Game Quotes: Cavaliers vs. Hornets

(On tonight’s game): “Not the way we wanted to end the home stand. Defensively, I thought we did a pretty good job. You hold them to 40%, that’s pretty good. That’s going to allow you to be in most games and give you a chance to win most games, but when you shoot 32%, you’re not giving yourself much of a chance.”

(On the difference tonight): “Bottom line is we just couldn’t throw it in the ocean. We had great shots and we have a bunch of guys in that room that can make shots. Tonight just wasn’t one of those nights. You have to give New Orleans some credit as well. I thought they did a pretty good job of defending and challenging shots, but we had a lot of shots that we normally make and that we have been making, but for whatever reason tonight, we weren’t able to do that.”

(On if he thinks the team was already thinking about the break): “I really thought we tried. I really thought we played hard. I thought the effort was there. I remember at one point in the fourth quarter, Kyrie (said), ‘I just don’t have my legs.’ I don’t know if that’s fatigue, but we don’t use that as an excuse because that was New Orleans’ third game in three nights so that is definitely something we don’t look at. We didn’t execute as well as we have been executing and we just didn’t shoot the ball that well tonight.”

(On playing Semih in the second half): “I just didn’t think he was giving a great effort. I really didn’t, so I just decided at halftime to make a change.”

(On if the Cavs were playing into New Orleans’ style of play): “I think their style is more of just walk it up and down the floor. They’ll run. They’re a very opportunistic team. When they have a chance, they’ll get up and down the floor. For the most part, they’re going to bring it up and down the floor, set it up and use 20 seconds off the shot clock and when they get an offensive rebound, they’re going to use another 20 seconds which makes you play defense that much longer. I didn’t think, in the first half, we got lulled into their style. I really thought we tried to push the ball. Our guards were pushing the ball, but our wings weren’t running as much as they should have. That was the one thing I was really disappointed about.”

(On tonight’s game): “It was just that type of night. We were getting stops and we just couldn’t hit shots, including myself. It was a rough night offensively. I think we did some good things defensively, but it was a rough night. It happens.”

(On what would have happened if they had taken the lead late): “There are a lot of ‘what ifs’ in this game, but what it comes down to is we lost the game. We battled but it just didn’t work (out) in our favor tonight.”

(On the first half of his rookie season): “It went pretty well. We definitely accomplished some of the goals that we tried to accomplish as a team. We’re becoming a better defensive team and offensively we’re getting more assists per game. I think this first half of the season went really well. We definitely surprised some people. I’m really proud of that.”

(On the first half of the season): “It’s been up and down. You would expect that out of a young team, but this is a team that is a tight knit group of guys and a positive team. It speaks volume about the guys we have in the locker room. We feel like we let the majority of games slip away. I think the tale of the second half is whether or not we can find a way to make up for some of those games.”

(On rumors surrounding him): “Deep down inside, I don’t want to go anywhere and I don’t feel like I’m going anywhere. I enjoy playing with these guys. These guys are very receptive of what I tell them and what I do on and off the court. We have a great coaching staff and it’ll be fun.”

(On his third season as a Cavalier): “When I first got here, it was a whirlwind. Everything happened so quickly and I couldn’t get my feet on the ground. Last year, I had a lot of personal things and this year all that stuff is behind me and I’m concentrating on playing basketball. It’s been the most fun I’ve had in a while.”

HORNETS HEAD COACH MONTY WILLIAMS

(On getting some wins on the road): “It was a big-time road trip for us and we got a bit of momentum going into the (All Star) break. Our guys heard all the stuff being said about them about three weeks ago. We probably practice more than anybody in the league, but we just started to see the residual effect these past two weeks…I would say the team we played tonight plays just as hard and that’s why there were a lot of guys getting knocked down on the floor…That usually happens when you have two teams with young guys that don’t know anything but to play hard.”

(On their chemistry): “I think they understand that they have to play together. We don’t have one particular guy that can drop 20 or 25 (points) every night. (Jarrett) Jack isn’t all that happy about it, but I’m keeping him on the bench because he gives us scoring off the bench and I’ll explain that to him later. I don’t know if we have one group that enjoys playing together, but I think we have a couple of guys that do. Greivis (Vasquez) and (Gustavo Ayon) love playing together. Marco (Belinelli) can play with anybody because he can shoot the ball. They learned how to play off of Chris (Kaman) a little bit. We have a ways to go as far as having one five-man unit playing well together for a consistent stretch.”

GREIVIS VASQUEZ

(On their play): “We’re a team in progress. We play hard, let’s not get it wrong. We might have a losing record, but there’s not going to be one night that we’re not going to come out here on any court and (not) play hard. We play hard. We outplayed them because we were ready to play and that’s the attitude (we had). Last game we didn’t play hard from the get-go, we played hard in the second half. (Tonight), we played hard for 48 minutes and we got the win…One day everything is going to be clicking, we’re going to start putting some games together and some wins together and everybody’s going to start talking about us. Right now, we have to go through what we have to go through, then grow and get better.”

(On Chris Kaman): “He was big. He’s a scorer. He can score for us. Now we understand each other a lot better. At the beginning of the season, we couldn’t run plays because we didn’t have chemistry. Now, we take care of each other on and off the court and that’s why we won some games. We won in Milwaukee, New York and now here. Cleveland is really good. They’re a really good team and to come out here and get this win was big-time for us.”