What They Said!! Grizzlies vs Pelicans 03-11-16

POST GAME QUOTES

GRIZZLIES, PELICANS

 

GRIZZLIES HEAD COACH DAVE JOERGER

Opening Statement:

“I’m tired. I know those guys are, too. They played their hearts out, as we said they would. They came out and played with a great deal of passion. I was really impressed with the way that they hung in there together. They helped each other throughout the course of that game when at different points it looked good and at other points it didn’t look so good. They helped each other as trying to cement things for the long-term and build those relationships and I was really, really impressed with that. Certainly, a lot of ‘atta boys’ tonight for our entire team. To first time in franchise history sweep New Orleans in a season, it’s definitely a feather in their cap as a team. They (New Orlenas) kind of given us problems over the course of the last five or six years. Matt Barnes gets a triple-double. I’ve been saying about our veteran leadership; Tony (Allen), Vince (Carter), Mike Conley, Matt (Barnes), Zach (Randolph)…those guys that have been here taking in the new guys and helping them get acclimated to what we’re trying to do, both offensively and defensively. Matt’s been a big, big part of that. He’s not going to let us quit. Tony had a heck of a second half and just made a lot of great plays. I started him in the second half, I started him on Anthony Davis to give them a different look and to help us rotation-wise. I thought that was effective for us at times. And then what can you say about Lance (Stephenson)? Look at the passion. He’s disappointed that he played a tough game, in his mind, in Boston. He had a rough night and came out and just left it all out there. Sometimes there’s mistakes, but there is plenty of heart there which is what we love here in Grizzland.”

 

On protecting the basketball with a new point guard:

“We figured if we pass once or none we have a better chance of not turning it over. Henry Bibby used to tell me that all the time, ‘Man, the more passes you make, the more chances you have of making a mistake.’ It’s not easy. What he (Briante Weber) did tonight was absolutely fantastic. I love him. I absolutely love him. I hope he can continue to grow with us. To throw a guy, a young fellow like that, into a game and throw him into a starting job – which I told him last night he would be – he’s not afraid of the moment. He knew what he knew, he didn’t know what he didn’t know and he just went out and played. There’s times he over-dribbled, but only because he was trying not to make a mistake. He was conscientious of trying to get the ball to the right place at different times in the game. I thought he did a pretty good job defensively and hopefully we’ll just keep getting better at it. I was very impressed with Briante Weber and our team in general. When Vince (Carter) went down – and I’d love to tell you what he has, but I don’t know yet, he’s getting looked at right now – Matt Barnes was playing point guard, Tony was bringing it up, we were finding Lance (Stephenson) when we could, and then trying to do it in doses. Lance didn’t go five or six times in a row. Lance would go once, twice, sometimes three in a row. But then, we would go someplace else and come back to him and let him attack either in the post or on the perimeter. That is the biggest total, ten turnovers in an overtime game is absolutely tremendous.”

 

On this being a big win for the team and the city:

“It was a great feeling all around the city today. I knew the guys were going to play with a lot of passion and they did a great job. It’s hard, as a coach, to ring the bell too many times over the course of a regular season because it’s so long. I knew that tonight was…you can kind of put too many of your emotional eggs in one basket and I kind of threw all in for tonight with our team. So, hopefully we’ve got something left for tomorrow. Tomorrow is our fifth game in seven nights, but I think it adds to the foundation of what we can do here going forward with this group for the rest of the season. So, we might have a tough night tomorrow. Hopefully, we just come out and play free and loose against a very good Atlanta team and continue to get better. It could’ve gone the other way, to make it a big emotional game and then lose. Five games in seven days is a tough stretch, but I thought ringing the bell was the right thing to do and they really responded.”

 

On switching Briante Weber for Jarell Martin on in-bound play:

“We didn’t know if they were going to run a lob or if they were going to try to go big, and get Ryan Anderson or Anthony Davis to screen for each other and pop to get a quick-release jumper. The other thing is, you don’t want in that moment to go ‘Oh, I didn’t know that or I didn’t know my teammate’s tendencies.’ Jarell has been around a little bit longer and guarding the in-bounder, you only really have one thing to do. The other thing I could’ve done was put him at the front of the rim to protect against the lob, but I always feel like with 1.2, it could go bang, bang and he could step in and shoot it. So, I put a guy on the ball and I’ll tell you, I thought he was going to be open. I thought when they went across and he slipped to the rim, he was open. Jarell made a very athletic play and a game-saving play. There were a lot of ifs and buts. I thought we had a lot of good looks at the end of regulation and a lot of shots around the rim that just didn’t seem to fall, but I thought we kept battling.”

 

 

GRIZZLIES GUARD BRIANTE WEBER (10 points, 7 assists)

On the past 24 hours:

“I don’t even think there’s a word in a dictionary, a phrase in a book that can explain the way I feel just getting that opportunity. I can’t even tell you how it feels. I just had to go out here and do what I do.”

 

On his pregame conversation with Vince Carter:

“He just said take it in young fellow. There’s going to be some ups and downs. It’s not going to be perfect, but just keep playing your game and just do what you do. Be you. Once again, there’s no words in the dictionary—one of my favorite players growing up. I idolize him. Every time I had a play school hoop I was doing Vince dunks and all that, so that meant a lot. I’m going to take that to the grave with me.”

 

On his familiarity with the offense:

“I mean it’s the NBA so most people run the same stuff, so I knew some of the concepts, it’s just different terminology so I had to just lock in and understand the different terminology. It wasn’t that tough, but it was kind of rough on the fly.”

