April 2010 Post Game Quotes

Mavs vs Spurs | April 14, 2010

Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle
(On San Antonio not playing Duncan or Ginobili)“I guess he wanted to rest them. Make sure they didn’t get hurt. Maybe they wanted to play us. All of those things are possible. Look, the season is over now, the regular season is over. Beyond all of those speculations which I am not that interested in, we have to move on to a playoff series. It will be a tough series. It will be very competitive. It is great competition and so we look forward to it.”

(On the game and the games ahead) “We have to forget this game tonight. Listen, you know, I think looking back at the last ten days there are some positive things that we have done. Every team is concerned about health and we have gained some of our health back which is good, and whatever it is, there is going to be two or three days to prepare and then we will be at it. Again, it is a great matchup, there is a rivalry there and it will be a good series.”

(How do you feel about this team heading into the playoffs.) “I like the team. We’ve had a chance to see what guys can do. We’ve had a chance to look at different combinations. There will be a lot of different things that will go on in this series. It is going to be extremely competitive. Most of our guys have been in the playoffs before. Roddy hasn’t obviously because he is a rookie, but most of them know what it is about. It will be great basketball.”

(On the play of the centers against Blair) “Listen, Blair made a case that he should be playing a lot in this series. He has had a solid year and he has done a great job for them. He has started some, sometimes he hasn’t, but he plays hard and plays with force. I would like to see us do a better job on him, but these are numbers he is capable of. These are numbers that he pretty consistently in college was able to produce. Look, I didn’t think they played well tonight and San Antonio’s situation was a whole different thing and the game itself wasn’t much to watch. It is over and that is good and glad it was a win.

Mavs guard Jason Kidd
(Fifty-five wins, pretty good season?) – “It is something we can look back on and be proud of, but now that the regular season is over we’ve got to prepare for the post season and we’re excited about that.”

(What was going on in your head when you saw no Duncan no Ginobli tonight?) – “You just have to go out there and play the game no matter who’s playing. So my approach was we needed to win this game and we got off to a little bit of a slow start, but once we got going we took control of the game so in this league you can never take a game lightly no matter who’s on the court. We took care of business and now we’ll see Duncan and Ginobli for sure once the playoffs start. It’s going to be a tight series.”

(What is the key to winning the first round series?) – “I think you protect home, get off to a good start and we’re healthy going in so that’s the biggest part is we’re healthy and fresh and we’ve got to execute the game plan. This year it’s not going to be easy no matter who you play so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Mavs forward Caron Butler
(How much are you personally looking forward to the playoffs?) – “It’s definitely a great situation just to be a part of this and when we got traded here we went on a long winning streak and it’s just been unbelievable, a great ride so far.”

“We got off to a slow start tonight, but then we really got going. We had to will ourselves into this game and that’s what we did.”

“It’s a new season now and the fun really begins this weekend and I’m really looking forward to it.”

“With the team we have right now it’s going to be difficult to key on just one guy. Having guys like Dirk, JKidd, Jet all these guys can score and do different things so you can’t key on one person and it’s going to be difficult for guys to match up with us.”

“This is great opportunity for us going into the playoffs. We want to start this thing off right.”

Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich

“Well, the regular season is over and now it’s more fun for everybody; fans, coaches, players, cats and dogs, everybody. So it’s great stuff.”

(What was your thinking about resting both Duncan and Ginobili tonight?) – “Well, I’m tired of those guys. They haven’t done a darn thing for us for quite a while so I wanted to send them a message that we’re a little bit angry at them. So, hopefully they’ll start playing better this weekend.”

(Any word on Hill’s ankle?) – “He tweaked the same ankle, again. [He] stepped on a camera man. We’ve all seen it before. And obviously he’s going to have to take a step backwards, and we’ll just see if he recovers quickly I guess.”

(Could you tell if the camera man was where he was supposed to be?) – “I still don’t know where the cameramen are supposed to be. It’s hard to tell. There are certainly enough of them, and it’s pretty crowed, those two things I know for sure. Beyond that your guess is as good as mine.”

(Resting Duncan and Ginobili greatly increased the odds that you’d see the Mavs, again, in the playoffs) - “Yeah, we’ve beaten the Mavs so much lately that’s who we wanted. I mean, come on. They’ve had their way with us for awhile. The real bottom line is that I’m paranoid about Tim being healthy and Manu being healthy for the playoffs. We’ve had playoffs where Timmy hasn’t played, where Manu hasn’t played, where Timmy has been half speed, where Manu has been half speed, for a variety of reasons. And we’re entering this playoff pretty healthy except for what happened to George [Hill]. And I didn’t want to screw that up. And I thought that was more important to us than worrying about who we play, or what the seeds are, or what other teams do. I want a healthy team come playoff time, and that’s really the bottom line.”

