What They Said!!! Grizzlies at Wolves 11/01/16

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Post Game Quotes
Grizzlies 80, Wolves 116

mem

Memphis Grizzlies

Grizzlies Head Coach David Fizdale

On the turnover-filled first half

“That killed us. The bottom line is you are on another team’s court; you got to take care of the ball to have any chance to win on the road. We had no toughness offensively. We were very careless. We didn’t get organized. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong offensively for us and then it carried into our defense where they just ran us out of the gym.”

 

On finding the positives in a tough loss…

“Yeah, actually, you know coaches always find something. Couple young guys I thought kept competing and played well. I thought D.D. (Deyonta Davis) gave us some real solid minutes there. Jarell (Martin) gave us some real solid minutes. Two guys that need to get some minutes under their belt. I was really happy with the vets. I thought Tony Allen and Vince (Carter), their minutes were very productive and I also thought their leadership was fantastic. Mike (Conley) and Marc (Gasol) [were] inside every huddle coaching and leading it, which was very encouraging. The best thing about it is we get to play tomorrow.”

 

On Wade Baldwin’s struggles…

Yeah I think he put too much pressure on himself. I think he was trying to play [the] number three pick versus [the] number seventeen pick and he made it more of a one-on-one battle and you can’t win those and that’s just a lesson for a young guy. He wanted to come out and prove that he was as good and that he should have been a higher pick and I think it backfired on him a little bit and he started pressing, but that’s okay.  At least he is competitive and he wanted to do well and he will learn from it.”

 

Grizzlies Guard Andrew Harrison

On the positives you can take from a tough loss

“I mean that we kept fighting, I guess, until the end. We [weren’t] really playing the score [and] just kept fighting until the end. Our veterans stayed on us. They stayed in the game as much as possible and it really kept us going.”

 

On what the team has to improve upon for tomorrow…

“As the young players, you just have to play better. Less turnovers, easier plays, and make the easy play, really. Continue to work hard and that’s all we can do.

 

On the large amount of playing time he gets when the veterans on the team sit out…

“Man it’s crazy. You just enjoy getting a lot of playing time and stuff, but at the same time you want to win and today two of our top guys were out and we didn’t come through.”

 

Grizzlies Forward Wayne Baldwin IV

 On the large number of turnovers…

“Probably my five was out of the 18 or 20 that we had. I tried to force it a little bit. Obviously, the carry was questionable, but I feel like I do that all the time. They caught me with it that time, but against a team like that turnovers kill us. They love to run in transition and they do a good job of converting so that was a big factor in the first half of having 15 in the first half.”

 

On the young guys making mistakes…

“It is inexcusable. Obviously, a lot of the young guys that played tonight made rookie mistakes and it’s unacceptable.”

 

On taking the loss as a learning experience…

“I guess everything is a learning experience, but to consecutively to come here and be down the margins we have been, it doesn’t make any sense. Even with Mike (Conley) and Marc (Gasol) not playing, guys have to play better.”

 

On Minnesota’s defense getting a lot of steals…

“I think we were very careless. I don’t want to discredit their defense, but a lot of it was us being too forceful with it. Us throwing it around too much and they capitalized on our mistakes.”

 

On the valuable experience of playing on a veteran team…

“It’s an obvious question. You have these guys that have been in the league for eight plus years now and it just makes my transition faster than maybe some other rookies.”

 

timberwolves

Minnesota Timberwolves

Timberwolves Head Coach Tom Thibodeau

On if he was worried about his team’s effort when seeing Conley/Gasol sit…

“You worry about everything. You see it all the time. Guys are out and all of a sudden, a team has an edge to them. You let down a little bit. The way this team has shot the three, you’re always concerned. They can make up ground quickly. So I was concerned, and the way Vince has been playing and Randolph, you’re worried about when they come in the game they can take the game over. They’re real athletic. But when you’re missing players like they were, and Tony Allen, that was his first game back. He’s trying to find a rhythm. He’s another piece to that team that adds a lot. But they’re a deep team and they have a lot of toughness to them.”

 

On LaVine…

“I thought he got off to a great start. He’s taking good shots, good balanced shots. Getting out into the open floor. I think that’s where we’re at our best. If we have good spacing and the ball moves and we get pressure on the rim, we’re going to get some good looks. Once we got into rhythm, I thought he was terrific.”

 

On the team’s three-point shooting…

“I think we’re a work in progress. I think we have some guys that are more than capable. Guys are working hard at it. If they’re the right ones. Inside out, ball hitting the paint, kick out, defense collapses. Those are rhythm threes, you’re walking into them. Spring up the floor, getting pressure on the rim, that weak side three is a very good three. The offensive rebound and kick out, those are great threes to take and we’re capable of making those. We’ve got to sustain our spacing on the break. If we run long and run wide and get the deep corner, that opens up the floor and sets up drive and kick and a lot of good things can happen.”

 

Timberwolves Center Gorgui Dieng

On the win…

“That was good. We came out and played. Like Coach said, if you’re here that means you’re good. You don’t have to see who’s playing or not playing. You just control what you control and I’m glad we got a win tonight.”

 

On if the contract extension had any impact on his play…

“Like I said, I can separate that stuff. When I’m on the court, I’m just playing. I’m not thinking about anything else, I’m just playing. I can separate that stuff. I’m glad everything went well, we got the first win tonight. We just keep building and try to get more wins.”

 

Timberwolves Guard Kris Dunn

On if he had any butterflies in his first start…

“I mean, it was exciting. My family they came up to the home opener, so it was just good to play in front of them. To see me on this stage. It was a dream of mine. They finally got to see me play, so that was the best feeling.”

 

On how he thought he played…

“I did ok. I had some careless turnovers. I think I did well on defense, I missed a couple of assignments. I think I just did good trying to run the team.”

 

On the team’s success in transition…

“We’re trying to play fast. We’re young, we’re athletic. We’re trying to get out into transition a lot. We got a lot of stops and a lot of plays in transition.”

 

Timberwolves Guard Zach LaVine

On if they’ve congratulated Thibodeau on his first win with Minnesota…

“No, we haven’t. I feel like we’re more upset about not having that the last two games. Regardless, it’s good to have that win and good to have it in front of the home crowd. Good to have that support behind us.”

 

On the difference in the third quarter between tonight and their previous two games…

“That was the main thing. We weren’t scoring a lot and we were giving up a lot in the third quarter. I think we flipped that around. Didn’t give up as much and kept shooting, kept scoring in the third as well.”

 

On the team’s potential from three-point range…

“We all can shoot threes. Just have to have the confidence to shoot them, the willingness to and get open. That’s the main thing. You don’t want to take contested ones. You want to take open ones, they’re the easiest to shoot. Think we can be really good at it.”

Sharon Brown
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