 

On his first game in Memphis:

“I’ve always dreamt of coming to a Grizzlies game since I was about 13 years old, and to not come to a game, to actually be a part of one was a big milestone in my life. I’m definitely going to remember this for many years to come.”

 

GRIZZLIES FORWARD LANCE STEPHENSON (33 points, 7 rebounds)

On the current Grizzlies roster:

“This is the time when everybody pulls together. We’ve got guys coming in on 10-days, trying our best to help everybody. I just got in here, so I’m just trying to get with the coaches and just get a lot of help from my teammates and the guys who have been here, just having fun and competing. A lot of guys have something to prove that are playing right now, so that’s probably the edge we have right now.”

 

On what helped him score a career-high 33 points:

“Just being in attack mode like I’ve always been and just believing. It’s more of my teammates believing in me. Throughout the games that I’ve been here, I’ve been so-and-so consistent and just trying to help everybody and they’re helping me at the same time. I’m learning a lot from a lot of guys on this team. We have a lot of good defenders and I’m watching them on film. I’m watching T.A. (Tony Allen) and Matt Barnes and how they get into guys and how they get in the gaps. Just being smart on defense, that’s what helped me and the offense will just come.”

 

On Briante Weber:

“For his first NBA game, man that was an incredible game for him. He came in nervous and he’s got something to prove too. When you’ve got something to prove – all the anger, all the stuff, all the grind that you went through it’s coming out and you want to play your best.”

 

 

 

PELICANS HEAD COACH ALVIN GENTRY:

On the game:

“Well they have an All-Star center and what should be an All-Atar point guard out. It came down to the end of the game of just making tough plays. They made the tough plays and we didn’t. That’s basically what it came down to.”

 

On playing down the stretch:

“You can’t give up 22 points in five minutes and expect to win an overtime game. We had opportunities; we were two up and came up with a stop. But we can’t complete the possession and come up with the rebound so they put it back in the basket and you end up in an overtime situation. If you have the opportunity on the road, you just have to make the tough plays down the stretch.”

 

On lineup rotation:

“We just played who we thought would help us win the game. It wasn’t being mad at anybody. The only thing I think about is who I can put out there to help us win the game.”

 

On the tough plays:

“Well you have to make those plays to be able to win on the road. Close is great, but it doesn’t help you out at all. You just have to complete the possession and come up with the plays and we didn’t do that and they did. I thought they disrupted what we tried to do a lot of the game. They forced us further out to run our offense. We’ve got to get ourselves open and we have to be tough enough to get ourselves open and run our offense from the area where we are accustomed to running it from.”

 

On the fourth quarter:

“I thought we did a good job of moving the ball and stopped trying to force it inside. They did a good job of playing in front and behind. We had AD (Anthony Davis) step out and screen some which opened up the floor, and it gave us a few layups. We just have to make the plays at the end of the game and that’s what it comes down to. At the end of the day, we cannot come close to a rebound or put a hand on it. We have got come up with it. We can’t come close to stopping them; we have to come up with it. That’s the difference between playing a good game and losing; and playing a good game and winning. Any place really, and not necessarily the road. I thought we got off to a good start, and then I thought we struggled some because we were in space and we were running and we didn’t get shots. Then we slowed the game down some, we made some substitutions because of foul trouble. For a few minutes we had Jrue (Holiday) and Toney (Douglas) on the bench, which is tough because we don’t have another lead guard we can play. So we have to try to buy out a few minutes there. I thought overall we did a good job, but you just have to make the plays at the end of the game.”

 

On Anthony Davis’ offense:

“Well he is going to have to become a screener. He can step out and they are going to play two guys on him, then you have to step out on the floor and back screen and do stuff like that to open other guys up. Then if you’re a screener, it is hard to keep two guys on you, someone is going to be open. I thought we did a pretty decent job with that but to me it came down to the fact that we needed to make a couple of tough plays and we didn’t quite get there.”

 

 

PELICANS FORWARD DANTE CUNNINGHAM (17 POINTS, 6 REBOUNDS)

On the game:

“It was a good game. They just played hard. We have to match their intensity.

 

“I had a breakdown at the end of the game. We were up three or four, and Lance Stephenson decided to go dunk it on me. We need to tighten up.”

 

On the Grizzlies’ performance:

“They played hard. They kind of got into us a little bit, and we didn’t really push back enough.”

 

PELICANS FORWARD ANTHONY DAVIS (25 POINTS, 13 REBOUNDS)

On the game:

“In overtime they just played harder than us.  They wanted it more. That was the difference in the game.”

 

On the end of regulation:

“The defensive rebound I had in my hand, but it hit the backboard and slipped out. It was a tough rebound in the first place.”

 

On changes that need to be made:

“Offensively we’re fine. It has to start with the defense. We have to do a better job defensively, especially down the stretch. They hit some tough shots. But like that rebound, we have to have that rebound. We have to hit some tough shots. Coming out of the gate, when Lance (Stephenson) came out and had that dunk, we have to foul him and put him on the line. We can’t let them get the easy looks. We just have to do a better job defensively as a whole.”

 

On learning from the Grizzlies:

“We have to be that grit and grind team just like them (the Grizzlies). No matter who’s on the floor they’re going to play hard, play aggressive, and that’s how we have to be. We have to be a team that goes out there for the whole 48 minutes. We were able to come back tonight, but in overtime we were just a different team.

 

“We have to go back and look at it.  They’re definitely a powerhouse team. We’re trying to get where they are. I love playing these guys. We just have to find a way to win. This team counts it up every minute of the game. That’s kind of how we want to be, but as far as learning from them, we have to go back and look at the film and try to see what we can take from every game.”