Spurs Forward DeJuan Blair
(On how he felt tonight after a big individual performance) “I feel good. I came in here knowing Tim wasn’t going to play. I just had to step up and play, and I thought I did. We didn’t come out with the win, but I feel like we got a good feel for them.”

(On how he feels about matching up with the Mavs in Round One) “I feel good. That’s who we lost to last year. I’m actually going to look at some tape from last year because they had the same team. I’m just going to try to keep playing hard. Every possession is crucial now and I’ve just got to step it up. I don’t feel like I’m a rookie anymore. The rookie season is dead. I’m done now and it’s time for the post season. Whatever coach needs me to do, I’m going to do it.”

(On their run in the fourth) “It was good, but I made a mistake at the end of the third quarter where I threw the ball away. Then we had another turnover, so there goes the game right there. Those are the things we’ve got to cut out for the playoff games, and we’ve just got to keep playing.”

Spurs Forward Matt Bonner
(On the first round matchup) “They’re a great team, a lot of talent and a lot of depth. They got us last year so we’ve got to really come out play hard and play well.”

(What’s it like playing them knowing them so well) “The same as it always is. You’re right, we do know each other. I think we are playing pretty well right now, and obviously they are as well. It’s going to be a battle.”

(What’s the key to win in a 7 game series against Dallas) “Stop them in transition. If we can take away a lot of their easy baskets, transition points, second chance points, make them go against our half court defense, and then execute on offense and make some shots we should have a chance.”

Mavs vs Clippers | April 12, 2010

Dallas Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle
Re: Tonight’s Win “We played well down the stretch tonight. We rebounded well, our offense was good and I am happy with our results. As a coach we want to see positive outcomes in a game, I felt like tonight we conquered that. We did not risk anything tonight it went smoothly just like we went over in practice.”

Re: Playoffs “I am not sure if our team is where it needs to be for the playoffs. We came here tonight wanting and needing to win. Our team wants that second spot in the playoffs. We need to work on our rebounding if we want to play great basketball. We need to take positive steps to get good results. We have better players, I know we can get far if we play together.”

Dallas Mavericks Forward Shawn Marion
Re: Excitement for Playoffs “We have better players this season with great experience in the playoffs and finals. Those are the guys who are going to guide the rest of the players who have not been there yet. We want to have fun and take this experience and use it for next season and our run in the playoffs. I am excited for what will happen with our team and the guys.”

Clippers Interim Head Coach
RE: Clippers Defense “We struggled guarding tonight. Certainly missing guys hurt us but we also really struggled guarding anybody tonight. We couldn’t contain anyone off the dribble and challenging shots.”

RE: Play of Clippers “We were selfish at times and that showed by our nine assists in the first half. When you have as many free agents as we do, sometimes human nature takes affect. Sometimes they look for points instead of the team first and that bothered me tonight. I thought we had some guys looking for points too much and that should never occur.”

RE: Loss to Mavericks “When you take your bench and put them in the starting line-up you bench is very weak. Our wings struggled getting back and containing dribble penetration. Our philosophy was not to go all into the offensive boards, but sometimes that didn’t get across. We had three players going to the offensive boards and then we couldn’t get back on defense.”

Clippers Guard Rasual Butler
RE: End of Season “It’s a difficult year, you always hate when the seasons over whether or not you make the playoffs. It is been a difficult year on everybody involved with all the changes. For the most part I feel we did a pretty good job handling it all.”

RE: Next Season “Honesty, I think that with Blake [Griffin] and the five guys we already have under contract coming back the team is very close to being a playoff team. We just need to get a core group together and keep them together. Its all where the coaches lead.

Mavs vs Kings | April 10, 2010

Dallas Mavericks Rick Carlisle
On how tonight differs from the win last night “Different kind of game, different kind of team. It is the same kind of formula for success: tough, hardnosed defense and rebounding and being efficient on offense. It is a solid win for us. We need them all.”

On getting ready for the playoffs “We are taking some steps. We are not there, yet. Over the next five or six days, we have to keep working toward that. Each game has critical meaning in terms of the seeding. Our guys are focused in on what we need to do. We did some good things tonight.”

On their improved play and Dirk Nowitzki in particular “Our execution has been good. He (Nowitzki) has been recognizing situations when he should drive the ball and find open spaces. We had 27 assists tonight which means we were really moving the ball and he had a lot to do with that. If he’s open, there is a good chance he is going to make the shot. He is that kind of a scorer and that kind of big shooter. It was not just him.”

On the play of Jason Kidd “(Jason) Kidd had a triple-double, which was phenomenal, in 31 minutes. He came out with such great urgency to begin the game. He came out and ‘bang, bang’ hit two jump shots to start the game and that set the tone for us.”

