What They Said!!! Grizzlies vs Trail Blazers 02-08-16

POST GAME QUOTES

GRIZZLIES 106, TRAIL BLAZERS 112 [OT]

 

GRIZZLIES HEAD COACH DAVE JOERGER

Opening Statement:

“Another hard fought game. Probably a good game to watch. There were a lot of shots, a lot of plays. Some that went in and some that certainly didn’t go in our favor at the end of the day. Our turnovers, I thought, really bit us in the rear end where they got, what we call pick six turnovers, where they just got it and got to shoot lay ups. Off of our turnovers, they made some big shots and made some big plays but I thought we did too. Zach and Mike did their very best to carry us and we had some great opportunities to win the game. We had some lay ups and free throws that didn’t go down for us. We put ourselves in a position to be successful. A team that is playing very, very well got a lot of play making and they got in our lane too much, defensively. I’m certainly concerned about the number of times the ball is being driven into the paint so that’s something we’ve got to get better at. I thought we were better in transition. There is no transition defense for turnovers. But other than that we can get better in some areas. It was a tough night. “

 

On Marc Gasol:

“Nothing yet, I’ll find out more tomorrow I’m sure. I’ll let our medical staff speak to that. He is just dinged up as far as, when I say ‘He’s playing on one leg,’ he’s got a problem on one leg, he’s got another problem on the other leg. He is going out there and giving us everything he can. He’s been certainly cleared and it’s an ongoing conversation. Would it be better to do this or do that? He is capable of playing medically and he wants to play and finish out before the All-Star break.”

 

On resting guys in the Brooklyn game:

“No, we’ve had a lot of days between games. We’re going to find a way to get a win. It’s going to be a battle. The last game before break, first game out of breaks, first games of the season, last games of the season they are all weird. They can go a lot of different ways. So you go out, you compete and do the best you can.”

 

On Courtney Lee’s lack of minutes in the second half:

“We were trying to play Tony (Allen). Tony played 39 minutes defensively. Ball hocking, I think he did a tremendous job on C.J. McCollum especially early in the game. He got going late in the game and in overtime but I thought Tony did a nice job on him.”

 

GRIZZLIES FORWARD TONY ALLEN  (8 points, 7 rebounds)

On the game:

“That’s one I’d like to have back. I want to take this one on the chin personally. If I make that layup, we get a chance to hold our hats on the defense. You make that play; we settle with our defense and maybe go into overtime. I look back at those free throws. If I hit both of those free throws, maybe we win the game. Some days are better than others. Coming in, I knew that Dame (Damian Lillard) and (CJ) McCollum are probably one of the top duos. I take this one personally on the chin but we definitely have to be better and bounce back in Brooklyn.”

 

On going into the break:

“The first half of the season we saw some things that we can improve on. We saw some things that we were great at. We are trying to go into the second half with a great win and great momentum. I think we just have to be ready to play for that specific 48 minutes.”

 

On plans for the break:

“It’s a job requirement. Everyone gets that break. I’m going to take advantage of it; I need it. I’ll be ready to go second half. I’m just going to be getting in the gym. I’ll be in the gym; I’m going nowhere special. I’ll be in Memphis.”

 

 

GRIZZLIES FORWARD MATT BARNES (5 points, 2 rebounds)

On the game:

“Out of the gates, there was just an awkward rhythm to the game. We lacked effort early on. I think in the second half we played harder. You allow a young team that can shoot the ball well and have a chance to stay in the game, and they hit some tough shots down the stretch and beat us.”

 

On missed opportunities:

“Yeah we missed layups. My goaltending obviously, free throws, and not knocking down shots we normally knock down and also not playing defense.”

 

On going into the All-Star Break:

“We need it. We are still jockeying for position. We are trying to move up. Portland is on our heels. Dallas, Utah, Sacramento, and everyone’s behind us so it’s still tight down there. We want to continue to finish out strong and get a well-needed rest.”

 

On paying attention to the standings:

“I think you do now once you get to the All-Star Break. I think we have about 30 games left or something around there. You kind of start checking around look at your schedule and see what you’re going to do.”

 

 

TRAIL BLAZERS HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS:

On Trail Blazers win:

“Our perseverance in that game, we just kept after it and we did a lot of good things enough to win the game. A lot of good contribution by a lot of the guys and it showed a lot of heart to win that game on the road.”

