Postgame Quotes -- Nov. 30, 2005

Scott Brooks – Nuggets Acting Head Coach
“I thought the guys played extremely hard tonight. We had a couple of bad stretches but overall we played hard. Not having Carmelo is an easy excuse for the loss, but I don’t think that was our problem. The Hornets played extremely well tonight. Desmond Mason played unbelievable tonight; he had big shot after big shot all night long. When Andre Miller is aggressive, he is really hard to handle. He is a tough match-up at the point-guard position. We wanted to post him up as much as possible during the game. It’s hard to win 10 games in a month, but we had our chances. Eight and eight isn’t bad especially in this division.”

Andre Miller – Nuggets Guard
“We got a few injuries around this room, we should get used to it, but no excuses. They started hitting shots and it kind of takes away from the running game. They played a good game. Scottie (Brooks) did a good job; we just didn’t get a win. They got some good looks from the outside and they hit some big shots with the clock running down. Next month we have to go in with more focus. We’re still eight and eight, but we could have had 10 wins but we dropped these last two.”

Marcus Camby – Nuggets Center
“I don’t know we have to find a way to get a win. The last two ball games we didn’t play particularly well. New Orleans played well down the stretch, we didn’t hit any shots. They took the game. (About the injuries) You have to deal with it. We usually play well when guys are out. That’s our first time really experiencing Carmelo being out of the line-up, he brings so much to the table. Attention from the other defense, how much he draws (defense). We wanted to win so bad for Scottie (Brooks). We got off to a bad start early in the season, the first two games of the season. It was an unfortunate situation with coach (Karl), but he’ll be back next Saturday.”

HORNETS QUOTES

Byron Scott – Hornets Head Coach
“We’re a young team and still learning to play. It was much better game tonight than we had the other night. We are heading in the right direction. Desmond Mason was great tonight; his comfort level was great. We wanted to play our style. I feel better than the other night, and I’m not mad at my players tonight. We allowed them to get back in the game then we did a much better job on the defensive end.”

Speedy Claxton – Hornets Guard
“We came out with more energy than we did against Golden State. We knew that this was another winnable game for us, just like the last one was but we didn’t come out with the same type of fight. I knew I had to come in and have a good game. I had a terrible game at Golden State, and I wanted to put that behind me and come out here and play a good game. Desmond Mason played an unbelievable game tonight and I don’t know if he feels comfortable in the starting line-up or not, but he gave us a great lift tonight. I know my role and I just try to come in and do it every night, and I just try to create for myself and my teammates.”

Desmond Mason – Hornets Forward
“I had the opportunity to just go out there and play basketball and coach gave me the opportunity and I had a few touches and got into a bit of a rhythm. I got off to a tough start, struggling a little bit at the beginning of the season and it feels good to get this game under my belt. We know we had to take advantage (without Karl and Anthony); however if we came in and played the way we know how to play we felt we could have gotten the win anyway. Not to take anything away from coach Karl or Carmelo, we still thought that we had an opportunity to win this game regardless if he was going to play or not. We knew coach Karl was out and I think the way we played showed the character of this team. We hung around through the second half and we got a win in a tough place.”