Dallas Mavericks Forward Dirk Nowitzki
On the strong team game “I think we set the tone early on. Kidd was pushing the ball for us. We were getting some stops and got an early lead. We carried it on through there. They made a couple runs and a few pushes at us, but we made some timely shots when we needed them and got some stops. It was definitely a good outing for us. Now we are going to try and get the second seed if we can.”

On how he is playing lately “Just being aggressive if I’m open. Shoot the ball or put it on the floor and get to the foul line. That always helps. And just working with the guys. We have a lot of guys that can score. Caron (Butler) has been playing well. If our guys are shooting the ball the way we were tonight, it makes everything a lot easier. It was definitely a good game.”

Kings Head Coach Paul Westphal
“Well we had a nice crowd out there supporting us tonight and they got to watch Dirk Nowitzki show what he can do. He showed why he’s one of the greatest players ever to play this game. It looked like the basket was like three times the size of a normal basket whenever he shot the ball tonight. On top of that, they had their other players shooting the ball extremely well – 13 for 21 (three-point shots). You want teams to shoot more three-point shots as opposed to getting inside when you’re a smaller team like we are but when they shoot 62 percent on threes it’s hard to mount much of a comeback. It seemed like it was a great offensive performance by a veteran team who’s tuning up for the playoffs. If they shoot the ball like that, they can win any time they play. So it was a tough night for us trying to stop them – we couldn’t do it – and that was pretty much the name of the game tonight. We’re thrilled that our fans are still supporting us. We’re looking forward to our last home game – Fan Appreciation Night – we hope that that’s a sellout. We want to finish this season strong. I’m sorry it’s coming to an end, I really am. I love coaching these guys. I see better days ahead as we add to the mix that we have and we’re staying positive despite setbacks. Like I said, I give the Mavericks and Dirk all the credit in the world. That’s a team that’s playing their best basketball at the most important time of the year. They steamrolled us tonight after they got Portland last night. We did hold Dirk to 39 – he had 40 last night.”

“Well we turned it over too much in the first half – we can only blame ourselves for that. They played good defense and you can’t turn the ball over 11 times against a team like that. We were chasing them because they were so efficient offensively. We needed for them to hit a lull and whenever we thought they might hit a lull they just threw it to Dirk. So it was the first half that did us in with our ball handling. We did play pretty well – we played solid but we couldn’t stop them. When a team shoots 62 percent on threes, it’s gonna be a long night.”

On Carl Landry: “I’ll tell you the truth, nothing surprises me about his scoring ability. Carl’s one of the top scoring forwards in the league. Per minute played he’s showed what he can do this year and he’s getting more minutes so he gets more points. He’s a high-percentage shooter, he’s versatile and the more we learn to throw him the ball and get him more shots, the more points he’ll score. He’s always going to be an efficient scorer.”

On Jason Kidd: “It’s beautiful to watch him play. He fills up the stat sheet but he doesn’t play for stats. He just plays for making the right play every time and he gets them in the right situations. He knows who the shooters are and where they like the ball and he’s a genius at doing that. To have as much energy and conditioning as he has at this time of the year, at this stage of his career, is extremely remarkable. He’s in the perfect situation for him – he’s got enough big guys to protect the basket, he’s got shooters all around him and he’s got Dirk. It’s going to be an interesting playoff run. I think the Mavericks are poised to really do some damage.”

Carl Landry
On Dirk in the third quarter “He did a good job of running, transitioning and getting to the open spot. They were already up about 15 points, they are a veteran team and they just want to stick a dagger in you. Every time he had a good look at the hoop he shot it. He kept sticking those daggers into us and nailing those shots.”

On Dirk’s overall performance “We just let him have easy shots. We were not contesting any of the shots. In the third quarter there was a man by him, but just in transition. Anytime a team gets up and gets on a run and starts to gain momentum that is when you take those big shots. That is when you take quick shots and try to make big plays and that is what they did tonight. That is what we have to learn. Dirk just kept throwing daggers at us. Unfortunately we just lost tonight.”

On his performance “The game isn’t over until the horn sounds. I continue to just play. I just wanted to continue to play hard, score, play a little offense, a little defense. I just wanted to do whatever I could to find my open teammates.”

On the Mavericks “They are a veteran team. They have been together for a long time and the starting five has been together for a very long time. Erick Dampier, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki have been together for some years. They are veteran players who know how to play the game. We are still young and trying to find ways to understand the game. They are getting ready for the playoffs so they just came out here and played well. Unfortunately, we came up short.”

