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| Monday, December 14, 2009 Final Score: Dallas 94, New Orleans 90 Hornets Post Game Quotes
On getting behind early: “Dallas is too good a team, has too much scoring potential and defensive ability to put yourself that far behind and come out successfully. We battled and are pleased with the way we played in the second, third and fourth quarters, but it was a lot to overcome to offset that first quarter for it.” On if you were concerned with the slow start: “I think it speaks to the talent of Dallas and their success rate they have in this building, particularly in the first quarter. We actually watched the game flow from their recent games because I wanted them to feel how fast Dallas could start games and their early game success they’ve had recently. We know what this building is all about so actually I wasn’t totally stunned they came out big. I was just trying to find the combination to give us a little spark to try and cut the lead back down.”
“I thought we blew some opportunities at times when we had the ball. And just little things here and there, not getting to the free throw line. I just don’t think we came out intent on doing what we discussed in terms of our defense. We just didn’t give Barea enough respect in terms of his ability to impact games, and he kept getting layup after layup. We didn’t have an answer.”
On coming up short: “It’s tough but we don’t have anyone to blame but ourselves. We understand we’ve got to come out and do better early in the game in the first quarter. We dug ourselves a hole.” On what led to the slow start: “Just the intensity. I think that’s my responsibility as the point guard. I can’t keep letting us get off to these sluggish starts. The first five, the starting unit, we keep getting ourselves in 15-16 point holes and when we finally get back in the game you’ve fought too hard to get back.” On what got them going in the second quarter: “We picked it up defensively. In the first quarter they scored every possession, we didn’t push it back at them, we were playing a slow down game, and I don’t know what we were doing. What picked it up was getting stops. The only way you can have a chance of winning that game is if you get some stops instead of taking the ball out of the net everytime." Mavericks Post Game Quotes
"It’s a great time for our team on the one hand; on the other hand we really blew a great start to the game. We were in a really strong position and then let it get completely away with turnovers, bad decisions, and those things led to other problems. A team has to function in a way that you’re not dependent on one guy all the time. As great as Dirk is, it’s just not fair for him to have an off-shooting night and we lose. Then he’s going to feel like it’s his fault because that’s just how he is. You have 12 guys on an active roster to go out there and get the job done, play within the system, do the right things, and be able to build leads and hold leads. Holding leads has been a real struggle for us, especially in this building. We’ve just got to keep plugging; I really believe in these guys." "I think there’s some upheaval because we’ve got some guys coming back. That’s not to be an excuse, but those things play into it somewhat. When you turn it over 20 times for 30 points, that’s just not good enough for a team that has our aspirations. I’m really happy we won. It easily could have gone the other way if a couple of plays had gone the other way." "Kidd made a sensational play passing the ball to Dirk for the layup at the very end; three guys converged on Jet [Terry] and there was really no other outlet. That basically was the game saving play. Not many point guards that have ever played the game make that play. Our guy’s special and that’s why we love him." Is there a common denominator in not being able to hold onto the leads? I’m going to have to take a hard look at the rotation and I’ll leave it at that. We’ve got to keep the game simple.
You guys are now 8-1 this year in games decided by 5 points or less – is that a good or bad thing? “The big thing is that we are winning those close games. We like when were in control and up in the 4th quarter where we’re up 5, 7 or 10 where we doing always have to make a stop or get a basket down the stretch, but the big thing is that we’ve won a bunch of close games and that can only help us down the road.” Chris Paul had 20 points and 16 assists tonight, but he didn’t seem to dominate the game like he normally does. “Well I don’t know if we did too much to stop him. He’s a special player on the offensive end and on the defensive end and so those numbers he had tonight are big numbers and I think anyone would take those numbers, but he’s also trying to get more guys involved and they’re not trying to wear him down as much because normally he plays 45 plus minutes a night.” Talk about that out of bounds play to Dirk: “I had the ball and Jet and Dirk were trying to get open and then it was kind of like football and Dirk just had to find a way to get open and he did a great job of using the basket to get the layup and he was the wide receiver and I was the quarterback and luckily we completed the pass. When you have a 7-footer like that that can move it’s an easy target to hit. Luckily I got it to him and he did the rest.” |
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