What They Said!! Sounds vs Knicks 01-16-16

POST GAME QUOTES

SOUNDS 103, KNICKS 95

 

GRIZZLIES HEAD COACH DAVE JOERGER

Opening statement:

“Good win for us, second half especially. I thought the first half we were a little big nonchalant. They were without Carmelo (Anthony) so we thought it may be a tough night for them. I thought we were loose with some of our shot selection; we leaked out and didn’t check out a couple of times. We just didn’t get back in front of the ball. We came out in the second half and had a lot more urgency. The group that came in at 68-68 with three minutes to go in the third quarter really pushed it out from there. Marc Gasol had a terrific game. I think Jeff Green did a really great job, especially in the first half of keeping us in striking distance. Courtney (Lee) hit a big shot at the end of the half which closed the gap. The second half told the tale. We only had three turnovers forced in the first half and they finished with 11 and that’s where we need to be, much more ball pressure. We got after them in the first quarter to quarter-and-a-half and it seemed like we were satisfied just trading baskets. Once we got over that mentality, we were much better off.”

 

On the smaller lineup:

“Yeah I think (Kristaps) Porzingis was hurting us. Zach (Randolph) was much better on him in the second half. But it was an opportunity for us to space the floor and Marc (Gasol) had it going. We tried to open up the lane a little bit, too, and he was aggressive and that was fantastic.”

 

On defending Marc Gasol:

“He didn’t wait a lot in the post. He caught it and made an aggressive move. The tone of his body was, ‘I’m going to score until you stop me.’ He’s driving into the paint, they’re crashing down into the paint and someone has to come and help. That opens it up for other people. If not, he is in that mindset that he is going to go. I thought that was very positive for us and it opens up other things. We got to standing too much, watching them. I was trying to get guys to keep moving, keep cutting so they couldn’t decide who was going to double-team and where they were going to come from.”

 

On Jeff Green:

“He’s a pro. He’s a smart guy and he fills up the stat sheet with a bunch of different numbers. It’s always easier as a player. I don’t know if Marc (Gasol) likes shooting 29 times or not but just shooting the basketball you feel like you’re getting into rhythm of the game. He was aggressive and you start featuring him a little bit and then he starts making some plays and then you start getting into a real rhythm for the game. I think that is very positive for us.”

 

On Elliot Williams:

“Defensively, we didn’t put enough pressure on (Jose) Calderon, especially in the first half. I thought he led the dance and did whatever he wanted to. He just got them into wherever they wanted to be. I thought Elliot’s (Williams) defense especially really was a spark for us. JaMychal Green played some good minutes, especially in the first half. We went really small with Matt (Barnes), Jeff (Green), and JaMychal (Green) playing three, four and five. We got more active. And with Elliot, I thought that was his best game since being here.”

 

GRIZZLIES FORWARD TONY ALLEN (7 points, 9 rebounds)

On the defense:

“As far as today’s game, I’m just going to flat out say it, starting out I don’t think we gave those guys any respect, and it kind of bit us in the first half. With (Carmelo Anthony) being out, I think guys’ antennas kind of went a whole other place, but that team fought hard and we had to match their energy in the second half. On the defensive end, the coaches did a great job at calling the sets as they were coming down the second half. We remembered those plays and we just came and played hard. I think we can’t not respect anyone. We’ve always got to respect our opponent no matter who it is. This is the NBA. But I thought we bounced back the second half.”

 

On Marc Gasol:

“He was outstanding. That’s Big Spain. He’s going to carry us. That’s our leader, and he did a huge job in just getting good position. He had his touch going from 15 (feet). He’s Big Spain. What more can I say?”

 

On the upcoming game vs. New Orleans:

“They’ve got some explosive guards. Obviously, Anthony Davis is an MVP-caliber type player. But, like I say, we’re going to make it another defensive grind-out type of game, try to make those guys uncomfortable, make them do things that they don’t want to do. We know that they’re a run-and-gun kind of team and Anthony Davis makes them that much more special.”

 

GRIZZLIES FORWARD MATT BARNES (5 ASSISTS, 9 rebounds)

On the game:

“Our main goal was to come out tonight and get a win.”