On the season coming to an end “I love basketball. I never want the season to come to an end. I wish that we could go to the playoffs like I did the last two years in Houston, but at the same time I can look at it as a positive. I have more time to become a better player for next year and help this ballclub get to where we need to go.”

Omri Casspi
On Dirk in the third quarter “You just can’t stop the guy. He is very impressive. We tried to make adjustments and tried to trap him, but when they kicked it out to him and he has such a high percentage shooting it is tough.”

On the Mavericks going into the playoffs They are vey dangerous, when they shoot like that. They can beat anyone anywhere. It will be interesting to see them in the playoffs and I wish them all the best.”

On his play tonight “I was just happy to be out there on the court. I had some good opportunities and I kept rolling and got into a groove. I am just happy and I had a good game. I am going to continue to learn and finish the season out strong.”

Mavs vs Blazers | April 9, 2010

Coach Rick Carlisle
ON BRANDON ROY “We were just real active tonight. Roy is a great player and a lot of times you have to commit two to him. When we did, we scrambled, and there were several sequences where there were multiple players on the floor tonight for both teams. It was a great basketball game, it was just pure effort by both sides, and the difference was a couple plays here and there. We’re happy to get out of here with a win. Portland is a damn good team.”

On Dirk “Dirk’s our guy. We play through him. He’s going to make good things happen for us. I thought the key tonight was that we had a lot of other guys step up at critical times.”

On Game “You play a game in the 70s, and you’re looking at a playoff-type game. I love the way we battled. I love the way both teams battled. We really wanted this game tonight and you can tell.”

DIRK NOWITZKI
On Game “It was a tough, physical game. Both teams didn’t give up a lot…The last time we played here, a week or ten days ago, they were just way more physical and they were way more ready. They were more physical, they got every loose ball, and we talked about that yesterday; about how we had to be ready from the jump and I think we did a better job staying with them today and playing a more physical game. It was great.”

On Personal Game “I felt like last week when we played here they really got into me; I took a couple of shots where they forced me to take that I didn’t really like…For this game, I wanted to play off the dribble a little more, a little show and go, quick drive a little more off the dribble, and I was able to attack in that way (tonight).”

On Blazers “We were struggling with this team all season long. They are long and physical, obviously with Camby now in there it adds another long guy who can play physical. They have big shot makers: B-Roy and Aldridge, so they are a very good team. They are obviously not a team you want to see in the playoffs, but if you look at all the teams down there, all the teams are playing well, and you don’t want to see anybody down there, it’s going to be tough no matter who you see. But it’s good for us to get a win against them and we’ll see what happens in the playoffs.”

Coach Nate McMillan
“Before the game, I said basically, this is what we are going to be facing next week. You’re going to be playing in this type of intensity where every call is going to be questioned and you’ve got to stay calm out on that floor and be able to get to the next possession. You’ve got to be able to play that style of basketball, then you’ve got to be able to get to the next play. I thought we were okay. There was a lot of calls where guys felt like they were getting hit and you’ve got to play through that in situations like that. A week from now and I would say definitely our next three games with the opponents that we’re facing, starting with tonight – LA, who is in the playoffs; Oklahoma City when they come in here on Monday, it’s going to be that type of atmosphere and we’ve got to be able to play through that.”

“This is the type of basketball that it’s going to be. It’s going to be a grind-it-out, and you’ve got to execute and be able to run your offense. Defensively, be able to play that style of basketball and, again, get to the next play. I don’t think we were bad. I thought there was a lot of stoppage of play with those guys going to the free throw line. But that’s playoff basketball. You’re going to get hit sometimes and you’ve got to be able to play through it.”

“This time of the year, you’re going to see this style of basketball. We talked about that, expect it where it’s going to be a physical game, a grind-game. Every possession is important, so you’ve got to take care of the ball, you’ve got to execute, defensively, you can’t assume that anyone is going to go get balls. It’s that time of the year.”

On Dirk: “He didn’t get to the paint a lot – we were fouling on his jump shots out on the perimeter – but he went to the free throw line 17 times. You can’t put a guy like that on the line. They got into the penalty early in a couple of those quarters. They took advantage of that. We got into the penalty with about 7 or 8 minutes to go in the quarter, and at times, I thought we settled as opposed to attacking the basket. I thought we could get to the basket and we settled at times.”

On Dallas defending Roy: “We didn’t have a lot of movement. We needed more movement tonight, better screens to free up guys. Basically, it was a lot of iso at times. And they’re not bad. They got into him, tried to pressure him, and anytime there was a screen, they double teamed him and trapped him and they forced other guys to make shots.

