Jan. 25, 2009 at Conseco Fieldhouse
Pacers 98, Bobcats 93
PACERS COACH JIM O'BRIEN
“Our team really wanted it. I thought our defense down the stretch was really hard-nosed. That was the difference in the game."
" I think we‘ve made some improvement defensively. It’s nice to have everybody starting to get in shape (from injuries). We have enough practice in the number of close games we played. Our guys are confident and focused in timeouts and know specifically what we have to do going out there. It’s starting to turn a little bit."
"Jeff (Foster) is an offensive rebounding machine.”
PACERS GUARD STEPHEN GRAHAM
“We executed very well down the stretch, played our defensive schemes the way we were taught and got the win. "
(On his role) "I must be ready to come in and do the job whether it is nine minutes, 20 minutes or else."
"We must approach each game the way we approach this one and stick to our schemes and if we do this we should be able to get the win. The fans were really behind us and that always helps.”
PACERS CENTER JEFF FOSTER
“It was a great win for us. We needed to make a strong showing and we did. We need to go to Orlando Tuesday, get out there and execute our defensive and offensive schemes and get the job done. We have 32 or so games left and we have to play them one by one and needless to say win them."
"Having Mike and Quisy (Marquis Daniels) back and playing well has certainly helped pick this team up. We’re taking great steps but we have got to continue to get the job done."
(On Dwight Howard) "I will probably start to play him and we will rotate on him within our defensive scheme. He’s big, powerful and will do nothing but get better. We will have to do a good job to come out of there with the win.”
BOBCATS COACH LARRY BROWN
(On the Pacers) "They played good. I’ve watched their games. They execute well on offense and they’re tough at home. It was a good lesson for us. When you’re on the road and you give them a jump start, it’s tough to overcome."
(On their comeback) "We defended better. We rebounded better and we made them shoot jump shots. But they made big plays. Dunleavy made a big shot while they were kind of struggling a little bit on offense and T.J. (Ford) got a big rebound with the clock winding down there at the end of the game. "
"I thought we didn’t match their energy early. We got killed on the boards in the first half. They had 10 offensive rebounds in the first quarter and it’s tough to come back from that.”
BOBCATS GUARD RAJA BELL
(On not being able to come back) "We dug ourselves a bit of a hole early in the game. We have to learn that you can’t turn if on and off in this league. When you do, you find yourselves with too big of a hill to climb. They were able to make some big shot towards the end to hold us off. "
(On where they are as team with the trades) "We’re getting better. Tonight was a setback, however. We have to learn to come out in games like this, where the building did not have a lot of great energy. We have to generate our own energy. We have to try to find it some how. We’re a team that needs every win. We can’t afford to not be ready to play in games like tonight."
(On Danny Granger) "It’s not surprising that he’s playing as well as he is. When you play against him, you realize how good of a player he is. I think he’s definitely deserving of an All-Star spot. He is one of those guys that can do a lot of things. He can shoot. He’s long and can defend and can draw a lot of fouls. He’s a tough cover.”
BOBCATS GUARD RAYMOND FELTON
(On Charlotte’s slow start) "The Pacers got all the loose balls. They got all those offensive rebounds. That really hurt us. We can’t have games like this on the road."
(On this performance compared to their recent strong play) "It’s not been like this at all. Now we have to get back to what we were doing, especially with our next game being against the Lakers."
(On the rally at the end) "We played hard, and we fought back. We got back in the game. But sometimes when you don’t play the way you’re supposed to early, it follows like that at the end. Things don’t go your way.”