What They Said!! Grizzlies at Timberwolves 01-23-16

POST GAME QUOTES

GRIZZLIES 101, TIMBERWOLVES 106

 

Grizzlies Head Coach Dave Joerger

On the loss…

“Tough game for us. We played with a lot of heart and defensive energy in the fourth quarter. We needed to do that in the first three quarters. We didn’t guard. They shot 50% for most of the game and we fouled too much in the first couple of quarters. Put ourselves behind the eight-ball. Give them credit. They made a lot of shots tonight, they got a lot of different guys they can run at you. Their starting unit is pretty good. I don’t know what the numbers bear out offensively and defensively, but that starting unit is as solid as you can see. You can look at their +/- and see that they had a terrific game for them. We didn’t make a lot of shots. We didn’t finish some fast break that were pivotal. We were 1-for-7 in fast break opportunities where we have a 2-on-1, 1-on-0 or 1-on-1, where we don’t get fouled, we don’t get to the finish and they run down and it not only costs you the two you didn’t get, but then they run down in a spread situation and they capitalized and we didn’t.”

 

On the offensive struggles in the second quarter…

“We started standing with the ball. They shot 23 free throws in the first half. That’s incredible. They average 26 a game. So that’s pretty hard to guard, but we have to play better without fouling I guess.”

 

Grizzlies Center Marc Gasol

On being known as a fourth-quarter team…

“It’s nothing new. We feel comfortable at the end, the ball bounces their way and they won the game. You’ve got to stay positive and think about the next game on Monday against the Magic. Right now this game is over with, can’t try to analyze it too much and we’ve got to move on and be positive and move on to the next one.”

 

On Karl-Anthony Towns…

“He had a lot of tools in the toolbox – a lot of them.  Every time you play against him, you see a couple new things that I didn’t see the first time and I like them. Obviously the game slows down for him, they win the game… He’s already special. If he gets working and he stays humble and worries only about basketball and the right things… He has the best guys around to do that – obviously being around Kevin [Garnett] and Tayshaun [Prince]. I know what Tayshaun is about and if he listens to those guys, I know they have a tight connection, he’s going to be just fine.”

 

Grizzlies Guard Mike Conley

On the loss…

“I think it was more so our lack of offense. Our offensive flow wasn’t there. We were throwing the ball away and giving them opportunities to run out and get to their strengths. You can’t turn the ball over against a team that likes to run.”

 

On the end of the game…

“It was very tough. We worked very hard to get to that spot. The game ended the way it ended, but we gave ourselves a chance to win. We shouldn’t have put ourselves in the position to begin with.”

 

On if they thought they had a chance at the end…

“For sure. A couple things happened that were out of our control, but we gave ourselves a chance to win. It’s unfortunate that we lost the way we did, but we fought and hats off to our second unit getting us back into the game and giving us an opportunity to win.”

 

 

 

Timberwolves Interim Head Coach Sam Mitchell

On winning…

“I thought we learned a lot in that Dallas game. I thought even though we lost the game and Dallas just kind of pushed it ahead in overtime, we just keep going back to the three shots we got in under a minute to go. We got great shots and trusted each other and moved the ball. We keep telling our guys, we just want to get a good shot. The ball is going to find the hands of the right person. Putting the ball in Andrew [Wiggins] hands, he’s trusting his teammate and those guys. Shabazz [Muhammad], that they can make a play. And Andrew’s just being very unselfish, moving the basketball. A lot of things start with him because teams are going to put pressure on him when he has the ball, especially in pick and roll and he’s doing a great job of moving it.”

“It’s kind of hard to win games when you’re getting beat by 20 because you’re never in the game to win it. I’ve said before the game and been saying, I know it’s frustrating for the fans and certain people to see we keep getting close and don’t always win it, but they’re young. The thing that I’m proud of and the thing that I feel very confident about going forward is that the more opportunities they keep giving themselves to learn how to win, eventually we’re going to learn it.”

 

On the pace of the second quarter…

“I think for our guys, just understanding that… It’s kind of hard to explain…Everyone thinks that it’s just easy to roll the ball out there and say ‘run.’ It’s a lot to run when you count eight exhibition games, you’re talking about 90 games with the travel and the practice time and it’s hard. I think with what teams have done to us with the way they’ve loaded up on Andrew and some of our other guys, it’s kind of been a blessing in disguise for us, because we’ve been as a coaching staff getting on them about running and running and spacing and moving the basketball.”

 

Wolves Guard/Forward Andrew Wiggins:

“It was a hard fought game. We got a lead, they came back. We held onto the win.”

 

On the key late in the game…

“We just had to focus in on defense. There was a stretch where we couldn’t score a little bit, so we had to refocus on defense. They made some tough shots. Good teams are going to do that. We recovered.”

 

On if this game felt like games earlier in the season…

“Definitely. There was a good pace to the whole game, for all of us. We were all really efficient. We took good shots, made good decisions. We all helped each other.”

 

Wolves Forward Shabazz Muhammad:

On the stretch late in the game…

That’s what we kept on talking about: keep playing hard, keep playing on the offensive and defensive end. I think we did a really good job on defense, especially on Marc (Gasol) and Zach Randolph. We did a good job of just rebounding the ball also with security. That was a big thing. Karl played well on the defensive end. That was one of the best games he’s had so far on the defensive end. That’s something we need all the time.”

 

On the second quarter…

“That was so much fun to play in. I know it was fun for everybody to watch, too. Ricky running the point, me and Wigs (Andrew Wiggins)… If we do that we will be a really dangerous team. We can both run and we’re both athletic and strong. We can finish in transition. That’s something we’ve been really trying to do. Coach is finally satisfied about that. We have to continue to do that throughout the rest of the season.”