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| Friday, November 28, 2008 Final Score: Portland 101, New Orleans 86 Hornets Post Game Quotes
On late third/early fourth drought: “I was amazed to be honest with you that we were in the game even that close because we didn’t come out with the energy and effort that we needed to come out with against this team. They were really aggressive from the outset. They played really hard, I thought we were really fortunate to be 69-69. Every possession we missed shots, they were getting to the basketball all night long. It seemed to me that we were happy with the 2 and 1 going back home. Most teams, if you’re a championship team, you want to come in here and at least play a lot better. "They’re tough here. They play extremely well at home. You can’t come out with a half-assed effort. If you do, you’re going to get your hat handed to you. Like I said, we were in the game at that particular team. We were making shots at the time, but we weren’t getting any stops. They were just outworking us. “I think that if anybody asked me at the beginning of this road trip if we went 2-1, if I’d be happy, I would say yeah. But still, the way that we lost tonight, more than anything… You know, I’m not disappointed in the loss, I’m disappointed in the way we lost. We just have to go back and regroup. We just have to understand that a team that’s going to compete for a championship in the division or in the playoffs… we have to be able to play harder for longer periods of time and we’ve got to do it all season long. We can’t come in here with these types of efforts.”
On Portland taking control late: “They put it in another gear and we didn’t match it. We hung in there for three quarters and then we laid down. On back-to-back: “No, that never has anything to do with it. I don’t believe in the back-to-back. Once they throw the ball up, you forget that you played a game the day before. On Portland: “They’re a really good team. Me and coach talked about it at halftime. They have a lot of great shooters outside of Pryzbilla and Greg Oden, everyone can shoot. They really space the court well and that’s what give Brandon Roy and opportunity to go to work. On if N.O. is a championship team: “No, not right now. We are nowhere near where we need to be. We have a lot of work to do, mentally, physically… as a team. It’s a long season but the only way that we’re going to get in the playoffs is if we start winning games.” Blazers Post Game Quotes
“We played a really good team. They’re a real challenge for us. I thought after the first half we made some adjustments and improved, especially our bench play. Our bench responded after their bench outplayed us in the first half. “I think we turned it around in the third quarter because they had a lot of open looks they didn’t knock down but we made our shots. Our defense was sound most of the night. We did a different defense on Chris (Paul). We committed three guys to put pressure on their pick-and-roll. Then we mixed that up with two, using our center and a guard. I think Blake and Sergio did a really good job of keeping Paul in front of them for the most part. “It was just a good game for us in a lot of categories: We got to shoot 25 free throws, we had 25 assists, shot 53% and made only 12 turnovers. Your going to win most games that way. “I thought Brandon did a really good job of having the game come to him. He was so efficient tonight. Brandon wants the ball down the stretch. He has so much confidence. His successes late in the game gives me and the whole team confidence in him. “Still, we’ve got to keep improving. I’m really pleased with our games at home and the fan support we get but we’ve got to make our own noise out on the road. I’m happy with our record and where we are but there’s a lot of season left and we must continue to get better.”
“Well, our whole thing was to get and play 48 minutes. We didn’t panic. They played last night and knew they’d tire out. We had the better legs down the stretch. You could see it. They couldn’t knock down their three point shots (late in the game). We did a great job of pressing them for 48 minutes. About going against Paul: “Just worked hard. I watched the game last night (at Denver). CP3 had two in the first half and ended with 30. I said we were the fresher team. Lets keep playing hard. I wanted to be aggressive not only by scoring but by making plays. We made shots and it was a great team win. About guarding Paul: “Coach said ‘stay home.’ We’re going to make Paul score tonight. There were times he got into the paint and he kicked it out and they scored. For the most part, we stayed with the shooters. About being 7-0 at home: “Its our home court. We have to win every game here. The Western Conference is tough. We have to take the next five games on the road and get some wins.”
“Coach talked to us and told us this team, they were going to challenge us. We had to play start to finish, we had to play the whole game. We’re trying to bring ‘Rip City’ back (to Portland). I think we’re doing a pretty good job. “Coach talked to us about how we wanted to get this last game to set up some momentum for the road. We played well and guys are finding their rhythm. We should do well on the road.” |
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