Brandon Roy
On composure: “We got upset about some calls, but we just didn’t make shots. I thought if we would have made shots, it wouldn’t have looked as bad. I think we reacted – maybe we overreacted. But again, I don’t think the technicals were the reason why we lost this game. Offensively, we didn’t execute well. You’ve got to give Dallas credit. I thought they had a pretty good game plan tonight. We’ve got to do a much better job if we face them again.

“I thought it was a good game. Even during the game, I was like ‘this is a good game for us.’ I’d rather face it tonight then the first game of the playoffs. We wanted to win this game, but I thought it was a really good game for our team. It was a nasty game. We were excited and maybe there were some quick whistles there on the techs, but we’re not going to point any fingers. We know we could have played better, but we hadn’t played in a game like this in a while. I can’t remember the last time I played in such a tough game. It was gritty. I was just happy we played in it. We’ve just got to move on from it.”

“This time of year, you play teams that don’t have anything to play for then you play a tough game. It’s like you get an easy game, then I think tonight, this was a game Dallas really wanted. They didn’t want to allow us to sweep them. It was really physical, a lot of grabbing. I could tell that they game planned for some of our offense. It felt like that Houston series. I was like ‘everything we do, they seem to know it.’ You could tell they pay attention to detail. It was a good game and now we see where we’re at. We have to get better if we want to win a playoff series.”

“…They were a little more battle ready tonight. It was better to do this then the first game of the playoffs and get our butt kicked. It was a good game for us.”

Mavs vs Grizzlies | April 7, 2010

Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle
(on Butler) “Butler played a very balanced game. He was solid defensively, he scored within our system. More importantly, he also got the ball places and found people for shots and opportunities to make good plays.

“I also thought Stevenson, if you look at his stats it’s not going to say much, but I thought he really gave us some toughness out there for all 26 minutes he was out there. Both starting and in a backup role, I thought his defensive play in the fourth allowed us to pull away and keep Jason (Kidd) on the bench.”

“We need to play better basketball. Every win we get right now is precious. It’s a positive step and now the challenge is to keep moving in the right direction and we’ll contend again on Friday. But this is a step in the right direction.”

(on defense) “Overall, we were better. I will qualify that statement by saying this was a team coming in on a back-to-back and all that. But I thought we were pretty solid. We made a few mistakes but we were more solid than we’ve been the last couple of games.”

(on ball movement) “If you look at the assist numbers in the last two games, it was a lot better. I don’t know what our final assists were the other night, it was less than 10, wasn’t it? We moved it better. When we shoot well and don’t turn it over, it’s going to lead to more quality shots for us. That’s good. It was a needed win and we had a lot of guys who contributed.”

Mavs guard JJ Barea
(You got rolling there in 4th quarter with 10 points) – “It felt great, my teammates were doing a good job of setting screens for me and we were getting stops on the other end and that allowed me to get out on the break and I got fouled and was able to hit my free throws.”

“Everything in practice that last few days was about defense. We needed more energy on defense, we needed to guard the pick-n-roll better and the last two practices were defensive orientated and that worked out for us tonight.”

“We all know that we have to play good defense to be able to get where we want to go. We know our offense is always going to be there and it’s going to show up. And if it doesn’t show up early, it’s going to show up late, but our defense has to be more consistent.”

(Talk about Caron coming out aggressive on the offensive end?) – “He came out with energy, he came out focused and he knew he needed a big game. We need him, we need him to be good and we need him to have his ‘A’ game.”

(How much are you guys watching the standings in the West?) – “Not much, we know it all depends on us. If we take care of our business we know we’re going to be right there where we need to be so we just have to take it one game at a time and we need to take care of our business, but I’m not going to lie we’re watching a little bit.”

Mavs forward Caron Butler
(What happened to really get you going in that first half?) – “It was just about me being real assertive out there and watching film with coach and picking my spots and seeing how teams are playing me now. I’m just trying to remain aggressive.”

(What have you guys been talking about on the defensive end the last three days?) – “We are just trying to bring a lot more energy and buckling down and try to scramble for 24 seconds and we did a great job of that tonight collectively.”

(Talk about DeShawn on the defensive end tonight?) – “I thought he did a great job. He came in and was physical the whole time and he got a couple of fouls early but he really stayed with it.”

(How much are you guys watching the standings?) – “If we just continue to handle our business and continue to take one game at a time and win out we’ll be fine. We’ve got to just worry about us and continue to build some momentum going into the playoffs.”

Grizzlies Coach Lionel Hollins
“They beat us. They came out hard and aggressive, jumped on us and then tried to conserve their starters. We found a group that was willing to compete and play together, and got back in the game and got it down to eight. It was down to 12 at halftime. We kept fighting a little bit in the third quarter. Then we started turning the ball over. It was unbelievable the turnovers. We just kept giving them the ball, giving them the ball, and they’d run it down our throat or shoot threes. Then they were moving the ball really well one stretch, and every time they moved it to an open guy he made a shot. That just broke our will.”

