What They Said!! Grizzlies at Rockets 03-14-15

Post Game Quotes

Grizzlies 81, Rockets 130

 

 

GRIZZLIES HEAD COACH DAVID JOERGER

On the game

“Obviously they’re a good team, they made a lot of shots, and they were focused to play when they came out. I was really proud of our guys. We got a 100 shots up and 62 shots in the paint and did a tremendous job, but it was just one of those nights.”

 

On playing short-handed

“I was just trying to get guys familiar and go out and execute and get some of the looks that we’re looking for. We knew this was a very strong possibility coming out after the All-star break. You just go out and compete, and whatever they give us I’ll coach them, and we’ll do the best we can.”

 

On any ideas of players returning

“No, and I don’t know how long P.J. (Hairston) is going to be out.”

 

GRIZZLIES FORWARD MATT BARNES

On what you get out of a game like this

“We just have to keep our guys together. Obviously we’re short-handed, but we have to weather the storm hopefully. Guys will be coming back. We have to weather the storm. We have a lot of new, young guys that we have to get acclimated. Myself and Tony (Allen) have to get everybody together.”

 

On his role as a team leader

“Half our team is D-league. It’s just one of those situations where we’ve been bit by the injury bug, and nobody is going to feel bad for us. Teams like Houston see that, and they want to blow you out. So we have to come and be ready to play every night. Hopefully we have the troops coming back soon, and we’ll see what we can do. We play hard, and that’s the one thing I tell these guys. No matter what the outcome of the game is or whether or not the shoots are falling tonight, you can always control your effort. So for us to play hard for 48 minutes, and that’s what we consistently need to do.”

 

GRIZZLIES GUARD TONY ALLEN

On what comes from a game like this

“Obviously we were short-handed. I thought this game meant more to those guys (Rockets) than it did to us. And they played like it. You just have to give those guys kudos. They took advantage of us being short-handed. I thought we played hard. I thought we fought. But they were the better team.”

 

On him and Barnes having to be the team leaders

“Obviously this is a new role for us. Our leaders are hurt and out, and this is a new role for myself. I’m trying to adapt personally, but each game is going to have to be a big game for us because we have to do it by committing and all the little things count. Paying attention to detail, and we have to just go out there and fight hard each and every game.

 

GRIZZLIES FORWARD JARELL MARTIN

On how tough it is to play short-handed

“It’s very difficult. We have a lot of guys that are out, and everyone has to go out there with a lot of energy and play real aggressive and play hard until the game is over. Once we know we can’t finish the game and get a victory, we go out and our mindset is just to continue playing hard and building for the next game.

 

On the game

“We started off playing real hard together, and I think the lead got to us, and guys started giving up on plays, on defense, and we let Houston shoot a lot of wide open shots. We have to just come together and playing hard and go out with that mindset. It’s grit and grind, and that’s what we gotta do- just go out there and grind.

 

 

ROCKETS INTERIM HEAD COACH J.B. BICKERSTAFF

On the principle of staying engaged throughout the game

“That’s our culture frame. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to only worry about us and concentrate on us. That’s what our message is, again. Whatever happens, no matter what goes on the court, the focus is on us. Wins and losses will come, but focus on getting better each day.”

 

On the difference in a win versus a short-handed opponent

“The players’ mind set has been great. The focus has been great. The effort has been great. The togetherness, all of those things, have been great.”

 

On tonight’s game being an indication of the team moving in the right direction

“One of the things we did well was protecting the paint. When you’re playing against a team like this, that is a very big, cutting team…So we did a good job at minimizing those cuts and taking away cheap baskets. Those types of things, those principles defensively being sound. Pick and roll defense, those things happen every night, and I thought we were very good in those things.”

 

On Donatas Motiejunas’ impact tonight and his importance going forward

“I think he’s great for us. Any contribution we get is great. With him being comfortable would be huge for us. We would have another weapon down the block that you could throw the ball to, and he can work, he can facilitate your offense. He can move the ball and run, there’s a bunch of things he can do to help us. So we’re just happy to see him catching his rhythm.”

