What They Said!! Grizzlies vs Spurs 04-24-16: Spurs

Share the joy

San Antonio Spurs (116) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (95)  

Round 1 | Game 4

April 24, 2016

 

1280px-San_Antonio_Spurs.svg

 

SPURS HEAD COACH GREGG POPOVICH:

On the physical nature of the series:

“I think all the series in the Playoffs are more aggressive than during the regular year as far as physicality goes. Everybody’s energy is pumped up. I think that’s pretty par for the course. The good thing for us I think about the series is the Grizzlies were fantastic; their drive, their passion, their physicality for 48 minutes every game. We found a quarter here or there in each game where we spread ourselves, but that was it. Other than that, they played us even. Dave {Joerger} and his staff and those players deserve a lot of credit. It’s not just false praise. They really do because it wasn’t a fair fight and they didn’t care. You know whoever was available came out and played and they executed to the best of their ability. As I said, they played with a lot of heart and a lot of fortitude. That will serve them well as they move forward next season as well. From our part, that physicality will help us I think in the next round.”

 

On Boris Diaw impacting the Playoffs:

“As he always has, he has a very high basketball IQ. Boris {Diaw} can pass the ball. He understands spatial relationships on the court. He can find open people. He posts up well for us. He allows us to stay big when the other team goes small, so to speak, so his versatility is real important to us.”

 

On halftime adjustments:

“Well, the starts to the third quarter have been good and Tony {Parker} was great tonight coming out and being very aggressive moving the basketball and finding opportunities for everybody. I think at halftime they just wake up to some degree and bring a little bit of their own physicality, a little bit more movement, a little bit more purpose, and it showed in the third quarter.”

 

SPURS GUARD TONY PARKER (16 POINTS, 2 ASSISTS)

On facing a different Grizzlies team than in previous playoffs:

“You have to give them a lot of credit. They fought very hard. Obviously, they had a lot of injuries, so it was not the same. I’ve had some great battles against the Grizzlies over the years in the playoffs. You just have to give a lot of credit because they tried and it was just too hard and too many injuries.”

 

On having an effective third quarter:

“I was just trying to push the ball and trying to get the pace a little bit up. I just got to the basket.”

 

On Grizzlies’ physicality:

“They play very physical, so it’s a good test for the next round. We’re trying to control the turnovers and stuff like that, so tonight was pretty good. I think, offensively, we try to get better and make sure we prepare to look at the big picture and what we’re going to have to do in the next couple of rounds.”

 

On number of practices Spurs plan to have in the next week:

“I don’t know. I think we’ll practice because it’s going to be maybe a week. So, we’re going to practice at least two or three times because we have to stay in shape.”

 

On Spurs’ focus coming out of halftime:

“We were just like, ‘Defensively, we have to do better.’ I felt like our defense, in the third quarter, was definitely a lot more energy and a lot more focused into stopping them. So, the third quarter was a lot better. It’s always hard to close out a game. I felt like they gave everything in the first half, but the energy – in the third quarter and fourth quarter – we really dominated.”

 

On Boris Diaw’s contribution to the team:

“Obviously, Boris (Diaw) is a great guy – a lot of jokes off the court. On the court, he’s another point guard out there, a great passer, a guy we can post up against, especially Oklahoma City and Golden State – they’re going to go small – so, Boris can definitely be a great advantage for us.”

 

SPURS GUARD MANU GINOBLI (7 POINTS, 4 REBOUNDS)

 On what gave the Spurs a spark to start the third quarter:

“Sometimes things happen. We started the first two minutes with three buckets, they had three turnovers, and the game changed. Tony (Parker) had a great third quarter and we need him to be that aggressive. Once we got a 12 or 14 point lead, we knew it was going to be very hard. They are not a team that goes on 15-0 runs, because they struggle with some scoring. Once we got that lead though, we knew we were in great shape.”

 

On if the team found a rhythm today for the rest of the playoffs:

“Sort of. We were not as sharp as we wanted to be, but for moments we were. They are a tough matchup because they are very aggressive. They grab, they hold and that’s the type of game they try to play. Sometimes that makes it hard, but now we start from scratch.”

 

On if the physicality of this series will help them going forward:

“That’s what I said after game three. It was important for us to get away with the win in game three, because it got physical, it was tough, on the road and was a key game. We managed to take and eight or 10 point lead. Today it happened earlier, so it was not the same type of game. Still, I think they made us better.”

 

On if getting a few days off before the next series is a good thing:

“For me, it is. I can’t speak for Kawhi (Leonard), but we still don’t know how long it’s going to be. I guess it depends on the other series. This was a tough one. Kawhi played 42 minutes on Friday, but we got to rest him a little bit today. I think we’re due a couple days off, and then we’ll have a couple good practices to get the rhythm back. I think it’s very important—we need it.”

 

SPURS CENTER LaMARCUS ALDRIDGE (15 POINTS, 10 REBOUNDS)

On if the team found a rhythm today:

“I think guys played well. Guys made shots and played confident. Our defense got better as the game went on, and guys competed.”

 

On the physicality of the series:

“They’re physical down low. They’ve got big bigs with Z-Bo (Zach Randolph) and all those guys down low, and they play physical down there. Tony Allen is physical, and they all play that way. So I hope that will get us ready for the next series.”

 

On what gave the team a spark in the third quarter:

“I thought guys just tried to be more active out there, play with more energy and just be more into it. We turned it up a bit.”

 

On getting some days off before the next series:

“Rest is always good. We’ll work on some things and get some things fixed up for sure.”

 

On if he thought about his season ending in Memphis last year:

“Not really. I’m in the moment. I think anybody that knows me knows that I don’t like to look back on things until the end of the season. But I’m in the moment and I’m enjoying the ride.”

 

On looking ahead to potentially playing the Thunder in the next series:

“We’ve got to be even more physical. They’re big, so we’ve got to be active and play better team defense to control (Russell) Westbrook.”

 

On the lights going out during the game:

“What time was it? That’s what I was thinking because it was so early. It just threw me off. I was trying to stay loose, but I didn’t want to get tired. I just was hoping that we could get the game started again soon. I didn’t want to have to wait until tomorrow.”

 

SPURS FORWARD KAWHI LEONARD (21 POINTS, 7 REBOUNDS)

On what changed the game in the second half:

“Just playing good defense, getting open shots on the offensive end. That’s pretty much it.”

 

On if the team felt a good rhythm in the second half:

“I guess you could say that. We shot 50 percent, knocked down some three balls and got out in transition.”

 

On the physicality of this series:

“Memphis is a good defensive team, very physical. They offensive rebound great and use their bigs.”

 

On if the lights going out affected him:

“Not really. I was already on the bench. I just took it as a chance to warm up again, so I just kept playing.”

 

Sharon Brown
Follow me
Latest posts by Sharon Brown (see all)

Share the joy