 

On Marc Gasol:

“It’s got to be like that every night. Marc is one of the best centers in the league. We go as he goes. We’re a little shorthanded right now with Mike (Conley) being out, so we go as Marc goes. He’s a great passer, but sometimes he’s too unselfish. We want Marc to have these kinds of nights every night.”

 

KNICKS HEAD COACH DEREK FISHER:

On not closing out in the fourth quarter:

“We couldn’t make enough winning plays in the fourth quarter essentially.  Some second chance opportunities after getting some decent stops.  We allowed them to get second chances.  Probably more than that, offensively we couldn’t get organized and get some structure to what we were doing so that we could break them down as a group instead of individually having to do it.”

 

On Marc Gasol:

“Robin’s (Lopez) foul trouble impacted us some, but Marc’s (Gasol) an All-Star.  He had a good night, but I don’t think he beat us by himself.  I think we had some breakdowns, like I said, defensively in terms of giving up some second chance points; I think 18 total.  Offensively, particularly in the second half we couldn’t find a way to break them down together.  We were kind of playing late in the clock and individually having to try to do it.”

 

On playing a full rotation:

“We knew we would have to play a lot of guys tonight, in particular in the front court.  These guys were wrestling (Zach) Randolph and (Marc) Gasol and their bigs.  Jeff Green came off the bench and played well.  We were having to keep some guys moving in.  We lost (Kevin) Seraphin early to an upper body injury, so that made it a little tough for us.  We still had enough.  We were there through three quarters.  They won the fourth quarter.”

 

On Kristaps Porzingis:

“Kris (Kristaps Porzingis) was aggressive on both ends of the floor.  It was good to see.  We needed it in order to have a chance tonight.  I think he’s still learning how to play against whoever he faces up against.  To be able to do it on both ends of this, this team takes a lot of energy.  I thought he brought that to the game tonight.  We just couldn’t collectively do it for 48 minutes, and that’s why Memphis won.”

 

KNICKS FORWARD DERRICK WILLIAMS (13 POINTS, 4 REBOUNDS)

On Memphis’ defense:

“That’s a good defensive team over there. They’re defensive-minded. They made us take tough shots late in the shot clock and they killed us on the offensive boards. When you’re taking bad shots and then they get to offensive rebounds, it’s tough to beat a team like that.”

 

On tonight’s game:

“Like I said, that’s a good team. They’ve played with each other for a long time. I know they have (Mike) Conley out, but (Mario) Chalmers did a great job tonight with getting everybody involved. (Marc) Gasol had close to 40 tonight, so whenever he’s at the free throw line and getting good shots towards the rim, that’s a tough team to beat.”

 

On playing without Carmelo Anthony:

“He’s a big part of our offense obviously, but we try to get everybody in the flow of the offense, whoever is in the game. Like I said, with him out it gives other people opportunities to get out there and prove what they can do. Tonight, they did a good job or taking away our first and second looks and us taking late shots on the shot clock. It’s tough when it’s like that.”

 

 

KNICKS FORWARD KRISTAPS PORZINGIS (17 POINTS, 4 REBOUNDS)

On Memphis’ second chance opportunities:

“I think that’s what kind of killed us and killed our energy, those second chance points, the offensive rebounds that they got. We just weren’t able to make shots, which is bad for us offensively. We weren’t really executing the offense that well and that’s why at the end we just couldn’t finish the game.”

 

On the difference in halves:

“I think there was more pressure on me. At the beginning, I was just doing whatever I wanted, finding open shots, hitting open shots. It wasn’t a great half for us defensively, but it got better. Offensively we were playing our game, we were sharing the ball. Second half, once they put a little more pressure on us we really couldn’t do what we wanted to do.”

 

On Memphis’ defense:

“It started at the end of the first quarter. They started playing Zach Randolph. He was all over me. He just wasn’t worrying about anything else, just sticking to me like glue. As soon as I scored those points during the game, I had to find a way to still shoot and get the ball in. It was tougher because they were paying more attention to me, but I have to find a way to score in those situations.”