March 18, 2009 at Conseco Fieldhouse
Trail Blazers 95, Pacers 85
PACERS COACH JIM O'BRIEN
“We’ve got to figure out how to turn this slide around. We’re not playing a very good brand of basketball."
"Our offense is designed to space the court and when you don’t have Danny (Granger) or Troy (Murphy) out there, we’re not getting the looks and teams pack it in."
"We’re quickly playing ourselves out of a playoff race. The last three games didn’t seem like we played with an urgency that the situation called for.”
PACERS GUARD JARRETT JACK
“There were just a lot of stretches where we struggled offensively and defensively, and that’s what happens when you play a good basketball team. They came out from the jump. They stuck with their game plan and played their style of basketball. They got everybody involved. They were good on pick and rolls."
(On the Pacers last four games) "Obviously, we struggled mightily in Toronto. We wanted to come back home and put that loss behind us and get back on a winning track. We weren’t able to do that tonight.”
PACERS CENTER ROY HIBBERT
“Obviously, we didn’t get the win but we fought back. At one point we were down 20-21 and brought it back down to seven. But then there were a few bad bounces and they got back in their groove."
(On what he needs to improve on) "I just need to focus on defense and clogging up the middle. I need to try to block shots and get rebounds and be a presence in the paint."
(On the playoffs situation) "Since we have Danny back, if we push, maybe the cards will fall right and we’ll get a chance to be in the playoffs.”
BLAZERS COACH NATE McMILLAN
“We came out and established ourselves. They were without Murphy, which is a big part of our team but we needed to establish ourselves. We needed to challenge every pass and every cut they made. We had a quick start and that’s important, especially on the road. You do that and you give yourself a chance. We are starting to get some bodies back and we should be able to get after guys and bring energy. "
(On Steve Blake) "I thought he did a nice job playing forward. He was quick and he was keeping them out of the paint.”
BLAZERS CENTER GREG ODEN
(On how he feels after sitting out) "I feel good. I’m just trying to get back into the swing of things. Not try to rush it. Next time I hope to be out there for a little bit longer. I’m just trying to get in the groove, get in the flow with my teammates. Try not to do too much. The knee feels fine. No problems at all."
(On coming back to Indiana as a pro) "I got to see a lot of family, got to spend some time at my Mom’s house. I’m getting ready to see some of them right now after I leave the locker room. It was as good to see a lot of friends and other family. But a lot of them are on spring break right now, so they’re not even here."
(As a big guy, how hard is it to come back after injury) "It’s not hard when you come in gradually like I’m trying to. It’s not like I have to go out there and get 35 and 10, like Granger did tonight for them. It just shows how good my teammates are playing right now. It’s easier to come back from my standpoint of being a big guy because really all I’m doing is a lot of banging and moving across the paint.”
BLAZERS GUARD STEVE BLAKE
(On how they were able to control the game tonight) "We were able to do a little bit of everything. Our coaching staff has done a great job of preparing us and getting us ready for every aspect. Tonight, we were able to dig deep and do what we needed to do to get a win. It was huge for us to get up on them early. And we were able to stay up on them for the whole game. "
(On Greg Oden’s return) "It was good to see. He was definitely a presence down low. He helped us out tonight with some block shots and some rebounding.”