(On the reason for all the turnovers) “It’s bad decisions. When you have a shot you take a shot. When you don’t have a shot you pass it to the open man, you don’t play in a crowd. That’s all it is, just turnovers. You can’t say well our offense is this and our offense is that. It’s just bad decisions.”

(On ending the season on a positive note) “I would like to go out on a positive note, but I don’t think the group in there wants to go out – or cares. I shouldn’t say doesn’t want to, but it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of work to get to 39 wins and it’s a lot of work to get further along, especially playing teams that have really a lot to play for. Dallas, San Antonio they are playing for their playoff lives. We still have Denver, we still have Oklahoma City. These teams are tying to get good positioning. So they’re coming out and playing hard. Are we willing to make that sacrifice and play that hard? It hasn’t shown in the last seven games that we are willing to do that.”

Grizzlies Guard Mike Conley
(What was coach’s message tonight) “The message was that you can’t quit. You can’t quit. We have goals, like making the playoffs and we understand that we aren’t in it but we still have to be able to play no matter who we are playing or not matter who is out on the court. We have to play at 100 percent effort and we didn’t bring that tonight.”

(Do you think that happens a lot) “I think so. I think guys, we didn’t have a focused mentality tonight. We didn’t come out ready to play. They played hard. They are trying to make a push for a spot and are in a playoff race and it showed tonight. That is what a playoff team plays like.”

(What happened when you let Dallas stretch their lead again) “They are a great offensive team and they play really well together. Dirk does a great job and he is tough to guard. They were able to get a couple of key stops on us and then get some get some turnover, create some turnovers and get some easy bucket on the other end. We just couldn’t come back from that.”

(How do you regroup down the stretch) “We have to come tomorrow and practice and come with a focused mentality. Have everybody keying in on what we did wrong tonight and understand that the season is not over. We still have games to play and we should be trying to play spoiler right now. We should be trying to beat these teams ahead of us still and show that we are still trying.”

Grizzlies Forward Rudy Gay
(What was said to the team after the game) “It is hard to be pleased. It is kind of like a tale of two different seasons really. We’ve been through playing so hard and beating some teams and then coming out tonight and letting it get away from us. We had a lot of chances in the game to come back even or even make a run. But, we had careless basketball plays and that was what took us out of the game.”

(How do you regroup down the stretch) “That is the West for you. Every night it is somebody different. We have had it like this during the season, so it wouldn’t be nothing crazy for us to come out and play great on Friday. Definitely, more pride. We are trying to come out here and win, so we are going to go out there and play our hardest and end the season pretty. Nobody wants to come out here and give up. That is not in our character. Personally, it is not the way I want to go out at all.”

Mavs vs Thunder | April 3, 2010

Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle
“The turnovers were a huge part of our poor defense. The first half, seven turnovers for 16 points. Sixteen points that are undefenable because you give them the score and they get an and 1. For the game, it’s 18 for 31 points. Our defense wasn’t good but our offense was, the way we turned the ball over was a major problem.”

(on being down by a large margin three straight games) “We’re struggling the last couple games. It was disappointing tonight because we had a great offensive first quarter. Thirty-seven points is a huge number but one of the things about being a flow team and being able to play off each other and not have a lot of play calling and stuff is when you get in a groove offensively, you can’t allow it to erode what you are trying to do defensively. I think we had an eight-point lead at one point in the first quarter and then we gave it up as the quarter came to a close. Good teams have got to be able to close out quarters and hold leads in those situations. We struggled to do it in the first quarter and in the second, we got behind and were behind the rest of the night.”

“I love the way the group at the end of the game finished. Just balls out, absolutely full capacity, making things happen. That’s what it’s going to take for us to get where we want to go. We didn’t have that for long enough stretches during the 48 minutes.”

Mavs center Brendan Haywood
(OKC is a possible matchup in the first round in the playoffs, does that change the way you guys feel after the way it went down tonight?) – “No, a loss is a loss and we’re disappointed we didn’t get the victory. We felt a lot of our mistakes fueled them to the victory tonight. We’re disappointed in that aspect, but you worry about the playoffs when the time comes. The playoff season changes every day.”

(It was a physical game out there tonight and the refs let a lot of things go. Did it feel like a playoff game out there?) – “This game had a lot of playoff intensity to it. Both teams played physical, competed hard and I like the way it was officiated.”

(How did you guys executed your defense game plan tonight?) – “We gave up a lot of points and I can’t say we played well defensively. We just had a great comeback the last six or seven minutes.”

