waived me off and made a great play. We got some movement and all of a sudden there is Zach at the front of the rim for a bucket. That was a great play call from Mike and it was executed well.”

 

Memphis Grizzlies Forward Zach Randolph:

On guiding the team down the stretch:

“I was just doing whatever I could do to help the team like move the ball and get these guys shots. I have a lot of attention on me so guys are going to get open. I hit guys for open shots and play team ball.”

 

On executing at the end of the game:

“We got stops at the end. We played well at the end. We were there when we needed to and that’s how we won the game.”

 

Memphis Grizzlies Guard Mike Conley:

On the game plan for tonight’s game:

“We felt comfortable, but we knew that we wanted to try and get some space between them. After we got a seven or eight point lead we felt like we had the game under wraps but they are a team that can score and they have guys who can make plays. We got a little worried when it was a one point lead going into the fourth quarter so I am happy with the way we ended it.”

 

On adjusting to Marc Gasol’s absence:

“I think we are yeah. It’s funny, I think we have only run about five plays and we really just run those five plays over and over and the rest is just random ball screens and stuff like that. It will get better for us once we get everybody accustomed to what they need to do and what we are trying to do as a team. The quicker we learn that, the better we will be going forward.”

 

On waving your coaches play off at the end of the game:

“Yeah he was about to call a play and I said no, I got one. We did a dribble hand off with Rio [Mario Chalmers], so he came off and threw it to Matt [Barnes] and Matt threw it to Zach [Randolph] who got it right at the rim for an easy bucket. We got exactly what we wanted and after that coach looked at me and said I knew it would work.

 

 

Denver Nuggets Head Coach Michael Malone:

On the game:

“We had 20 turnovers for 30 points, story of the game.”

 

On the lack of aggression:

“We have a lack of shooting so everybody just goes under. We’re shooting jump shots and we’re not a jump shooting team. I thought we were tentative and obviously when you turn the ball over 20 times, it’s tough to get a shot off. We beat ourselves.”

 

On Gary Harris:

“I have to get Gary more shots, generate more looks for him. He makes good plays. I’m just really disappointed with the effort; we started a seven game home stand and we had a lot of guys that played with no energy at all. We had a complete lack of discipline and no regard for the basketball at all; it’s a simple game. When you beat yourself, you can’t beat your opponent and we beat ourselves tonight. It’s unacceptable. We are 1-5 since the All-Star break, there is no silver lining. We have to get better and Gary has the chance to step up while [Danilo Gallinari] is out and Gary has proven all year long that he is more than capable of handling that load. As we give him more shots, I’m sure he’ll be able to take advantage of them.”

 

Denver Nuggets Guard Will Barton:

On tonight’s game:

“They made plays and we turned the ball over. They scored a lot in the fourth quarter and we couldn’t stop then. They made plays and we didn’t do what we needed to do to win the game.”

 

On personal performance:

“I was just trying to come in and make some plays and get some guys going. I had way too many turnovers and the ball was stagnate especially in the fourth quarter.”

 

On the fourth quarter:

“It was a little bit of everything, our communication could have been better in the fourth quarter. Turnovers really killed us and we were right there tied in the fourth but we couldn’t get a bucket and turned the ball over. That was just the story of the fourth quarter.”

 

Denver Nuggets Guard Gary Harris:

On turnovers tonight:

“We made some careless turnovers and it is also hard to beat a team when they shoot 36 free-throws while giving up 30 points off turnovers. We have to clean up those areas.”

 

On playing without Danilo Gallinari:

“It’s hard because he means a lot to this team and is a huge part of what we done so far. We hate to see him go down, it’s going to take a full team effort to replace him.”