Feb. 5, 2009 at Philadelphia
Sixers 99, Pacers 94
PACERS COACH JIM O'BRIEN
(On tonight’s loss) “By my account we missed 31 open looks and that was the difference in the game.”
(On the 76ers athletes getting into the paint) “Well when you turn the ball over, they hurt you right away. We turned the ball over and we weren’t playing well. We turned the ball over way to much, and they know how to just pounce on turnovers and beat you down the court.”
(On Danny Granger only making one shot after the middle of the second quarter) “I have no idea.”
(On the status of Jeff Foster) “I didn’t think he was running well enough to continue playing. We have a game tomorrow and the plan is putting someone out there that isn’t limping up the court.”
(On the lift Brandon Rush gave coming off the bench ) “I felt Brandon, Travis, and Roy, did a terrific job tonight. Roy and Travis gave us a tremendous boost in the second quarter, and Brandon played well too. When the guys in front of them aren’t playing at a high enough level, then that’s what they get paid for.”
PACERS FORWARD DANNY GRANGER
(On the health of his knee) “I felt like it just started hurting me and bothering me, I just really couldn’t do anything, it’s too much when it hurts.”
(On playing tomorrow night) “I don’t know yet, I’m not able to see right now. It’s hard to tell when I’m limping on it so much, and tonight it’s just so sore and we’ll have to see tomorrow because last time we had a double header I wasn’t able to go. We will have to see tomorrow.”
(On if it hurts tomorrow would he consider taking days off) “Maybe, but I just don’t like that idea. We know that we need these games, if we keep losing I know that I can’t be taking games off.”
(On his free-throw streak coming to an end) “Oh did it? I didn’t even know I had one going. I don’t know; I just missed it I guess."
PACERS FORWARD TROY MURPHY
(On the 76ers getting into the paint) “Yeah, they got into the lane and got us into a little bit of foul trouble and got into the bonus early which gives them easy baskets and easy points.”
(On Danny Granger’s injury affecting the offensive flow) “That hurts us, when we got a guy that’s one of the top 5 scorers in the league, when he’s a little banged up its tough, we count on him for a lot of points and carrying a lot of our scoring load. We are going to have to step up, me and the other guys, and try to get those points in another way."
(On this affecting tomorrow night’s game) “We have to put this one behind us and try and re-group and get Dwight Howard tomorrow with the Magic.”
SIXERS COACH TONY DiLEO
(On tonight’s game) "It was a good win to get back. We really needed that game. It was important because Indiana is a tough game to play against. When they get their confidence and start hitting shots they are very hard to stop. Our defense overall, and especially in the third quarter was really good. We wanted to come out aggressive and get them out of their rhythm. I think we did. I thought Sam was unbelievable for the whole game tonight. Sam’s getting to the basket. Andre Iguodala did great tonight. It was a statement for him. He played against an All-Star, not that Danny Granger isn’t deserving, but it showed what level Andre is on. He played a great game tonight."
(On what it will take to get Andre Iguodala recognition around the league) "I think most of the time winning will get the recognition. We are starting to win now. People are starting to look at him (Iguodala). He looked like he was possessed tonight. He went after rebounds that he was not denied on. When he goes against players that are All-Stars or higher caliber players and shows he can play with them and outplay them. He will get recognition. He’s still young. His time is coming. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. He creates for himself and he creates for others. He usually has the best offensive player on the other team. He’s a defender, creator, a facilitator, a scorer, and he does many things on the court that don’t show up on the stat sheet. He is the leader of our team. He’s doing a great job and has really grown into it."
(On Elton Brand’s out the rest of the season) "The players that we have now are going to have to step it up. Players that are playing are going to get more minutes, like Marreese Speights and Reggie Evans, and other players who haven’t played as much might be called upon. We have to continue on and we have confidence in those players. Everyone just has to pick up for Elton because it’s a big loss. "
SIXERS GUARD WILLIE GREEN
(On tonight’s game) “It was big for us. Especially after losing two heart-breaker type games. We played against a real tough Indiana (Pacers) team. They shoot some hard threes and spread the floor out. So it was important for us to buckle down on defense and get this win.”
(On how imperative it was to focus on tonight’s game after losing Elton Brand) “It was imperative to focus even more. Of course, losing Elton (Brand), is a heart-breaker and a tough loss for our team. Guys have to step up. It’s just going to give another guy an opportunity to come in and play big for us. Tonight was a good win.
(On the team trying to run as much as possible) “It’s not necessarily that we’re just a run team. We have to play defense. We have to rebound the basketball every night. That allows us to get out and run and execute our offense. We are getting big play from Sam (Dalembert) and Marreese Speights. We have guys that can come in and help us. But, it’s imperative that we play defense because that is what’s going to help us win games.”
SIXERS FORWARD ANDRE IGUODALA
(On tonight’s game) “We saw some good things, some things we need to work on. They have five guys that can shoot the three so I thought we did a good job of matching up against them.”
(On holding strong defensively in the 4th quarter) “That’s something that we need to continue to work on. We have to understand that defense is what’s going to close out games. Our offense is going to be clicking at times but when it comes to winning time we need to get stops. We need to continue to keep that mentality.”
(On making big plays down the stretch) “Whatever it takes. Whether it be making the plays to get a guy an open shot or making a basket when we needed it in clutch situations. Just definitely trying to will us to a win tonight.”