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Postgame Quotes - October 10, 2015

Head Coach Stan Van Gundy(On tonight’s performance…)“I think our guys knew what they were playing against. That is a great defensive team and they were going to have to play together. You’re not going to beat them playing one-on-one. I thought our ball movement was outstanding, so I was really happy with that. I thought we worked hard defensively. We still have a ways to go, but I thought I we worked hard.”

(On the ball movement...)“I thought our ball movement was good. What they created tonight is a blue print of how we want to play. Now the challenge is to play like that night in and night out. The defenses will get better and everything else, but to continue to play like that is the challenge.”

(On controlling the turnovers tonight…)“Four in the first half tonight on a team that led the league in forcing turnovers, so we were a lot better. Everyone took care of the ball, everybody was stronger, we slowed down a little, we weren’t in a hurry. I thought it was pretty good. I thought Andre [Drummond] had great energy. He was running the floor, which I thought was really good.”

Point Guard Reggie Jackson(On grabbing a win tonight…)“We feel good. You want to win pick-up, you want to win preseason, you want to win regular season. That’s the mentality that you have to bring. We have to come in ready to play each and every day and that starts with me. I have to come out, and collectively as a whole we have to have our mind in the right places to focus on what the task is each and every day.”

(On limiting turnovers…)“Something that we focused on and wanted to work on [for tonight] was playing unselfishly. Especially against a team like this, you have to make a move and make the ball get from side to side. If you keep the ball on one side their length is really going to bother you. They’ve built their team in a great way for defensive success and we knew it was going to be a tough task. We came out here with the right mindset, which we worked on yesterday, and I think it showed tonight.”

(On Andre Drummond…)“He is the quarterback of our defense. I know I have to bring the intensity out front, but he’s going to be the one to quarterback everything. You can see that going on. He talks us through pick-and-rolls and pin downs. He’s one of the great centers that plays in this league and he also has to rebound for us. He’s doing a great job. He’s light on his feet like a guard and he’s the biggest player in the league. We expect great things out of him.”

Shooting Guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope(On tonight’s ball movement…)“We did a great job moving the ball in practice and we carried that over to the game. The ball was constantly moving from one side to the other. Once the ball is moving, each play that everybody touches it, it gets contagious. Everybody wants to move the ball and get the open shot. We looked for the open shot tonight.”

(On Marcus Morris…)“He played well tonight. He shot the ball well. He was knocking them down, and we saw that and kept going to him. He kept making them so we wanted to continue to do that as he continued to play. If someone is hot, then you continue to go to them until someone stops it.”

Head Coach Jason Kidd

(On the effort so far in the preseason…)

“It’s been consistent. We’ve turned the ball over two games [in a row], and as a team we have to do a better job of that. In two games, we’ve fouled a lot. [It’s] nothing different than last year in the sense of us fouling, giving up threes, and turning the ball over. Again, we’ve been consistent in that way, but there were some positive things we can take from this, and a lot we need to continue to work on.”

(On what he has seen from Damien Inglis so far…)

“We want to get him on the floor as much as possible, especially with him being out last year. We need to take a look at him and see what he is capable of doing. This is a great opportunity, as he’s going to play. He needs to take advantage of those minutes.”

(On Rashad Vaughn’s confidence…)

“He plays with a great demeanor. He doesn’t get up too high and doesn’t get down in the things that he’s done. He is showing that he deserves time to play and he’ll get it.”

Center Greg Monroe

(On the preseason loss…)

“We’ve got to use every game to get better. We had some turnovers, but defensively we just have to be better.”

 (On new players in the lineup…)

“We have a few new players, including myself obviously. Definitely getting out there and seeing what they like to do, feeling them out. That’s what these games are for. But at the end of the day, the effort has to be consistent. We will make mistakes. We’ll miss some things a couple times, but consistently we have to give a better effort.”

 (On his offensive play…)

“Just trying to get more comfortable offensively, getting the ball in position. I had to be successful, make plays for myself and my teammates. That’s something that will come. I’m not really worried about that. Tonight, it was definitely our defense we have to work on. That was the main thing tonight.”

 Guard Greivis Vasquez

(On playing in the starting lineup…)

“I felt it was a good test for us. We needed this loss just to be aware of the things we’ve got to do. That is what preseason is all about. I don’t think we need to panic. We have a bunch of young guys here, we are going to gel. It was the first time I played with Michael [Carter-Williams], first time I played with Khris [Middleton], first time I played with Greg [Monroe] and the first time Greg played with everybody else. We can’t panic, we’ve just got to continue to work.”