What They Said!! Grizzlies vs Dallas 11-24-2015

GRIZZLIES HEAD COACH DAVE JOERGER

On tonight’s game:

“I feel like we’re playing much better right now. Defensively, we really did a nice job of flying around. I know they scored the 36 points on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, but I thought we did a real good job of contesting shots and not giving them second chances. We did a good job taking care of the basketball throughout the course of the game. We ended up getting three stops in a row eight times throughout the course of the game. Bread is buttered defensively and we struggled shooting the basketball tonight, but we got shots to go down when we needed to. Our spacing was good. The ball moved and like I said, we didn’t turn it over. It was a good win for us against a good team—talented, especially their starting lineup. Like I said, defensively we really got after them. Different guys played Dirk (Nowitzki) tonight and gave him different looks and certainly he got a couple going, but by and large I was very impressed with our defensive effort.”

On tonight’s starting lineup:

“I think we’re playing with one big on the roster, Marc Gasol. JaMychal Green is a small forward and it’s really tough playing him out of position to play him at power forward. It gives us a different look to size down and play small ball, and so what I was thinking was, and whether it was accurate or not, to play Marc and JaMychal at the same time, it kills a lot of minutes. We need to have one of the two of them in the whole game anyway. So, I thought maybe not starting him (JaMychal Green). Matt (Barnes) has the experience of playing against Dirk (Nowitzki) before and JaMychal isn’t a rookie, but with Dirk it’s a body position game, trying to not to let him catch the ball on the sweet spot. Matt’s energy was really contagious for us to start the game, which has been good for us coming off the bench, too. I was fearful of losing that. It just is what it is. I thought it worked out for the best for us.”

On JaMychal Green:

“Now, he’s playing against centers and it’s difficult. Dwight Howard posting him up, and guys taking him down the box. We’re trying to get him in there when we have a match up and if I have to play the two of them to match up bigs, then I play the both of them. JaMychal has done a lot of good work and I’ve tried to give him a lot of confidence. When we left in May going into June before we started working out I said, ‘You’re the backup four-man, so you have a heck of an opportunity in front of you. You give us something that’s different—your energy, your athleticism.’ He kind of subsidizes some of our rebounding position problems from the wing and let’s us keep Jeff (Green) playing small forward. That’s kind of positive for us.”

On Matt Barnes:

“I think he’s just getting more and more comfortable with his teammates around him. He’s trying to please. He’s trying to do the right thing. He’s trying to make shots and he’s frustrated because his shot isn’t going down, but he’s playing off other guys. What he’s doing is his hard cutting and his energy has gotten contagious with our group. We showed a lot of video from last week and when the ball sticks, everybody loads up. It’s a struggle for us offensively. He’s a guy who is a leader.”

On playing without Zach Randolph:

“We’re just trying to hold the fort until we can get some size back into the lineup. We’re playing different than we have and we haven’t been able to practice, which is really important. We haven’t practiced in two weeks. We had a couple good days of practice last week and we weren’t able to practice with only two bigs. It’s just a different kind of deal of what you’re trying to do. It’s easier if you know what you’re going to be in October, but where we are right now, it’s very difficult. We’re trying to manage the best we can.”

 

GRIZZLIES FORWARD JEFF GREEN (19 points, 7 rebounds)

On the game:

“The way we played was excellent, we played together on both ends; especially the defensive end. We got the job done.”

On playing the Grizzlies’ brand of basketball:

“We knew it would take some time. We got a lot of new pieces from the offseason and from the trade. We knew it would take some time to gel. Coach (Joerger) has been switching lineups and then injuries.”

 

GRIZZLIES CENTER MARC GASOL (15 points, 4 assists, 10 rebounds)

On defense:

“I thought that we did a good job of everybody being tied together; helping the helper and finishing possessions with a rebound. Everybody was tight. We recognized what the other team was trying to do and we forced them to do something else. Obviously, at the very end, they got to the paint, they made some threes but overall it was pretty good.”

On division wins:

“They are huge. Especially when you are playing back on the ball, it’s good to get over .500. Obviously, tomorrow is going to be an even bigger game.”

On playing without Zach Randolph:

“I prepare the same way. If they would let me I would try to play 48 (minutes). I don’t think they will let me do that, sadly.”

On offense:

“We moved the ball. Everyone one is moving without the ball. The times we did not pass, we were a little one-sided, but that happens with us. We are going to get better at it. I thought for the most part we were unselfish and we moved the ball.”

On playing the Grizzlies’ brand of basketball:

“Defense was the key. When we play good ‘D’ (defense) we are able to run, get easy baskets and set our defense. That changes the whole game for us.”

On playing Houston tomorrow:

“It is the second of a back-to-back for us. I think they have had a couple days off, getting ready for that game, trying to figure out what they are supposed to do. We cannot worry about where they are at or what they are doing. We have enough at stake that we have to win the game for us.”

 

DALLAS HEAD COACH RICK CARLISLE:

On Mavericks’ 19 turnovers:

“We didn’t get it done. We did a poor job with ball protection in the first half, 12 turnovers for a bunch of points. We did better in the second half, but we dug ourselves too big of a hole.”

On fourth quarter:

“I thought we had a run in us. We made a bit of a run with time to pull Dirk (Nowitzki) out and I just didn’t think we got close enough to merit putting him back in there and I thought the small lineup with quickness and shooting and penetration was our best chance to knock some points off the deficit. It just didn’t happen.”

On what the Mavericks’ last couple of games say:

“We’re playing better opponents the last couple games and we’re having poor starts. Our disposition needs to be stronger, our shot making needs to be better, and our ball protection has got to pick up. This is one of the better defensive teams in the league tonight. Tomorrow we’re playing the best defensive teams in the league (San Antonio Spurs), by percentage and by numbers. We have to do better and we will.”

On Mavericks’ three-point shooting:

“It’s early. We have to keep stepping in until we’re at them and close. We have to look at the context, make sure that we’re getting them the right way, and we have to stay aggressive.”

 

MAVERICKS FORWARD CHANDLER PARSONS (6 POINTS, 5 REBOUNDS)

 On the game:

“We didn’t really set the tone in the first quarter. We tried to ease our way into it and got down early. With a team like this it was kind of a grind it out, slow grinding team. It’s tough to crawl back in.”

On high turnovers:

“That’s very uncharacteristic of us. We got to take care of the ball much better. We knew going in that’s what they do. They’re aggressive. They gamble. We got to be a lot stronger with the ball. Tonight we had a lot of careless things that we usually don’t make.”

On the Grizzlies:

“It’s tough, especially with a team of their caliber. They play long, slow possessions. They pound the ball inside. They get to that free throw line. It’s tough. We thought the guys did a good job of chipping away and keeping us in it. We just can’t put ourselves in that situation, especially with a team like them.”

 

MAVERICKS GUARD WESLEY MATTHEWS (11 POINTS, 4 REBOUNDS, 4 ASSISTS)

On tonight’s game:

“It’s tough but we still did it. We did it. We were just a stop or two away from getting over that major hump. We got over that hump of twenty something to ten. If the shot drops for us, it’s a different game but we shot ourselves in the foot. Credit to them, they play hard. We know what they do. They’re a get-into-you type of team. They force turnovers and we played into their hands.”

On turnovers:

“Turnovers are obviously troublesome for any team and especially for us being a low turnover team through the majority of the season. Until these lasts two games, we had a good record. Now two high turnover games, two losses by a substantial margin.”