 

On Gerald Henderson’s scoring basket to send the game into overtime:

“To be honest I have not seen the replays, it sounds like Jeff Green hit it but I don’t know. Like I said, when the referees go to the replay, you know it is what it is.”

 

On the Trail Blazers evolving into a clutch team:

“I thought we played with a lot of grit and defensively we have really picked it up, getting key stops. I thought the play of the game was the runback by Damian Lillard and Allen Crabbe and Ed Davis and Gerald Henderson on the layup, that could have gone either way. That was a big time hustle play and it was a winning play, and I think we really locked in on doing those type of things. I thought Ed Davis was terrific tonight, defensively on Zach Randolph, he bound the possession, he rebounded the ball. I don’t know what his line was, but he knew he had a good game.”

 

On Damian Lillard:

“He was really good all game obviously, but Memphis did a good job defensively in the second half. They went small pick-and-rolls, they did a good job defending the pick-and-rolls. But the way we were able to just keep finding ways to score. But Damian certainly had it rolling in the first half.”

 

On CJ McCollum:

“CJ McCollum was struggling, but over time late in the fourth into overtime, it was good to see him, we needed every one of [his points]. But he got on track, he got his rhythm on his jump shot and for him to fight through some of the frustration he was having throughout the game and coming out strong late was really a good sign.”

 

On the maturity of the team throughout the season:

“We had some games earlier… but to be honest that is so far in the past. We have looked past that and I think we are in a good groove as far as how tough, how competitive, and what we have to do to win these type of games and hopefully some of those early losses are paying off for us now. From day one, this season has been about the process and improvement by individuals and the collective team and hopefully we are showing that improvement and that’s the reason why.”

 

On the offense:

“I like to think that it takes a little bit of time to have some cohesion and I think maybe the game is slowing down a little bit for us, and the turnovers certainly hurt us a little at the beginning of season. Look that is part of the growth of the team and is part of the growth of our guys. We have got a lot of young guys and hopefully that has all been a good learning experience, but we still got 30 games to go, whatever it is, so hopefully we keep it going the right direction.”

 

 

TRAIL BLAZERS GUARD GERALD HENDERSON (16 POINTS, 3 REBOUNDS)

On end of game:

“We came up with a lot of plays at the end of regulation. Damian {Lillard} and CJ {McCollum} were coming down and making plays too. We’re just so happy to get a tip-in off of one of CJ’s misses. Kind of like how we lost the game here back when… We got a tip-in and we just came up with plays. That’s the game.”

 

On getting better offensively:

“I think as the season keeps going [we are getting better]. We keep learning how different defenses are going to play against all of us, especially Damian [Lillard] and CJ [McCollum], they get a lot of attention. Just getting smarter and getter better. A lot of guys who are playing haven’t had that experience to really learn how their game is going to fit into the team game, how it’s going to fit into our game. It’s a tough thing sometimes to figure out but guys have done a really good job of doing it. I think the thing that helps us more than anything is we are a really good passing team. We like to share the ball and we have guys that can make plays. It helps us. It makes it a little easier to score.”

 

 

TRAIL BLAZERS FORWARD ALLEN CRABBE (13 POINTS, 4 REBOUNDS, 3 STEALS)

On the Grizzlies’ goaltending call:

“I tried to make a play on the ball and it went in so and they gave me the two points so I’m going to take credit for the tip-in. I feel like I had a piece of the ball. I don’t want to lie. I saw the ball come out and I was down there. We can all just go back to the footage really and check it out. Like I said, they gave me the two points so I tipped it in.”

 

On being better at winning close games:

“We know how to close games out now. We know what it takes now. Everybody is digging down defensively to get the stops we need. I think everybody’s game has taken that next step. As the season goes along, I just feel like we know how many wins we can get at home, winning in these situations and we need to make sure we get these wins. I think everybody is just on the same page and we’re just playing hard.”

 

On their progress:

“I just feel like we are executing more now, taking our time and just making the right plays. Like I said, everything comes down to defense for us. We have a lot of weapons on offense and so if we just get the stops we need on defense, then everything will play out for itself.”

 

On believing more about winning games:

“When you lose as many games as we should have won in the beginning, and you find yourself in that situation, we just don’t want it to repeat itself. I just feel like everybody knows how important it is and that it’s getting close to the end of the season. Everybody can talk about playoffs and all that stuff. Everybody knows what we need to do in order to make a pass and that’s everybody goal. Obviously, we are going to take it one game at a time but we also need get these wins as well.”