Grizzlies Head Coach Dave Joerger
On tonight’s win and how the team fought
“Guys came in and gave great performances. Tony Allen did a great job defensively (even though) he felt terrible, but he got a great offensive rebound, then a turnover, and pushes it full court and gets a game tying layup. James Johnson stayed ready just as Jon Leuer has stayed ready. I thought Zach (Randolph) carried us for stretches in the first half when we weren’t very good. The scoring wasn’t a huge problem in the first half; the 57 points that we allowed were a problem. The second half we give up 31, and we just hung with it. Mike Conley came out and said ‘Look I struggled in the first half.’ He was much more aggressive; I thought he did a better job on Brian Roberts. We also did a better job on Austin Rivers; he was good tonight and he hurt us. We switched up the matchup on Anthony Davis and tried to give him some different looks. First it was Tayshaun Prince in the second half, then James Johnson, trying to slow him down and make them go to some other things. I thought that was effective, but it was an effort thing. We didn’t play hard enough or with enough energy in the first half. Then, in the second half, we picked up more energy. We went small a little bit just to kind of junk up the game, and then that is a heck of a shot at the end.”
Grizzlies Guard Mike Conley
On what was the difference in the defense in the second half
“We were much more aggressive I think. In the first half, coach said we were letting the guards walk the ball all over the court and do whatever they wanted to do. They were initiating offense from the top of the three point line without any pressure. We just upped the aggressiveness and got the pace more to our level and were able to control the game.”
On what it was like to hit the game-winning basket
“It was very sweet. These are the games that you don’t want to look back on and say ‘Well what if we did this, or did that?’ This team has had our number all year and it’s a very good win in their place.”
Grizzlies Forward Zach Randolph
On his involvement in the game
“I got involved by just being there, being defensive, being in their presence, and trying to control their rebounds.”
On the outcome of the game
“I got a piece of it. It was a pretty win; everybody fought. We came together, stepped it up, and it was a game. It was a team win.”