 

ROCKETS FORWARD TREVOR ARIZA

On the win

“Any win is a good win, especially in this league, it doesn’t matter if you’re shorthanded or not. Every win is a good win and this is one that we needed.”

 

On playing this homestand after the road trip

“Obviously they are shorthanded and we knew that they were shorthanded. We didn’t want to come out and play around at all, we wanted to get straight to it and that’s what we did tonight.”

 

ROCKETS FORWARD MICHAEL BEASLEY

On the win and the benches effort tonight

“Yeah man, we’re just energy. (We) stuck to the game plan, had fun on defense and just do what we do on the offensive side.”

 

On his third game with the Rockets and if he’s developing a rhythm

“Yeah, yeah, I’m definitely getting my legs back. Definitely getting my feel for the game, these guys are definitely making it easy, easy for me putting me in spots where I can be effective and help the team.”

 

On if he feels the Rockets are developing a rhythm

“Definitely, you know. I’m definitely glad that I can be that piece to spark the team. Like I said, it’s a process that we are still learning, we’re still learning each other and we’re just going to take it day by day.”

 

 

ROCKETS GUARD JAMES HARDEN

On taking care of business tonight

“Yeah, like I said we’ve been playing well. We knew that they were shorthanded. I think just our confidence being back at home, (we) shot the ball pretty well, tonight and hopefully that can be carried on to the last 15 games we have left.”

 

On taking the lead early

“It’s critical, I think like I said, being at home. I think our swag was going to be up no matter what who we played. We wanted to just keep it rolling, like I said, every game is important for us and we’ve got to take advantage of it.”

 

On them playing at home after being on the road for a while

“It’s seems like that, like I said, we’ve got to take advantage of this week. We got a great opportunity; we’ve got the Clippers coming in on Wednesday, so another Western Conference tough opponent and we’ve got to be ready to go.”

 

On his teammates shooting and his passing

“Yeah, that’s all I was doing tonight. I really wasn’t trying to score, I was just being a facilitator, trying to do all the intangible things to get the win.”

 

ROCKETS FORWARD MONTREZL HARRELL

On the Rocket’s needing a game like this after a long road trip

“Yeah, I felt like we did. We had a long road trip, but we had to come back here and take care of business. We got a home stretch coming up and the first team standing in our way tonightwas Memphis.”

 

On his intense play when we was put into the game late in the game

“Anytime you are a rookie, anytime I’m out on the floor, I want to play at 100%, no matter if we are up 10 or down 10. I am fortunate enough to be in the NBA and I am taking advantage of every opportunity that I get. Coach gave me an opportunity by putting me out on the floor, so I wanted to go out there and do the right thing and do what I do.”

 

On his highlight reel dunk

“Me and KJ (McDaniels) got that connection. We’ve been playing together with each other for a while up here, and also in the D-league. We gotta little connection. It was one play where we run the pick and roll and I told him next time, “throw it and I will go get it “ and he found me on a great pass and I tried to reward him for it.”

 

ROCKETS CENTER DWIGHT HOWARD

On the win

“I thought it was a good win for us. It was a great team win, especially being a chemistry builder. We were very effective and we’ve got 3 games at home that we need to try to get. We got the first one tonight. The next one will be against a really good team and I think that if we come out and play the way we played tonight, then we will be fine.”

 

On playing the first home game after a long road trip

“I thought our road trip was really good, despite the two losses that we have. Other than that, I think we had a really good road trip. Teams were expecting us to lose all those games and it was a confidence booster and then tonight, against a team that despite injuries, plays really hard. It was a good win.”

 

On the play of Michael Beasley

“He is a scorer, he comes in, he chooses his spots and he can play basketball. I’m happy he’s here, he is getting more confident as the season goes and he will be great.”