(Talk about getting behind and it has been an all too common occurrence lately?) – “We’ve been getting behind lately and I’m not sure why but if I had the answer I’d share it with all of my teammates. We can’t keep putting ourselves in holes like that and expect to be a good team. We’ve got to be better defensively.”

Mavs guard JJ Barea
(How disappointing is this loss?) – “Real disappointing because we wanted to win tonight bad and we just didn’t come out with energy. We waited until that last quarter, and that last group that was out there came with energy and we made it a game but we’ve got to have energy the whole game and we have to play better defense.”

“The last six minutes guys were getting into the game because we were down so Eddie (Najera) did a great job of coming with energy and me and JKidd picked it up with him and it worked a little towards the end but it was too late. We’ve got three days to get ready and we have to work on our defense and get our energy back for the whole 48 minutes.”

Oklahoma City Head Coach Scott Brooks
“That was a good win. It’s [Dallas] not an easy place to play. Dallas is a very talented team; they play tough, hard-nosed, basketball. It was a good win for us. We came out and fought hard. Defense was not where it needs to be, but it was good enough to win the game, and that’s not easy to do in this building. And the way Dirk was rolling it’s tough. But we gave everything we had to win the game, and I’m proud of our guys’ effort.”

(What did you say to them after?) – “Just good job and that I’m proud of them. I’m proud of the work they’ve put in. They put in work everyday and nothing changes. We’ve made the playoffs, and that was one of our goals like the other 29 teams in this league going into the year. But we focused on getting better and improving as a team and working on the things that we knew going into the season that would help us improve, and that was defense, and just continuing to play together. I’m proud of our organization, I’m proud of our owners. Everybody puts so much work into our team, and I’m proud of our fans – our fans are incredible, they supported us when we were 3-29 and that’s not easy to do. You know, my mom struggled supporting us at that time. But we they hung in there and I’m thankful for that, and thankful for the owners giving us all this opportunity.”

(When the Mavs made that late run, what did you tell them?) – “Just be patient with the game. You can’t rush. Things were going their [Dallas’] way, you just have to take a couple of deep breaths and keep believing in why we had the lead, and work on that. If you’ve got open shots, take it, if they’re not, pass it and trust your teammate that he’s going to make the right play. But defensively, Dirk had a nice roll there, and then they started hitting those threes at the end. Like I said before, that’s a talented team. They’re as good a team as there is in the West.”

Oklahoma City Guard Eric Maynor
(Talk about the three you hit in the last minute) – “It was swing-swing, I was open for the shot and the shot clock was going down and I was able to knock it down. Teammates trust in each other. That’s how it works.”

(When the Mavs made the big run late to get it to 4 what was going through your heads?) – “Every time we went to the bench coach Brooks was just telling us to stay calm, that we were alright, we still had the lead, and just had to keep playing basketball.”

Oklahoma City Forward Kevin Durant
(Talk about the late run the Mavs made) – “We just kept our poise. We just told the guys that we’ve got this game. We were up by 19, and their backs are against the wall. So, we’ve got to continue to be aggressive, and we did. We moved the basketball, we missed shots, but Eric came through and hit some big shots for us. It was a good win for us.”

Mavs vs Magic | April 1, 2010

Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle
(concerned about effort on second half of b-to-b?) “Without looking at the film, no, I’m not concerned about that. The thing that killed us was the threes. The last two times we played these guys, this year and last year, we made a real effort to run them off the line. There were a lot of times they had shots they would normally knock down but they didn’t make. And tonight, they were making them. There were times tonight when we didn’t do a good job of finding shooters in transition. Maybe there is an effort thing that comes into play. But really to me, it’s more communication and the fact that we were struggling to get the ball in the basket.”  

(good defense by them or bad offense by Mavs?) “It’s probably both. They are a very good defensive team, top two or three in the league. They are going to make it hard. Early on, Dirk is the only thing we were really able to get going and that made it tougher because then they were locking in on him. The second half, we were able to get some more guys involved. Barea came in and made some things happen. JET got going and we had some better activity. But it was an uphill battle all night.”  

(on winning on road but struggling at home/on fighting for No. 2 seed) “We’ve got to continue to work to get better. Look, we want the best seed possible. We are trying to get to number two, or number one, if something happened and the Lakers completely fell off the face of the earth. But playing your best at the right time is the real critical thing. As far as the home/road thing, do I have a great answer for it? I don’t. We’re a much better road team than we were last year. That’s a real positive. We’re not as good at home as we were last year and that’s been a challenge.”  

(on starters lacking production) “We want to get everybody playing well. The fact is, there are going to be nights when guys have some struggles. That’s why you have a team so you can try to find other guys who can help. Our first unit, a lot of it, we’ve got to be efficient and move, screen well. That’s a group that plays a lot of basketball off the flow, a lot of play calling. The recognition of one another has to be really good. That group’s played some really fine basketball in some instances. We can do it, we just have to work to do it.”

