You do not have the correct version of the Flash Player Plugin. Click here to get it.
Lakers vs. Nuggets - Game 1
STAPLES Center
4/20/2008
Head Coach Phil Jackson
On Pau and Kobe’s performance:
“Well, I think it was our interior game. Early… late third quarter. It helped us establish some rhythm in this game and some opportunities were easy for us. Pau was a recipient of a lot of them. He made good passes, Lamar made good passes. And we had to go away from Kobe today. He was not a factor in establishing our lead. You know, getting the ball inside and taking advantage of what they gave us. ”
On Kenyon Martin guarding Kobe Bryant:
“It’s not so much about (Kenyon Martin) guarding Kobe, it’s about who they had to put on other people. And you know, they said you cant win a ball game if Kobe’s going to be denied or play like this; they challenged us to make adjustments and we had to make adjustments. I didn’t think we did a good job all the way through but we sustained the effort.”
On winning the first game of the series:
“It’s good. It’s important. Our job remains to win the games at home on Wednesday night and establish some momentum in this series. And an adjustment situation of going home and having to win.”
On Pau’s first playoff performance as a Laker:
“I did ask him…Ronny was not healthy today; he was diseased. And so Pau mentioned the fact that Ronny wasn’t feeling well. I said ‘Can you go the distance?’ at some point in the fourth quarter and I asked how he was doing and he said okay and he was alright and he played a great game for us.”
On Kobe’s performance:
“He contributed to what we were trying to do. He was very much a part of it. His shot just wasn’t there. He just wasn’t shooting the ball well.”
Kobe Bryant
On Kenyon Martin defending him:
“It’s something that we’ve talked about. We played New Jersey in the finals, he was the one responsible for guarding me then.”
On Pau Gasol being able to perform at this level:
“I knew that, in Spain he plays for his country, it’s more pressure, with him playing for his country. He always played big, in big games winning world championships and things of that nature, so I knew he could perform at a high level, this just ain’t Memphis.”
On Lakers passing:
“It’s tough to match up against us, for a variety of reasons. We have guys that can finish, we have a great 1-2 punch, and all of our guys can pass the ball, 1 through 12 or 13 whatever it is, we all can pass. When double teams take place you swing it out of the double, guys can make the third, fourth, and fifth passes to get the open shot.”
On if he has been surprised in how quickly Gasol has taken up the offense:
“No, I mean, I’ve watched him play with his national team, and a lot of stuff that they use him for is the same things that we use him for: the high post stuff, the low post pass and handling the ball, making decisions with the ball, so I think this offense has freed him up a little bit and showcased more what he can do instead of being in the post all the time.”
On struggling in the first three quarters, and his team being able to put the game away:
“We played good enough to win the game, I don’t think we’re completely pleased with the way that we played. There are a lot of positive things to take away from it, and that’s certainly one of them.”
On winning with this team:
“It feels good. I think it’s something that we understood in the second part of the season that it feels good to win. Offensively some nights you’re going to have shots that don’t go down, but I think the important thing is for us to have moments in time during a game where we can stop and hold them down for minutes at a time.”
On not being able to win games like this in previous years without him shooting well:
“We upgraded a couple key positions.”
On having stability with Derek Fisher back after winning three championships last time they played together:
“There were a couple guys that were in foul trouble, myself, Derek, Radmonovic, and we just continue to play, it’s not something that we’ll hang our heads over but just continue to be aggressive and play our style.”
On changing the offense when the opposition’s defense is geared towards him:
“I just made myself more of a decoy and then allow my teammates to open up the game for me. I think having Pau in the mix and Lamar playing the way that he’s playing makes it a lot easier where I can have a half where I don’t really score the ball, but with the defense, we do a good job of taking advantage of the double teams. It’s not necessarily me getting the assist, but just you play out of a double team, and us taking advantage of them, and I’m more than comfortable sitting back in the pocket and taking advantage of it.”
Lamar Odom
On whether anything surprised him about the Nuggets:
“Not really. Expected them to isolate the ball, they are great scorers, Iverson and Anthony, we kept them off because we did a good job in executing, it gave us a defensive balance.”
On adjustments made at halftime:
“Offensive execution. We have to execute our offense and take good shots and usually we have good defensive balance, we are able to get back and stop them from fast breaking.”
