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| Friday, December 4, 2009 Final Score: New Orleans 98, Minnesota 89 Hornets Post Game Quotes
“We were happy with the way we initially started the game and we were happy with the stretch how we finished the 2nd quarter and we were very pleased with our 3rd quarter play overall especially since we were able to get control of the game. Of course, there are still things we need to continue to work on and look at, but overall we did move the ball and got some pretty good shots, particularly in the 1st half.” “I am encouraged with the fact that we won the game, that was our goal today. Just win the game. We were able to play through some things in our line-up. I’m not going to lie, I had reservations about changing our line-up in the second quarter line-up in the beginning but decided to let them play through it and am happy with the decision.”
On the return of Chris Paul: “He looked good out there. He got everyone involved. He had 16 assists. It explains why he is the player that he is. He had some impressive stats. It’s a good thing that he’s back in the line-up.”
On his return: “In the first half, I couldn’t make a shot. I was going on adrenaline. I got here early for the game and got a nice workout. I was nervous, not knowing if I was going to be able to finish. The credit goes to my teammates; they bear with me. They had enough confidence in me to where I could drop in and play. I knew at some point I was going to have to come back and test it (the ankle). Coming back tonight gave me a good barometer. If it didn’t work out, I still had four more days to strengthen it back up and get ready to play.” On the end of the first half: “(The foul) was huge. I was so frustrated with myself. All this time I’ve been out all I’ve had time to do is shoot. For me to miss those first four or five shots of the game was frustrating. That foul at the end got me going a little bit.” Timberwolves Post Game Quotes
On the comeback of Chris Paul: “He’s a very talented ball player. He does a good job of giving that team confidence. He just sliced us apart in the 2nd half. He got a feel for the game. You could see him getting some confidence and his rhythm. He just figured out how we were playing pick and roll. He did a good job of slicing us apart. Our guys didn’t do a good job of defending pick and roll, protecting the paint and he ends up slicing us apart. He has terrific court vision and does a good job of moving the basketball.” On the 9-0 Hornets run at the end of the 1st half: “Some of it had to do with us. It wasn’t necessarily him (Paul). We turned the ball over, we missed free throws. There was an ill advised foul when he (Paul) jumped into Ryan Hollins and it was called in his favor. One of the points I made at halftime to our young ball club is that run happened in 53 seconds. We had a nine point lead and it went down to two. We make mistakes. We don’t keep our focus. We lose our attention to detail. We make some silly mistakes. That is the nature of a young and inexperienced team. The thing that a hope for as a coach is that they learn something from it.”
On Hornets Chris Paul: “He got the double-double and the win. He got the best of me tonight, that is why he is Chris Paul and I am second year player Kevin Love.” On second quarter run by Hornets: “Coach broke that down at halftime. It could have changed the whole tempo of the game, because they came out and beat us up a little bit in the third quarter.”
On the game: “Just another game down in the books. A game we could have won, but we got them again next week.” On Chris Paul: “He played well for a guy that came back from an ankle injury. That is a hard injury to come back from.” |
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