Mavs guard Jason Terry
“That’s a team (Orlando) you can’t let get hot from the three. You have to take the three out of the game and wants you do that then they pretty much turn into a half court team. I think they had eight three’s in the first half and that just can’t happen so we’ve got to be ready for Oklahoma City on Saturday. It’s a big game for us.”

(How much of a factor was the back-to-back?) – “It really wasn’t that much of a factor. All throughout the season teams have back-to-backs, but we didn’t stick to our game plan and anytime you deviate from the plan it makes us struggle and that’s what happened tonight.”

“Anytime you have a shot blocker like Dwight Howard he alters the game and that played a little bit of a factor tonight.”

“Blame it on whatever you want, but it’s a loss and we have to get back at it and get a win.”

Mavs forward Shawn Marion
(Was it the natural leg wariness that comes with a back-to-back a factor tonight?) – “You actually can’t, there’s no answers you can put on that but at the same time I thought we were playing pretty good defense for the most part and if you take the three’s that they hit out of the equation we’re right there and they were shooting just as bad as we were from two. It was a frustrating night, we kept on fighting and we got it down to nine but we could never get over the hump. Every time we got within striking distance they hit a three and take your hat off to them, they hit big shots when they needed too.”

“It felt like there was a lid on our basket tonight; we couldn’t get anything to go down. Some nights are like that and we just have to shake it off. We have six more to go and we need to get the win on Saturday.”

Orlando Coach Stan Van Gundy
(On what is says about the Magic to win this game after Dallas had a back-to-back) “Both teams struggled to score in the first half. The score, both shooting in the 30s, then we shot 60% in the second half, and yet the back-to-back helps you. It certainly helps you. They missed some shots they would normally make, didn’t have legs, things like that. With that said, they were 11-7 on the second night of back-to-backs and had won five in a row. They had been playing well on those nights, so it was still great to get a win. We definitely had a little bit of an advantage with that, but you want to take advantage of it. I think our defense was pretty solid all night other than some dumb fouls, then we hit a stretch of a couple of turnovers. We gave them a little bit of a – I wouldn’t say back in it because it never got below double figures, but they had Dirk’s shot that could have cut it to seven, a good open look from three. We made some mistakes but other than that I thought we played well. Dwight is tremendous. Five blocks, 20 rebounds, it just makes it tough inside on people. I thought he was great as usual. Vince got on a nice roll, and obviously Pietrus had a huge night. And then I thought Jameer, in the third quarter, really got us going. We had some guys step up on both ends of the floor.”

(On the contested shots) “I thought in the first half we took some very difficult shots, and then I thought on times on drives in the second half. I don’t mind when we’re going to the rim strong on big guy. I don’t like it when we are shooting runners over seven footers, I think that’s a bad shot. I thought in the first half we took too many shots with no passes. I thought our ball movement was better in the second half. We played more drive and kick and I think that’s why our percentage went up as much as it did.”

Orlando Point Guard Jameer Nelson
(About the team shooting better in the second half) – “That’s part of the game. You’re going to miss shots. You’re going to make shots. And that’s everybody. And if you’re missing shots, that doesn’t mean you’ve got to stop shooting and stop being aggressive. I know I’m a good shooter and I know the shots are going to go down.”

(The coach talked about the responsibility of the team getting good shots) - “The thing is, he puts us in situations to be successful and to make plays for ourselves, and for each other. I think we’ve just got to control the game and be aggressive, like I said.”

(Talk about Pietrus’ performance) – “He was great. He just totally would shoot shots that he got. He’s a great three-point shooter when he takes them. Everybody on the team can shoot, so it’s not – like I said – you miss a couple shots there’s no reason to stop shooting. You’ve got to shoot the ball if you’re going to make it.”

(Talk about coming here and beating Dallas on their home court and what it means) – “Well, we know how good we are. We’re not cocky or overconfident or anything, but we know we can beat anybody when we play our game. We played great defensively, and pushed the ball, and got good shots when we needed to.”

Orlando Forward Mickael Pietrus
(Talk about how you shot – were you looking for the three ball tonight?) – “No, I try to mix my game. I try to go to the basket first and shoot free throws, and the rest of my game is going to come. And I was able to get open shots and I made them and that’s all it was.”

(Talk about shutting Dallas down for a few minutes at a time tonight) – “That’s how we’ve been winning games all season, with our defense. I think when we can trust our defense the offense is going to come. So I think that every game we start it has to be defensively. And the rest of the game – we have a lot of shooters, we have [Dwight], so anything can happen [if we play defense].”