On Pau Gasol’s performance:
“A big time player, top ten in the league definitely.”
On the expected changes coming from the Nuggets in game two:
“Make us work a little harder; they did a good job in crashing the boards and dominating the offensive boards a little bit. I expect them to come out next game and play really physical.”
Luke Walton
On tonight’s performance:
“We did a great job of pounding the ball inside, and that’s what we wanted to do, and work from the inside-out and when we do that and make teams double, we get easy shots. We have so many people that can score the ball and make plays, it’s really hard to beat us, and that’s what our game plan was and we executed well today.”
On small let down in the second quarter:
“We have to blame that on getting a little tired and just mentally letting down. We had a big lead, they got back into the game on some run-outs and offensive rebounds and a couple of fouls and that’s stuff that you can’t let Denver do. They can put ten or fifteen points up on you in a matter of a few minutes and we are aware of that and we’ll get in the film room and break that down and hopefully correct that for game two.”
Derek Fisher
On what adjustments were made:
“We kept playing. I think at times in the second half we made it difficult for them to score and that’s how we were able to break it open there in the third quarter but all in all we just kept playing even when they were down.”
Pau Gasol
On not having to be the main man:
“I try to be out there and do my job and sometimes I get more touches and others I get less but I’ll try to do what it takes to score, what we need for us to win and this game was more being in the right spot and finishing plays and taking care of the boards, and that’s always important, just getting back on defense and supporting our guards, because their guards are very quick and they push the ball really hard. So I just try to do all that and I’m not really to worried, like I said, about getting up ten or twenty shots a game because that’s not the role this team needs out of me. We have a lot of guys that can put up shots and put up numbers, so I just try and play the game.”
On being comfortable as the focal point:
“That’s fine, I’ve been the focal point in every team that I have been on the last eight years and that’s just the way it has been and I have been comfortable with that. I have been successful sometimes and sometimes I haven’t been successful, but right now I’m in a good position and I’m enjoying it. Every guy on our team is doing an amazing job out there and I’m just one of them.”
Nuggets Coach George Karl
On Gasol tearing up the team:
“I don’t know if it was Gasol. I think the film will show it was the LA Lakers. I think Coby Karl could have scored the baskets.”
On the technical foul Carter on Bryant in the third quarter:
“I think that was a bad decision on Mark. I think it will show very obviously on film that at the minimum he should’ve given them both a technical, and I don’t think A.C., his eye was swelling in front of us as he was being given the technical foul, I think it was a bad call.”
On that technical changing the momentum of the game:
“I think it took a 7-point game into double digits, and again, the momentum of the game was where we were turning the ball over, we were not rebounding the ball, we were breaking down in some fundamental areas, and thread of momentum on a call in the game.”
On the inside-outside game of the Lakers:
“This is the first time we’ve played Gasol, and I think you’d better throw Odom in there too. Tonight we took Kenyon and threw him out onto the perimeter and did a pretty good job on Kobe when that was out there, but the interior, the passing and the easy baskets that Odom and Gasol work together very well, to get a lot of layups and a lot of dunks. As I said, Gasol played great, and I’m not dismissing Gasol’s specialments, but he had a lot of great decisions for him to get a lot of easy baskets.”
On defending Kobe Bryant:
“I think Kenyon did a great job on him. I mean Kenyon forced him where we wanted him to go, made him miss a lot of shots. If we don’t foul him, and most of those fouls came in the latter part of the third and fourth quarter, I think we have a game from all statistical standpoints that we feel very good about.”
Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin
On presence of Pau Gasol:
“They did an excellent job finding him around the basket. He had 36 points and I think he took one or two jump shots the entire game. They were easy baskets and they did a nice job finding him around the basket.”
Nuggets guard JR Smith
On Lakers as a team:
“They are a great team. They play together no matter what… they play together and that’s what they do.”
Nuggets center Marcus Camby
On Lakers game:
“They struck first. We knew it was going to be a tough series and I was surprised how well they passed the ball. They are a very unselfish team and everyone was scoring. It was also a surprise how well they cut to the basket. They were cutting to the basket and getting a lot of easy layups…”
Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony
On Kobe:
“That’s his game. He lets other people do what they have to do early on in the game. I think in that 4th quarter, when he started getting all the free throws and being more active in the game, it’s what he normally does.”
